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:

August 24 - Early Friends / Late Friends Schedule begins  Early Friends 8:15-12:45 Late Friends 9:30-2:00

September 7 - No School Labor Day

September 18 - Fall Picnic

October 12 - Teacher workday - no school for students

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

Hello Families!   

It is hard to believe that we have already completed week two of kindergarten! The children are becoming used to our day, right when we are going to switch up the schedule! Next week we will begin our early/later friends schedule. Please remember that the early friend’s schedule is M,T,Th,F 8:15-12:45, and Wednesday's schedule is 8:15-11:45. Later friend’s schedule is M,T,Th,F 9:30-2:00, and Wednesday's schedule is 8:15-11:45. We know this is a lot to remember, but it will soon become second nature! Starting next week, we will be having snack and lunch each day. Please plan accordingly and talk to your child to make sure that they know if they are bringing lunch or getting lunch. Also talk about their snack and possibly put their snack in a separate container?

Each day in kindergarten we are working on building independence. This could be putting on your backpack by yourself, or opening your snack. Doing something independently can help your child develop a sense of self-identity, self-esteem, and confidence. It can also help them feel in control during times of uncertainty, and prepare them for adulthood. Please keep on encouraging your child to do routine daily activities without adult help. Also please remember that there are no toys from home allowed in class. Thanks for reminding your child.

Our week has been all about our names and learning our friend’s names. We are learning that in kindergarten, you always write your name with a capital letter followed by lowercase letters. This may be a new concept for your child, and for some, it will take much practice to master this. Please keep encouraging your child to write their name the “kindergarten way” when writing at home. We also learned how to hold a pencil “the kindergarten way.” See if your child can show you!

We began our new phonics program this week, Bridge to Reading. We focused on the alphabetic principle. Children’s reading development is dependent on their understanding of the alphabetic principle – the idea that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of spoken language. Learning that there are predictable relationships between sounds and letters allows children to apply these relationships to both familiar and unfamiliar words, and to begin to read. We talked about how there are capital and lowercase letters, vowels and consonants. We explored how many vowels and consonants we had in our own names. When your child brings home a Bridge to Reading workbook packet, please note that your child may not be required to finish each page, although we do cover all concepts and lessons in class.

In social emotional learning this week we explored what it means to “think thoughts” and “feel feelings.” We talked about how someone can have more than one feeling at the same time. We also explored how our bodies feel with different feelings. Sometimes we can feel “sad” in our throats, or “happy” in our tummies. Knowing how you feel and being able to name a feeling helps us regulate our emotions. We read the book Color Monster by Anna Llenas. This story is about a colorful monster that has so many confusing feelings inside and a kind child helps it identify and unravel its feelings. After reading we drew our own monster and then painted it to represent our own emotions.

On Tuesday our wonderful councilor, Mrs. G came into class and talked about feelings too! 

In math this week we talked about what mathematicians are and what math is? We brainstormed ideas and created a chart. Some of the children’s ideas included, “math is counting, math is numbers, math is taking a number and adding another number to it.” We learned that math can be solving a problem, listening to other’s ideas, and even disagreeing kindly with a friend.

Next Thursday is Picture Day! You found a handout in your child’s Friday bag last week that explains how to order pictures. Please remember to return your child’s Friday bag each Monday and library books are due each Wednesday. 

We are looking forward to our new schedule and routine next week. Have a lovely weekend! - Kathy & Stephanie