First Week

I hope that your children have been coming home and telling you all about what we've been up to in Kindergarten this week, but I know that kiddos don't necessarily have a knack for sharing all the details. My goal is to post on here at least once a week to keep you updated on what we've been doing and give you a glimpse into the classroom! I am finding that working half time means taking a lot of projects and work home, so between juggling that and a new baby, I will do my best to keep you informed! 

I want to start by saying that Kindergarten is not what it used to be...I always feel bad when my new kiddos ask me when we are going to the playground or when we are going to play or have recess because the answer is--we don't. In our short day, we focus mainly on academics with phonics, math and writing being the big subjects that we cover. When most people think of Kindergarten they think of finger painting, the housekeeping corner, and lots of arts and crafts, but if you visit our classroom, you will see something very different. Our schedule is jam-packed with lots of learning activities and the expectations are very high in terms of what we hope children will learn/be able to do, but we do make sure to have a lot of fun as we go! I would not call myself a good singer by any means, but I use a LOT of music in the classroom and we make sure that our activities are engaging and age appropriate for young learners.  (When I say "we" I mean the other Kinder teachers and myself because we work together to make sure our Kinder program at Durham is consistent between classrooms). 

The first few weeks of school are filled with a lot of instruction about rules and expectations. Setting up routines and procedures is a very important part of creating a classroom that runs smoothly and allows for maximum time dedicated to learning. I use a classroom management system where each child starts of the week with three popsicle sticks that I keep in a pocket chart. Their job is to "protect" their sticks by following the rules and directions in the classroom. Sticks can be lost for misbehavior/not following directions. Students are rewarded for keeping their sticks with a "choice time" on Friday. Choice time isn't exactly recess but it is a chance for the kiddos to choose what they would like to do out of the activities that I put out during that time. Students who have at least one stick left by Friday will get to participate in choice time. Students who lose all three sticks during the week do not earn choice time. I send home a "refocus form" when all three sticks are lost in order to communicate with you why that occurred. Students who keep all three sticks for the entire week receive a special certificate on Friday. At the outset of the year, I replace sticks daily until the kiddos get used to the system. In addition to that I will use a "warning system" of sorts that comes from a book we read this week called Have You Filled a Bucket Today? 

This is a great book for reminding children to be nice and kind (bucket fillers) rather than bucket dippers. I have my own "bucket" in the classroom which I fill with pom poms as they follow the rules, listen, etc. Each time my bucket is completely filled the class earns a dance party! I remove a pom pom as a warning prior to taking a stick away. That way a child gets a reminder prior to a consequence. 

We also read a story on the first day called Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes. If your child has been singing about loving shoes and you have no idea why--this is why...

The book came with a CD that we listened to and I got requests every single day to read it/play it again. They have already pretty much memorized the entire story. And good news--you can purchase this book and another one about Pete the Cat in the September Scholastic Book Club that I sent home on Friday. 

In addition to a lot of stories, we also did a few projects this week that allowed me to get a sense of how the kiddos are doing with cutting, gluing, and writing their names. 

Like I mentioned before, the activities in the first few weeks are mainly ways to teach and practice the classroom expectations and rules. We will definitely kick it up a few notches when we start our phonics and math lessons. I will share more about the particular curricula we use at Back to School Night. Don't forget to mark your calendar, Back to School Night is Wednesday September 19th from 6:00-7:30. 

Since this post is already long enough, I will end by saying that your child received a Friday Folder on Friday. This folder will come home every Friday and should be returned to school on Monday. The folder will be used to send home classroom work, homework, and information from me. Please use the folder to return papers that need to be signed, anything that should be submitted to the office, and returning homework.

If you have any questions so far, please email me! Most likely I will return your email in the afternoon while my daughter is napping or in the evening. Since I am sharing a classroom this year with Mrs. Duncan who teaches the PM session, I spend most of my time after the children leave cleaning up and making sure the room is ready for her students. I don't always get to check email before I leave for the day.