Kinder Week 3 (T/TH)

    

We are looking forward to another great week of learning! The kids are doing great learning classroom procedures and we are enjoying getting to know them! We are spending time each day focusing on a certain "Fruit of the Spirit" and discussing ways to grow them in our heart.  We not only hope to train their minds, but their hearts as well, so that we all may become more like Christ each day.

***Our first Pizza Day of the year will be on Thursday, August 28th!  On the last Thursday of every month we will have pizza delivered to school...a day off from packing a lunch! If you haven't signed up (and you would like your child to have pizza each month) there was a link sent out in an email to get signed up for that (Gluten free option is available this year).  If you still need a spirit shirt or a sweatshirt please let the front desk know and someone can pull one for you.

*** Some objectives and assessments will be added this week or early next week to Alma.  Please go to fortis.getalma.com and log in. Alma note...do not pay any attention to percentages!  The percentages do not equate to the grade or your child's performance.  Your child has mastered the given objective when they have a 3 or 4.  Any objectives that your child has a 2 in is what your child needs some extra practice in (beyond what is assigned on the blog).  If you are not able to log in or have questions about Alma please email questions@fortisacademy.net.

Love, Miss Chun & Mrs. Penner

Important Dates:

8/26 - School Picture Day! 

8/28- Spirit Day/Pizza Day/DOGS Day! Students may wear Fortis t-shirts along with jeans or shorts (knee length) on Spirit Days. Pizza lunch will be served for those who have prepaid.  If you did not pre-pay when registering for the year, you can do that HERE,  Dads of Godly Students (DOGS) will present a fun assembly for the students and visit with them during their lunch time. 

9/2- No School: Labor Day

Math:

•  Please remember to do the "Introduction" and "One Step Further" at the bottom of the pages.
• This is a great week to introduce those Subitizing (dot) cards at home, and begin building that number sense! Click here for dot cards up to 14, but focus on the ones up to ten for now.  You can also make your own using index cards and "garage sale" stickers.  Make sure to offer several different ways to show each number (ex: 6 can be 3 and 3, 4 and 2, 5 and 1, ect.)  Show the card for 3 seconds then put it down.  Ask them how many dots they saw and how they saw it (2 on top and 2 on bottom, 1 on top, 3 on bottom, etc)

Reading:

•  Please use this time to go over letter sounds! (Yellow Phonograms)
•  Please be working with your student on letter recognition, both upper and lower case letters.  We will begin reading short vowel words next week!
• PHONEMIC AWARENESS: to reinforce our Spelling segmenting lesson, we like to have "Turtle Talk" at school. Our puppet, Tudley, says a 3 sound word slowly (ex: /p/ /e/ /t/) and the student has to blend the word and say it. This is a great activity for driving in the car!
• Ideas: *call out a phonogram's sounds and have student write the letter with sidewalk chalk, wet paintbrush on sidewalk, shaving cream, a tray with sand or salt, playdough, etc. * Play hopscotch with phonograms. They have to say the sound before hopping to the next.
• Read quality literature to your child to encourage the love of beautiful books!

Writing:

• Remember to reinforce letter practice on lined handwriting paper, especially if your child is needing additional letter practice. Click HERE to download printable handwriting lines similar to what we use in class.
• Please have your child practice writing their first name correctly (beginning with a capital and the rest lower case).
• Check for proper grip and that your child is starting their letter formation in the correct spot (never from the bottom).
•  Click here for a short video to help with correct pencil grip and using the handwriting paper correctly.
• Your student does not need to bring their handwriting books to school.

Spelling:

•  Introduce rule card 1.*Please make sure to go over yellow phonogram cards at least twice per homeschool day. Also, keep practicing segmenting words. It is a crucial step for reading!

Geography:

• Kindergarteners will be expected to be able to point to the Continents and Oceans on a map. Click here for the song we use in class. Due 9/18

Memory Work: 

•  Please work on memorizing our beautiful poem "Jesus Died Your Soul to Save".  Students will say title, author, and then recite poem on September 25th.  The scripture at the top of the page is not required, but is suggested!

