Mrs. Randel's Ranchers - ABC's of Kindergarten

ABC's of Kindergarten

The ABC's of Kindergarten for

Mrs. Randel's Class...

If your child is ill, please call the office (865-5119) and inform us of your child's absence and the reason for it. This is for your child's safety. If a student must leave early for a doctor's appointment, go to the office to sign him out, the secretary will call him to the office.

A successful school experience is the responsibility of the child, the parent and the school. Your child's progress, both academically and socially, is influenced to great extent by daily participation. Regular attendance without tardiness is a key.

Pupils should arrive between 7:05 and 7:20 a.m. Students should not arrive prior to 7:05 a.m. since supervision by the school staff is not available. In the morning, kindergarten students should be dropped off in carpool, and they will go directly to the auditorium to sit with their classes. At 7:25 a.m., students will be picked up in the auditorium by their teachers. Students arriving after 7:25 a.m. will be marked tardy. Afternoon dismissal is at 2:50 p.m. Please pick up your child promptly. If you are late, look for your child in the office.

The children will attend a 45-minute Art class once a week with our art teacher, Anna Scott Lewis.

To help your child carry messages and information to and from school, you are asked to provide a backpack. Students will be given a "HORSE folder" for me to send notes and information to you and for you to send notes to me. Please have your child remove the notes and papers from the backpack and the "HORSE folder" to share with you daily.

Birthdays are special occasions for young children. If your child wishes he/she may bring a treat for the class. NO CUPCAKES with icing or CAKE PLEASE! Please have your child's birthday snack in our room no later than 12:00 p.m. We will have treats for summer birthdays. July birthdays will be celebrated in August and June birthdays will be celebrated in May. No homemade treats.

A school breakfast is served every morning from 7:00 to 7:25 a.m. The breakfast menu generally consists of cereal or muffins with juice and milk.

I will send a monthly calendar with birthdays & snacks home at the beginning of each month.

A behavior calendar will stay in your child's HORSE folder for the month where they will record their behavior. This will be collected at the end of the month and calculated towards your child's behavior grade for progress reports and report cards.

Please email, send me a note or call in the office to request a conference.

Communication is important. Feel free to contact me whenever you have a question or concern. You can reach me by phone (office: 865-5119), in person (call or send a note to schedule a time), by email (hrogers@caddoschools.org), or by note.

Our classroom is a small community where teamwork and good relationships are expected. We will spend time learning class procedures and practicing them. Each student is expected to act within our standards of behavior. To establish good order and help the children learn self-control, they will be guided to respect themselves and their companions through specific directions, positive reinforcement, suggested new activities and responsible actions.

Discipline is simple. We work hard as a class to make the classroom a positive and safe place for all. Our rules are:

1. Listen when your teacher is talking.

2. Follow directions quickly.

3. Respect others. Respect yourself. Respect your school.

4. Raise your hand to speak to the class.

5. Be safe. Be kind. Be honest.

Our students will attend one 45-minute drama class per week with our music teacher, Mr. Wright.

You can contact me via my email address: hrogers@caddoschools.org I will check my email often but if you need to discuss something urgently, please call me at school instead.

Please complete and return the emergency card promptly (if you did not complete it during registration). If your home or work phone number changes inform the office so you can be located quickly if an emergency occurs.

Emergency closings: If schools are closed for a snow day or any emergency, local TV stations will make an announcement, generally by 7:00 a.m.

Please send an extra outfit (shirt, pants, underwear, socks) in a Zip-loc bag labeled with your child's name one every item. This is just in case of an accident, spill or sickness.

We plan several field trips that are both fun and educational for the children. Parent drivers are generally not permitted, so buses will have to be used for transportation. We may need parent volunteers on the trips an chaperons will be chosen on a first come, first served basis. Please return permission slips as soon as possible after they are sent home.

Fire drills are held on a monthly basis throughout the year. All students will participate and are expected to walk quickly and quietly to their designated exit. We will practice and become familiar with procedures before our first scheduled drill.

We have a 45-minute French class every Thursday. Our French teacher's name is Audrey Wolfe-Garrett.

Each Friday you will receive a "Friday Sheet"via email which will contain general information about the school: like menus, announcements, fund raisers, awards, news, etc.

We will have four grading periods throughout the year. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

I feel that the best way to help children is to make learning fun. Important concepts can be learned by doing meaningful hands-on activities. There are times when seat work is required and necessary, but for the most part our classroom will be an active learning environment.

Health: Please let me know of special circumstances, which may affect you child. These could include medication that may make him sleepy, a death in the family, etc. Also, please let me know of any allergies your child may have, especially food allergies. We sometimes cook or do food activities to complement lessons in kindergarten and it would be helpful to know when I plan our recipes.

