Your Child Will Have an Hour of Art with Mrs. Longo Each Thursday

My school email address is [email protected]. I check email daily. If you have an email address that you’d like me to be aware of, please let me know.

Early Release Days will take place throughout the year, generally before holidays. On Early Release days, students dismiss between 11:30-11:45 am and will not have lunch. If your child goes to Boys and Girls Club or Primetime, you may need to make other arrangements.

Information about field trips will come home in the folders and will be detailed in the field trip permission slip and weekly newsletter. If your child is absent, please call the office (336-1887) to let me know. A note stating the reason for the absence must be brought to school as soon as possible to avoid an unexcused absence.

Your child will have an hour of Art with Mrs. Longo each Thursday.

Our class will have a 30-minute Gym class every Monday and Wednesday with Coach Worley. The children are asked to wear athletic shoes on gym days.

We do have a breakfast program daily.

If you would like to send a birthday treat with your child on or near his/her birthday, please feel free to do so. These treats must be prepackaged and will be eaten during our snack time. We do not have birthday parties. Students will have some homework in Kindergarten. More specific Birthdays are recognized during our calendar routine as well. We will information will come home at a later date. recognize summer birthdays as half birthdays. Please do not send birthday party invitations to be distributed at school unless all children receive an invitation.

I will send home book order forms for you and your child to look over every month. Book clubs offer books at reduced prices. It's a great way to build your child's home library! Independence is a goal for students because it builds self-esteem and self- confidence. Kindergarteners are very capable of doing 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.

Parent and Teacher conferences are held at the end of the first quarter. Watch for information and reply accordingly. Writing takes place every day in kindergarten. One way we accomplish this Character Education is an important part of our school curriculum. We will is through free writing in our journals and through writer’s workshop. have a character assembly every other Monday and will focus on a different Encourage your child to write at home for a variety of purposes. character trait each month.

Keep updated by reading the classroom newsletter and checking your child’s folder every day for other notes and information. Discipline is simple. We work hard as a class to make the classroom a positive and safe place for all. We use Love and Logic throughout our kindergarten. For information on Love and Logic at home, watch for information about training offered during the year.

Our class will visit the Library on Tuesdays with Ms. McCormick. Your child will check out a book when we visit the library and return it within the following week. If your child forgets to return the book, he/she will not be allowed to check out a new book until it is returned. Our class eats lunch at 11:43. If lunch money is sent to school, please send it in an envelope with your child’s name and room number inside daily folder. Also, please send lunch money in on the first Monday of each month if at all possible. This eliminates paperwork and gives me more time to teach your child. Report cards will be sent home at the end of each quarter during the Learning Centers is a time for your child to experience opportunities to school year. reinforce classroom learning. Centers will take place every day. We will join another kindergarten class in the Centers room and students will be Kindergarteners have morning recess and afternoon recess. Children are assigned an area in which to work. Children learn through structured play always expected to go outside with the class for recess unless they have a and this is an important time, integral to the growth and development of your doctor’s note stating otherwise. We go outside in winter unless the child. temperature is below 20 degrees so dress your child accordingly.

The children will have a 30-minute Music class with Mrs. Dygert every The focus of the kindergarten science curriculum is on developing an Wednesday and Friday. awareness of the world in which we live. Science concepts and skills will be explored utilizing a hands-on approach. The kindergarten math curriculum provides students with mathematical experiences that help them develop number sense and a positive attitude The kindergarten social studies curriculum focuses on the students and towards mathematics that will continue throughout their school career and how they relate to others in their families, classroom, school, and lives. Many of our math concepts are covered through our daily calendar community. Concepts and skills are explored during various themes and routine and through our Everyday Math program. through our character education program.

A newsletter will be sent home in your child’s folder every Friday or If your child has any changes in their transportation please let the office Monday to keep you informed about what is happening in our class. know in writing, by email, or by phone call.

Volunteers and visitors must sign in at the office. Organization is important! Start the year right by having a central location in your home for backpacks, homework, library books and supplies.

Wet and/or dirty clothes can be uncomfortable. If your child has an accident (which does happen occasionally in kindergarten), he/she will go to the nurse for a change of clothing. Please launder the borrowed clothes and return them as soon as possible. If you pick up your child, please drive around the school building to Pick Up # 1. Also, if this is a change in your child’s regular transportation routine, please let the office know. It is extremely important that we always know how your child is to go home each afternoon.

Parents and family members may eXit and enter via the main school entry.

Questions? Please feel free to call (417-336-1887), email Your ideas…and suggestions are welcome! ([email protected]), or send a note.

Zzzzzzz - Make sure that your child gets plenty of rest. Setting and keeping a bedtime is a wonderful gift you can give your child.