week of Sept. 8 - Sept. 11, 2009

Kindergarten News…
Congratulations! You made it through the first week of Kindergarten!
**There will be no School on Monday due to the Labor Day Holiday. Enjoy the long weekend.
Tuesday, September 8th will be Day 6 and on Wednesday we will begin with Day 1 again. Please check your special classes’ schedule. Remember students will need sneakers for gym class Day 5.
**Next week we will be learning the letter Ll as in lion, lemonade, and licorice. Please review the letter and sound with your child at home. On Friday, September 11th Kindergarten will have a Luau from 9:30-11:00. Students are asked to dress tropical: bright colors, floral prints, Hawaiian shirts, etc… More details will be sent home next week.
**We’ve begun Ch. 1 in Math. We’ll be working on positional words like under, over, above, below, in, out, left, right, etc. Please review practice pages that come home in your child’s folder.
**We will begin “Show and Tell” next week too. Please help your child to find an item or two around the house that begins with the /l/ sound to share with the class. Please keep in mind- - - the items should not be valuable and should fit into a brown paper bag or your child’s school bag. Our show and tell day will be every Friday.


**I’m sure the children have been telling you bits and pieces of our day. If you have any questions, please ask. The following is a general outline:
· We begin each day with the calendar, month, and days of the week song.
· We have a morning message each day.
· We count the days of school and learn about place value.
· We do patterning with shapes, numbers, and letters.
· We do an analogy or “thinking puzzle” some days. The boys and girls have to see how the items are related and make the connection to fill in the missing link. This is something new and hopefully it will be challenging for students. Please ask your child to share this with you daily and review the analogy.
· Kid Writing will begin in a few weeks. This will take some time to develop. The students work on an activity while I work individually or in small groups with those doing Kid Writing.
· Saxon Phonics is where we learn our letters and sounds of the week. We will start next week with letter Ll.
· We are starting a brand new reading series this year.
· We will work on developing our handwriting skills both in class and at home with homework.
· Snack time is from 1:45-2:00 daily.
· We do all kinds of graphing activities and Math pages from our series, Harcourt.
· We have Literature/Story Time and Predictable charts and will make class books.
· Lunch is from 11:15-11:50 daily.
· Recess is 11:50-12:25 daily.
· We will use FOSS Science units and lessons and will explore trees, small animals, paper, and wood.
· We will do Theme-related activities such as seasonal items, science, social studies, health, art activities, and special projects.
· We will continue with “ME STEW” until each child has had a chance to share with the class. Don’t forget to send in items for the ME STEW pot for your child’s scheduled day.

**Please continue to check your child’s communication folder daily and if you haven’t already returned all the school forms and necessary paperwork, then please return them as soon as possible.
*** Please remember to pack a snack with your child each day. It may help if you “brown bag” and label snack on one bag and “lunch” on the other if they are packing. I have a feeling that some children may be eating their snack with their lunch and then have nothing left. Also, if your child is a buyer, they still need a snack and drink!

**I hope your child has enjoyed his/her first week and is looking forward to returning on Tuesday.
Thanks!!
Mrs. Reinoehl