Kindergarten Parents Meeting Agenda

Welcome to St. Louise Kindergarten ! Dear Parents, Kindergarten is an exciting year for you and your child. To make everyone aware of what is expected, here’s a summary of important items you should know. Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome. I look forward to working with you and your child during this school year. Miss Gusdorf

Kindergarten parents meeting agenda 1. Introductions 2. Your child’s first day of Kindergarten 3. Special Classes: Computer Class- On Friday from 9:00- 9:35. Library- Story and checking out books. Library will be on Thursday at 10:35- 11:00 and Friday at 2:00- 2:30 PE- All children are required to bring a pair of clean tennis shoes to be kept at school. Please put your child’s name on the shoes and send them in a plastic bag with his/her name on the outside of the bag, P.E. classes are on Wednesday 2:05- 2:35 and on Thursday 9:25-10:00. Music- Classes will be on Tuesday 2:15- 2:50 and Wednesday 9:25-10:00. 4. Visits to the Classroom: Please pre-arrange any visits by sending a note with your child. Please sign in at the office and they will announce your arrival (you will need a badge). Drop-in visitors can sometimes be disruptive to the classroom routine. 5. Snacks: We will have snack time around 10: 15 AM. Please send a snack for your child each day. Would you put it (along with napkin) in a plastic ziplock bag that is labeled with your child’s name? We encourage you to send something nutritious (no nuts please). 6. Star of the Week: This is a way to honor and acknowledge one of the children in our class. You will be notified when it is your child’s week to be celebrated. The Star of the Week may bring a Show and Tell item for every day of his/ her week. The Star also is asked to bring in an estimating jar. This will be used as part of our Math lesson during the week. Example items can be: M&Ms, marbles, stickers…. Be creative and have fun! Please send something that can be shared with the class at the end of the week 7. Birthdays: Your child may bring a special treat for his/her birthday. The class will make a Birthday book for your child. All birthdays will be celebrated. Please do not have your child distribute party invitations at school. 8. Correspondence: A weekly newsletter will be sent home on Thursdays in the K-K folder. It will be in the Family Envelope and will contain important information for the next week. Please make sure you look for it each week. Also, please make sure you check your’s child’s backpack daily for any papers of notes. They also will come home in the K-K folder. Please return the folder the next day. Folders will not come home everyday but please check just in case. 9. Identification: Please label your child’s backpack and lunch box on the OUTSIDE to help us in matching belongings to the right child. Don’t forget to label sweaters, jackets, sweatshirts and gym shoes. Please make sure your child’s backpack is big enough to fit the red family envelope that goes home every Thursday. Because of our lack of closet space, we ask that you do NOT get backpacks with wheels. 10. Recess: Kindergarten students go out to recess with K-2 grades. Please dress your child appropriately for the weather. We do go out in drizzly weather…. Exercise is important for the children. The first two days of school we will be going out to recess with K-L but will not be going out with the 1st and 2nd graders. 11. Field Trips: Please return all field trip forms as soon as possible after they are sent out. Every parent who drives will need appropriate seat belts and an insurance form on file in the office and a background check. We will go on several field trips this year. Because you will be asked to be responsible for a group of young children from the class, siblings are not allowed on the field trips. 12. Money: When sending checks or cash, PLEASE seal in a plastic bag and put your child’s name and room number on the front. Please specify what the money is for. MILK FOR LUNCHTIME: $12.00 a year HOT LUNCH AVAILABLE through Blue Plate and may be ordered at: blueplateseattle.com or by calling 206-525-2511 13. Buddy Class: 3G is our buddy class. We will get together with the third graders frequently throughout the year. We do special activities together and sit together during Mass and church liturgies. You are welcome to join us. 14. K-K/K-L classrooms: The 2 Kindergarten classrooms do share the same curriculum topics. There are times when we will do similar projects, but each classroom is individualized to meet the needs of the students. The Kindergarten classes get together often so your child will see friends in the other classroom.

15. Parent Pictures: The pictures that we take at this meeting will be given to your child on the first day of school. It is very helpful and comforting for them to “see Mom and Dad” when starting this new experience. If you have not already done so, please be sure to have your picture taken before you leave.

16. Visiting the Classroom: The children may come to the classroom to take a “sneak peek” and find their desk. They can meet me, see their classmates, and explore the room. (Friday August 29th from 10-12 AM)

17. K-K’s website: wwww.stlouiseschool.org Meet the Classrooms Room K-K (Is there somebody who could keep this updated for us?) 18. Prize Box: Please keep K-K in mind when cleaning out your toy box. Any small items that you plan to throw away would be appreciated.

