Mrs. Miller's Kindergarten Class

Hello K1 Families,

I can’t believe that Thanksgiving is next week!

This is our first year that we are not sending a physical copy of your child’s first trimester report card home. Please find your child’s first trimester report card on Aries. If you have any questions please reach out. I am so happy with all the children’s growth!

Important date to mark on your calendar… Wed, Dec. 17th at 8:45 is the Springhill Winter Sing. The concert will be held in our multi purpose room. All kinders are encouraged to wear their pajamas that day to school! Please arrive early, parking will be tricky! The children are busily working with their music teacher Mrs. Brummel to prepare for this school concert! They are so excited about performing for you!

This week we continued learning about Indigenous Americans. We enjoyed many books that celebrated Native customs, folklore and important celebrations. One common theme that we discovered in our reading was the Native Americans’ interdependence, respect and awe of the natural world. One of our favorite Native American children’s authors is Brittany Luby. 

We read her book, This Is How I Know, in English and then listened to a member of her tribe read it in Anishinaabe, her Native language. In this story a child and her grandmother explore the natural wonders of each season in a story-poem. This book was inspired by the author’s childhood memories of time spent with her elders. It explores living in relationship with the natural world in the Great Lakes region of Anishinaabe territory. The children enjoyed hearing the Anishinaabe language. Other books by this author we read included, Mnoomin Maan'gowing / the Gift of Mnoomin, and Encounter.

Your child is bringing home an informational book about the Saclan People that have lived on and cared for the land that we now call Lafayette for thousands of years. Please read this book with your child. They are so proud of all their learning!

In social emotional learning we read the book Listening with my Heart, by Gabi Garcia. This story talks about the importance of not only having empathy, kindness and compassion for others, but the importance of loving yourself. In today’s hypercompetitive world, children often internalize the message that their worth is attached to accomplishments and that messing up is something to be ashamed of, rather than simply is a normal part of life and learning. This negative thinking can lead to harsh self-talk, and children thinking that they are not good enough. Listening with my Heart, reminds us to have compassion for ourselves and that mistakes are just a setback and a part of life. Parents, you can model self-compassion at home, and remind your child that every mistake is an opportunity to model kindness and compassion for ourselves.

In math we continued to work with teen numbers. We used double ten frames to build teen numbers with counters and we played our Turkey Teen game, and used pattern blocks to create a turkey.

In phonics and reading we worked on the “am” word family, the /m/,/a/,/p/ and /s/ sounds and the letters M, A, P and S. We talked about how when we read we first point to the word, then read the word. Every word gets one “tap” or “point.” Each day we work on sounding out/decoding words and writing/encoding words. The children are so excited to be cracking the reading and writing code! In your child’s Friday bag, please find our next set of Red Words for you and your child to practice at home!

Please continue to sign up for classroom volunteer slots. December will be a short and busy month. Extra help will be welcomed!

Also, please consider signing up to donate something for our Out Reach opportunity! Thanks to everyone that has already donated! I know that together we can make a difference for a family that is struggling.  

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of opportunities to connect with loved ones. We truly do have so much to be grateful for.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Break!- Kathy