How to have a Successful Kindergarten Year!

What a great Month of Kindergarten!  We are going to have a fantastic year!  Here are a few things that you can encourage at home so your child has a successful kindergarten year!  Thanks for your help!

·       Follow directions given by an adult

·       Listen when others are talking

·       Look at the person talking with your eyes

·       Worry about yourself

·       Walk inside all buildings

·       Sit on your bottom in chairs and on the carpet (body basics)

·       Raise your hand when you need to talk or need anything

·       Keep hands and feet to self- that is one way we stay safe

·       Flush the toilet everytime you use it and wash your hands when done!

Remind your child to remember to be a Fisher CAT and they will always be doing their job!  

 

Welcome to the new year!

Welcome to Fisher Kindergarten!

2012-2013

Welcome!!!

This week your child will complete one of the most important milestones in his/her life - the first day of school! We understand that you and your child may have met this day with excitement or apprehension (or a little of both) and we hope that this letter will help you know what to expect in kindergarten this year and answer any questions you may have.

We are looking forward to a working with your child this year and helping him/her to achieve his/her full potential. Through the remainder of this letter, we will share some of our beliefs and classroom policies.

Parent/Teacher Relationship

We believe that a good parent-teacher relationship is necessary for maximum school success. Throughout the year we will communicate with you through notes, telephone calls, almost- weekly newsletters, quarterly reports and parent-teacher conferences. We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions or concerns at any time. You can call us at school (754-1030), send us a note or e-mail us at ddaugherty@marshalltown.ki12.ia.us          ceggers@marshalltown.ki12.ia.us          moetker@marshalltown.ki12.ia.us

We are available for conferences regarding your child’s progress before school and 3:20 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. by appointment on school days.

Parent Participation

Throughout the school year there will be a variety of special classroom activities and celebrations. We encourage you to attend these functions when possible and to support them by sending needed supplies or treats. Your support of school activities makes your child feel important and sends the message that you value school.

  

School Attendance

 

Your child’s regular and prompt attendance at school is crucial to his/her success. WE can’t emphasize this point enough!!! Most kindergarten learning activities are group oriented and involve interaction with classmates. Therefore, it is next to impossible to make up work at home. Please view school as a priority, and see to it that your child attends everyday except in cases of illness or emergency.

School Hours

Kindergarten students attend school from 8:35 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. Please do not bring your child to school any earlier than 8:15 a.m. as they are not permitted in the classrooms before this time and there is no supervision on the playground before 8:15. Please use the drop off lane to drop off and pick up your child. If you need to pick up your child during the school day, you must sign him/her out in the office. Our secretary will call your child to come to the office.

Changes in Transportation

If you plan to pick up a child that normally rides the bus or you wish for your child to ride a different bus than usual, you must send a written note. Do not rely on your child to tell us this information, because children often become confused and relay messages incorrectly. If no written note is received, your child will be sent home by his/her usual method of transportation.

Outdoor Recess

The children will be going out for recess everyday unless it is raining or extremely cold. Please keep this is in mind when helping your child to select clothing for the day. Also, we are fortunate to have a variety of playground equipment, including several pieces for climbing. Please keep this in mind when selecting shoes. For the most part, if your child is well enough to be at school, he/she is well enough to participate in outdoor recess, if properly dressed. In fact, the germs that cause colds thrive more readily in the heated indoor air and it is beneficial to go outside and get some fresh air. However, on those occasions when you feel it is best for your child to stay indoors, please send a written note and we will make arrangements for your child to do so.

Birthdays

 Please do not send birthday party invitations to school.  Although it may seem convenient to distribute invitations this way, it can result in hurt feelings for those not invited.

Money

On occasion it will be necessary for your child to bring money to school. Always send money in a sealed envelope with the following information written on it:
1 Your child’s first and last name.
2 The amount of money.
3 The purpose for the money (book money, party money, etc).
4 My name.
With over 22 kids to keep track of and several reasons to collect money, this helps us out tremendously and reduces the likelihood of errors. Also, if the envelope is left on the bus or dropped in the hallway, this information will help the money to be returned to their classroom.

Book Orders

Your child will be bringing home a form to order books about once a month. If you wish to order, simply fill out the form and send the correct amount of money or a check made out to the book company in an envelope. These orders are provided as a convenient way for parents to buy quality books for their child at a low price. As an added bonus, for every dollar that is spent on books, we earn bonus points, which are used to purchase books for classroom use. This is a win-win situation because you get quality literature at a low price and you are helping to provide quality literature for the classroom. Of course, you are never under any obligation to order.