19. Uniforms: The zippers on the new uniform pants are usually stiff. If you would help your son or daughter, if you practice at home and he has a chance to zip and unzip the zipper a few times before he wears them to school. Girls need to wear shorts under their uniform skirts so they can play comfortably for recess (especially on the big toy) and participate comfortably in PE.

20. Scholastic: An order form for books will be sent home periodically. Throw away if not interested. It will come home in the KK folder and your child will not have seen it. 21. Volunteer Needs: See lists on cupboard doors.

22. Bathroom Routine: We use a buddy system. The children use bathroom passes which are hanging on the wall by the door. Dad, if your son has never used a urinal, please practice with him before school begins. The self flushing toilets are a concern to some of the children so we discuss this the first day.

23. K-K phone number: 425-746-4220 Ext. 115 Email address: [email protected]

24. Regular Arrival and Dismissal Arrival: All the children will line up along the brick alright outside the classroom. The bell rings at 8:25 a.m. The children will enter the classroom at that time. The tardy bell is at 8:30 a.m. Dismissal: The children will be walked to car pool and to The Kid’s Club meeting areas at 3:00 p.m. Early dismissal: When it’s necessary to pick up your child early, please send a note ahead of time. You will need to go to the office to sign your child out. They will notify us to prepare your child for dismissal. MONDAY ALERT: We Dismiss on Mondays at 2:00 PM. 25. On the first day of school, we will open the door at 8:15 AM. We ask that you come in and help your child get settled in. If we get a volunteer, we will video tape the children’s arrival on the first day of school. School will dismiss at Noon. Please pick your child up at the door the first day of school. The rest of the week, we will walk the children down to the south parking lot at noon. Please wait for us there. 26. Video Volunteer: Is there someone who would be willing to video tape some of the special moments in K-K this year and produce a video for our families to have as a memento of the year? 27. FYI: The Kindergarten children will NOT be attending the all school liturgy on the first day of school. We will attend future Masses and liturgies and you are welcome to join us. Daily Schedule Full-day Kindergarten: 8:30-3:00 Schedule 8:30-10:00 First classroom session (religion, reading, math, special classes etc)

10:00- 10:15 Morning recess

10:30- 11:30 Second classroom session

11:30-12:00 Second recess

12:00-12:40 Lunch

12:40-1:10 Rest time (quiet reading, puzzles, coloring)

1:10- 1:45 Activity Time

1:45- 2:00 Recess

2:00-2:45 Free Choice

3:00 Dismissal St. Louise Kindergarten Questionnaire (please return on first day of school)

Child’s name: ______

Name to be used in School: ______

Address: ______

Number: ______

Is your child reading? YES NO

Is your child repeating kindergarten? YES NO

Other Children in Family AGE Grade Level ______

Some of your child’s favorite things to do:

Goals or expectations for your child:

What upsets your child?

What motivates your child?

Describe your child’s personality. What do you expect your child to acquire through the kindergarten experience?

Please add any other information you feel may be helpful to me.

Signed: ______Kindergarten Curriculum Subject: Religion Text: Blest Are We Focus: Introduce children to the faith mainly through fundamental sensory experiences; learn about God and God’s gifts to us by experiencing the familiar elements in the children’s lives in a prayerful way.

Subject: Reading Text: Houghton Muffin Reading Focus: This reading series will focus on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Subject: Math Text: Baretta Lorton, Math Their Way and McGraw Hill, Everyday Mathematics Focus: Hands-on, manipulative program introducing children to math concepts in a basic way; patterning; number concept, graphing, sorting; categorizing; estimating; addition; subtraction

Subject: Science Text: Harcourt and FOSS Science Kit; Wood & Paper Focus: Life, Earth, and Physical Science provide a variety of learning experiences that promote students’ understanding of themselves and their environment. Encourage active participation in the learning process.

Subject: Social Studies Text: McGraw-Hill, Here I Am, Adventures in Time and Place Focus: Help students to understand the world around them and the way it affects their own lives. Subject: Music Text: None Focus: Exploring music, language, and movement through a variety of media including records, tapes, and rhythm instructions in the homeroom. This augments the regular music curriculum.

Subject: Handwriting Text: Zaner-Bloser, Handwriting Focus: Developing fine motor skills as students learn to write capital and lowercase letters of the alphabet; numerals; words and sentences

Additional Subjects: Physical Education, Computers, Music, Library, Art, Health and Safety