Thank you for your support through this exciting and busy week. We certainly had some very tired kiddos by the end of each day!
The goal of this week was to learn expectations and routines. Your children worked so hard. I know that a structured day is new and overwhelming to a lot of them. There was more "sitting and listening" this week than we will have moving forward. There are SO MANY directions that need to be given this first week. I am having a glass of tea (wine) for my throat now...
One of the biggest challenges I will have this year is for there to be ONE speaker at a time. The class has so much to say that there were a lot of "words bumping" during instructional time.
Our class did really well with lunch. This can be an extremely confusing time for students that have never experienced the cafeteria. Our class in particular, was able to tell me what their lunch plan was, and advocate for themselves when they were questioned. Please know that because the lunches are free this year, if we are unsure of a lunch status, or your child still feels hungry after eating what they brought from home, we will send them through the lunch line. If you DO NOT want you children getting a school lunch, please let me know.
The adults in the building learned some valuable lunchroom language lessons this week. Some of our word choices did not help the children feel any less confused...
*Children do not "buy" their lunch from the cafe, they "get" their lunch from the cafe.
*a "lunch box" is not just for lunch. If they have one it doesn't mean they have a lunch to eat.
The children all did well at rest time. There are some children that certainly need that time and close their eyes for 15 minutes (or more). There are also children that do not need the rest and are counting down the minutes until rest time is over. Everyone has been respectful of their classmates and stayed "quiet and calm"
Blankets can come to school on Monday and stay at school for the week. We will send all blankets home on friday to be washed. Small stuffed animals are allowed as long as children can snuggle them responsibly. If the stuffies become pretend play characters during rest, they will have to stay at home.
This weekend, I will be checking out a solution for the blankets in the coatroom. Stay tuned for a way to transport rest items back and forth to school as well as keep them neat in the coatroom!
If you have not yet sent headphones in for your child, please do so as soon as possible. We will be using ipads and chromebooks throughout the year for independent practice. Headphones with a regular (old school) jack will work with our technology.
Attached to this note you will find the "class contact" list. If there are errors, please let me know and I will fix them! It looks like there are some great friendships beginning in the class. I am glad to provide you with a way to connect with the other families.
By the end of the month, be on the lookout for an October Volunteer schedule for the classroom. Remember, you need to have a approved CORI to volunteer with us. Please see Mrs. Beliveau and Mrs. McCarthy in the office to take of that.
On Sunday, I will send an outlook for the coming week! Moving forward it will be one weekend report that covers the past and coming weeks. I just knew this one would be long.
This update, along with other valuable Kindergarten information are available on my blog. For the first couple of months, I will be sure to send updates through email as well. My hope is that by the end of the year, everyone will be subscribed to the blog and get your automatic updates that way.
Thank you again for sharing your children with me! I can tell this is going to be a busy year!
September 19th 5:30-6:00- Back to School Night
October 5: NO SCHOOL- Yom Kippur
October 10: NO SCHOOL- Columbus Day/Indigenous People's Day
October 24: NO SCHOOL- Diwali
October 27: Picture Day
October 31: Halloween! (Classroom Party)
November 3: NO SCHOOL- Professional Development Day
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