Help at Home

Your child is expected to know these readiness skills:

*Full Name *Shape Names * Telephone number *Parents' names *Basic colors * Counting to 10 *Printing first name beginning with a capital letter and the rest in lower case. *Identifying the letters and sounds of the alphabet *Birthday (month and date) * Identifying numbers to 100 *Reading our sight words (listed on our website) *Tying shoes

Your extra help at home really makes a difference!

Occasionally, I'll ask your help in completing "family" project--it's called that because the whole family is encouraged to get involved in doing it. For example, in September, I will send home a "mini me" for your child (and you) to decorate. We will hang them in our room for the remainder of the year.

Your child will receive a happy face on their behavior calendar when he/she has had a good day at school.

Illness: The question of when to keep your child home from school is often a difficult one, especially when decisions must be made first thing in the morning. It is important, however, to keep your child home if he/she is ill. This helps to make them more comfortable and prevents others from becoming ill. Children function more effectively in the classroom when they are healthy.

Because children learn to read by reading, they need plenty of opportunities to read independently. Sufficient time and appropriate materials are necessary to develop and strengthen reading abilities. By giving the children time to read both at school and at home, we can work together to provide a literature-rich environment and a life-long love of reading.

Independence is a goal for students because it builds self-esteem and self-confidence. Kindergarteners are very capable of many things on their own and I encourage them to do as much as they can for themselves in the classroom. Please work on the following skills at home with your child: zipping, tying, dressing, etc.

One strategy that will be used to help convey the vital concept that "print conveys meaning" is the frequent use of journal of writing. In these journals the kindergartners combine their emerging writing skills with their drawing skills. As the children are exposed to a variety of phonics and reading experiences, journal entries will move from drawings and "inventive" spellings towards more conventional writing.

Keep updated by reading the classroom newsletter, every week and checking the HORSE folder everyday for other notes and information.

Make sure your child's shoes are tied securely everyday. Tie them in double knots!

Students in our classroom are encouraged and expected to treat all members of our class as well as others with kindness and respect. Bothering others, bullying and interrupting learning will not be permitted.

The children go to the library one day a week. In the library Mrs. Sheridan Shamburg will share a story or a video. A few weeks into school, the children will be allowed to check out one book each week. Please be sure to return these books each week, so that they can check out another one.

We will eat lunch from 10:20 to 10:45 each day. Children may bring a packed lunch from home or eat a school lunch. The school lunch is free, juice is offered for an additional small cost. You can send lunch money in a labeled envelope to school in your child's take home folder in the mornings or pay online at payforit.net. Please make sure that you send it in a labeled envelope. Checks are not accepted.

The kindergarten mathematics curriculum provide students with mathematical experiences that help them develop number sense and a positive attitude towards mathematics that will continue through their school career and their lives. We employ a hands-on, problem solving approach.

Our drama teacher, will be teaching the children the basics of music education and will be sharing many wonderful songs! We are scheduled to have music for one 45-minute period weekly. Of course, I will be singing and enjoying music with the children daily.

If you send any type of money to school (fees, book orders, pizza slice day, etc.) please make sure it is in an envelope marked with your child's name, teacher and purpose and place it in the pocket of their HORSE folder. Don't forget you can always pay for these items on payforit.net!

Our weekly newsletter is generally sent home on Mondays. This will keep you informed about what is happening in our class---the skills we are learning, vocabulary words, poems or songs to practice, special activities and upcoming events.

Open House will take place in September.

Parent Involvement: Your support of school activities makes your child feel important and sends the message that you value school! We are always happy to have your help for special activities at school. I will try to let you know at least a week ahead of time if I need help.

There are two main parties each year---Christmas and End-of-Year. The room parents usually organize these events and coordinate volunteers and donations. All are welcome to participate in the festivities! We will have some other celebrations that I will organize and need committees to plan and prepare the details. You will be able to sign up at Back to School Night.

Our class will have a 45-minute P.E. class each week with Coach Free. The children are asked to wear sneakers on gym day and girls might consider wearing pants or a pair of shorts under their dress.

We will discuss and practice safe procedures on the playground. Our playground rules are as follows:

1. Sit on bottom only to go down slides. Do no climb up slides.

2. No picking up sticks, rocks, or any items on the playground.

3. Stay away from the bushes.

4. Large monkey bars on small playground are off limits to Kindergartners.

Since many of you are new to South Highlands this year, I'm sure that you may still have some unanswered questions. Please feel free to call me at school to leave a message. Or you can always write a note or email me.

The children will play outdoors for 15 minutes before lunch and after rest time each day (unless it is raining or the temperature is below 40 degrees). Please keep this in mind when helping your child to select clothing for the day. If your child is too sick to play outside, he/she is too sick to come to school.

