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Welcome to All Day Kindergarten!
Click here to check out our classroom slide show!!
Dear Parents,
Usually on Back-to-School Night, we give a little talk to let you know all that is going on in kindergarten and what our plans are for the year. However, we have found that it is difficult to time this talk, since so many parents are rushing off to other classrooms. So, we’ll give “our talk” in writing and free up the evening itself as a time to chat and say hello.
First of all, welcome! We are very happy to have you here at McCarthy-Towne and are looking forward to a great year in kindergarten. If this is your first experience with the school, we hope that you will find it to be welcoming and a place that you and your child feel comfortable.
Units:
Although Vin Wallack teaches the half-day class and Janet teaches all day, we organize our classrooms in similar ways and have similar teaching styles. We follow the same curriculum and can often be seen in each other’s rooms sharing materials, ideas and stories. Like most classes at McT, we use a unit-based curriculum, incorporating the unit of study in all aspects of the classroom: art, math, literacy, drawing and writing. The units we plan on covering this year, some more in depth than others, are:
ß Fall harvest: apples and pumpkins
ß Bears
ß Penguins
ß Medieval Times
ß Nutrition
ß Mexico
ß Ladybugs and Insects
ß Solar System
Centers:
In addition to organizing our year by different units of study, we also organize our days and weeks by “centers.” During our work time, which we call “center time,” each child will be directed to go to one of four projects that have been set up for the week. These may include an art project, a writing piece, math exploration and handwriting, among other things. The children then rotate as a group through the course of the week so that by Friday, everyone should have done each of the week’s four projects. The following week, there will be four new projects and four new flexible groups of kids. We try to organize our centers to allow kids to work independently, collaboratively with a partner or as a whole group, depending on the activity. This is a time in our day that we also welcome parents to come in and help out. In fact, we’ve come to rely on parents during center time! Please be sure to sign
up if you are interested in coming in to help.
Handwriting:
For the last few years, we have been using a handwriting program called “Handwriting Without Tears.” We are finding it to be very helpful, and the children enjoy working in their handwriting books. We will be using this program again this year. Attached you will find a sheet showing how we are having the children make their letters and numbers. This way, you can be consistent at home as well.
CORI Forms:
This year, as you already know, all volunteers in the classroom as well as for field trips are required to fill out a CORI form. You will not be allowed to chaperone on a field trip or come into the classroom unless this form has gone through the central office and we’ve gotten the OK. Two weeks prior to each field trip, we need to submit a list to the office of parents who will be chaperoning. So please, submit a CORI sheet if you have not already.
Field Trips
We have several field trips that we try to go on each year, beginning with apple picking and pumpkin picking, in the fall. We also go to Higgins Armory Museum during our Medieval unit and enjoy cooking during our unit on Mexico. We may add one or two new field trips this year.
Room Parent:
Each classroom is looking for one or two room parents to help organize parties and other special activities. This is a job that rarely requires a lot more than making phone calls or sending emails to other parents and staying in touch with the teachers. Please let us know if this is something you are interested in. Thanks!
Sharing time:
You will receive a scheduled day of the week that your child can bring a “share” in from home. We love to see children bring in items that he/she has made, found in nature or items that are related to our unit of study. We do not allow children to share toys, stuffed animals or games from home, since this leads to broken parts or hurt (or jealous) feelings. Please help your child to remember to keep these things at home!
Birthdays:
We love to celebrate birthdays in kindergarten. Feel free to send in a small treat with your child on his or her special day. Cookies, cupcakes and brownies are always welcome, but PLEASE leave the cake and ice cream at home as it is far too messy and difficult to handle at school. If your child has a birthday over the summer, they are welcome to celebrate their half-birthday here at school. If you plan on having a birthday party for your child at home, please DO NOT send invitations to be given out at school. Again, this leads to many hurt feelings – unless you plan on inviting all the students to your party!!
Communication:
We both use Friday folders as a way of sending home completed work, newsletters, notices from the office and any other information you might need to know. It is very important that you look through these folders at the end of every week and return them to school the following Monday, as we begin filling them almost immediately. Another easy way to get in touch with us is through e-mail. We check our e-mail regularly and will occasionally use e-mail to let you know about additional classroom happenings or to send out reminders. If you did not have a chance to give us your e-mail address yet and would like to be on the class list, please do so soon.
Snack:
Be sure to send in a healthy snack and a drink with your child every day. Thursdays are a longer day, so please make sure your child has a larger snack or even a small lunch. Please do not send candy or soda to school with your child. For all-day kindergartners, we will provide an afternoon snack and drink, except on Thursdays.
Rest Time:
All-day kindergartners also have a 20-30 minute rest time each day. Your child needs to have a small blanket or towel that he or she can keep at school. These will be sent home from time to time to be washed.
Last, but definitely not least, our Kindergarten Philosophy:
We hope that your child will begin to think of his or her classroom as a home away from home. Our main focus for September is to make the children feel as comfortable as possible. We encourage community building and focus on children fostering respect for themselves and others. The classroom belongs to the children, as is apparent by all of their art work hung around the room. Materials are easily accessible to the children, and we encourage students to take initiatives in using them. We hope to build self-esteem and responsibility and will hold the kids accountable for their own belongings and the materials in the room, as well as for their actions. Most importantly, we hope the children will have fun and that they will come away from their kindergarten experience with self-confidence and a love for school and learning!
Here’s to a great year!
Vin and Janet
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| Classroom News We look forward to seeing you at our Back to School Night on Tuesday September 18th from 6:45pm-8:00pm.
You will enjoy finding your child's collaged self portrait which is part of our All About Me Unit!
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| Units we study We are currently studying space. The class is enjoying playing in our dramatic paly area which has been transformed into a rocket ship! They are also observing photos of each of the planets and creating detailed drawing of each planet.
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| Class Newsletter Check back soon....
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