Here comes December!!

All is quiet on the kindergarten front but things will change as we gear up for the upcoming Holidays in December. New tables were assigned.

Ask your child what name table he/she is at and who their new table mates are. 

This week in kindergarten we will learn about the letter "Hh" and compare our hair. Who has long hair? short hair? dark hair? light hair? curly hair? or short hair? Why not do a little "pre-teaching" at home and talk about your child's hair when washing or brushing it.

We will also discuss the holiday of Hanukkah. If you celebrate this Holiday, please contact me if you  would like to come in to discuss this Holiday with the children.

Throughout this month we will discuss other holidays that occur during this time; Christmas, and Kwanzaa. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to come in to talk to the children about these special times.

I will also be introducing the Hand Game to the children. This is a math game that all children are expected to master by the end of kindergarten. Basically, it is teaching the various combinations of the number 5; 1+4=5; 4+1=5, 3+2=5, 2+3=5... and so on. I will be sending home a sheet that further explains this math game. You can continue to practice this game throughout the remainder of the school year. 

Things to look forward to:

Picture make-up day will be Monday, Dec. 8th. If your child was absent or you were not satisfied with their picture, retakes will be taken on this day. See the mailing set home earlier this week for specific information.

Dec.23rd will be a shortened session. There will also be a school Sing -A-Long. More details to come. 

Both the AM and PM classes were invited to decorate the Main Bulletin Board for this month. Our theme will be based on the story of  The Ginger Bread Boy. Please try to come in at some point to see it.

Here's an article I thought you might be interested in reading: http://www.sybervision.com/Discipline/marshmallow.htm

 

Thank you and WOW!

Many thanks to all who were able at attend my Math Night. The attendance of over 20+ parents was quite impressive and an indication of the interest the parents at Wilson Primary Center have in their children's education. I hope you found it not only an enjoyable evening, but also one that helped to "open your eyes" to the Math curriculum and the activities your child does as part of our Math Their Way curriculum. And let's admit, it was fun to go back to your childhood days and perhaps reminisce a bit about your own days in kindergarten!

I will continue to do my best to surround your child in an environment that is rich in language, movement and song, the arts and most of all, a nurturing place where they can develop skills that they WILL keep with them for the rest of their lives! 

THIS WEEK IN KINDERGARTEN :

  We were introduced to Mr. C and his Colossal Cap.  The children enjoyed several centers. Playing cards and matching numbers at a glance  kept the learners on their toes as they had to quickly identify matching numbers; playing Connect 4 appealed to the logical thinkers in our class; patterning with coins appealed to the future "Trumps" in our class and lent its

elf to a few lessons in coins and money.  Playing copy cat appealed to the visual learners,  and using colored chalk to copy and learn some new C words from a picture dictionary appealed to the verbal learners in the class. 

WE READ:

Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes. Afterwards,  the children graphed their names and compared, contrasted and counted all the letters in their names. They worked in cooperative groups to count and put all the unifix in groups of ten to make "bundles". We then counted all the groups by tens. The AM class had a total of 106 letters in all their names and in the PM class there was a total of 87 letters. Come and see our name graph on display on our wall outside our classroom. 

Kevin Henkes is a great children's book author and most of his books are the type that children will enjoy listening to. They are also books that lend themselves well to having a good discussion. 

And in case you haven't heard the PM class has become celebrities! They were highlighted in this week's Independent Press where they posed with the Summit Fire Fighters. The men had volunteered a few weeks ago by coming to each class to educate the children on Fire Safety. For  fun, I had each child autograph the picture and we will place it in the Wilson PC Time capsule for posterity.  Hey, you never know, some of them may be famous one day!

LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK:

Remember that next Weds. is a shortened session: 

AM : 8:15-11:00     PM : 10:00-12:30 

Please pack a LIGHT snack this day.                          

NO SCHOOL: Thursday and Friday. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. Take the time to reflect on all that you have to be thankful for. And thank you for all your support.

A "Star Week"

Lots of pink, purple, polka dots, pretzels and popcorn this week as we studied the letter "P". We all agreed that it is a very popular letter! To reinforce the letter and its sound the children enjoyed playing with play dough, making patterns with pom pom and pencils, learning  how to the game, Perfection, and playing interactive puzzle games on the computer.

We enjoyed stories about pigs, and  reading some poetry. 

A District wide initiative to educate the children  on bullying was addressed this week.  I read the book, Weekend with Wendell, by Kevin Henkes. After reading the story we took time to share our thoughts about bullying and discussed ways that we can address this issue. The children also had an opportunity to illustrate a time when someone hurt them, their belongings, or their feelings. Talk to your child and continue the conversation at home. Some words used were: bullying (someone who does something that hurts you or your belongings over and over again), victim (the person that is being "picked on") and the bystander (the person who sees and hears the bullying). We will continue to have these discussions throughout the year. 

