K Readiness students enjoy "Pajamas and Pancakes" in celebration of "P Week"
K-Readiness at Nativity School...
...A place to learn, grow and discover
Weekly Newsletter – Valentines, P and Presidents
February 13th – 17th
Dear Parents:
We all had such a great time together last week. I especially loved “pajama and pancake day”. It was a very comfortable day and the children just loved making and eating the pancakes. All of the kids ate the pancakes and asked for more! We will begin this week talking about Valentine’s Day, spend the middle of the week finishing up the letter P and will then conclude the week learning about Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and President’s Day.
Monday we will be very busy preparing for our upcoming celebration of Valentine’s Day. We’ll read many stories about the holiday and its meaning. We’ll create some festive Valentine holder’s and will be busy making a special Valentine for you! Later in the afternoon we will explore Valentine’s Day in our religion books and will enjoy many fun movement games and activities.
Tuesday we will continue to enjoy our Valentine stories and books about love. We’ll make a cute Valentine butterfly complete with pink and purple hearts. Later we will work in our “learning centers” and will rotate from station to station working on Valentine learning games and activities. Our Valentine Party will begin at 1:15 P.M. Students may bring in valentine’s for each of their friends. They can just sign their cards and pass them out that way or they can take the more challenging route and write each of their classmate’s names on each Valentine…either way is fine. A class list is in your child’s binder. I’ll also list the students’ names at the end of this letter. Students may also bring in suckers or some kind of “treat bag" to pass out…this is certainly not necessary. Parents are more than welcome to attend our party. We’ll be busy distributing our Valentine’s to our friends, playing some games, singing some songs and enjoying some tasty treats! * Please check your children’s binder on the “Party Sign-Up Sheet” to see whether or not you will are scheduled to bring something in.
Wednesday we’ll shift back to “P week” and finish up with some items we did not have time to finish last week. We will work in our religion books and make “My Very Own Little Prayer” books. We’ll also delve into our Scholastic readers as we discover polar bears and review many of the other polar animals we have studied this year. Finally we’ll finish up working in our journals and writing the numbers 0 through 10.
Thursday and Friday we will cover a unit on “George Washington” and “Abe Lincoln”. Mr. Koba has taught us a song about them…they can probably sing it to you already. We’ll be reading stories about both Abe and George and will learn about some characteristics that are associated with each of them…Abe Lincoln (the penny, log cabin, tall hat, etc.) George Washington (ax, one dollar bill, 3 cornered hat, etc.). We’ll also be creating crafts representing each of the presidents and will talk a little about our current President, Obama as well.
* Fridays continue to be “show and share” day. Your child may bring in a special toy/book to talk to the class about. Your child should not be bringing in toys to school on any other days. It is really not fair to the other children.
* As you may have noticed, all the blankets and pillows were sent home on Thursday to be “washed”. We would really prefer that they stay at home at this point. The blankets, animals and “pillow pets” have really gotten out of hand. We simply do not have the space to hold all of them and it really takes a long time at the end of each rest time to fold them all up and get them back on the shelves. We only rest for 20 minutes each day. If your child would like to have a small animal to hold (one that can be kept in their backpacks each day) that would be fine.
I’m looking forward to another great week with your children. They have all grown by leaps and bounds and I’m just thrilled with all they have accomplished!
Have a wonderful week!
God Bless,
Sandy Hamilton
K-Readiness Curriculum Highlights:
- ABC recognition and letter sounds. Alphabet will be introduced in sequential order from A to Z. Daily themes will be integrated within this sequence and will be the highlight of each day.
- Introduction to words, sentences, paragraphs and books (strong literacy awareness within the classroom)
- Number recognition 1 through 20, counting to 20 and counting by 10's to 100
- Beginning math skills: shapes, colors, big and little, directional and positional words, graphing, patterns, sequencing and measurement
- Beginning science skills: seasons, days of the week, months of the year, parts of the body, weather skills, magnets, balance, measurement, life cycles, plant development and animal habitats
- Beginning social studies skills: community helpers, home address and phone number, dialing 911, exploration of different careers, transportation, recycling and introduction to maps (US and world) and our planet earth.
- Recognition of full name, writing of first name
- Proper use of manipulation a scissors and correct use of holding a pencil
- Introduction of proper letter formation progressing to writing of letters A to Z
- Introduction of proper number formation progressing to writing of numerals 1 to 20
- Fine motor development (cutting, coloring, manipulation of small objects, etc.)
- Large motor development (jumping, running kicking, creative movement)
- Beginning religion: Bible stories, simple prayers and songs, sign of the cross, Advent and Lent, experience attending school masses as a class
- Introduction to computers and computer parts (mouse, keyboard, monitor), beginning typing skills and games
- Art: mixing of colors, painting, drawing, coloring, tracing, creative use of paper, color and different mediums
- Music: songs, finger plays, dramatic play, dance, manipulation of instruments and performance (Christmas show, church events, Spring program)
- Social/Emotional: Children are encouraged to express themselves, listen to others, work in small and large groups and negotiate and problem solve with peers. Children are valued and supported in a positive learning environment throughout all areas of instruction. A variety of resources are available to support different learning styles.
