Welcome to Kindergarten! It is going to be a fun and exciting year. I hope this will be a place you will come to visit often. Here you will find important information and dates. It will also be a place to keep up with what is going on in the classroom. I am looking forward to a great year!
Literacy
Children will be writing daily in the classroom. They will have the opportunity to write in a variety of ways. At the beginning of the year, children will write stories about themselves (personal narratives). When the child has an experience, encourage him or her to write about it the next day at school. Some examples may be summer vacations, camps, losing a tooth, something scary, sad, happy, etc., stories about pets, friends, and so on. Next we will introduce how to write letters, nonfiction pieces, and research pieces. The children will observe me writing daily as I model the writing process.
Children will also be reading daily in class. They will have the opportunity to read many different materials such as books, poems, big books, National Geographic, individual readers, etc. At the beginning of the year we talk about reading with the picture. Chidren are encouraged to look at the pictures to see what is going on and "create" their own stories. We also encourage them to retell familiar stories or poems that I have read in class. As they are reading they are encouraged to look at the pictures and point to each word. Play at reading is very important to the development of our early readers!
Math 
At the beginning of the year, children will be introduced to the materials and manipulatives that they will use throughout the year to learn math concepts. They will begin to learn concepts such as sorting and classifying. They will also be doing games and activities to reinforce number concepts.
We have been exploring with the math manipulatives. Children have been creating some interesting creations! Now we're moving away from free exploration and getting down to business. Children are now exploring the concept of number. We have been working on counting, subitizing, shapes and sorting.
 Science and Social Studies
At the beginning of the year, children will begin to learn the scientific process. They will explore and learn how to use the tools and equipment needed for experiments throughout the year. Along with learning how to use the tools, they will also learn the safety rules that go along with science experiments. Children will learn how to communicate their findings by writings, drawings, graphs, diagrams, etc.
Children will begin their learning in social studies by learning about themselves and others. They will learn about their school community by exploring the locations and people found throughout the school. The concept of government will be introduced in their own classroom by learning and discussing rules and why they are important. In addition, children will be role- playing and putting into practice good citizenship techniques.
We have been learning each others names and learning about each other. Children did self portraits and did letter/sound work with their name. We also went on a shape hunt around the building locating people in the building such as the office, nurse, cafeteria and so on. We also practice a new Boys and Girls Town skill each week. These skills help us learn to be good friends and citizens in class.
Important Kindergarten Dates
October 7 - Progress Reports
October 10 - School Holiday
October 27 - Mathoween
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