Teddy Bear Picnic

This year our Teddy Bear Picnic was attended by stuffed animals of all kinds. Unfortunately several of the kids were absent because of flooding in the valley. Our special friends helped us do our work, played with us, and ate lunch with us in our room. What a fun day!

Thanks

A big "THANK YOU" to the parents who:
   
     Helped their child decorate the turkey feather.  Our turkey is looking gorgeous with all its beautiful feathers.  (To the 50% who have yet to turn in their feather, it is not too late.) 

     Send their child to school with a backpack, folder and coat everyday.  Teaching them responsibility and routine will benefit them throughout their school career.

     Get their child to school on time (8:45 A.M.).  What a powerful message you are sending about the value and importance of education.

I appreciate all the support you give me and especially the support you give your child.  Thanks again.

Happy Halloween

Do you recognize any of these masked creatures?  They are pretty scary!  It was a day of wiggles and lots of excitement.  At the end of the day the brave ones sampled Mrs. Thomas' Magic Witches Brew and ate cookies.  Then it was out the door and on to a night of trick or treating.

Fabulous Field Trip

Our field trip to the Hands On Children's Museum was awesome!  The kids spent two hours exploring all the exibits and working up an appetite.  We ate our lunch on the capitol campus lawn.  The big trees had lost a lot of their leaves and provided plenty of leaf throwing fun.  Then it was back to school.  A big THANK YOU to the chaperones -- we couldn't go on field trips without you.

Leaves and Trees

Since it wasn't raining today we went on a walk to look at the trees and their leaves.  Everyone had a magnifying glass and their science journal.  They each did a bark rubbing in their journal and then explored the leaves and trees with their magnifying glasses.  We found a big piece of bark on the ground and underneath were several bugs which were passed around and carefully examined, we looked at a spider and watched it wrap its prey in silk, and then we found worms!  What could be better than that!

Lego Mania

The Lego center is a big draw at choice time.  Each day their creations become more elaborate and I like listening to their explanations of what they have made.  What I like the most is that they play well together and share the Legos. 

Assessments

Math assessments will take place November 15-18th.  At that time your child should be able to do the following:

• Count to 51
• Recognize numbers 1-10 (out of order) and then put them in order
• Count ten items
• Make a simple AB pattern
• Sort items by attributes (color, size, shape)
• Demonstrate knowledge of position terms (over, under, next to, below, above, beside, in between)

We are working on all of these skills at school as a group.   My time to work with each child individually is very limited so I REALLY encourage you to practice these skills with your child at home.  Thanks for the interest you take in your child's education.

Color Collages

We have finished our two week color unit and our color collages turned out GREAT! We learned our colors and created a great project from recycled materials.   Thank you for helping your child remember to bring in the color of the day to glue on our collage.  Families will be able to see them when they come in for parent/teacher conferences the end of October.

October Field Trip

Our first field trip will be Wednesday, October 19th to the Hands-On Children's Museum in Olympia.  We will leave the school at 9:00 A.M. and return at 1:30 P.M.  We will be at the Museum from 10:00-12:00 and then we will eat our lunch on the State Capitol lawn.   The cafeteria will be providing lunches for all the children.   I will need 4 or 5 volunteers to chaperone the children.  There is no charge for the chaperones. 

Remember your child's $15.00 field trip fee is due October 1st.  That covers the cost of three field trips.  If you have any questions, call me at school.

Patterns, Patterns, Everywhere!

We are learning about patterns in math.  Today they were asked to make an AB pattern with unifix cubes.  An AB pattern is an alternating pattern that uses two colors.  One color is the A and the other is the B.  Have your child make AB patterns at home using items around the house.  For example, spoons and forks, rocks and buttons, etc.  In the future we will learn to make more complex patterns.  Knowing how to pattern and to be able to see patterns is a basic skill needed for a good math foundation.

For entry task today the kids had to cover the design with pattern blocks by matching the shapes.  It was a challenge for some of them and others did it almost without thinking.
 

Frog Masks and Color Mixing

We are well into our color unit and today we mixed the primary colors of red, yellow and blue to make the secondary colors of orange, green and purple.  This was the first time a few of the kids had used watercolors.  We will further experiment with color next week.   I love when we make our green frog masks.  The frog tongues are party blowers and the kids are always anxious to get their frog's tongue.  BUT, I make them all wait until they are ready for a picture and then I hand them out, count to three, everybody sticks out their tongue, I snap a photo and then I lose control of the class for a few seconds while they continue to blow and blow and blow their frog tongues!  What could be more fun than that!

Fantastic Frog Masks

Mixing red, yellow and blue to get orange, green and purple!

HELP, Please!

Slowly, but surely, everyone is settling into the kindergarten routine.  There are 19 students in our class and several times during the day they need to put their name on a paper or project.  This is where I need your help -- Please help your child practice writing their first name.  The first letter should be a capital and the rest of the letters should be lowercase.  Remember it is important they hold their pencil using the right grip (three finger pinch at the bottom) and that they start their letters at the top (not the bottom).  If we can work together to teach them to correctly hold their pencil and form letters it will pay off big time later on when they have to write a lot and have it legible. 

Our First Day

We had a wonderful first day of Kindergarten.  New clothes, fancy new shoes, new supplies and lots of questions.  Their favorite question was "When is play time?"  Everybody worked hard and tried their best to listen to ALL the new rules and learn ALL the new routines.  I am looking forward to a terrific year!  Remember your homework:  Bring something YELLOW tomorrow.

In the morning we rode the elevator to art.  We liked the mirrored ceiling.  We played in the sandbox after lunch and at the end of the day we lined up and some of us were yawning!

READY, SET, GO!

A big THANK YOU to everyone who came to meet with me this week.  I really enjoyed meeting my new students and their families.  Even after many years of teaching kindergarten, I am still excited for the first day of class.  So GET READY for Monday by getting to bed early on Sunday, GET SET by getting to school on time with your backpack and folder, and GO on an amazing adventure in learning!

Countdown to Kindergarten!

The first day of kindergarten will be here soon!  Parents, make sure your child is completely registered as soon as possible.  We need a copy of their birth certificate and immunization record.  Our school office opens on August 22nd.  Parent/teacher/child meetings will take place Sept. 7-9th.  These meetings will last about 45 minutes.  Your child may bring their supplies to school at this time.  Our first official day of kindergarten will be Monday, September 12th.