Discipline

Establishing good classroom discipline is essential to each child’s success, confidence and well-being. Every child should feel that the classroom environment is safe and secure; free from all threats of physical or emotional harm. In addition, it is important that each child learn to develop self-discipline and good work habits, to resolve conflicts peacefully, and to think independently.

The children will learn the purpose of classroom rules and develop the idea that our classroom is a community with the common purpose of learning, growing and becoming friends. Through class discussion and rule making, the children and we will compose a list of classroom rules that protect each student’s right to safety and respect, as well as, outlining the responsibilities that each child has in maintaining class order. A list of these rules will be sent home to parents when they are completed.

In closing, we would just like to say that we are looking forward to a great year working with your child! We would also like to suggest that you save this letter for future reference. Thank-you in advance for your concern and support throughout the year!!!

The Kindergarten Staff

Mr. Daugherty

Mrs. Eggers

Mrs. Oetker

Kindergram February 2, 2012

Kindergram

February 2, 2012

Mr. Daugherty *Mrs. Eggers *Mrs. Oetker

READING:  We are reading about weather and  and seasons. We are talking  about what the differences are in the 4 seasons and different types of weather.  This week has been a crazy week in the weather discussions.  We read about the 100^th day on Monday and had a great time visiting the different rooms and doing the different 100 themed activities.

HOMEWORK:  LETTER OF THE WEEK: “Tt” will be the letter of the week starting on Monday, February 6.  Please sit down with your child and discuss what sound this letter makes.  Have your child cut out one small picture from a magazine or newspaper that begins with the letter “T” and bring it to school.

MATH:  We will be  finishing our work in Topic 9 which is over measurement.  We measured with cubes and estimated how long different objects can be.  We made an inch worm ruler to help us measure with inches.  We sure do love to measure different things in the room!  Our next topic will be simple addition.

HANDWRITING:  We need to keep practicing the lower case letters.  We know how to make the letters: c, o, a, s, d, g, v, w, u, t.   All of these letters start on the top line.  The letter t is the only letter so far that starts above the top.  It is made with a big line going down.

SCIENCE:  We are discussing the weather. We are learning how to dress for the different types of weather we have in Iowa.

Parent Visitors: to ensure a minimum disruption to learning please our visitor rules:

1. Always check in at the office and get a visitors badge.

2. If it is the end of the day please wait for your child at the appropriate outside exits.

3. Visitors should wait by the office and your child will be brought down to you.

4. We are available for conferences regarding your child’s progress before school, 8:00 to 8:25 a.m., and after school, 3:20 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., by appointment on school days.

Thank you to everyone who made a donation to Kaitlynn Hughes and her family after losing their house in a fire!  You are wonderful people!  J

ParentMagic.com is a great parent sight.  Fisher School is offering training to parents.  Call the office if you’d like to learn more!

With Valentines Day just around the corner we have a Homework assignment for the Kindergarten class.  Each child will need a container to hold the Valentines they will receive.  The containers need to be at school by February 10^th 2012.  Good luck and be creative!!

Valentines:  When your child sends Valentines to school; please have the student sign their own name on the Valentine.  Do not put whom the Valentines are for.  We only have a short time to pass them out.  Thanks for your help.

Mr. Daugherty’s class 23 students

Mrs. Eggers’ class 22 students

Mrs. Oetker’s class 23 students
 

Dates to Remember:

·         February 14:  Valentine Parties 2:00-3:00 p.m.

·         February 20:  No School unless we have a snow day.

·         February 23:  Assembly/Buddy Activity

·         March 5-9: Parent/Teacher conference week

***DONATIONS***

We could really use the following items.  These items help us with many classroom activities.  Thank you for donating!  We really appreciate it!

1.     Baby Wipes to help kill all the flu germs.

2.     conversational hearts

Things to work on with your child:

*Recognizing the difference between a circle and a sphere, a square and a cube, and a triangle and a pyramid.

*The different sounds the letters make in words.

*Different words which can be made with the “at” and “an” family.

*Have your child help make out the grocery list and let them write down the items.

*Recognizing the numbers from 1-30.

*Keep working on recognizing the 25 Kindergarten words.

Thank you for all that you do to make your child’s kindergarten year a successful one.  Have a great weekend!  J