The ABC’s of Kindergarten
If
your child is absent, please call the office (366-2690) and they will let
me know. If you do not let the office know, they will contact you to verify the
absence.
Breakfast
is served from 8:20 am until 8:50 am. The cost is $1.00. You can send money
for your child’s account.
If you would like to send a birthday treat with your child on or near his/her birthday, please feel free to do so. These treats need to be store bought and will be eaten during our snack time. Birthdays are recognized during our calendar routine as well. We will recognize summer birthdays at the end of the school year. Please do not send birthday party invitations to be distributed at school unless all children receive an invitation.
I will send home book order forms for you and your child to look over every month. Book clubs offer books at reduced prices. It's a great way to build your child's home library!
Book Bags will start coming home after Fall Conferences. These bags will have books to read at home with your child each night. The bags must be returned in order to get a new one.
Check
backpacks and folders every night.
Parent and Teacher conferences are held in October and March. Watch for more information to come soon.
Communication is important. Feel free to contact me whenever you have a question or concern. You can reach me by phone (366-2690) in person, by email (tmccain@bixbyps.org), or by note.
Discipline
is simple. We work hard as a class to make the classroom a positive and safe
place for all. Our rules are: *Always do your best. *Do the right thing. *Kind
touches and kind words.
DIBELs is a state mandated literacy screening we will administer to the students three times this year. We will administer the first test in September and will go over the results with you at Parent/Teacher Conference.
Make sure your child is dressed appropriately for our weather. We will go outside whenever possible.
My
school email address is tmccain@bixbyps.org. I check email daily. If
you have an email address that you’d like me to be aware of,
please let me know.
We will be following our district’s Essential Elements curriculum guide. A copy can always be found on the school’s website. It lists all of the objectives and the trimester they will be introduced.
Information
about field trips will come home in the FROG folder and will be
detailed in the weekly newsletter.
The FROG Folders help keep us organized. The FROG Folder is a place for a monthly homework sheet, newsletter/take home papers, and a zipper pouch for notes and money.
Our class participates in the Gross Motor room every day. Each day for 20 minutes, the students spend time with music and movement that is led by Mrs. Lauderdale.
Be sure to get to school on time. The first 30 minutes are our most intense and productive of the day!
Students
will have some homework in Kindergarten. Homework assignments will vary
and will be sent home in the FROG Folder. There will be a monthly calendar
of homework ideas. If there is a product to be made, the children can
bring them back to school for us to check. The calendar is a suggestion,
so please don't stress about getting everything done each day. We
know that life can be hectic. Occasionally, we will send home a specific
homework assignment with a due date. Please make sure your child completes
those special homework projects and returns them to school by the due date.
You will usually have an entire week or at least a weekend to work on them.
Independence
is a goal for students because it builds self-esteem and self-confidence.
Kindergarteners are very capable of doing many things on their own and I
encourage them to do as much as they can for themselves in the classroom.
Please work on the following skills at home with your child: zipping, tying,
dressing, etc.
Jog-A-Thon
is coming soon on September 28th. This is the main fund-raiser of our year.
Please plan to participate!
Writing takes place every day in kindergarten. One way we accomplish this is through free writing in our journals and through writer’s workshop. Encourage your child to write at home for a variety or purposes.
Keep
updated by reading the classroom newsletter every week and checking the FROG
Folder every day for other notes and information.
Our
class will visit the library once a week. We will start this soon. Our
librarian is Miss Wilson. Your child will check out a book when we visit the
library and return it within the following week. If your child forgets to
return the book, they will not be allowed to check out a new book until it is
returned.
Our class eats lunch at 11:50. If lunch money is sent to school, please send it in the FROG Folder. There is a pencil pocket pouch for this purpose that is located in the front of the FROG Folder.
The
kindergarten math curriculum provides students with mathematical
experiences that help them develop number sense and a positive attitude towards
mathematics that will continue throughout their school career and lives. Many
of our math concepts are covered through our daily calendar routine. Most
often, for math class, students will be divided into groups and rotate through
centers while I meet with small groups of children for “guided math.” These
math groups will be fluid and flexible, changing from day to day or week to
week, based on the needs of students.
We will have a sign-up to be a Mystery Reader at Parent Orientation night on August 28th. If you would like to come to our class some Friday and read us a story, please sign up!
A
weekly newsletter will be sent home on Fridays or Mondays to keep
you informed about what is happening in our class.
One
of my favorite sayings is this: Anyone can count the seeds in one apple. Only
God can count the apples in one seed.
When
walking up to pick up your child, please use the parent and visitor parking lot.
DO NOT PARK IN THE PICK UP A OR B LOOPS AND GET OUT OF YOUR CAR.
Don’t forget to join the PTA. I can’t say enough good things about our PTA. We are so blessed to be supported by such a great group of parents.
Questions?
Please feel free to call, stop in, email, or send a note.
tmccain@bixbyps.org
or 366-2690.
Kindergarten
report cards will be sent home 3 times during the school year.
READ, READ, READ to your child every day! Research shows that this is the best thing you can do to help your child become a reader!
One
of the fun things we do in Kindergarten is have a Spartan of the Week. Each child will have a week when he/she is highlighted as the
Spartan of the Week. It will start in September and I will send a note home the week before your turn.
Be watching the website for the calendar.
The focus of the kindergarten science curriculum is on developing an awareness of the world in which we live. Science concepts and skills will be explored utilizing a literacy based, hands-on approach.
The kindergarten social studies curriculum focuses on the students and how they relate to others in their families, classroom, school, and community. Social Studies concepts and skills will be explored utilizing a literacy based, hands-on approach.
We
will be making our class t-shirts on September 14th. The T-shirt
money is due back on Thursday, September 6th. The cost is $8.00 for all
children sizes and adult sizes to XL.
XXL and XXXL are available at a slightly higher
cost. We will use these t-shirts for field trips and special events.
Everyone will get a t-shirt. Please let me know if the cost is a
hardship as we have several families who would be willing to help out.
If your child has any changes in their transportation ALWAYS let me know in writing, by email, or by voice mail. Please try to make all changes by 12:00, if possible. If it is going to be after 12:00, please call the office (366-2690) so we can be sure we know of the change.
Sometimes accidents happen, especially when going to school all day is a new
thing. Because of this, we need each kindergartner to have a change of
clothes, including underwear to keep in our rooms. Please put them
in a gallon size Ziplock bag marked with their names. When the weather
changes, we will send them home to exchange for cooler weather clothes.
Do you have any useless toys, etc. lying around the house? Donate them to our classroom treasure chest where they can be useful again.
Volunteers
and visitors must register in the office and pick up a badge.
If you would like to be a volunteer at our school, you will need to attend the volunteer orientation on Wednesday, September 5th at 9:30 at North Elementary. Be watching for more information. Bixby Public Schools requires the orientation and it will familiarize you with school policy, safety plans, volunteer guidelines, classroom management strategies, confidentiality issues, and daily procedures to follow when volunteering.
For a
Weekly Reader, we will be ordering Scholastic’s Let’s Find Out reader.
The cost is $5.00 per child and we are asking for a donation to help offset the
cost.
Parents
and family members may exit and enter via the main school
entry only.
Your
ideas…and suggestions are welcome!
Zzzzzzz
- Make sure that your child gets plenty of rest. Setting and keeping a
bedtime is a wonderful gift you can give your child.