Happy 2026!

A look at our learning...

Fundations: we have officially finished reviewing how to correctly form all uppercase letters A–Z, along with our earlier explicit instruction on lowercase letters a–z that took place during the first trimester.

Now that students have learned proper letter formation, they are expected to form letters correctly at all times, not just during Fundations. Correct letter formation is a lifelong skill, and we emphasize that these habits matter “for the rest of their lives.”

Please help us reinforce this at home. If you notice your child rushing through their work, even something as simple as writing their name, encourage them to slow down. If needed, have them erase and redo their work using correct formation. Accuracy is more important than speed at this stage.

Verbal prompts for correct letter formation have been sent home multiple times throughout the year. If you would like another copy, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

In addition, we work daily on tapping out words to support both reading and writing. Right now, we are focusing on three-letter (CVC) words. This is a critical skill that helps students connect sounds to letters and build strong decoding and spelling habits. I strongly encourage families to use the Fundations Parent Packets, especially the tapping activities, to extend learning at home and help solidify this skill.

I have also posted a couple of short videos on our class Facebook page showing what tapping looks like in the classroom, which may be helpful when practicing at home. 

Optional Weekend Homework: our optional handwriting homework is now focusing on both uppercase and lowercase letter formation. In addition to practicing correct letter formation, each page includes a few pictures at the bottom. Each picture represents a three-letter word that students should tap out and spell—just like we do daily in Fundations.

It is important that this portion of the work is completed by the child. While adults or older siblings may support by reminding students to tap out each sound and slow down, we ask that you do not tell them how to spell the word or do it for them. This productive struggle is how students build strong reading and writing skills.

Thank you for supporting correct habits and helping reinforce these important skills at home!

Shared Reading & Spelling: this week we read several books that featured our new spelling words love and mom.  Something we are working on is NOT capitalizing the m on mom and d on dad.  Dad isn't a spelling word yet, but ties into the same lesson and reasoning as to why.  We have discussed how those are terms we call our parents, but not their proper names, so they start each word with a lowercase letter.  Watch for this at home. 

Next week's new spelling words

by

my

Writing Workshop: we are continuing to work on narrative writing, where students write stories about their own lives (winter break, birthdays, riding bikes, family events, etc.). Students write independently, choosing their own topic and working through what they want to say on their own.

This work goes hand in hand with our Fundations learning. Students are expected to spell Word Wall words correctly and tap or stretch out sounds in other words. At this point in the year, writing should include many sounds in words, not random strings of letters. We have learned all letter sounds in Fundations, and those skills should be clearly showing up in daily writing. Their writing should be more and more legible and readable as the year goes on.

Check out a few of our friends independent writing below, as well as a poster we worked on this week to practice the skill of sounding out words. 

Me and my sister went ice-skating.  It was fun.

Me and my mom and dad went to a place where we saw Santa

was there and I got a sweet candy cane.
(this is page 2 continued from story above!)

Math: this week in math, we worked on ordering numbers 0–10 and explaining how we know where a number belongs in numerical order. Students practiced using math language such as before and after to describe number relationships.

We are also working on being flexible with number order; understanding what numbers come before or after a given number, even when the sequence does not start at 1. This helps build strong number sense and prepares students for more advanced math concepts.

Friday craft: we read the book Winter is Here by Kevin Henkes and made these beautiful snowflakes showing something that we like to do in the winter.  You can see them proudly displayed outside our classroom the next time you are at school.

Makerspace: a Makerspace is a hands-on learning space where students create, build, and problem-solve using a variety of materials. The focus is on creativity, collaboration, and trying new ideas—not on a perfect finished product, but on the learning that happens through the process.

Today they were able to tinker, build and create with the materials you see below.  We look forward to going back next month as well!  

Counselor:  our kindergarteners talked about goal setting. While this connected nicely to the New Year, students also learned that goals can be set anytime, not just in January. We read a Berenstain Bears book about setting goals and discussed ways we can work toward things we want to improve or learn. Each student also completed their own goal-setting paper titled “Dream Big.” Please check your child’s folder for this activity and take a few minutes to talk with them about the goal they chose and how they can work toward it at home and at school.

Yearbook orders DUE TODAY:  the deadline is 11:59 PM tonight.

There will not be a second chance to order, and no extras are ordered. If you choose not to order now and decide later that you would like one, the office sometimes has a waitlist—but this only works if other families ordered extras and later donate them back for resale. This is not guaranteed, so ordering now is the only way to ensure your child receives a yearbook.

Please see the previous email from a few days ago for information on how yearbooks are used at the end of the year to help you decide if you’d like to purchase one.

Order Code: 0290KH 

Order here

More fun from our week

Happy Holidays

A look at our learning...

Fundations:  we reviewed uppercase letters I-P.  Students should have come into kindergarten knowing how to form their uppercase letters, so we just do a quick review of those.  We are not sending home Friday Folders today due to a long winter break, but the Fundations parent packet came home yesterday in your child's Daily Take Home Folder. 

Shared Reading: over the past week and a half, we have been reading several different versions of The Gingerbread Man. As we read each story, we practiced comparing and contrasting by looking closely at the characters, setting, repeated phrase, problem, and ending/solution. Be sure to check out the photos I’m posting below to see how we organized and compared each book. Even more photos are on our class Facebook page. 

