DAILY SCHEDULE
The Kindergarten day begins at 8:45 and ends at 3:30. It is very important that your child wear a name tag to school for the first several weeks.  The nametag should have your child’s name, address, and type of transportation (parent pick-up, daycare bus or school bus, etc.) that your child is taking to and home from school. Please be specific about this information (and the specific bus # if that applies).
There are many people who help your child get to and from school.  These tags are essential in making sure that your child gets to school and back home safely. If there is a day when you will be making changes to your child’s normal transportation routine (doctor’s appointments, special occasions, etc.) you must send in a note with your son/daughter.  If I do not receive a note about this change I will have to send your child home according to what he/she has normally been using as transportation from school.

LABELS
Please label your child’s coats, boots, sweaters and book bags.  When several students have the same style of items, labels help!

DAILY FOLDER
Your child will be bringing home various graded work, letters and/or memos from the office on a daily basis.  It is important that you check your child’s book bag each evening upon the return of your child from school.   Your child will use the red folder to bring these papers home. This will be your child's "Take Home Folder". Any graded work and/or special notes or memos sent home in these folders can remain at home unless indicated otherwise.

WEEKLY UPATES
On Fridays the website will be updated with a new version of "Kindergarten News". Please check back often to review information about weekly classroom activities.  Also, there may be important announcements made under the topic “Very Important Reminders”!  Please check back often for those reminders and announcements.

POETRY FOLDER
Beginning this week your child will be bringing home a weekly Poetry Folder containing poems that we have learned.  This is your child’s blue folder and will be sent home each Friday. Please have your child share the poem(s) with you. Your responsibility is to sign the “Lucky Listener” form attached to the notebook. All Poetry Folders must be returned on Mondays and the poems themselves must remain in the folder so that we can recall and reread the poems throughout the school year.

GYM CLASS, ART CLASS, AND MUSIC CLASS
Your child will receive instruction in art, music and gym (P.E.). The schedule is as follows:
Monday         P.E Class
Tuesday        Art and P.E. Class
Wednesday   Library
Thursday       Music
Friday            
Please be sure that your son/daughter wears sneakers and comfortable clothes on P.E. days and that all library books that are borrowed are returned on Wednesdays. (See more information below.)

LIBRARY
    Your child will be going to the library on a weekly basis.  Students receive library instruction during the year from Mrs. Taylor.  Students will bring home one library book per week. Your child will need assistance in remembering to put their library book back in their book bag on LIBRARY DAY (Wednesdays).  If your child forgets their book, they will be unable to check out a new book until their book is returned.

BIRTHDAYS
    You may be planning a special birthday party for your child this year.  The policy for Woodland Elementary is that invitations may not be sent home from school unless the entire class is invited to take part in the party.  A school directory will be compiled through our PTA and the names and address of children can be used from that resource to send invitations through the mail. If you have any questions about this please let me know.
Students may bring in birthday treats to celebrate their special day. There are twenty-two students in our class. I ask that you refrain from sending in anything with peanut butter, or peanuts since we have students who are highly allergic to these items. 

DAILY SNACKS
    Each morning we have “snack time.”  Please send in a nutritious snack for your child.  Some ideas are fruits, vegetables, yogurt, and cereals low in sugar, crackers and cheese or granola bars just to name a few ideas. Chips, pudding, fruit roll ups and fruit snacks are highly discouraged due to the high salt, fat, and sugar content. Please be sure that the snack your child eats is an item that will help him/her concentrate on his/her schoolwork.  Sugary snacks are not the best for “minds-on and hands-on” learning! Also, we have students within our class that are highly allergic to peanuts.  Please refrain from bringing a snack with any peanut related ingredients.  If you are uncertain about this, please read the labels of your packaging. The school nurse created a “safe snack” list and it was sent home last week.

