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.
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.