K week 3	8/25/2025	8/26/2025	8/27/2025	8/28/2025	8/29/2025	9/1/2025	Co-Teacher Notes
Discipleship	Attention: Listening with eyes, ears, and heart. Matthew 7:24- “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man that built his house on the rock
Read Aloud	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.		Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.		Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.	Picture Day on Tuesday
Bible		Fruit of the Spirit: PATIENCE	Discuss ways to show patience at home and at school. Work on memorizing Letter C scripture.	Fruit of the Spirit: KINDNESS	Discuss ways to show kindness at home and at school. Work on memorizing Letter C scripture.		Letter C: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and make me willing to obey you. Psalm 51:10
Math	EM-A p25-26	EM-A p27-29	EM-A p30-33	EM-A p34-36	EM-A p37-40	EM-A p41-44
Spelling		AAS-Lesson 3	AAS: Lesson 4 rule card 1	AAS-Lesson 4	AAS: Lesson 4 rule card 1	Review segmenting words and Lessons 1-4.	Link to optional activity directions can be found HERE.
Writing		N,M	HWT-p12 (N,M)	Frog Jump capitals, H, K, L	HWT-p13 (frog jump capitals)
Reading		Phonogram games and activities *Introduction to Tudley!	Go over yellow Phonogram cards at least 2X/day. Choose an activity from THIS LIST to practice letter recognition.	Phonogram games and activities	Go over yellow Phonogram cards at least 2X/day. Choose an activity from THIS LIST to practice letter recognition.		We will begin reading short vowel words next week! Please make sure your child knows all of his/her letters and basic letter sounds
Enrichment	Read Aloud: How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World Poem: Pledge of Allegiance Art: Still Life with Apples by Vincent van Gogh Music: "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key						The read aloud will be done on school days. You are encouraged to practice the poem, discuss the art piece, and listen to the music piece on homeschool days. Links to these will be in the notes section above.
Geography	Continents and Oceans - Due 9/18
Memory Work	Jesus Died Your Soul To Save Poem - Due 9/25

Kinder Week 2 (T/TH)

    

We are enjoying getting to know your children! What a sweet treasure to be entrusted with helping to mold their hearts and minds. We hope that your first week was a joyful and peaceful one. Do not be afraid to reach out to us or other parents if you feel overwhelmed or need some tips.  Please make sure you have been added to our Private Kindergarten Facebook page as that is a wealth of information and encouragement!  This is also where we will be posting pictures periodically throughout the year.  Feel free to download any pics that you love, but please do not post pictures on Facebook that include children other than your own. 

Important Dates:

8/26 - School Picture Day!  Forms will come home in blue folders with more information.

8/28- Spirit Day/Pizza Day/DOGS Day! Students may wear Fortis t-shirts along with jeans or shorts (knee length) on Spirit Days. Pizza lunch will be served for those who have prepaid.  If you did not pre-pay when registering for the year, you can do that HERE,  Dads of Godly Students (DOGS) will present a fun assembly for the students and visit with them during their lunch time. 

9/2- No School: Labor Day

The next few weeks in class we are going to be learning about the special Fruits of the Spirit! These are actions that come from our heart when our heart is in the right place. These actions will help us to be wonderful students and friends. We will work on growing our fruit all year long! 

Mark 12:30 is our Kindergarten verse which we will recite every day.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] Mark 12:30 

Continue daily practice of the 26 individual letter phonograms from Lesson 1 of All About Spelling. This should be done using the flashcards if you are confident in your pronunciation of the phonogram sounds.  If you are still working to pronounce them correctly, please use the app "Phonogram Sounds" to practice learning those along with your child.  Watch to ensure that you are not adding an "uh" at the end of your letter sounds (this is common mistake on many letters including b, d,g,h,j, p,t, and v) .We will be working through Lesson 5 of All About Spelling because the lessons are applicable to reading. After Lesson 5, we will be taking a break to establish reading prior to introducing spelling.

