Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall

A look at our learning...

Fundations: this week we learned the name, sound and correct letter formation for lowercase i and u.  We learned that these two letters are vowels and the other letters we've learned so far are consonants (t, b, f, n, m). 

Please use the following verbal prompts when practicing letter formation at home, especially if your child has these letters in their name:

i-down, dot (the dot should be just that, a dot.  Not a circle or scribble)

u-down, curve up, down (make sure they are are going straight back down on the last part of the u.  It should be flush with the other part of the letter and not have a space between or "look like a mountain" between the curved part and down part)

Math: they really enjoyed learning about patterns this week.  We talked about how patterns don't have to just be colors, it can be with most anything.  They used classroom manipulatives to make and extend patterns. Being able to make patterns on their own and extend patterns already made is an important Kindergarten skill.  Check out the math parent worksheet in the Friday Folder this week.  I encourage you to ask your child to make and extend a pattern for you and see how they do.  Start with a simple AB pattern and then try more difficult ones such as ABC, AAB, etc. 

Examples of what the letters mean if needed:

AB-square, triangle, square, triangle

ABC-red, blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow

AAB-car, car, truck, car, car, truck

Social Skills: A big part of Kindergarten is learning how to be a learner; in our classroom and beyond.  Overall, the students are doing a nice job learning and following expectations in my classroom.  Unfortunately, many struggle with this when they go to specials (P.E., music, art, media).  We are really working hard to understand that making good choices and following expectations doesn't just apply to our classroom.  It is important to be kind, respectful and responsible for their other teachers as well.   I am lucky to have most of the day with the students.  Specialists only see them for 50 minutes a week, which makes it even more important that students are able to show they know how to be a learner so that those teachers can teach what is needed.  

A few key areas that we are working on/need improved:

1) body control during carpet times (hands to self, stay in spot, eyes on the speaker)

2) body control/following expectations when lining up in specials (bubble, tails, eyes forward)

3) respectfully following adult directions, even if it is something they may not like or want to do. It is not appropriate to tell a teacher no, tell them they don't/aren't going to do something or speak rudely to them.

4) understanding that specials are a time to learn, just like in our classroom, and not a free choice or recess time (this is especially hard for them to understand in P.E., but so important)

5) making good choices for the specials teacher because it's the right thing to do and not just because Ms. Concannon is watching.  

6) making good choices because it's the right thing to do and not feeding off other inappropriate behavior.  Just because other students are doing it, doesn't mean it's the right choice.  

I share these things so you know areas we are working on at school, but also in hopes you can help reiterate these things at home. It takes a village. I kindly ask that you focus on conversations about your child and not on what other students are doing. Ask them what they do well, what they might need to work on (if anything).  Please try to stay away from conversations about "so and so was in the safe seat" or "so and so did this."   We work really hard in kindergarten to worry about ourselves and not others and taking responsibility for our own behavior choices.  Thank you for your support with this.  

Handwashing: learning proper handwashing in Kindergarten is a big deal.  We want to keep ourselves and our friends healthy and at school. Kids this age often wash too quickly, without scrubbing.  To help everyone stay healthy at school, I encourage you to reinforce proper handwashing at home.

1) wet hands (soap "doesn't work" unless hands are wet first)

2) ONE squirt of soap.  Scrub hands, with the water turned off so they aren't tempted to wash it off, while singing the ABC song.  Make sure to get all sides of the hands, between fingers and around the wrists

3) wash off with warm water

4) dry

Nurse Bridget came in for a hand-washing lesson on Thursday. This is part of our Disease Prevention/Health Unit.  She brought a bottle of "germs" (lotion) that she had the children rub on their hands.  Next, she used a special tool to shine on their hands so they could see the germs on their hands.  After that, she had each child wash their hands.  Then they came back and she shone the light on their hands again to see how well they did at washing.  We learned that we often miss our wrists, in between our fingers and around our nails.  She also taught us the proper steps of hand-washing mentioned above. 

Another thing I have noticed is we have quite a few friends who put their hands in their mouth/nose.  We are really working on keeping our hands away from our face, using tissues if needed and nothing should be in our mouth except food or water.  This is a hard habit to break and many don't even realize they are doing it.  We share so many things in the room and we really can't have pencils, crayons, hands, anything up near our lips.  

I know it seems silly, but it takes a lot of practice.  I appreciate your help at home.  

Crafts: this week we made space name rockets.  This helped us with counting, knowing how many letters are in our name, shapes and writing our name.  We also celebrated the end of summer and beginning of fall with these beautiful projects and poems coming home today.  

Sneaky Reading Challenge and September Reading Homework: one week left to snap those "sneaky reading challenge" photos and post to our class Facebook page!  This month's challenge was to read in the car. 

September reading logs are due next Friday.  Reading is an expectation at Beulah Ralph.  Kindergarten students are expected to read or be read to a minimum of 4 nights a week/15 minutes per time, recorded on the reading log that was sent home at the beginning of September, and signed and returned at the end of each month.  

Circus class baskets: all items for our class basket for the circus are due by next Friday, September 29th.  Thank you to all who donated!  There are still several spots available if you'd like to donate to our Lego themed basket. Click here to sign up.  

Play time is the best time