Welcome to Kindergarten 2Welcome to Kindergarten 2

1992-6 = BA(QTS) teaching degree from the University of Surrey1996-2002 = Primary teacher/Key Stage Coordinator in London

2002-8 = Early Years Teacher/Coordinator, Dhaka, Bangladesh

2008-13 = UNIS Kindergarten 2Teacher/Grade Level Leader

About me

I graduated with a Bachelor of Foreign Language Teaching from the National University. I am a single mum. I currently live with my 23 year old son. He is a very good man. We enjoy traveling together.

About Ms Vu

I started working at UNIS ECC in 2004 and this is my sixth yearworking with Ms. Amy in K2. My endless love for children and myunderstanding colleagues keep me smiling everyday.

Before working at UNIS, I spent 5 years teaching in

Systems Little House. It gave me great experience for my

teaching career.

I am proud to be a part of the UNIS community.

Is your child prepared for the school day?

• A healthy, filling snack - No candy and NO NUTS

or products containing nuts (fruit only on Wednesdays)

• A bottle of water (metal preferred)

• Their communication folder – return daily

• Sun hat (may be kept at school)

• Spare set of clothes in a ziplock bag (may be

kept at school)

Please remember to name all bottles, snack boxes, hats and clothes!

Each day, your child will need:

SwimmingSession 1 begins 17th of September and finishing at the October break. Session 2 begins the week of the 21st of May and runs until the end of year.

Is your child prepared for the week?

What is most important to the K2 teaching team?

That children develop self confidence and independence. That we know who they are.That we hear the children and value their contributions.

It’s OK to be me!

That we build strong foundations for learning not build as high as we can, as fast as we can.

We respond to learning styles and learning needs.

How do we learn ?

By taking a risk and having a go…

By looking and listeningBy doing

By communicating

We aim to cultivate a culture of thinking

• Visible Thinking Routines: e.g. See -Think –Wonder• De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats• Listening very carefully and recording

children’s thoughts• Creating Powerpoints to record our learning

What will we learnin Kindergarten 2?

HOMEROOM TEACHERS teach…

• English • Maths• PSEL• Unit Of Inquiry: Where we are in place and time

• How we express ourselves • How the world works • How we organize ourselves• Sharing the planet • Who we are

Curriculum guide

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PRO

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SINGLE SUBJECT TEACHERS teach…Music, Art, Vietnamese and Physical Education (PE)

Speaking and Listening

ENGLISH

Reading in Kindergarten 2

• Read-aloud• Modeled Reading• Shared reading• Guided reading• Individual reading• Take home readers twice a week from

next week• Buddy reading• RazKids• Library

Challenging at times

FunA source of pleasure

ENGLISH

Phonemic Awareness

Is about hearing the sounds in words e.g. What sound do you hear at the beginning/end of a word?

Games – Which doesn’t belong…cat, dog, car, Carrie? Does ‘hat’ rhyme with ‘cat’? Does ‘dog’ rhyme with ‘dad’?

I can hear four sounds in ‘sweet’.

Kite and cat start with the same sound!

ENGLISH

What do “good” readers do?Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingshuinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredrthe ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnttihng is that the frist and lsat ltteers are in the rghit pclae: the rset can be a toatl msesbut you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae we don’t raed ervey lteterbut the word as a wlohe.

Did you know….?Only 50% of the words in English are phonetically decodable

Good readers make meaning from what they read.

How can I help my child become a confident reader?

PausePromptPraise

Help them to use a range of strategies

Don’t cover the pictures! Let them look at the pictures first.

Don’t force it – if it feels difficult or too tiring, share the reading, take a break or stop!

ENGLISH

Watch the reading tips video on the ‘resources’ page of the K2 blog.

Writing• We are all writers• Thinking and storytelling IS writing• Pictures tell stories

ENGLISH

Stages of writing development

What is important when we focus on handwriting?

• Posture• Pencil grip• Correct starting points• Keep the pencil on the paper.

Always start at the top except d and eNo letter starts at the bottom.

When helping children to write their name, use lower case e.g. Ms Amy (not MS AMY)See handout.

ENGLISH

Mathematics in Kindergarten 2……is much more than memorizing a series of facts.

Knowledge becomes embedded through games and problem solving, for example, playing games that involve visualizing number facts and using the language of maths.

How to help me help your child• Communicate with us (email is best or comment on the blog) • Meet with me if you have concerns (sooner rather than later)• Check the Kindergarten 2 blog which can be viewed at:

http://blogs.unishanoi.org/kindergarten2/• Read the Tin Tuc• Ensure your child has a balance of exercise, sleep, healthy diet

and play.• Have realistic expectations for your 5/6 year old child

• Enjoy your unique child - try not to compare!

Mother Tongue Time is now called ‘Home Language Time’

Please sign up……if you are available occasionally or regularly

on Thursdays from 2.50-3.10pm

Starts next week September 5th

How many parents have already seen this?

Elementary handbook

It’s on the website

Thank youfor coming!Thank youfor coming!

Q & A