Math - This week we will be introducing the Estimation Jar...a kindergarten favorite.  We will be practicing our estimation and counting skills each day by guessing how many objects are in the jar then counting them.  If your child's guess is closest to the actual number of items in the jar then he/she will be able to take the jar home.  When your child comes home with the plastic jar please put up to 100 (no more than 100 please) of any object in the jar.  Please do not tell your child how many objects are in the jar so that they can participate in the following day's guess!  Anything from around the house is great. Examples include cotton balls, toy cars, markers, small candies, clothespins, unifix cubes, oranges, etc. You do not have to fill the whole jar!  Please return the jar on the next class day after you receive it.  Thank you so much for helping make math fun for your child! 

Reading:

•  Please use this time to go over letter sounds! (Yellow Phonograms)
• Ideas: *call out a phonogram and have student write it with sidewalk chalk, wet paintbrush on sidewalk, shaving cream, a tray with sand or salt, playdough, etc. * Play hopscotch with phonograms. They have to say the sound before hopping to the next.
• Read quality literature to your child to encourage the love of beautiful books!

Writing:

• Please have your child practice writing their first name correctly (beginning with a capital and the rest lower case).  If they are writing on handwriting paper, encourage them to also write on the lines properly.
• Check for proper grip and that your child is starting their letter formation in the correct spot (from the top).
•  Click here for a short video to help with correct pencil grip and using the handwriting paper correctly.

Spelling:

•  If you have not already done so, please read over pages 7-33 in the AAS book to familiarize yourself with it.
• Phonograms, phonograms, phonograms! Go over them at least twice each home day.
• This week we begin oral segmenting. This is a crucial step for beginning readers. Please continue to practice this skill using your "chips" like the manual shows. **This can be a difficult skill for some students, so practice it each day at the beginning of your AAS lessons.

Enrichment:  

We will be beginning our kindergarten enrichment studies this week.  The links to the poem, art, and music pieces for the week are included in the chart below.  We will also be doing a science and a history/culture activity in class.

Geography:

• Kindergarteners will be expected to be able to point to the Continents and Oceans on a map. The song that we will be using in class can be found here.

Memory Work:

•  We have introduced 'Jesus Died Your Soul to Save' in class. This poem will be assessed on September 25th. It is not a requirement to memorize the scripture that is printed above the poem, but it is definitely encouraged as this is a foundational scripture and so beautiful to hear little ones recite!  Please practice daily! Don't miss the opportunity to really discuss with your child the meaning of this beautiful poem.

K week 2	8/18/2025	8/19/2025	8/20/2025	8/21/2025	8/22/2025	8/25/2025	Co-Teacher Notes
Discipleship	Attention: Listening with eyes, ears, and heart. Matthew 7:24- “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man that built his house on the rock
Read Aloud	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.	A Tree Is Nice	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.	A Tree Is Nice	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.
Bible	Review ABC Scripture	Fruit of the Spirit: JOY	Discuss ways to show Joy at school and at home. Work on memorizing Letter B scripture.	Fruit of the Spirit: PEACE	Discuss ways to show peace at home and at school. Work on memorizing Letter B scripture.		Letter B: Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid, don't be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
Math	EM-A p.13-14 (If your child is doing Friday electives you can opt to do the Friday work today too)	EM-A p15-16	EM-A p17-19	EM-A p20-21	EM-A p22-24	EM-A p25-26	Sets: Remember to do the activities at the bottom on the page first.
Spelling		AAS: Lesson 2	AAS:Lesson 2	AAS-Lesson 2	AAS: Lesson 3		AAS = All About Spelling. Directions to optional activities from the activity book can be found HERE.
Writing		D,P	HWT-p10 (D,P)	B,R	HWT-p11 (B,R)
Reading		Letter recognition activities	Work through the phonogram app and yellow phonogram cards to work on letter identification and phonogram sounds.	Letter recognition activities	Choose an activity from THIS LIST to practice letter recognition.
Enrichment	Read Aloud: A Tree Is Nice Poem: "I'm Glad" Art: Birch Forest by Gustav Klimt Music: Symphony No. 6 by Ludwig van Beethoven						The read aloud will be done on school days. You are encouraged to practice the poem, discuss the art piece, and listen to the music piece on homeschool days. Links to these are provided.
Geography	Continents and Oceans - Due 9/18
Memory Work	Jesus Died Your Soul To Save Poem - Due 9/25

Kinder Week 1 (T/TH)

       

Welcome to Kindergarten! We are looking forward to getting to know your precious little ones during this first week of school. We will be working on establishing routines and expectations and getting to know one another; because of this you will not see as much reflected in the subject areas on the calendar for the week.

