Beginning of the Year Fun

We made it through the first 9 days of Kindergarten!!   The children are doing well learning the morning routines and are doing them on their own now (with some reminders).  We also practiced walking outside for a fire drill and they did well following directions and staying in a quiet line. 

All of the children seem to be adjusting well to coming to school whether on the bus or being dropped off.  We began the regular morning routine with the first and second graders last week of waiting in the gym before heading down to the classroom.  The kids are also doing a great job getting ready for dismissal at the end of the school day.  I am gradually trying to let them be more independent with placing papers in the pockets of their folders and packing their backpacks on their own.

We have been busy learning each other’s names, practicing our cutting and gluing skills, becoming familiar with the daily routines, and learning the expectations of school behavior.  We have also been learning the terms before, after, same, and different in math.

I have been encouraging the children to go home each day and share one thing they have learned.  If your child has not shared what we have been doing, here are a few suggestions of what you can ask them about:

• What does a 5 star listener look like? (I am looking for children sitting with legs crossed, hands still and in their laps, ears listening, eyes watching the speaker, and lips that are zipped) 
• Can you show me how you write the numbers one, two, and three? 
• Who were the characters? or What was your favorite part of the books The Kissing Hand, Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten, and The Wheels on the Bus? (The red titles take you to read alouds of the stories).

We got to check out Dr. Carreiro's office during our tour of the school.
Can your child name some of his/her new classmates?

I'm looking forward to our second full week next week.  We are going to continue learning each other's names, learn how to print numbers up to 5, learn that good readers read the pictures to tell a story, and develop an understanding of expected and unexpected school behavior so that we can create our classroom rules together.