Kindergarten Newsletter- Week 1

Dear Kinder Parents,

Young children love playing in nature, and Kindergarten children in particular seem to be fascinated with travel. They love to tell us about places they have been and seen. With our unit, "My Place on Earth", they have been "traveling" around the world as we took a close look at geography. Talk with your children about places they have been on vacations, places they woud like to visit, places their relatives live, and about where you are from. Use a globe to show oversees trips to other continents, and maps to show various locations in Texas and the United States. They have learned the cardinal directions north, south, east and west, and where the equator is on a globe. Have fun discussing interesting places, and show pictures or videos of some the amazing locations around Earth!

Kindergarteners are also fascinated with rocks. They love finding them on the playground, then showing and telling us all about their shape, color and texture. "This one might be a fossil!" "This one looks like a heart!" As we continue our unit, "My Place on Earth", our students will be "digging deep" into the earth to explore the discipline of geology. At home you can show your children pictures of interesting landforms such as mountains and canyons, and talk about what they notice. If you have been to places like Red Rocks, Arches National Park, Natural Bridges Cavern, Big Bend or the Grand Canyon, now is a great time to pull out those photos and souvenir books! Our students will be fascinated as they study the layers of Earth and find out what lies beneath their feet...Developing an appreciation of God's majestic handiwork is an integral component of our Kinder curriculum.

As a reminder...One of the most important skills our scholars need to master this year is that of self-reliance. Five-and six-year old children are developmentally ready for self-help skills and simple chores at home, and they are proud of themselves and feel like "big kids" when they don't have to ask for assistance for simple tasks. Tying shoes, laying out their own uniform (including underwear, socks and shoes) the night before, packing their backpack with folder, library book and and water bottle, learning how to peel oranges and bananas, opening small milk cartons are all age appropriate tasks that nurture independence and build self-confidence in young children. Remember, resist the urge to do for your child those things which they can-and should-do for themselves!

"The child who has never learned to act alone, to direct his own actions, to govern his own will, grows into an adult who must always lean upon others." Maria Montessori

Blessings,

Mrs. McIntire and Mrs. Pruitt

Next week's lessons continue to focus on numbers 0 through 5, in both numeral, word and pictorial form. Think of a dice. Recognizing an amount immediately by seeing a pictorial image (set)-such as the dots on a dice face-is called subatizing. To reinforce your child's learning at home, play games that require rolling a dice; gather together objects such as buttons, stuffed animals, pennies, rocks, small toys, etc. and have your child practice sorting them into groups of 1 through 5; play "I Spy 1-5" by going on a number walk around your house, neighborhood or a store. This will help your child practice identifying numbers and develop interest in and fascination with math, in real-life settings. Scholars will also continue to practice counting orally and practice writing numerals 0 through 9. (Correct handwriting includes numeral formation, as well as letters!) Our goal is for each of them to be able to use counting to quantify items in a set, understand concretely what numbers (amounts) mean, and form all numerals correctly. "Count on Kindergarten" to make math FUN!

Sight Words: I, and, at

Mastering alphabetic phonograms (sounds that letters make, alone and in combination with other letters) is a crucial step in building early reading and writing skills. Our goal this year is for scholars to recognize, name and write correctly all the letters of the alphabet, to associate letters and letter combinations with their sounds, and to develop a mastery of sight words in order to become confident readers and writers. Help your child master next week's sight words by practicing at home every evening, during your read together time.

We have been working with identifying upper and lower case forms for each letter ("What do you notice about the lower case letter form of /Aa/? /Mm/? Is it a tall letter or short letter? Does it sit on the line or go below the line? Is it rounded, straight or made with both kinds of lines?") Next week we will be focusing on letters /Ss/ and /Tt/. Ask your child to tell you how the upper case and lower case forms are similar and different. We will be blending consonant-vowel (cv) words and consonant-vowel-consonant (cvc) words in class, and will continue introducing leveled readers. We will begin sending reading folders home for your child to practice with you toward the end of this month.

It's that time of year-FLAT STANLEY will soon be traveling from SLES to various locations around our state, nation, and the world! Watch for information about this literary character, and our special project in your child's blue folder today. It will explain how you can help us track his adventures to visit friends and family both near and far...

Our focus next week shifts from social studies to science, as we move from the discipline of geography (where on Earth) to the discipline of geology (what's in Earth). Our students will learn about the layers of Earth (crust, mantle, core), and about the types of rocks found in the crust (sedimentary, metamorphic, igneous). We will look inside caverns to see stalagtite and stalagmite formations, explore volcanoes, and learn about the rock cycle.

We encourage all students to bring one rock to class on Monday morning! It can be a common rock they find in your yard, or perhaps a special rock such as a geode. (Special rocks will be returned to you at the end of the week.) We will take a closer look at rocks to compare and sort them by qualities such as color, texture, size, shape and hardness. Be sure to ask your budding geologist to tell you about everything they are learning next week; you will be fascinated by their comments!

List of Important Events:

Sept. 25 - Spirit Day

Sept. 26 - SNIPSA Race for the Rescues

Oct. 2nd - Parent/Teacher Conferences

Oct. 5-9 - Episcopal Schools Week

Oct. 6 - Blessing of the Pets

Oct. 8 - Spirit Day/Pep Rally

Oct. 9 - Student Holiday

Oct.12 - School Holiday

A huge Hilltop THANK YOU to our wonderful parent volunteers for serving as your grade-level Class Captains! Please be sure to join the Kindergarten Group on the St. Luke’s App to stay connected and receive important updates and communication throughout the year.

Rebecca Allen - Rebecca.allen0706@gmail.com

Katy Ray - Kateray922@gmail.com