CURRICULUM
Language Arts
    We will be using a multi-sensory approach to learn and recall the letters and sounds of the alphabet.  This program is called “Phonics First” and is rich in using all of a child’s senses to explore letters and letter sounds.  We will be writing, drawing painting (among many other things) to practice this aspect of language.  The students have various levels and abilities.  This will be addressed in the coming days and weeks of school.  We will have small “Guided Reading” times as well as independent reading opportunities throughout the year to support individual strengths and weaknesses. To support these differences we will be engaged in a program called “The Daily Five” which focuses on the use of centers. This is where children receive many opportunities to read and write to strengthen their literacy.
    The Stow-Munroe Falls City Schools has adopted Trophies (a Harcourt
Publisher) as our reading series.  I will be using many aspects of this program to enhance your child’s ability as well.  Your child’s “Book Box” will play an important role in your child’s development too!  Please see that you purchase this box as soon as possible.  The size is a 19qt., clear tote with a white (not clear) lid.  The white lid is the only item needed from the tote to be brought to school at this time.  More information will be sent home at a later time in regard to the purpose and focus for these boxes and how you will use them at home.
    Students will be writing in weekly journals and will be given the opportunity to increase their oral communication ability by sharing in our “Author Chair” along with “Show and Share” each week. The students love this and look forward to being the one with all of the focused attention while sitting in the “Author Chair” and sharing something that they have created! Please remember, no child will be forced to participate in sharing.  However, it is my goal to get every child comfortable with talking in front of the whole class at various times of the school year.

Math
    The district has adopted Math Investigations as our math series.  The children will be learning various strategies related to counting, shapes, patterns, graphing, surveys, combining numbers (addition) and separating numbers (subtraction) just to name a few concepts of the program.  Each week the children will participate in Math Centers to allow for exploration and practice of the various concepts mentioned above.  In my weekly updates I will highlight the various skills we are learning and practicing each week.

Social Studies/Science/Health
    We will be studying the following units during the school year:
My Family, School and Community, Safety, Ecology, Seasons/Weather, Plants, Animals, Earth/Space, Pilgrims and Native Americans, Diversity, American Heritage/History, Hawaii, Force and Motion, Wants and Needs, Nutrition, Growth and Development and Character Counts Concepts which include: trustworthiness, respect, fairness, responsibility, caring and citizenship.
In this part of our curriculum we will be focusing on one subject area at a time.  This means that during a science unit we will not be doing social studies or health and vice versa.  This allows us to take a lot of time to focus on one subject at time.  The students tend to “soak in” more information when subjects and specific units are taught this way.  It has been a very successful approach. The students will however, experience all of these curriculum areas throughout the school year.

CENTERS
During each week, the children will experience a variety of activities through centers.  The students will complete various tasks focusing on areas of the curriculum mentioned above.  During center time the students work independently as well as in groups.  This allows me to use a wide variety of materials and project ideas to enhance and strengthen student’s needs and abilities.  Through center work, the children will get to practice the “Character Counts” concepts mentioned above as well.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Social development is very important in kindergarten.  We will be working on getting along with others, solving problems, and taking responsibility for our own supplies and behavior.  This will be an ongoing process throughout the year. Please refer to the "Classroom Behavior Plan" highlighted below and on our website for more information.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT and GUIDELINES/RULES
Our classroom is a structured and organized class in which the students know the guidelines/rules and expectations.  I will be using the  “Love and Logic” approach within our classroom.  These rules/guidelines are as follows and are posted in our classroom for easy reference:

**I will treat you with respect so you will know how to treat me.
**Feel free to do anything you want to do as long as it does not cause a problem for you or anyone else around you.
*If you cause a problem, I will ask you to solve it.
*If you can’t solve the problem or choose not to, I will do something.
*What I do will depend on the special person and the special situation.

Many students like to challenge the guidelines/rules at some point in the school year. Most of the time a small, private discussion or missing a few minutes of recess for “thinking time” in regard to the misbehavior is enough to help each child “get back on track”. If problems occur on a regular basis, I will contact you to discuss the situation.

WORK HABITS
    I know that the coloring, drawing, writing, behavior, etc. that the children display at the beginning of school may not be the same as what you see at home.  There are many more distractions here, and there are time frames within which they have to complete their work.  As they adjust to this new situation, it should improve. I would appreciate your help in encouraging them to always put forth a good effort and to do their very best. Your support from home is greatly appreciated!

PARENT VOLUNTEERS
    Parent volunteers are an important part of my kindergarten program. Let me know if you are interested in coming to help out in the class. Time slots are usually for 1 hour.  Please see the attached form if you are interested in helping.  Depending on the number of volunteers, a schedule will be created.  Volunteers will begin the first week in October.  I begin volunteers at this time so that we as a group can get to know each other without distractions. I have found that starting volunteers after several weeks of school is helpful in the “adjustment period” of kindergarten and adds to the connections we make as a classroom family. ☺ Thank you for your understanding.