- Beginning Spanish Instruction
K Readiness Tentative Calendar for 2011-2012 School Year
9/6 – Small groups visit classroom
9/7 – First Full Day of K-Readiness
10/3 – “Digging For Dinosaurs” Program visits our classroom
10/5 – “Dad’s Night” 6:30 P.M. – Meet in the classroom
10/7 – Bring bagged lunch today…No hot lunches…Kid’s club till 4:00 P.M.
10/10 – No School – Columbus Day
10/14 – Class field trip to the farm…Meet at the farm…time TBA
10/18 – Fireman visits our classroom
10/31 – Halloween Party 1:15 P.M. in the classroom
11/4 – “Grandparents Day” at 1:15 P.M. Grandparents or special guests please meet us in the classroom.
11/11 – No School- Veteran’s Day
11/21 – “Thanksgiving Program” at 1:00 P.M. Please meet in the school gym
11/24 – 11/25 – Thanksgiving Recess
12/1 – No School – Parent Conferences
12/2 – No School – Professional Day
12/8 – Christmas Concert (7:00 P.M.)
12/21 – Christmas Party –10:00 A.M. – 11:00 A.M. dismissal
12/22 – 1/2 Christmas Recess
1/16 – No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
1/20 - Nurse Visits our classroom
1/25 – “Touch Tank” visits our classroom
1/30 – “Winter Fun Day”
2/14 – Valentine’s Day Party 1:15 P.M.
2/20 – 2/24 – Mid Winter Recess
3/9 – No School – Staff Development Day
3/16 – St. Patrick’s Day “Hunt for the Pot of Gold”
3/21 – Dentist visits our classroom
3/28 – Class trip to “Performing Arts Center” at Buffalo State to see “Rainbow Fish” Depart from school by bus – Time TBA
4/4 – Easter Egg Hunt 1:15 P.M.
4/5 – 4/13 – Easter Recess
4/30 “Wheel Day” Bring your bike to school today!
5/14 – “Mother’s Day Tea” 1:15 P.M. in the Cafeteria
5/17 – Spring Concert 7:00 P.M.
5/23 – “Zoo Trunk” visits our classroom
5/25 – Field Trip to the Zoo! Time TBA
5/28 – No School – Memorial Day
6/4 – ½ Day – K-Readiness Graduation 6:30 P.M. in the church
Some Helpful Notes for you…
· Parent participation is not required for holiday celebrations. Parents are always welcome in the classroom. I do understand that many of you work and are not able to attend all of our festivities. “Grandparents or Special Guest Day”, “Dad’s Night”, “Thanksgiving Program” and “Mom’s Day Tea” are special occasions. Please send a family member or friend if you cannot attend or speak to me in advance so I can arrange for your child to sit with a friend’s family.
· There is no “Kid’s Club” on half days
· Students must attend field trips with a parent. There is no school on field trip days.
· Feel free to join us when we have special visitors or programs in our class…You are always welcome!
K-Readiness students enjoyed a beautiful day in the snow sledding and making snow angels in celebration of a "Winter Fun Day"
"O is for Ocean!!!" This week the Niagara Aquarium Touch Tank visited our classroom as we celebrated "O week". K-Readiness students held lobsters, horseshoe crabs, sea urchins and many other interesting wonders from the sea.
Last week K-Readiness students made these cute "medical kits" for "Nurse Day"; our school nurse visited our classroom and showed each of us how to properly wash our hands and Chloe shows us her nice "clean hands".
"M is for Mail"
Last week K-Readiness students sent a letter home to mom and dad in celebration of "M Week"
Last week we concentrated on the letter L. On Wednesday we each learned how to spell and write the word "love". Everyone did a wonderful job!
My beautiful K-Readiness students perform at Nativity's Annual Christmas Concert
Siena "jumps over the candlestick" as K-Readiness students learn the rhyme, "Jack Be Nimble" during "J Week"
K-Readiness students perform at the annual Thanksgiving Program at Nativity
Last week K-Readiness students learned about Pilgrims, Native Americans and what it means to be thankful.
Last week K-Readiness students enjoyed some "Fall Fun" and hand painted their own hats for "Hat Day"
This week K-Readiness students celebrated Halloween and concluded "G Week" with "Grandparent and Special Guest Day"
Halloween Fun!!!
K-Readiness students enjoyed the week making ghosts, pumpkins, candy corn, witches, bats and more! We measured our pumpkin's width and height, guessed the weight of it and got the official results of its actual weight with the nurses' office scale. The results: 24.5 lbs.
"F is for Fireman"
K-Readiness students learn some fire safety lessons
K-Readiness students enjoy their field trip to Kelkenberg Farm!
K-Readiness students honor their "Dad's" during "Dad's Night" as they celebrate the letter D
C is for camping!!! K-Readiness students celebrate c week with a "camping day" complete with tent, flashlights and hats!
We've been busy bees in K-Readiness!
Each child made these cute bees last week as we explored the letter B!
Making Applesauce! K-Readiness students cut and slice apples while preparing applesauce
Derek proudly shows how he can write his name after practice on his white board.
Mrs. Hamilton and Kylie enjoy some "fun in the sun" during outdoor playtime.
Lily creates a "name mobile" that will later be hung up in the classroom.
Sienna works on decorating the word "me" as K-Readiness students' discover just how special they each are.
Andrew talks to Miss Raquet and our class about his soccer trophy during K-Readiness "Show and Share" time