Over the course of the next few weeks we will be learning about the Fruits of the Spirit. Tuesday is an introduction to all and then we will study one per day until all are covered. The Fruits of the Spirit will be used for classroom behavior expectations as well as being incorporated into academics, such as discussing whether the character of a book was showing the fruits.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" Gal.5:22-23

Important Dates:
8/9 - Meet the Teacher from 12:30-2:00

8/12- First Day of School! Morning Assembly begins in the sanctuary at 8:45am, with our school day officially starting at 9:00am. Miss Chun's class will put their backpack on the 1st row (Center) and  sit on the 2nd row (Center).  Mrs. Penner's class will put their backpack on the 3rd row (Center) and sit on the 4th row (Center)  If you would like to stay for the assembly please take a seat at the back of the sanctuary.  

8/14 - Spirit Day:  Wear a Fortis T-shirt and jeans or uniform pants.

8/26 - School Picture Day!  Forms will come home in blue folders with more information.

8/28- Spirit Day/Pizza Day/DOGS Day! Students may wear Fortis t-shirts along with jeans or shorts (knee length) on Spirit Days. Pizza lunch will be served for those who have prepaid. Dads of Godly Students (DOGS) will present a fun assembly for the students and visit with them during their lunch time. 

9/2- No School: Labor Day

*** If you were unable to attend the co-teacher (parent) training, please download the kindergarten syllabus for more information on our program.

Kindergarten Syllabus

Please also join our school Facebook groups if you use Facebook:

• Fortis Marketplace:  A great place to buy and sell curriculum and uniforms as well as school wide event information. Any concerns or frustrations need to sent to me via email or to questions@fortisacademy.net and not posted on Facebook.
• (Kinder) Fortis Class of 2038: a place to ask questions specific to kindergarten.  Please be mindful of your posts.  Encouraging and positive posts are always welcome.  If you are frustrated or have a concern about anything, please reach out to me personally (or the person that you have an issue with) instead of venting on Facebook.  I will occasionally post pictures of your students and the fun things that we do in the classroom and on the playground on this Facebook page.  This is also the perfect place to reach out to other Kindergarten parents to set up playdates! 

Math:

•  Please make sure that you are doing the introduction lessons (the hands-on teaching portion) at the bottom of the page, before your child does the worksheet pages. We have marked your child's workbook with a flag so that they can quickly find the next lesson. Please make sure to move this flag to the next uncompleted page after each lesson. 
• Dice games are an amazing and fun way to help develop number sense.   You should be playing dice games daily just like you read to your children daily.  HERE is a link to lots of different dice games that you can play with your child.  

Reading:

• We are skipping the first 26 lessons in Ordinary Parent Guide to Reading and instead teaching the single letter phonograms (letter names and sounds) through All About Spelling. The All About Learning Press phonogram app is available on all tablet/phone platforms and is a wonderful way for your child to practice on their own! You can search "Phonogram Sounds" in your App Store and the icon will be a bumble bee.
• Please go over the yellow phonogram cards (26 alphabet letters) at least once or twice EVERY DAY.  The child should say the letter's name and all of the sounds that the letter can make.  

Enrichment:

• Please complete the "God Made Only One Me!" sheet with your child and return to school on Wednesday for sharing. Please write or spell any words that your child needs. It is not an expectation that they write the words, but they should draw themselves. :) Your child may also bring one special-to-them item for Show-and-Tell to share while they share their "God Made Only One Me!" paper.

