Kindergarten Thanksgiving Celebration:The pics above were taken at our little Thanksgiving celebration. We sampled beef jerky, walnuts (for those who aren’t allergic) and dried cranberries while dressed like Pilgrims and Wampanoags!

KINDERCARDSDecember 1, 2014: News from Mrs. Shirley’s Kindergarten Class

MERRY CHRISTMAS, CARDINALS!I hope your families had a wonderful

Thanksgiving holiday! Christmas will be here before you know it. In my classes for the last few years, I have asked for no gift exchange due to hard economic times for families. Instead, Miss Shelia and I give gifts to your children. This year I’ve been able to get two nice gifts for each child. In lieu of a gift exchange, your child may VOLUNTARILY give a gift to the class that would be appropriate for indoor recess--jump ropes, blocks, puzzles, balls, etc. (Please note that this is NOT required.) If your child brings a gift, he/she can open it and present it to the class and all children will know at some point during the “indoor recess season” they’ll get to play with it!

Since we had SO much food at our Halloween party, I’m going to order pizza for our Christmas party. You may donate $1 if you wish, but do not have to. We could also use some drink boxes/pouches if you wish to donate any of these. Much of our party time will be spent opening the two gifts from Miss

Shelia and myself AND opening gifts to the class.

We had a wonderful little Thanksgiving celebration in our classroom. For snack on the last day before break, we had some foods they may have had at the first Thanksgiving.

Cold weather notes: Please send a seasonally appropriate change of clothes and always send your child in a coat with a hood and gloves/mittens. We try to play outside if the weather is cooperative. My old bones can stand it in the 50s if there’s not much wind. :)

Keep reading those library books (let your child start to read as many words as she/he can!) and checking the red folder nightly for math homework. You should expect to find homework every night except for Wednesday. Most families are doing a great job with this. It creates a good work ethic for your child. With my older 3 children, when we arrived home in the evenings, we did assigned chores first, then homework. Things that become routine aren’t questioned by kids and are “just the way

we do things.” Playtime came after homework AND if they had behaved well at school. For some kids, the red and blue ratings are becoming a daily thing. Please know that this is when I need your help. Behavior at school will not improve unless there are some repercussions at home. At my house, I take away whatever my little boy loves most--just for the night. If he improves the next day, he gets it back. (My youngest child is in preschool and can be a little handful!) This method has always worked for my kids.

Continue to work on number recognition with NO SUPPORTS--just the numbers themselves--through 20. Sound recognition needs to be automatic (NO thinking time) for all sounds covered so far as well.

Thanks for supporting your child’s education!

Your children are precious!--Mrs. Shirley and Miss Shelia