Mrs. Miller's Kindergarten Class

Dear K1 Families,

Valentine’s Day was so much fun! Thank you parents for helping your child create valentines for their classmates. I hope that everyone loves their very special Valentine’s gift your child made for you! They were so excited to bring it home in their handmade wrapping paper!

February is Black History Month. This observation provides a meaningful opportunity to celebrate the contributions, achievements, and rich history of Black individuals and communities throughout our nation. It also allows us to reflect on our shared responsibility to create inclusive, supportive spaces where every student feels seen, valued, and inspired to thrive. This week we learned about the famous jazz trombonist Melba Liston. Liston is considered the most significant female trombonist of the bebop era. She was not only a virtuoso player but also a highly respected arranger who toured internationally. After reading about her we watched a clip of her playing her trombone. It was so fun for the children to hear her play. We also read about Harriet Tubman. The children were amazed to learn about Harriet’s heroic life.

In Bridge to Reading we worked on the double consonants ll, ff, ss, and zz. The readers learned that if a one syllable short vowel word ends with the sounds, /f/,/l/,/s/, or /z/ the consonant will be doubled. 

These last two weeks we learned about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. See if over the President’s Day weekend your child can share with you any memorable learning they had about these two Presidents. 

In social emotional learning we met the Kimochis Character Huggtopus this week. Huggtopus can help teach about the feelings silly, frustrated, excited, and proud. Huggtopus Character is strong and affectionate, but who sometimes gets a little carried away with such a big, friendly personality. She might hug too tightly or play too roughly, which upsets her friends. This can be confusing and frustrating to Huggs because she doesn’t know why her friends say, “Don’t bother me.” With Huggtopus, your child is learning to read social cues, such as facial expressions, body language, and sounds from peers. Huggtopus also teaches children how to celebrate our differences. Huggs is a six-legged octopus and is proud that she is so unique! Please look for a parent newsletter explaining about this character in your child’s Friday bag.

On Tuesday Mrs. G did a lesson on friendship and jealousy. Jealousy is a hard concept for children to understand. She talked about what jealousy might feel like or look like and ways to handle jealousy. She discussed that it's ok to share your friends with others, and that you can have many “best” friends. 

Wishing everyone a peaceful four day weekend. - Kathy