Welcome Back To School!!!!!
I hope everyone had a restful and enjoyable summer. I look forward to us having a fantastic first day of Kindergarten. The girls will be very excited about all the fun things we will be doing this year. On the first day of school, they will meet our class bear named TEDDY, learn a song about him, and add the letters of each other's names to help learn who is in our class! It will be fun to meet their special stuffed animal or doll friend too! As we read about Chrysanthemum, we will examine each other's names and really get to know all about everyone in the class. We will also read some great stories, including Kindergarten Here I Come; The Kissing Hand; and Froggy Goes To School. We will also jump right into our daily routine so that the girls begin to familiarize themselves with our daily schedules.
During the first week of school, I will take the class on a tour of the school to familiarize the girls with where they will have lunch, outside play, physical education (in our newly renovated room), art, music, and STEM exploration (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).
This month, our focus will be centered on introducing the children to conventions of print and beginning to develop their reading readiness skills. They will also learn class rules and routines, and adapt to a fuller schedule with specials (which will begin during the first full week of school). The children will learn how to "work the room" within rotation groups, play appropriately within each of the centers, and work cooperatively within our class family.
For the month of September, we will explore our 5 senses as we focus on an All About Me self-discovery theme. The children will identify their 5 senses, as well as their physical attributes. Through hands-on experiments in our science center, we will explore our ability to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. Through this theme, the children will learn more about each other as well. They will compare/contrast similarities and differences in physical attributes (eye color, hair color, etc.) Each child will have the opportunity to be the Star Child of the Day. This great honor will help the children in identifying the names of one another as well as help the girls get to know all about each other.
We will make numerous books that the girls will begin to "read". The children will begin reading familiar text through a study on Nursery Rhymes. The girls will learn how to use pointer finger to point under each word as they read. Within our study on nursery rhymes, we will spend a lot of time identifying rhymes, rhyming word pairs, "reading" familiar text, and learning some repeated sight words.
The girls will begin learning how to identify the difference and correlation between letters, letter sounds, and words. They will start to become aware of the spaces in-between words, and begin to use reading strategies. We will begin to review letters and letter sounds as well. As we work on proper letter formation of upper and lowercase letters, we will learn to identify the letters within our own names, as well as the names of our classmates. We will figure out who has the longest/ shortest name; who has equal amount of letters; how many people have particular letters in their name...etc.
Finally, the children will be introduced to the proper grasp of a pencil when writing, and we will work on strengthening our fine motor skills through coloring, cutting, painting, tracing, etc. The girls will work on and practice writing their first name as they learn how to form letters correctly.
Within our math curriculum, we will begin to review numbers. The girls will make number books and learn to identify how many and write the numbers 1 to 10. We will also begin to identify simple ABAB 2 color patterns.
The curriculum will be enriched with issues of our Weekly Reader, Science Spin, and National Geographic magazine subscriptions throughout the year. This year we will use a special booklet that is geared for Kindergarten level, which teaches about the role of a president and the voting process of the two candidates. I will explain more about all of this, as well as Guided Reading, Take-A-Book Home (lending library), our book/buddy journal writing experience, the implementation of our school's STEM curriculum, and our Big Sister/Little Sister program at the Open School Night later in the month.
Please take some time to read the parent/student handbook, which is now on our website. This will keep you informed on the school's policies. Make sure to check the monthly blog as well, so as to keep abreast of what your child will be learning and doing within each month.
I look forward to an exciting year!
Warm Regards,
Mrs. D'Addona
