Below are the Kindergarten Success Tips.  Thank you for all your help and support!

Kindergarten Success Tips

·       First Day: Be sure your child gets enough sleep and has a healthy breakfast!  Please walk your child to the back door of our classrooms.  Doors will open at 9:05.  A quick goodbye is best.  Be sure we know HOW your child is getting home (check in with the teacher to verify afternoon transportation – please email us!)

·       Second Day and beyond: Children line up outside the back doors on the yellow line/distance dots.  Morning playground supervision begins at 8:50.  You must stay with your child if you are here earlier. Classroom doors open at 9:05.

·       Kindergarten Pickup/Afternoon Transportation: Bus riders, daycare and Alpha Best (formerly Base Camp) kids will be escorted by adults in the afternoons.  Parent pickup is OUTSIDE the back kindergarten doors at 3:43.  Please wait outside – coming inside to pickup disturbs the classroom and is not allowed. We will be teaching the children to line up on the blue wall outside our doors until you come and take their hand.  This ensures all children are safe.

·   Attendance is important!  Please be on time in the mornings – we begin right away.  When children are absent or tardy, they have trouble adjusting to the routine AND they miss valuable learning time. 

·   We are encouraging independence.  We know it’s tempting, but allow your child to enter the room by themselves and take care of their own backpack and things.  Saying goodbye at the door helps them quickly adjust to the routine.

·   We have snack time every morning.  Please send a healthy snack.  Prepacked snacks are best.  Do NOT send soda, candy, sugary snacks or junk food.  If you send fruit (apples, oranges) please cut them.  Send something they can eat quickly – do not send lunchables (for snack) or ‘too many’ items.  Send a disposal spoon if needed.  If you child brings a lunchbox for lunch, please talk to them about which items are for SNACK and which for LUNCH.  We only have extra snacks for emergencies.

·   School breakfasts and lunches are free to all children until next school year.  However, you are encouraged to fill out the Free/Reduced lunch application because the school receives funds from these.

·   Your child is encouraged to bring a refillable water bottle.  Make sure it is labeled with your child’s name, seals well and your child can manage the lid.  They child can refill their water bottles.  Please do not send juice, milk or tea in their bottles – they learn to really like water this way!

·   Dress your child in comfortable clothes and shoes.  We don’t have PE every day, but we do have recess daily.  Flip flops and sandals tend to break and are unsafe.  Wear layers when it gets cooler.  Label jackets and sweaters with your child’s name.

·   Please send your child with a regular sized backpack every day.  Be sure to check your child’s backpack every day for books, notes and important information.

·   We send home a reading folder every night.  Inside are books your child has worked on in WIN reading group and a calendar of important information.  Initial the calendar when you read.  Your child will earn a reading prize at the end of each month if they read!  

·   Read the newsletters/emails for what we are working on and practice with your child.  Some things you can always help your child with at home are letters and sounds, sounding out words, kindergarten sight words, counting, drawing and writing.

·   It’s always best to have a set routine for afternoon transportation.  We CANNOT accept your child telling us a change in how they get home.  It’s always best to send a written note.  If transportation must be changed, please call the office and they will alert us.

·   We welcome volunteers!  All volunteers must fill out a PSD volunteer application online.  Communicate with your child’s teacher about when and if you can volunteer. 

·   We are all about learning!  If you have a question about the curriculum or schedule, feel free to ask.  Be patient and understanding with your child – they will be tired for the first few weeks, be sure to get plenty of rest.  A regular, consistent (early!) bedtime is best.

·   Children often will say, “I don’t know” when asked “What did you do in school today?”  Instead, ask the question differently: Where did you go for Encore?  What books did you hear or read today?  What center did you work in? Who did you sit by?

·   The best way to communicate with a teacher is through writing (email or hand written note).  Please try not to catch us in the morning, our focus is on the kids.  We would be glad to schedule a conference to speak with you. 

·   Please do not allow your children to bring toys, stuffed animals, cell phones or tablets.  They are distracting and often get lost or broken.

·   Have a question, comment or need clarification? Send us an email or call:

heasterl@psdschools.org / (970) 488-4251

mcouget@psdschools.org / (970) 488-4250