Music

Our music teacher, Mrs. Lundquist, will be teaching the children the basics of music education and will be sharing many wonderful songs!  We are scheduled to have music for one 30 minute period weekly. (Of course, we will be singing and enjoying music with the children daily in our own classroom!)  We will participate in a Winter and a Spring Concert which you will enjoy!

Newsletter

Our weekly newsletter, “KinderBulletin”, is generally sent home on Fridays and will be in the Boomerangs. This will keep you informed about what is happening in our class---the skills we are learning, vocabulary words, poems or songs to practice, special activities and upcoming events. Sometimes there will be an activity attached to help your child practice skills at home.  Please look for these and read them - BOTH SIDES - so you can keep up with what we do in class each week.  These will also be posted on our classroom website.

Nurse

Our school nurse will be in our building each day during the week.  She will tend to minor scratches and scrapes, as well as sudden illnesses.  For more serious injuries, she will contact you. Please be sure to send in any change of contact numbers in case she needs to get in touch with you.  Also, if you discover your child has a contagious condition (including lice), please notify the nurse so she can keep an eye on the rest of the class.  She will also be keeping an extra eye on a few of our children with special medical needs.  The paperwork and the band-aid applications keep her very busy!

PLEASE NOTE:  Any medication that needs to be administered during the day (including cough drops) will need to be taken to the Office and administered there.  Please contact the school nurse or the school Office for more information.

Orientation

Our Open House begins our Kindergarten Orientation activities.  At that time you should have picked up this Handbook and some other important information.  Be sure to read through everything and return all the information papers as soon as possible.

School begins on Thursday, September 2, 2010 - yes, BEFORE Labor Day this year.  Please have your child bring a SACK LUNCH that first day or two as learning the Lunch Room routine may be confusing.  Lunch menus will go home on the first day of school if not at our Open House.

The second part of our Kindergarten Orientation will be a PARENT ORIENTATION NIGHT to be held on an evening in September at 7:00 PM - we will let you know what the date is after the beginning of school.  This will be for PARENTS ONLY please.  We will be covering the Kindergarten program and curriculum and ways you can help at home on this exciting adventure! There will also be time for questions, answers and concerns.  You will be receiving more information in the first couple of Newsletters ~ so watch for that!

This expanded Orientation gives parents more information about this special year, and hopefully it puts parents and children more at ease
the first few days of school.  It is also a time for exchanging information, answering questions and getting to know one another better. 
 

Parent Involvement

 
Your support of school activities makes your child feel important and sends the message that you value school! We are always happy to have your help for special activities in the classroom. You will be given the opportunity to sign up to help in the classroom on a regular basis or even every once in a while during the first few days of school.  I will be sending home a “Parent Volunteer” form that you can respond to.  Also, if things change for you during the school year and you would like to come in later on, just send a note and we will work something out!

Parties & Celebrations

There are three main parties each year---Our Spider Party (Halloween), Valentine’s Day, and our End-Of-The-Year Party. Class parties are a lot of fun for the children as we play games, have special activities, and enjoy some special treats.  Parent’s will receive a note about each party and will be given the opportunity to donate treats to help us out.  Parents are welcome to attend as well.

Playground Rules

Please review these playground safety rules with your child:
1. No throwing rocks at any time.
2. Go down the slide on your bottoms, feet first.

3. Stop and look before you jump.

4. Watch out for each other as you run.
5. No rough play. Keep your hands and feet to yourself. (Tag is “two-finger touch.”)  Wrestling, pretend karate, etc. is not allowed.
6. Do not leave the playground without asking permission from the playground teacher.

7. If you have a problem, tell the playground teacher and ask for her help.

Pocket Pals

Our POCKET PAL PROGRAM is an opportunity to allow your child to check out a book from my classroom on a daily basis to be read to them at night.  They return it the next day and are able to check out another book.  A special envelope will be coming home with the complete details and procedures mid-September.  Reading to your child on a regular basis is one of the most important things you can do with them at this age.  Asking questions and predicting what will happen help to promote comprehension which is an important part of reading.  The language, illustrations and concepts shared at this time begin to build a great foundation of language ability and will show up in their writing and drawings in the near future.

This routine is to encourage regular story time at home for all students.  Many of you already have this special routine with your child.  I would just like to extend it for you - and encourage you to keep it up!

Questions

Whether you are new to Beacon School this year or a parent who has had other children in our Kindergarten before, I am sure that you may still have some unanswered questions.  Please feel free to call me at school (before 8:15 a.m. or between 2:40-3:20 p.m.). Or you can always write a note or e-mail me at:  

                                                               dconnolly@monte.wednet.edu            

Recess

The children will play outdoors for 15 minutes in the morning and in the afternoon (unless it is very rainy or stormy). Please keep this in mind when helping your child to select clothing for the day - layers are a good idea.  Gloves and knit hats or hoods are very helpful in the winter. If your child is too sick to play outside, he is probably too sick to come to school.  (Keeping children in the classroom can be difficult as I use this time to go to the Office, run off papers, or get things ready for the next activity that might take me away from the classroom.)

Report Cards

Report Cards are issued three times during the year.  Trimesters are new for us this year, but we feel it is a valuable change.  These Reports reflect the progress your child has made toward various Kindergarten objectives and uses a grading system that reflects the developmental nature of Kindergarten learning.

You should receive a list of the items on our Report Cards with the information from our Open House so you will know what areas we are looking at for our grading requirements.

We will also be having two scheduled Conference times this year.  Our first will be the second week of November.  Conference Days are EARLY DISMISSAL DAYS - we will be dismissed at 12:00 noon on those days so that we can meet with parents in the afternoon and early evening.  At this time we will go over how your child is doing and how you can help at home.  It is a time for questions, sharing concerns, and celebrating the great things about these young children.  We will look at the Report Card items, but they will not be finished until the first part of December.  I will be conferencing with all parents at this time.

