We read The Kissing Hand, which is my favorite story for the first day of Kindergarten. Some of the children were familiar with the story already (probably from preschool) and they impressed me with their knowledge of nocturnal animals. I love the big vocabularies they have! Nocturnal--wow! After we read the story and talked about it, the kiddos did a little project which you will see hanging on our bulletin boards sometime this week. They had to complete the sentence, "On the first day of Kindergarten I felt _________." Most said they felt happy or good, but there were a few that said they felt nervous or shy.
We also did some practice with my quiet signal, which is a red bell named Buddy Bell. When I ring the bell I expect everyone to stop, look, and listen. Both classes did a great job with that. Impressive!
The other important thing we talked about today, which you may have already heard about is "the sticks." To introduce the system, I am starting over each day, so each child has three sticks at the beginning of each day to "protect" by following classroom rules and expectations. We talked about ways to keep sticks and also talked about choices that result in me having to take a stick away. For now, anyone who has all three sticks at the end of the day gets a sticker. In October, we transition to three sticks for the entire week earning a choice time on Friday, but we need time for them to get used to what things lose sticks before they have to keep three all week. Some kids will test and try out different behaviors, but for the most part they seemed to really get the idea and do well with the system today. Please ask your child when he/she gets home if he/she got a sticker and kept all sticks. It's a big deal and they should be really proud of doing so! If your child has lost a stick, it's a great idea to have a brief conversation about why and make sure they understand a different choice that could be made next time.
We had a few conversations today about what we do in school and I told the kiddos that we don't have a daily recess and we don't have a snack at school (until we start Star of the Week and then we'll have snack once a week on Wednesdays). They may be a bit disappointed and feel like we're not doing anything fun, but it does take us awhile before we can get into some real learning. The first few weeks include a lot of instruction of routines and practice to make sure we have them down. This makes for a much better school year once we do take off with reading and math (and science this year too!). It is really important to build the foundation for good listening and boundaries in the classroom now so they are used to the expectations when we kick it into high gear.
As we start a new year there are always some kinks to work out with bus stops and routes, so I appreciate your patience and understanding if there are any mix-ups with departure routines. Occasionally children are returned to school on the bus if an adult is not waiting for them at their stop, so please know that if for some reason your child does not get off the bus, they are safe and are probably being brought back to school. It is a good idea to be at the stop early and to arrive early if you are picking up as well, especially in the PM because the parking lot gets very busy and crowded.
Please make sure your child brings his/her yellow bus tag to school all this week and next week. When we have our bus routines down and the drivers know the kids, I will collect them and keep them at school. Until then, it is imperative that they have those tags so the bus drivers have their information. If you are picking your child up, it's not as important, but it does help me group the kids in the line, so until I have everyone's schedule down pat, I would appreciate all kids having them every day. Also, in the event any child gets separated from me at the end of the school day, another teacher will know to return them to me! And, speaking of kids getting separated, I told children who get picked up not to leave with a parent until they look at me and I look at them and see they are with a parent. Sometimes kids see mom or dad and disappear so quickly, which makes me nervous. I need to see you before you take your child.
Don't forget to mark your calendars for Back to School Night on Monday September 12th! I will giving more detailed explanations of our reading and math programs as well as info about homework, literacy bags, and much more! I am looking forward to getting to know all of your families better!
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