Mrs. Miller & Mrs. O'Toole's Kindergarten Class

We are so happy to be your child's teacher. This kindergarten year will be a year of new beginnings, a year filled with large and small accomplishments, a year of trying new things and making new friends. Kindergarten is an important year in your child's education. It sets the foundation for future years.We are honored to be on this very memorable and special journey with you and your child! We will be updating this website weekly with our K1 Newsletter, class photos, important dates and information.

We look forward to working with you this year! 

Important Dates:

October 12 - Teacher workday - no school for students

October 15 - Picture Make-up Day

October 19-23 - minimum days - conference week - all K classes meet 8:15-11:45

October 30 - Halloween celebration - Minimum day for K all students meet 8:15-11:45

Hello Families!   

We can't believe that next week we are entering the month of October!

Thank you families for signing up for an October Parent Conference! If you have not yet signed up, please sign up asap. We are looking forward to sitting down and talking with each of you about how your child is acclimating to kindergarten.

In Bridge To Reading we focused on the sounds: /k/,/p/and /d/. We worked with the red words: a, the, see and I. Each child has their very own Red Word box to keep their Red Word flashcards. They can take them out each day and practice them with a friend or by themselves. See if your child can read and write these important words.

This week we finished our Nursery Rhyme unit. The readers each earned a Rhyming Reader Award! Your child is bringing home their rhyming song book today. Please take time to listen to them recite the poems. We had such a fun time listening for rhymes, retelling stories with the flannel board and reading with a buddy during reader’s workshop. We enjoyed this rhyming unit. On Wednesday, our fourth grade buddy class visited and each kindergarten student read their Nursery Rhyme Books. We also played a fun number recognition tic-tac-toe game.

In our mindful moments this week, we did Nursery Rhyme Yoga. Practicing yoga and taking these mindful pauses throughout the day is like hitting the reset button, for all of us. An example is that we learned “cat”, “cow” and “dog” poses for Hey Diddle Diddle. Yoga benefits include improving emotional self-regulation, decrease in stress and anxiety levels.

We have been enjoying our math talks that involve shapes. The mathematicians are noticing shape attributes such as vertices and sides in everyday things. 

In social emotional learning, we revisited what whole body listening looks like. When someone has their eyes watching, ears listening, feet still, hands safe, brain thinking and a heart that is caring they are listening with their whole body!

On Tuesday, Mrs. G. came into our class and did a lesson on zones of regulation. She shared the strategy, Stop, Opt and Go! When a child has a big reaction and is in the red zone you: Stop, Think of options to solve the problem to get into the green zone and then Go and implement the option.

Many students have returned their September reading logs. If your child has not, keep reading each night! Reading aloud to children has clear cognitive benefits. For example, brain scans show that hearing stories strengthens the part of the brain associated with visual imagery, story comprehension, and word meaning, plus it is such a wonderful way to connect with your child!

This month in the library, we observed National Hispanic Heritage Month by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. Throughout September we read books that recognized this culture. 

Please find the results of the M class assessment in your child’s Friday bag. This assessment was administered by one of our reading teachers. It is a digital platform used in schools to test and track early reading skills in K-6 grades. Please look over the assessment and if you have any questions, please reach out to Jill Tarkoff our reading specialist at Springhill.  

The week of October 5th, we will start parent volunteers in the classroom. Thanks to all the families that have already signed up to help. Please make sure that you check in the office before coming to the classroom. We are looking forward to your help! Just a quick reminder, please ensure that you have completed the Be A Mentor requirements to volunteer in the classroom.

Have a wonderful weekend! - Kathy & Stephanie