michelle_kindergarten

Welcome to Michelle's 2018-19 Kindergarten Class!

July 2018

Dear Families,

Welcome and welcome back to The Earth School! I have missed you and your children! I’m incredibly excited to spend another year with all of you and to get to welcome our new families to our community. Last year, the class was able to form an amazingly close community with the teachers, children and all family members. It’s such a beautiful feeling to look forward to the new school year with all of you.

For our new families, I am Michelle and I will be your child’s Kindergarten teacher this year. This is my third year at The Earth School and my fifth year teaching. I am very excited to be on this journey with you and your child. Here’s a little about me, I’m sure we will get to know each other more as the year continues. My family is from Guyana, South America. I was born in The Bronx where I still live. I come from a large family and have many siblings, nieces and nephews. I can’t wait to hear all about your family when we meet! This summer, I spent time loving the city, eating ice cream, enjoying barbeques and lazing around in the sun. I also visited Vermont and traveled to San Francisco and Jamaica. What did you all do this summer? I’m sure your child is eager to share about it once school starts!

Before I joined the Earth School, I was a teacher at Central Park East 1 for two years. My teaching pedagogy is reflective of progressive education which includes allowing children to explore their interests in a rich and nurturing environment. This year will be spent exploring topics the children find interesting, learning ways to communicate knowledge, questions, frustrations and allowing space for the children to be the makers of their learning. This school year will also consist of nurturing radical kindness (a term borrowed from Mister Rogers). The idea is that kindness builds love: love of oneself, the love of learning, making mistakes, taking chances and love of one’s community. Because without love and kindness in our classroom, what learning can occur?

I am attaching a parent questionnaire to give me a little more information about your child before the year fully begins. Returning families do not have to complete questionnaire, but are welcome to! Also, I have included a supply list for our classroom. If you are able to provide any of these materials, it would be appreciated. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. michelle@theearthschool.org

I can’t wait to see all of you once the year begins! Enjoy the rest of your Summer!

Love, Michelle

.More about Kindergarten from The Earth School

At The Earth School, we value the children’s ideas, thoughts and beliefs in the classroom. We are committed to supporting children in their development and helping them learn through play and discovery. Teachers strive to provide a nurturing and stimulating environment in which children’s interests and strengths are celebrated. Our hope is that during Kindergarten, children continue their deep love for learning, grow their awareness of themselves and others, and build confidence to pursue their interests. In various ways, teachers strive to offer children a range of choices that allow them to engage in activities that provide both practice and challenge. Throughout the year, teachers plan and reflect on curriculum to meet the needs of each individual student as well as the class and its collective interests. This means that although some of our curriculum is planned prior to knowing the children, some curriculum emerges out of student interest and excitement for new topics.

We encourage a strong relationship with parents and families at the Earth School. I encourage and welcome family involvement as the year progresses. This involvement can come in the form of a class parent, being part of the Parent Association or any other organizations at our school. In the classroom, you are welcome to come in and celebrate your child’s birthday, share a cultural event, share a snack or read a book to the class. I hope we can come together during the year if there are any skills or knowledge you wish to share with the class as we embark on classroom studies.

Getting to know one another and building a classroom community is what our class will focus on for much of the beginning of the school year. Early in the year, we will begin focusing on self​care and independence. Children will be learning things like: how to dress themselves for outdoor play, how to put on socks and shoes after dance class, how to take care of the classroom and how to carefully pour water from a pitcher when they are thirsty. We also begin the year with an emphasis on social-emotional learning. We will be learning to identify and understand our feelings and brainstorming ways to manage our big feelings. We will be developing empathy by seeking to understand how others feel. We will be learning to take turns and share materials and ideas and practicing peaceful ways to resolve conflicts. At the Classroom Kick-Off Evening in the fall, we will talk in depth about the curriculum and how this is implemented in our classrooms.

Michelle’s Kindergarten Supply List

Note: General supplies will be shared and used by the whole class.

● 1 4x6 family photo that we can keep in class (This is very important! New Families Only)

● A change of clothing (shirt, underwear, socks, pants) in a Ziploc bag marked with your child’s name.

● 1 reusable water bottle for trips and picnics. Please NO single-use plastic water bottles at school or school events

● 2 rolls of paper towels

● 1 box of tissues

● Baby Wipes unscented

● 1 bottle of nontoxic spray cleaner (from brands such as Meyers, Method, Simply Green, etc) (on amazon wishlist for convenience)

Optional Supplies *If you are willing and able to buy, these are items that we would like to share and use in class. We are grateful for anything that you can donate and we thank you in advance!*

● A Plant

● 1 Sponge

● Dish Soap

● Hand Soap

● Gallon Zip Lock Bags

● Scotch tape

● Watercolor paper

Supply List for Earth Science with Emmy

● 1 box of Kleenex

● Blue paper folder

[If you are interested in donating extra items that will contribute to our class culture such as literature, music, art books and art materials, manipulatives, puppets, etc., please check out our Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3LCP73ZEGIALV/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_

.Family Questionnaire

Child’s Name/Preferred Name:________________________________________________

Child’s Birthday (mo/day/yr): ___________________

E-mail addresses you would like to be contacted at concerning class news:

Name/ Relationship ____________________ email____________________________

Name/ Relationship ____________________ email____________________________

Name and age of siblings

Name ___________________________ Age________

Name ___________________________ Age________

Name___________________________ Age________

Name ___________________________ Age________

Who does your child live with in his/her home(s)? Please indicate name and relationship.

Name/Relationship ____________________ Name/ Relationship _____________________

Name/Relationship ____________________ Name/ Relationship _____________________

Name/Relationship ____________________ Name/ Relationship _____________________

What languages are spoken in your home?

_____________________________________________________________________________ _

.Does your child have any food allergies? Does your child have any dietary restrictions? _____________________________________________________________________________ _

_____________________________________________________________________________ _

Does your child have any medical concerns that might restrict him/her from certain activity? _____________________________________________________________________________ _

_____________________________________________________________________________ _

Has your child been to school before? If yes, where?

_____________________________________________________________________________ _

Is your child independent in the bathroom? How do they indicate the need to use the bathroom? _____________________________________________________________________________ _

_____________________________________________________________________________ _

*After school, my child will go:

With a Family Member _____________________________________________

(name/s)

To an After-School Program _____________________________________________

(name/s)

With a Caregiver ______________________________________________

(name/s) *Please let us know about any changes in your routine!*

.Please note any other information that you think would be helpful for us to know about your child in order to make the classroom a more comfortable place for him/her. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ ___

Thank you!!