Last one in September!

Howdy, Folks!

I hope you all have had a great week! It has been a wonderful week in our classroom with lots of activities, play and exploring.

We got to spend a lot more time in our outdoor classroom this week, which has been super. The kids got to do some fairy village building, firewood collecting, and making areas to protect their precious eggs from storms. 

We also had a wonderful Dot Day. The kids got to do some activities, get their face painted if they wanted to, have a dot snack and got read to by Ms. Aly at Library time. For more information about International Dot Day, look here. I know we were a couple of days late, we always try to celebrate this day on Library day. 

We started our work on the alphabet over the past couple of weeks. We have been trying to figure out the letters in our name, learn the alphabet song and have started to work on the letter c, the first letter they learn to write in their handwriting program. We also introduce the sound /k/ as well as the picture to go along with it (cat). The handwriting program goes in an order that uses the magic-c as the basis for their first letters. If you are wondering why we don’t start with the letter a, it is because in large part, the order of the alphabet is arbitrary. We try to do the sounds at the same time we do the letters. The next letter is o, with a picture of an octopus. By using specific pictures for kids, it helps them cement the sounds without complicating the process by using lots of different pictures to represent sounds. 

It has been great seeing the kids find friends to play with, learning one another’s names and overall finding their groove as a group. What we see, and what we hear from all of their teachers is that they are a sweet, sweet group of kids. We couldn’t agree more!

I hope you got to see the book your kiddo took out of the library this week. The kids will continue to get out books on Tuesdays. Please try to send them back to school on Monday, if you haven’t already.

We got to release a butterfly this week, albeit one with very small, undeveloped wings. We still brought it outside and placed it on a flower. We talked a lot about how Mother Nature can be unpredictable and that these kinds of things happen. It was a sad, yet important learning experience for the kiddos. Interestingly this has been a theme in other classrooms as well. In any case, we should have more to release next week. 

In order to support the amazing work of our Rumney PTO, you may have seen a fundraiser packet from Meadow Farms. If you have any questions about it, please get in touch with Honi (hbarrett@u32.org). 

Picture Day is Monday at 10:00am. We’ll try to not go outside before pictures to ensure the best possible results. I can’t wait to see how they come out!

I know Jen Miller Arsenault, our acting Superintendent, sent out a memo this week describing the process going forward about how she is going to be reporting on Covid cases and sending out information to families. She welcomes feedback. If you have Covid specific questions, feel free to reach out to me or Maria Melekos, WCUUSD Covid Coordinator. 

Last, every once in a while I’ll send along something that comes across my radar that resonates with me. Maybe it will with you, too. Maybe not, especially if it bothers you that it feels a little too “Learning to Fly” by Tom Petty... In any case, here is a song I heard the other day. As a new kindergarten parent, it got me right in the feels. Find it here.

Enjoy the weekend weather!

Best,

Ben and Honi

Reminders

Class Blog

You can check out the blog here for the newsletter and resources

Pictures

The folder with class pictures can be found here. 

Class Gear

Please remember to send in all the tools for the kiddos to be using as we go through the year (change of clothes, raingear, camp chair, etc.). Sneakers are the best daily footwear for students. If you need help getting any of those, please let us know, the school will be happy to help.

 

Conversation starters:

*What project did you finish in Art? (paper glasses) What did yours look like?

*Ask your child how their day was and see if they can answer you in Spanish (bien=good, mal=bad, asi-asi=so-so).

*Did you try anything new on the playground this week?

*Do you remember your buddy's name? Did you have fun with your buddy?

*What happened in the book about the little engine?

Last, we are sending home new book order forms. Here is some information:

 

 With a $25 order, you can pick a FREE $5 Book (use code: READS).

 

Class Order Due Date: Thursday, Sept 9th.

Shop Our Class Page: https://orders.scholastic.com/XLZX8

 

Class Code: XLZX8