Welcome to Kindergarten!
February 2012
Anthony, Meghan, Dimitri, Angelica, Louie, Brydon, Lynsey, Leah M., Luke, Ivy, Cole, Jack, Leah S., Makayla, and Jumanah
I would like to welcome back our student teacher Ms. Rosenblatt. She will return January 30th. Ms. Rosenblatt is a student from UCONN and will be with us every day until the end of April.
Themes for February:
Groundhog's Day, Presidents' Day,Valentine's Day, Day 100, and Bears.
The 100th Day of School.
Day 100 is fast approaching. Right now it looks like it will fall on February 15th, unless we have another snow day. For the 100th day of school we are asking that you assist your child in coming up with 100 things that they can share with the class on the 100th day of school. Here are some ideas: 100 pennies, stickers, pieces of cereal, paper clips, crayons, letters, or buttons. The collection should not be too heavy or cumbersome for your child to carry to school. Putting your child’s collection in to a clear zip lock bag will make it easy for them to show their collection without spilling it. Some children have chosen to make a small display with their collection. One way to get your child to count to 100 , is to have them count out 10 groups of 10 to get to 100. The students need to have their collections of 100 things in by Feb 13th. The children look forward to counting down the days until we reach day 100.
Kindergarteners Are on the Ball!
This year we added 4 ball chairs to our classroom and they have been a big hit with the students. A ball chair is simply a therapy ball with stability feet/legs. There are many positive benefits to using them over traditional chairs and I have listed many of them below. When students sit in traditional hard chairs they are more likely to slouch and have poor posture. With the ball chairs, students must have proper posture to remain balanced and on the chair. The children love using them.
Benefits of Ball Chairs
· Assists in improving
posture
· Enhances attention and
concentration
· Improves learning through
movement
· Promotes “active sitting”- with little to no
disturbance
· Improves blood flow to all parts of the body,
especially the brain
· Strengthens core (postural) & back muscle
groups
· Improves balance and
coordination
Holiday Celebration:
A big thank you to our room parents, Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Campbell for the wonderful job of organizing our kindergarten feast and our holiday get together. Thanks also go out to the moms that came in to help with our luncheon, Mrs. Lazzerini, and Mrs. SquatritoThe children and I really enjoyed ourselves with all the wonderful food. They loved making their own pizzas and eating them in the classroom. The children were very busy the last weeks in December making holiday gifts for their families and friends. They also made stained glass art for the windows and wreaths to hang. The children were very excited with all the wonderful gifts the families gave to the classroom. We received many craft items, books, and games. Thank you for being so generous.
The New Year:
As we start the New Year, the children will be starting our literacy centers. The students will be working independently in centers while I meet with small groups of students for guided reading.
Helping Parents: I would like to thank all the wonderful parents and friends for their help in the classroom and at our special events. If you would like to volunteer your time in January , please use the included calendar to sign up and return to me. I will then assign you the time.
Kindergarten Holiday Fun
December 5th-Kindergarten Feast- Room mothers will call all parents . Please let me know if any phone numbers have changed.
As we have already mentioned, our class will be having a holiday party on December 22nd. Instead of children bringing grab bag gifts for each other to swap, we are asking that the kindergartens bring a gift for the classroom to be used by all the children. This idea has been very successful over the past few years. The kindergartens show pride in contributing to the learning materials in the classroom. You may wish to chose something from our wish list or decide upon something else you think the class would enjoy/benefit from using in school. In the past some families have chosen to share in the cost of the more expensive items. Please have your child bring in his/her class gift wrapped with the giver‘s name on it to school before our holiday party. The students will take turns opening the gifts for the classroom at the class party.
Some Ideas from Our Wish List:
glitter glue ,glitter paint, moon sand, sparkly pipe cleaners (Chenille stems) plastic spoons, craft items such as wiggly eyes, foam craft pieces,(especially seasonal ones),Play-Doh, roll on paints, Squeeze and Brush(paint brushes with paint in the handle) etc. , AA batteries for leappads and other battery operated items,books for Tag readers, games for Leapfrog explorer (we use these in the leappad),D batteries for Light Brite , books, books on cd from Scholastic, dress-up clothes, Halloween costumes, Big Y gift cards for baking/cooking activities in the classroom, Crayola marker stamps, games like Guess Who, Candyland, and anything else that the children might enjoy using in a classroom that is educational.
Book Character Day was a great success. The parade outside was enjoyed by everyone. The children enjoyed seeing the people that came to see their parade. Later in the day the children drew a setting for their book character. Then they told their partner a story about their book character. They gave him a name, created a setting and a problem for their character. They also had to solve the problem in their story.
