| Mrs. Aiken's Kindergarten |
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Aiken's Awesome Kindergarten 2009/2010! ***updated June 20th. ***Please scroll down the page a bit to see the current newsletter! Important Facts About School We have children in our classroom with life-threatening allergies to nuts and eggs.Please read all of the ingredients on prepared snacks very carefully to ensure that they are safe. Even if a snack says, "May contain traces of....", they will not be allowed at school. Also, please be aware of potential cross-contamination when preparing snacks at home. Our school day for the morning class begins at 8:55 a.m. and ends at 11:40. Our school day for the afternoon class begins at 12:40 and ends at 3:25. Before school, in the morning and afternoon, please bring your child to the fenced-in Kindergarten Yard at the side of the school. Please do not leave your child until a teacher arrives for supervision duty in the yard. When the bell rings, at 8:55 a.m. and 12:40 p.m., your child should line up outside the class door where I will greet him or her. Please do not enter through the school unless your child is late. If your child is late, please check in at the office before coming to class. Parents, please be prompt when picking your child up from school at 11:40 a.m. or 3:25 p.m.. Remember to inform me (preferably in writing) if your child is being picked up by someone other than the regular caregiver. What to Send to School A pair of indoor running shoes that will remain at school (please print your child's name on his/her indoor shoes with a permanent marker). Please ensure that your child can independently put on and take off the shoes. Clothing that is appropriate for outdoor play, depending on the weather (e.g., sun hat, rain boots, splash pants, hat, mittens, and snow pants). Please ensure that all of these items are clearly labelled with your child's name. A complete change of clothes in a labelled shoe box (including underwear and socks) with your child's name on each item. I kept some shoe boxes that were used for this purpose last year, so if you can't find a box....don't worry!! A large backpack that your child can open and close independently. A healthy midday snack. If you would like to include a drink in the snack box, please send water in a reusable container.
Monday, June 20th, 2010 Dear Parents, We're beginning our last full week of Kindergarten, and are really looking forward to our Celebration of Learning on Friday. We're inviting the parents of JK and SK children to the Library to listen to some very special songs and watch our SK students graduate. Our JK students will receive certificates saying what a great job they've been doing at school this year. I originally scheduled our Graduation for 10:50-11:40 in the morning for the a.m. class, but am going to revise that time to ensure we have enough time to enjoy the celebration. ***OUR MORNING GRADUATION/CELEBRATION OF LEARNING WILL TAKE PLACE BETWEEN 10:40 AND 11:40, AND WILL BE ONE HOUR IN DURATION! ***OUR AFTERNOON GRADUATION/CELEBRATION OF LEARNING WILL TAKE PLACE BETWEEN 2:30 AND 3:25, AND WILL BE ONE HOUR IN DURATION! Thanks for making the necessary change to your schedules, and we look forward to seeing you all very much. If you have any questions about Friday, or anything else, please don't hesitate to call. See you on Friday, Mrs. Aiken
Parents sometimes ask me for tips to strengthen their children's language skills at home. I've provided some tips below if you're interested. How can I help my child with reading? Read to your child every day. Encourage your child to select books for you to read together. Draw attention to the illustrations when you're reading with your child. Keep audio books of favourite stories in the car to play on long journeys. Teach your child nursery rhymes and songs. Let the child hold the book and turn the pages. Sometimes point to words as you are reading them in order to model that important reading strategy. Talk about the characters, plot, settings of stories. Discuss information gleaned from factual books. Draw attention to print on packaging (e.g., this says cornflakes). Let your child 'read' to you and to anyone else who is willing to listen. Point out interesting or long words in books. Accept your child's reading efforts without criticism. Always encourage and praise his/her efforts. SK-Set up a home message board and write a message on it every day (e.g., today we're going to Grandma's). SK- Emphasise with your child the importance of making sense from their reading. Encourage them to take risks and try sounding out some simple words. De-emphasise the need to get 100% accuracy and try strategies other than sounding out. If your child makes a mistake when he or she is reading aloud, allow time for self-correction. If the mistake makes sense, ignore it. Encourage your child to retell stories. Play license plate games in the car, e.g. 'silly sentences' --FCF could be fat cows flying. Ask your child what would make sense if he/she gets stuck on a word when reading a simple book. Buy your child games that provide simple instructions to be read and followed. Play word games together. How can I help my child with writing? Read books which feature rhyme and repetition. Show your child how you use writing. Write messages, shopping lists, telephone messages, letters and greeting cards in front of him/her and take about what you are doing. Provide a special place for your child to write, as well as the materials that he/she will need in order to experiment with writing independently (pencils, paper, crayons, scrapbooks). Read and talk about alphabet books and answer you child's questions. Provide magnetic or plastic letters for your child to play with. Write short messages for your child to read, and encourage him/her to draw or print a response for you to read. Support and encourage your child's writing attempts. SK- Make an alphabet book with your child. As she or he expresses an interest in particular words help her or him to enter words on the appropriate page and keep for use as a personal word bank. Play games making words from plastic or magnetic letters. Discuss similarities and differences in they way words sound or look. Play games using letters or sound, "I spy with my little eye, something that starts with 'p' or 'puh'". Start a family diary to record special days, weekend activities etc.. Share reading of the journal with family members. Find time to show your child that you value reading and writing for yourself, and share reading and writing with them. Show amazement and delight when your child uses initial letters or clusters of two or three letters when writing words. Always encourage your child to print as much of a word as he/she can do by themselves, and then provide help only if it is requested. Talk with your child abouth the sort of writing they are doing at school. If you are involved in writing for work show your child how you write and explain why you are writing.
How can I help my child with speaking and listening? Set aside 10-15 minutes to discuss what has happened during the day. Involve your child in adult conversations when appropriate. Encourage your child to give reasons for decisions he or she has made, and use logical arguements when trying to present points of view. Talk about topics of mutual interest with the expectation that your child will listen. Ask your child to retell a story or explain a certain section. Help with meaning, e.g., explain the meanings of words, add information to clarify understanding, or paraphrase. Sing alphabet songs and discuss letter names. Develop mathematical language and understandings through counting, sorting, matching and talking about numbers, numerals, shapes, sizes and physical properties. Include the family in games which provide enjoyment and teach social skills, e.g., taking turns, explaining rules to another player, congratulating the winner.
For professional articles on teaching reading to your child, or 26 tips for building reading into your everyday family life, please click on Hot Links Some great websites below for your technologically savvy child! www.tumblereadables.com/auto_login.asp?u=glendhu&p=login http://www.berenstainbears.comhttp://www.enchantedlearning.com http://www.tlsbooks.com/gradelevel.htm http://www.tlsbooks.com/gradelevel.htm
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