Our second Conference time is scheduled for February 10th and 11th.  It will be similar to our November times, but I will only be able to meet with some of my parents.  More on all of this later.

Restrooms

Have your child use the restroom shortly before coming to school. We do have both a boys and a girls bathroom just outside our classrooms.  Children are to ask teacher first so I know when someone leaves the room.  Please make me aware of any medical problem that might require frequent restroom trips.  (Sometimes an extra change of clothes left at school is helpful to those who have troubles with wetting.)

Science

The focus of the Kindergarten Science curriculum is on developing an awareness of the world in which we live. Through scientific inquiry, concepts will be presented in the life and earth sciences, including the study of animals and plants, the five senses and general health, and the four seasons. These areas will be explored utilizing a literacy based, hands-on approach. Many of our Themes are based on our Science skills.

Shared Reading

Shared Reading is an interactive process used with the whole class. As the teacher reads a story, children join in on phrases or words that they know. During subsequent re-readings, children read more and more of the text, until they are able to read the story independently. Shared Reading is an opportunity for the teacher to model conventions of print and the use of reading strategies. One book or poem will be the focus for a week as we enjoy several activities with it.

Snack Time

Social Studies

The Kindergarten Social Studies curriculum focuses on the students and how they relate to others in their families, classroom, school, and community.  Activities will help the children focus their natural curiosity for the world around them.  These concepts are woven into our Language Time and our Themes, such as “This Is Me” and “Families.”

Supplies

The children will need the following supplies for kindergarten:
 

~ LABEL THESE ITEMS WITH YOUR CHILD’S NAME:
       * backpack (to carry home those important papers each day)

       * pocket folder - Pee Chee style 

       * box of colored cone-tip markers (10-12 markers), such as Crayola (traditional or classic colors, please)

        [Label EVERYTHING. The children come to school with sweaters, jackets, backpacks, and lunchboxes and forget to bring them 
        home. If they are labeled it will help us return them to their rightful owner.  (You should see our Lost and Found at the end of the 
        year!  It would make a wonderful Garage Sale!)]

 ~ These items will be shared by all the children and do NOT need to be labeled:
        *  2 boxes of Crayola crayons (no more than 24 crayons in a box please!)

        *  6 small glue sticks (NO purple or blue glue as they are very messy)

        *  1 package of paper napkins for Snack Time

        *  1 box of snack items - click here for a list of ideas

(We have plenty of tissues, paper towels and sanitizing wipes for now - I will let you know when we need more.)

Toys

The school policy is that NO toys be brought to school. Bringing toys to school is discouraged for a number of reasons. If a toy is accidentally lost or broken, feelings will be hurt. Your child may bring a toy for our Special Friend of the Week routine, but they may not play with it at school.  Any toys in backpacks for Daycare after school will remain in the backpacks.

Unique

Kindergartners learn that they are special and unique.  They will have opportunities to describe how they are alike as well as different from others. They share their culture and learn about the different cultures within the class. Knowing and accepting the special qualities of yourself is such an important thing to learn.  We work hard on developing confidence in who we are and what we can do throughout the year.

Visitors

Beacon has a policy that ALL GUESTS (including familiar faces) are required to check in at the school office. Visitor Badges must be worn by all adults who come to work or visit us in our classrooms.  Beacon welcomes and encourages family involvement. It is important to remember that while this may seem inconvenient to frequent visitors, it is the goal and responsibility of the school to create a safe learning environment.

Website

Our class has a website which can be accessed at

                                                                http://www.monte.wednet.edu
                                           or go directly to my personal classroom site: http://www.connollyskinderkids.com

Check in regularly to find information about curriculum, special events and school news. I will try my best to keep it current and welcome any suggestions!
 

Wish List

Throughout the year we sometimes need supplies above and beyond our classroom materials (such as baby food jars or toilet paper rolls.)  These needs will be posted in the class newsletter.  Extra items that you think we might be able to use are always welcome!

Writing

Our Writing program builds on what each child already knows. Writing begins with scribbles and proceeds to lines and circles, random strings of letters, words and spaces and eventually sentences. Your children will be encouraged and praised for all attempts and accomplishments in writing. Providing a risk-free environment is paramount to your child's progress in writing.  If possible, please provide your child with their own writing tools, such as pencils, crayons, markers and paper at home.  Let them see you write for a variety of reasons. 

Writing also includes Penmanship ~ how we form the letters correctly.  This is a year of practice ~ perfect penmanship is NOT expected, but we do work very hard to try our very best!  Typically, letters and numbers are begun at the top and then come down.  A copy of the D’Nealian Handwriting Alphabet will be sent home for your information.  The arrows will show the correct movements.  This is what we work towards.  You can click here for a copy of directions to use at home.

X-citing

This is going to be an exciting year - we promise!   Kindergarten children do not need to be motivated to learn and be amazed - they have a wonderful sense of awe about most everything, Those little eyes just light up at the simplest of things!  The growth and learning that will take place this year will be exciting!

(Okay, okay, so this “x” word is a  bit of a stretch, but . . . .)
 

Younger Siblings

It is in your child’s and the program’s best interest to have our parent volunteers available without younger children. This not only allows your full attention to be focused on the class, but also allows for some special time between you and your Kindergartner. 

It can also be difficult at Conference times to have younger children present as we discuss the progress of your Kindergartner. 

Thank you for making childcare arrangements for younger siblings at these times.

Zzzzs

Make sure that your child gets plenty of rest. Setting and keeping a bedtime is a wonderful gift you can give to your child.   It will help them to be alert and ready to learn each day!