Report cards are issued every nine weeks. These reports reflect the progress your child has made toward various kindergarten objectives and uses a grading system that reflects the developmental nature of kindergarten learning.

Have your child use the restroom shortly before coming to school. Your child will be allowed to use the restroom at any time needed during the day - unless it is during a lesson. We will also go as a group to the hall restroom after lunch and before rest time. Please make me aware of any medical problem that might require frequent restroom trips.

The resting towels will be sent home every Friday to be washed. Make sure to return them each Monday.

The room parents' job is to be available for any number of things: to help coordinate parties and activities; to seek volunteers for field trips and events; and to help with fund raisers. Being a room parent is a great way to be involved in your child's school life, and the more parents involved, the less work there is to do! If you would like to help, let me know.

The focus of the kindergarten science curriculum is on developing an awareness of the world in which we live. Through scientific inquiry, concepts will be presented in the life and earth sciences, including the study of animals and plants, the five senses and general health, and the for seasons. These areas will be explored utilizing a literacy based, hands-on approach.

Shared reading is an interactive process used with the whole class. As the teacher reads a story, children join in on phrases or words that they know. During subsequent re-readings, children read more and more of the text, until they are able to read the story independently. Shared reading is an opportunity for the teacher to model conventions of print and the use of reading strategies.

Your children will eat lunch at 10:20; therefore at the end of the school day, we eat a snack. We will have a snack calendar with each child's name, so that everyone has a chance each month to bring a snack. This can be a healthy snack that is quickly eaten, (such as a box of crackers, fruit roll-ups, raisins, pretzels, etc). If you would like to send something special that goes along with the themes we are studying, that is great! Please send small bottled water (DO NOT send jugs of juice or sodas). Make sure to send enough for 22 children.

The kindergarten social studies curriculum focuses on the students and how hey relate to others in their families, classroom, school, and community. Activities will help children focus their natural curiosity for the worlds around them.

The children need to send school supplies by the first day of school. If you pre-ordered them, they will be delivered to the school. Be sure to also have towel labeled with his/her name for rest time. Make sure the backpack is large enough to hold projects and towels and folders. Sometimes during the year we will need additional supplies for projects or activities - check the calendar or notes in the folder.

You child will receive a sad face on their behavior calendar if they have disobeyed a rule 3 times in a day. You will receive a note explaining the behavior. Please discuss the action with your child, sign and return the behavior calendar the next day.

A plastic folder, put together by the teacher that houses EVERYTHING the students and parents need to keep up with what is going on at school. This folder has two sides, "left at home" and "right back to school". Please read all information that comes home in the folder. Our weekly newsletter, children's work, etc will all be sent home in this folder.

Why are they important? These folders help students establish good organizational skills their first year of school---skill that can carry on throughout their time in school. Take home folders will go home every afternoon in your child's backpack. Empty the folder and return it to school the next day. Students will place them in a designated basket when they arrive.

Every child at South Highlands will take home a Tiger Folder every Wednesday. These folders hold school-wide information sheets, and the folder themselves are printed with information about South Highlands.

Bringing toys to school is discouraged because they distract the children from learning. If a toy is accidentally lost or broken, feelings will be hurt. Books are okay to bring in, but please make sure they are clearly marked with your child's name.

Kindergartners learn that they are special and unique. Kindergartners have opportunities to describe how they are alike as well as different from others. They share their culture and learn about different cultures within the class.

South Highlands has a policy that ALL VISITORS (including familiar faces) are required to check in at the school office using a photo id. We welcome and encourage family involvement. It is important that while this may seem inconvenient to frequent visitors, it is the goal and responsibility of the school to create a safe learning environment.

Our class has a website which can be accessed at

http://www.southhighlands.com/

Wish List: Throughout the year we sometimes need supplies above and beyond our classroom materials (such as markers or toilet paper rolls.) These needs will be posted in the class newsletter and on our website. Extra items that you think we might be able to use are always welcome!

Our writing program builds on what each child already knows. Writing begins with scribbles and proceeds to lines and circles, random strings of letters, words and spaces and eventually sentences. Your children will be encouraged and praised for all attempts and accomplishments in writing. Providing a risk-free environment is paramount to your child's progress in writing. If possible, please provide your child with writing tools, such as pencils, crayons, markers and paper at home.

I am eXcited to have an eXcellent year with your little ones!

It is in your child's and the program's best interest to have our parent volunteers available without younger children. This not only allows your full attention to be focused on the class, but also allows for some special time between you and your kindergartner. Thank you for making childcare arrangements for younger siblings.

Zzzzzs.....Make sure that your child gets plenty of rest. Setting and keeping a bedtime is a wonderful gift you can give to your child. It will help them to be alert and ready to learn each day!