We also enjoyed another Wilson School Spirit Day assembly. We were the "stars" as Mr. Gil asked both the AM and PM classes to stand before the whole school and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. We also sang This Land is Your Land. They did a fantastic job! 

Congratulations to the Star Students this month, Jemma Nazarali, Michael Bonomo, JoJo Schluter and Theo Errig. 

To conclude the assemble we all danced to "Tooty Ta". Don't know it? Ask your child to sing and dance it for you!

In your child's folder today there are several important papers. 

One is a brief Teacher Comment Report on your child for the First Marking Period. This is for your information and does not need to be returned. 

Another was an assignment for December, which is to decorate and cut out a gingerbread character. As the cover letter stated, we will be reading  many versions of the Gingerbread Boy and will also be decorating the Main Bulletin Board in the hallway for December and would like to use these as a festive decoration. When doing this, although I encourage parent support, please allow your child opportunities to cut and color. Thanks to all who encouraged their child to complete the Scarecrow assignment. They ALL look fabulous and will be on display on our bulletin board. 

Fridays will now be our Computer Lab day and today the children did a follow-up activity 

to the Halloween book, Go Away Green Monster. They had to use several Kid Pix tools to replicate the construction paper face that they made in October. Next week I will introduce the keyboard to the children, so if possible, do a little pre-teaching and show your child how to type their first name. This is actually quite a challenge for many children, as being able to identify the letters in random order can be difficult. 

We continue our studies on the 5 Senses and in your child's folder there is a plastic magnifying glass.  We discussed  the proper use of magnifiers,  we used them to look at words and letters in newspapers and books. Take time this weekend to look at objects around your house and neighborhood. (Holiday gift item: Child- friendly magnifying glass)

Please return these on Monday as they are part of the school's Science program and need to  be shared with other teachers.

 As of this writing I have received only 4 responses for the Kindergarten Night gathering this Weds. Nov. 19th at 7PM. 

If you plan on attending, please respond by Tuesday, Nov. 18th to judithcfisher@gmail.com

Have a fun-filled weekend!

An Invitation

You are cordially invited to spend an evening "the kindergarten way" 

enjoying some "hands on" activities,

 just like your child does each day in kindergarten.

Please join me on Wednesday evening, November 19th 

from 7-8:15 PM in Room #112. 

Dress is casual, as we will be singing, dancing 

and interacting with each other in ways you've never imagined! 

So, if you are able to attend, please confirm by Tuesday, Nov. 18th.

 Contact me at:

 jfisher@gmail.com 

Please remember that this is a "child -free" evening, 

Line up a sitter now so you can join in the fun. 

I look forward to an evening together with you. 

Sincerely, 

Judi Fisher

PS. Please contact Mrs. Poh (Belinda-AM) if you are interested in signing your daughter up to be a Daisy Scout. The first meeting will be this Weds. 11/12 at 11:30 at Wilson PC. The girls all enjoy it and it's a great opportunity for them to learn about Community Service and meet new friends. "Make new friends but keep the old, Some are silver and the others, gold!" Were YOU a Brownie or Girl Scout?

Election 2008 Kindergarten Style!

We were busy today getting ready for tomorrow's Presidential Election. After discussing what voting and elections are about, the children were given an opportunity to vote for their favorite book. 

I read, A Color of My Own, by Leo Lionni , and,  Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. Each child was given a VOTE FOR BOOKS bookmark (in their folder today) and they used this as their "ballot". They went behind the curtain (Pocket Chart) and cast their vote. We then tallied the votes. The results between AM and PM differed. AM voted their favorite book as A Color of My Own and the PM voted for The Wild Things as their favorite.

It is obvious that the children are absorbing the news and conversations at home because most children knew who the 2 candidates were. Although I did not expect them to know the political issues the candidates stood for, one child said they would vote for McCain because he liked rock and roll music! Hmmmmmmm??????? 

Once again the children went into the voting booth and placed a marker under either Obama's or McCain's picture. 

The results in both classes were that Obama would win. (see above photos)

If you have the opportunity, take your child with you when you go to vote tomorrow and explain the process to them and maybe tell them why you are voting for that candidate. Be a role model and a good citizen. Before long they will be pulling the lever (or whatever  the technology will be in 2024)! 

They are all excited to find out who the "winner" will be. 

I can't wait for their reactions on Wednesday!

PS. Don't forget......NO SCHOOL on Election Day and also NO SCHOOL on Thursday and Friday of this week.

ALSO: If you have not already done so, please consider donating some canned goods for the Thanks-for-Giving Food Drive. We are collecting food items until 3PM Wednesday.