Bible: 

• Ideally Dad or the Father figure in the home will do the Bible assignments with the student.  For the first few weeks they will just be doing a short discussion and introducing a Bible Verse to practice memorizing.  Eventually we will start reading the Jesus Storybook Bible and Dad/Father Figure will read the story, discuss, and do the Bible Verse Memorization.  This is an easy introduction into being the Spiritual Leader that God has called Fathers to be!  

Geography:

• Kindergarteners will be expected to be able to point to the Continents and Oceans on a map. There is a map in your child's blue folder.
• Here is the link to the song we use in class:  http://www.fortisacademy.net/kinder-6th-geography/

Memory Work:

• Our memory poem for this quarter is "Jesus Died Your Soul To Save." We will practice this poem daily in class. Please practice daily at home as well. 
• Here is the link for our poems for the year: https://www.fortisacademy.net/poetry/
• Your child will be expected to present each poem to the class. This is a very soft introduction to public speaking.  If they are confident in their knowledge of the poem it makes for a very comfortable and fun experience.
• You will find a copy of the poem in your child's blue folder.  

Have a wonderful first week of school!  Please do not hesitate to email us if you have any questions at any time.  It is going to be a fantastic year working together to guide your precious child into a greater understanding of the world God gave us.  

~Love, Miss Chun & Mrs. Penner 

ychun@fortisacademy.net

vpenner@fortisacademy.net

K week 1	8/11/2025	8/12/2025	8/13/2025	8/14/2025	8/15/2025	8/18/2025	Co-Teacher Notes
Discipleship
Read Aloud			Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.		Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.	After reading aloud have your child narrate as much as they can remember about what they heard. This is the first step in reading comprehension.
Bible		Introduction of the Fruits of the Spirit	**Dad/Father Figure if possible: Review Gal.5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" Gal.5:22-23. Work on memorizing scripture for letter A (see blue folder).	Fruit of the Spirit: LOVE	Dad/Father Figure: Discuss ways to show love at home and at school. Work on memorizing scripture for letter A (see blue folder).	Review ABC Scripture	ABC Scripture: Memorize the scripture for Letter A: "Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23
Math		EM-A p1-3	EM-A p4-6	EM-A p7-9	EM-A p10-12	EM-A p.13-14 (If your child is doing Friday electives you can opt to do the Friday work today too)	EM-A is the Essential Math A book. Always do the activity at the bottom of the page first. Focus: Same/different
Spelling		AAS-Step 1	Look over pages 7-33. Do lesson 1: Mastering the first 26 phonograms pgs 37-43. Download the app "Phonogram Sounds" which has a bumble bee as an icon.	AAS-Step 1	Look over pages 7-33. Do lesson 1: Mastering the first 26 phonograms pgs 37-43		Teach initial phonograms in place of first 26 lessons in OPG. Have your child practice using the app as well as the yellow phonogram cards The NEW AAS (color version) has a wonderful introduction, please do not skip this. Optional: Link to the directions for the activities in the New AAS activity book will be found HERE
Writing		Establish classroom procedures and expectations. Get to know you activity. Vertical strokes	Parents: read over p. 4-6 of HWT workbook	F,E	HWT-p 8-9 (F,E) *Watch your student carefully to ensure that they are starting in the correct position (top) and using correct pencil grip.		HWT= Handwriting Without Tears workbook. Please enforce proper pencil grip everytime they are holding any type of writing utensil. It can be a struggle at first, but worth the effort! Proper pencil grip will make proper letter formation much easier.
Reading		Ms. Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten	Read aloud a picture book of your choice and ask your child to tell you as much as they can remember from the story.	Chrysanthemum story and activity	Read aloud or audio book for at least 20 minutes and then have your child narrate.
Enrichment		"The Kissing Hand" and activity	Complete "God Made Only One Me!" sheet and return tomorrow for sharing. Pick out a Show and Tell item to share with the class.	"God Made Only One Me!" sharing and show and tell.
Geography	Continents and Oceans - Due 9/18
Memory Work	Jesus Died Your Soul To Save Poem - Due 9/25