Kindergarten
by Barb Svoboda and Mary Veskrna
August 27, 2008
Kindergarten is off to a busy start this year. There are currently 29 students in Kindergarten. These students have already become pretty familiar with the routine and are beginning to settle in. Learning to sit quietly and follow rules for a whole day, 5 days in a row is not easy!
Reading groups have begun. The children are all working in one of six ability groups that best meets their needs. In these groups, the children are learning the letter names and sounds that these letters make. “Phonograms” is the word we use a lot around here to describe the letter sounds. There are 55 phonograms that the children will be exposed to this year. They are also learning to read basic sight words, and tell about stories they hear. Other skills being covered include reading a series of letters, clapping out syllables in words, counting sounds in words, rhyming, discriminating between letters and shapes and of course, writing their names!
Math class has also covered many concepts such as money identification, patterns, measuring objects, and number recognition. Most of our time, however, has been spent on counting out objects and learning to write the numbers correctly! This will continue in October.
Science and Social Studies is covered in the afternoon. Most of our time in this area has been spent on learning to follow rules, being a respectful citizen, celebrating Constitution Day, learning about our 5 senses, healthy and unhealthy foods, and learning safety rules to keep ourselves healthy and safe. In October, we will work on learning about our families and community helpers.
We always appreciate your help as we work with your children. Please take time in the evenings to work on the classroom homework calendar, review letters and numbers with your children, and don’t forget to READ to them. The Book-It program through Pizza Hut will be beginning in October and will go through March. Each month that you and your child read 15 books together, your child will receive a certificate for a free personal size pizza from Pizza Hut. Please check your child’s backpack often for notes on the Pizza Hut program and all other important information
