Happy first Monday of the school year!!

Welcome to my first blog post of the school year!  A goal of mine for this blog is that it is a "one-stop shop" for a resource at home.  Along the top of the blog, you can find links for Creekside's webpage, Creekside's Facebook page (be sure to "like" if you haven't already!), My First Toolbox, which has links inside to all of the websites that we use here at school, and the Classroom Calendar, where you will see upcoming events and dates at Creekside and/or in our classroom..  Along the right side you can find links to Superkids Online, Scholastic Book Orders, and our Kindergarten Standards (what we will be teaching this year in a nutshell).  

Superkids
Tomorrow, we will start our Superkids and Everyday math curriculum.  We will meet our first new Superkid!  As you talk with your child about what they learned during Superkids, here are some questions to prompt discussion:

• What is the name of the new Superkid character? 

• What sound does the Superkids name begin with? 

• What letter makes the sound /k/?  

• At this point in the year, we are only talking about each letter making ONE sound so as not to confuse the children.  

Book Rental

Don't forget about textbook rental.  Kindergarten is $73.  You can send a check in or pay in the office.  

Class Work

You will start seeing more papers in folders and bookbags at the end of each day.  Anything that can stay at home will go in book bags or in the "leave at home" side of their folder. Anything you need to see, sign, and/or send back in to school will still be in folders.  Please clean book bags/folders out regularly and keep those papers at home.

Snack Calendar

The August snack calendar is in folders to come home today.  Please keep it in a safe place so you know when it is your turn to send a snack in.  If your child's name is not on the calendar, you are off duty this month!  When sending snacks in, you don't have to send it something everyday, just one time sometime that week will be fine.

Everyday Math Book

Today your child is bringing home their first Everyday Math home book.  This small book is for you to keep at home.  The activities in the book are great games to play and ideas for practicing math at home.  All the activities are what we are working on in class as well.  Your child will bring home a new book at the beginning of each 9 weeks.  

Breakfast

Your child does have the option to eat breakfast at school.  Let me know if you would like this to be a regular thing for them, if you haven't already, and a will make sure they get off the bus and go to the cafeteria.  If they want to eat only occasionally as well, that is okay too.

Specials Schedule:
We got it worked out that Kindergarten (because of having 5 sections) will have the same special everyday of the week. Here is our new schedule:

Monday--Library
Tuesday--PE
Wednesday--Computers/Superkids
Thursday--Art
Friday--Music

Nurse info:
I don't think this will apply to anyone in our classroom, but please read below from Mrs. Robbins:

Students who brush their teeth after lunch are no longer allowed to come to the clinic to do so.  The reason is the HIPA (Health Information Privacy Act)and the confidentiality that is needed in the clinic.  For now students must brush their teeth in the primary or intermediate restrooms.  If you have a blog for your parents, you may want to pass this on.  Thanks!

Homework

Today your child is bringing home his/her FIRST homework sheet.  Please read over the directions for language and math everyday to your child.  Make sure that you watch as your child writes his/her name, and please use the Superkids handwriting guide that is coming home in the folders today as well. You will want to keep this guide in a safe place that your child can access as we learn to write letters.  As a rule on homework, please DO NOT tell your child the answers.  If you notice an incorrect answer, talk about it, and allow your child to correct the paper.  Homework should not take longer than 10-15 minutes, especially at the beginning of the year.  The homework sheet should come back to school everyday on the right side of the folder.  If you have any questions, please let me know.  

Activity Time

Last week and this week during activity time, the boys and girls learned which groups they will be in, and were able to play at 3 of the 5 areas in our classroom (blocks, Legos, easels, loft, and puppets).  This week, we are adding one more center in, so they will have 3 choices by the end of the week (2 centers and snack).  They also use this time to eat their snack....although some children learned fast that they may want to eat their snack first, as to not run out of time and miss it before the clean-up bell rings.  The groups will rotate each day of the week.  Check out our pictures below from the first few days of center time!

Whew!  That was a lot of information!  Thanks for reading all the way to the end! Don't worry--not all of the posts will be this long! :)  Have a great day!