Kindergarten News
Second Quarter 2026
Can you believe we are already in the second quarter?
Meet Your Teachers!
From left to right: Ms. Esquivel, Ms. Kucharski, Mrs. Helman, Mrs. Sardelis, Ms. Tilling, Mrs. Ryan
Not pictured- Mrs. Lainez, ESOL Teacher
What have we been up to in the 1st Quarter?
Ms. Esquivel's Class
Mrs. Helman's Class
Ms. Kucharski's Class
Mrs. Ryan's Class
We got our house colors! We are so excited to be in the yellow and red houses!
Mrs. Sardelis's Class
We celebrated all Dolly Parton did for children and reading on Dolly Day!
Ms. Tilling's Class
We loved our Kona Ice treat for winning the WPS attendance challenge!
What are we learning this quarter?
How to Write Their Name
Letter Names and Sounds
We will finish learning all of the letter names and sounds this quarter!
How to Use School Materials
Count to 50
Students are working on how to count to 50.
Identify, Represent, and Compare Numbers
Patterns
Reading and Creating Graphs
We will continue to collect data and learn how to use it in a graph.
Numbers Before and After
Students will be able to tell the number directly before or after a given number to 20.
Parts of a story
We will talk about all of the different parts of a story including characters, setting, problem, and solution.
Calendar
We will continue to learn about the parts of a calendar including the days of the week and months of the year.
Shapes
Rhyming Words
We will listen for words that rhyme and read nursery rhymes.
Citizenship
We will talk about how to be a good classroom citizen!
Sorting
Subjects and Predicates
We will talk about parts of a sentence. The subject is who the sentence is about and the predicate is what they are doing.
Drawing Real Pictures
We will work on how to draw realistic pictures by using life like colors.
Labeling Our Artwork
We will work on adding labels to our drawings using sounds we know!
Adding Sentences to our Pictures
We will work on adding a sentence that describes our pictures.
Living and Non-Living
Positional Words
We will describe the location of people, places, and objects by using positional words including near/far, over/under, above/below, left/right, behind/in front, next to, and between.
Composing and Decomposing up to 5
Counting backwards from 10
Students will learn how to count backwards from 10 to 0.
Rekenreks
Reading and Writing Words
These are words that kindergartners need to memorize to become good readers and writers.
Quarter 1 Words- the, I, a, like, to, in, is, an, am, and, can
Quarter 2 Words- at, that, so, no, go, was, see, you, he, she, we, me, be
Dual Language Program
Our dual language immersion program is off to a great start! To learn more about this please click on the link below. The teachers teaching this program at John Kerr are Ms. Tilling and Ms. Esquivel!
How can you help at home?
check out these great at home resources below for reading:
What else can students work on at home?
Learn how to tie your shoes!
This is an important lifelong skill that kindergarteners need!
Read every night!
Check their folders!
Teachers send home folders every day with student work and important information. Checking it every day will keep you in the loop on what your child is learning.
Ms. Lainez, ESOL/ LIEP Teacher for Kindergarten
We have officially started our English language small groups, and our kindergarten multilingual learners are doing a fantastic job! This quarter, we introduced our new language program, SummitK12. We use digital lessons 2 to 3 times a week to support our learning, while also focusing on teacher-directed, hands-on instruction. Through interactive pair work, listening, speaking, and reading activities, students are putting their English skills into practice every day!
¡Hemos comenzado oficialmente nuestros grupos pequeños de inglés y nuestros aprendices multilingües de kindergarten están haciendo un trabajo fantástico! Este trimestre presentamos nuestro nuevo programa de lenguaje, SummitK12. Utilizamos las lecciones digitales 2 a 3 veces por semana, y también dedicamos tiempo a la enseñanza práctica dirigida por la maestra. A través de trabajos en pareja, ejercicios de escuchar, conversar y leer los estudiantes están poniendo en práctica sus habilidades en inglés todos los días.
Mrs. Lainez | ESOL/LIEP Teacher
What is SOAR?
SOAR is our school- wide behavior expectations. Students also get lessons with our school counselor, Ms. Davis, on SOAR and more this year! Check out our classroom posters below.
Upcoming Important Dates:
Mark Your Calendar!
October:
12th- No School- Teacher Workday
13th- Tilling, Esquivel, Kucharski go to Hill High Farm
14th- Helman, Kucharski, and Ryan go to Hill High Farm
19th- Parent- Teacher Conferences from 3pm-6pm
20th- Picture make up day
26th-30th- Red Ribbon Week
- 26th- TOOTH-fully Drug Free - wear white
- 27th- Follow your Dreams- Pajama Day
- 28th-Orange you Glad we are drug free- wear orange
- 29th- Don't get Mixed-up- Mismatched Day
- 30th- Say "BOO" to bad decisions- Book Character Day
30th- PTO Fun Run
November:
3rd- No School- Teacher Workday
25th, 26th, 27th- No School- Holiday
December:
18th- End of the 2nd Quarter & House Hour
18th- Early Dismissal
21st-31st- Winter Break- No School
Snow Days
Hopefully we will have no snow days in the fall, but if we do- please look on talking points for directions from your child's teacher.
You can find the virtual snow day packets that were given prior to winter break below:
- https://www.wps.k12.va.us/students-families/school-closings-delays-early-release
- Click on Elementary Schools
- Click on Kindergarten
- Click on the day you need