We wrapped up our Gingerbread Man fun by reading The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School! After that, we went on a school-wide search to try to find him. We visited the library and used our iPads to scan Gingerbread Man QR codes. Each QR code led us to a book character the students already know, and they had to decide which one might have the Gingerbread Man with them. Unfortunately, he was too fast and too tricky, and we never found him!

Be sure to ask your child about the different versions we read and which one was their favorite.

Spelling: when we return from Winter Break, we will begin introducing two new spelling words each week instead of one. Now that we are halfway through kindergarten, both the learning expectations and student stamina are increasing, and our spelling instruction will grow along with them.

To help set your child up for a successful return after break, please spend some time reviewing and practicing previously learned spelling words. The goal is for students to be able to read and write these words quickly and confidently. Mastering the words they already know will make it much easier for them to keep up as we add new ones. As always, the most updated copy of their spelling words is coming home in their Daily Take Home Folder today. 

Thank you for your continued support at home, it truly makes a big difference as our learning continues to grow!

Writing: we continue to work on sounding out, or now tapping out, words to help us spell when writing our stories.  This is a continuous theme in Kindergarten writing.  Their words should be more decodable and easier to read now that they know all of their letter sounds.  Check out a few student examples below from students in our class.  This is done independently, no help from me at all, and what kindergarten writing should look like at this point in the school year. 

My sisters are at cheer competition.

My family made gingerbread houses.  It was fun.

Math: our focus has continued to be addition and subtraction within 10, with a special emphasis on doubles facts up to 10 (2 +2, 5 + 5, etc.). The students are working hard to build strong number sense and confidence with these important skills.

Addition and subtraction are easy to practice at home using everyday activities. For example, while sorting laundry, you might ask your child to bring you 3 white socks and 2 blue shirts. Then have them tell you the number equation that matches: 3 + 2 = 5 and 5 = 3 + 2.

Other simple ideas include:

• Setting the table: “Put out 4 forks and 1 spoon. How many items total?”

• Snack time: “You have 6 crackers. If you eat 2, how many are left?”

• Toy clean-up: “There are 5 cars on the floor and 3 in the bin. How many altogether?”

These quick, meaningful moments help reinforce addition and subtraction skills while showing students how math connects to their everyday lives.

Lunch with the principal: yay Stella!  She was chosen to have "Lunch with the Principal" for the month of December.  She enjoyed a special lunch with Mrs. Isenogle and these other kindergarten friends on Monday!

Packmate of the Month:  yay Avery!  She was chosen, by her peers, as our December Packmate of the Month for being a problem-solver.  We are so proud of her!  January's focus will be on safety/being safe. 

4th grade buddies: on Thursday, our 4th grade buddies in Ms. Cohen’s class invited us to visit their classroom for a very special time together. They read/performed the story Snowmen at Christmas, which was the perfect way to get us into the holiday spirit. After the story, each kindergartener received a special Christmas gift—a “snowman” made from a chocolate bar and a pair of gloves to help keep our hands warm at recess.

It was such a sweet, thoughtful, and special gesture, and our students absolutely loved spending time with their buddies. We are so grateful to Ms. Cohen’s class for making this experience so memorable!

Winter Break To-Do: Help Stop the Germs: Winter Break is a great time to wash backpacks, lunch boxes, coats, gloves, hats, and other school items to help reduce the spread of germs. These items get a lot of daily use and a good cleaning can make a big difference as we head into the second half of the school year.

Once everything is washed, it’s also a perfect time to check and restock your child’s “just in case” bag with emergency clothing. Please be sure every child has a full change of clothes in their backpack at all times, including socks and underwear. Having these items readily available helps us handle spills, accidents, and messy moments quickly and comfortably at school.

Thank you for helping us keep our classroom clean, healthy, and prepared!

Family Traditions: we have thoroughly enjoyed hearing about each child's family traditions over the past two weeks.  The students were so excited to share special things about their family and did an amazing job! Thank you so much to the families who participated in this sweet project. 

Kindergarten Cozy Day:  what a fun day we had today!  We were comfy, cozy while we watched The Polar Express in our pj's and cuddled up under blankets.  We also enjoyed fresh popcorn and hot chocolate. Santa even sent us golden tickets and bells, just like in the movie!  The bells were SO COLD when they arrived to school via special delivery!  They must have come straight from the North Pole!  So exciting!  Special thanks to Starbucks for donating cups for the hot chocolate.  The kids were so excited and I think they felt pretty special!  

We also had fun exchanging books during the class book exchange.  Every child is coming home with a brand new book from a classmate, as well as two books and a bookmark from me as a Christmas gift! 

A special thanks to Kayla Hagedorn and all of the families who donated to or assisted with our winter class party today. We made cute snowmen, played fun games and ate lots of yummy food!  I have so many pictures from today and will post them on the class Facebook page. 

I want to wish each and everyone of you a very, Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!  Enjoy the next few weeks with your families and I will see you in 2026! Thank you so much for all the sweet cards, gift cards, gifts, etc.!  You spoil me! 

More fun at school