Kindergarten News
“KINDERNEWS”
May 2008
It is hard to believe this is the last full month of Kindergarten! Time flies when you’re having fun. Your children have grown like little butterflies before our eyes. Before too long, they will open their wings and set sail into first grade!
CURRICULUM CORNER
CHARACTER EDUCATION: As we look ahead to preparing the students for life in first grade, we will be having special discussions in class on problem solving and conflict resolution. This is a great conversation to have at home as well! First, we think of the many different ways to solve a problem… by brainstorming. When we brainstorm in class, we think of as many ideas as we can, and we do not say if we like the idea or if it is a good or bad idea until all ideas have been said… practicing self-control. After we have brainstormed the many ways to solve a problem, we go to the next problem solving step: Think of what might happen next if we tried the solution. For each possible solution, we need to ask if it would be safe and fair. In our discussions, we often find that there are several solutions to a problem. At home you can continue to use this problem solving process with your child to help them develop their skills of independence and maintaining positive peer relationships.
LANGUAGE ARTS: In reading, we will continue working in our guided reading groups, practicing our sight words, setting aside special time to Drop Everything And Read, and emphasize dissecting words by their word family, initial blends, and vowel partners. The vowel partners –oo, -ee, -ea, and –oa will be introduced to familiarize the students with this concept for first grade.
In writing, we will be having the students do a variety of writing pages in their Writing Journals inspired by a subject, but giving freedom to the students to use their imaginations when writing. We are placing great emphasis on having the student practice writing the first letter of a sentence in upper case, giving “finger spaces” between words, and ending a sentence with a period or other form of punctuation.
LITERATURE STUDY: We will be reading books written by Denise Fleming. We will conclude our author study with inspiration from her story: “In the Small, Small Pond”.
SCIENCE: We are currently studying plants and flowers. The classes will be learning all about the main parts of a flower and what each part’s job is. We will learn that the seeds get planted in the ground, the root drinks the water and holds the plant in the ground, the stem carries the water up to the flower, the leaves make the food, and the flower makes new seeds. To see how the stem works, we will do an experiment with celery and watch how it does its job as a stem by drinking up water with blue food coloring! We will also learn that some seeds make flowers and some seeds make vegetables. At the beginning of the month, we will take a field trip to Meadows Farm Nurseries to learn about seeds and planting. Finally, we will learn about the needs of plants and flowers and will do some gardening ourselves as we help beautify the school by planting flowers that we get from our field trip to Meadows Farm Nurseries. We will conduct a special planting project of our own and learn about various elements of gardening. We will finish the month by learning about different kinds of flowers and tying this into some projects in the Art Studio.
Soon, we will begin a unit on Frogs and Pond Life. We have been observing some “Spring Peepers” brought in by a family at school and we will learn more about frogs as we study the life cycle beginning at the egg and learning how tadpoles become frogs. In class, we watch this cycle unfold as we see tadpoles develop and change over the month… hopefully, they will be ready to release when we visit the Lovettsville pond at the end of May.
SOCIAL STUDIES: Also in social studies this month, we will be studying farm life and learning about the differences between zoo animals, farm animals, and domesticated animals. We will have “first-hand” experience when we visit Mrs. Cross’ father’s farm in Lovettsville at the end of the month.
MATH: Basic principles of addition and subtraction will be our emphasis for the remainder of the year. We are currently working with the students on transitioning from using manipulatives and “counters” to writing word problems and solving them independently. We will begin writing word problems with the (+), (-), and (=) signs.
We will also continue working with the students on their number counting; particularly by two’s, five’s, and ten’s. We will learn a fun math game called “What’s My Rule,” practice using a calculator, and even experience fractions.
ART: In May we will review the artists that we studied throughout the year and begin to prepare for our field trip to The National Gallery of Art at the end of the month to see the artists’ work first-hand!
IMPORTANT DATES
May 2 Free Dress – All Colors
May 6 Spring Concert – 7pm
May 7 Field Trip – Meadows Farm Nurseries
May 9 Grandparents Day - (Noon Dismissal)
May 14 Mother’s Day Tea
May 16 Lower School Track and Field Day
May 20 Field Trip – Lovettsville Pond/Farm
May 26 No School – Memorial Day
May 27 – DATE CHANGE Field Trip – National Gallery of Art
Future events being planned…
June 2 Kindergarten Evening Pot-Luck Dinner
June 4 End-of-Year Class Party
THE ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Spring Concert: On Tuesday, May 6th the Spring Concert will begin at 7pm. The call time for students is at 6:30 in their classrooms. Please note that the teachers will be taking pictures of the children and their mothers on this evening!
Grandparents and Special Friends Day: On Friday, May 9th our school will be hosting a “Grandparents Day”. The children will be performing their Spring Concert for those attending from 9-9:30. Following the PreK-2 Concert, there will be an “open house” in the classrooms from 9:30-10 for the grandparents and special friends to visit. Please note that there is a noon dismissal on this day with no extended care. You or your child’s grandparents are welcome to take your child home after their Concert.
May Mothers Day Tea: The Annual Kindergarten Mother’s Day Tea will be Wednesday, May 14th from 9:30-10:30 am. Please mark your calendars! The children are planning a delightful morning for you. They will serve you “brunch” and are preparing some beautiful decorations. We ask that you make arrangements for siblings so that you may have this special time with your Kindergartener. It’s a fun time to “dress-up” if you wish. We have enjoyed “garden party attire” in the past… with some mother’s even choosing to wear hats and gloves! Moms, if you are unable to make it, please see if someone can represent you. We would like for each child to have someone special with them on this day.
Lower School Track and Field Day: More information will be sent home soon from the P.E. Department regarding the Track and Field Day on Friday, May 16th from 9-11am. Please note the school is asking that all students go to and from Morven Park by bus only. Parents are welcome to meet us there.
Field Trip to Lovettsville: We hope as many parents as possible can join us on our field trip to Lovettsville for fishing and fun on the farm at Mrs. Cross’ father’s home on Tuesday, May 20th. Please note that this date is dependant on the weather! Be looking for more info. to come…
Field Trip to National Gallery of Art: We are very excited about our field trip to the National Gallery of Art on Tuesday, May 27th. We will be leaving school at 9am and returning by 2:00. We will be asking students to bring in two snacks and a bus lunch. If you would like to go with us, sign-up sheets are posted outside of the classrooms.
Teacher Appreciation Week Thank You Thank you all for a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week! The entire week was so heartwarming with all of the notes and gifts from the children. We consider ourselves so fortunate to work with such amazing students and families. We enjoyed every minute! Thank you again!
We look forward to these last few weeks with your children!
Lacy O"Shea
