Kindergarten. Handbook

Transcription

1 Kindergarten Handbook

2 **Please keep this handbook as a handy reference! ** Kindergarten Teachers Mrs. Miller Mrs. Helmlinger Ms. Carrignan

3 Dear Families, Hello and welcome to the start of a fabulous school year! I am thrilled to be joining the Western Avenue community and even more exited to begin a new chapter in my career with teaching kindergarten! For a little background about me, I am a St. Charles native and am an alumni of St. Charles East High School. I recently moved back to St. Charles from the beautiful state of Colorado where I made my home the past 6 years. I attended the University of Northern Colorado where I obtained a BA in Elementary Teaching. After graduation, I spent the past 2 years teaching 2nd grade in Windsor, Colorado. While living in Colorado was a wonderful experience, I am happy to be back closer to family and friends. I am excited and eager to get to know your student and work with her or him closely. I believe that teamwork and open communication are very important in any working classroom. I know that together we will ensure a positive and productive learning experience for your kindergartener. I am looking forward to working with you as a partner in education to ensure your child s success. I look forward to a wonderful school year with you and your child! All the best, Ms. Bethany Carrignan

4 Ms. Carrignan s Kindergarten class Room #130 Contact Information: bcarrignan@geneva304.org Western Office: (630) Voic (630) In case of an emergency please contact the office and they will notify me. *All calls to my phone go directly to voic during the school day.* Parent-Teacher Communication Each child will need a take-home folder. Please be sure to check the folder and clean it out EVERY evening. Please make sure all notes for the office/teacher are placed in this folder and instruct your child to give me those notes when he or she arrives at school. The folder needs to be returned to school on a daily basis! There will be a weekly/bi weekly newsletter sent to you via to keep you updated on what is taking place in the classroom. Attendance and Punctuality Please help the kindergarten classrooms get their day off on the right start by observing the following school hours:

5 8:00 a.m. 2:15 p.m. It is very important that your child attend school. Every day missed is a day of learning that is lost! In the instance that your child will be absent, please notify the office by calling (630) Transportation All bus riders will receive a bus tag on the first day of school with their route number on it. This will reflect the route that your child will be taking home! The tag should be attached to your child s backpack at all times. Please help by replacing any broken tags or pins. If your child will be riding in a car, you will need to pick him/her up at the designated parent pick-up area. If your child will be going home in a way other than usual, it will be necessary for you to write a note explaining the change, and send it with your child in the morning. If an emergency occurs and a change in transportation needs to be made midday, please contact the office before 1:30pm. The office will notify classroom teachers of these changes. If the teacher is not notified, your child will be sent home as usual. Snacks/Water Bottles Please send a healthy (peanut and nut-free) snack each day (i.e. fruit, crackers, cheese, yogurt, and veggies. Please no chips, cookies, candy, or cereal. A little nutritious snack helps the kids not fizzle out on me. We will be having snack after the morning during recess at 10:05. We do not have a working water fountain in our room, so if your child would like to bring a water bottle they may. Also, only water please. Juices and sports drinks get sticky if they spill.

6 Birthday Treats/Invitations If you are having a party for your child, I will gladly hand out invitations, providing all of the class, or just all of the boys or all of the girls are invited. If, for whatever reason, you decide to invite a select group of children, it will be necessary for the invitations to be mailed. This policy is in effect to eliminate hurt feelings. Please stress the importance of not talking about the party at school so those who are not invited do not feel excluded. A voluntary class kindergarten directory will be supplied at the beginning of the year to assist you with home parties and play dates. Due to a new District-wide policy, birthday treats are not allowed. You may send in non-food items or goody bags or donate a book to the classroom library. We will still celebrate birthdays, just without treats. Star of Week! Each week we will be having a Star of the Week!. I will send home the poster/marker with questions for the student to fill out. It should be returned the following week on Thursday. I am also sending home a bag that your child can fill with artifacts, keepsakes, favorite items, photos, or anything else they would like to share. These items will be displayed during their week. Please do not send too many artifacts, since our space is limited. Please help your child with this project. Please help him/her with the spelling and capitals on the questions since it will be hanging for everyone to see. Have Fun!

7 P.E. Shoes Your child will need a separate pair of shoes to leave at school for P.E. If your child can not tie his or her own shoes please consider slip-ons or shoes that fasten with Velcro! Change of Clothes Please send in a change of clothes (shirt, pants, underwear, and socks) in a bag clearly labeled with your child s first and last names. Accidents happen and we would like to be prepared! Classroom Library Books Students will be allowed to borrow one-two books at a time from our classroom library. I am encouraging students to take good care of our classroom books just as they take care of the library books. Similar to the library, if a book is damaged or lost, I will ask for a replacement book. I ask for the books to stay inside the gallon-size baggie when traveling to and from school. Schedule Please see the attached daily schedule on my webpage. Our daily schedule is subject to change according to our needs. Specials Schedule: Monday - Art Tuesday- P.E. Wednesday- P.E. Thursday- Music Friday- Music *We will have library on Mondays and Thursdays.

8 Philosophy It is my belief that all children are capable learners. It is my expectation that each child performs to their highest potential and give their best on a daily basis. I feel that it s my job as their teacher to motivate, challenge, and inspire students to reach for higher levels of thinking and learning. In order for this type of learning to occur, the student must feel safe and cared for in the classroom. Expectations As their teacher, I will do my best to make this a happy, safe, and successful year for each student. I expect each student to try their best, be kind and honest, follow the rules, ask for help when they need it, and be responsible. I also ask that parents be involved with their student s learning, be supportive, and to communicate with me if you have any questions or concerns. Rules In order for every child to have the opportunity to learn it is necessary that the students observe some basic rules. The children are reminded that their behavior is their choice, and that they are responsible for the choices they make. Each student signed an agreement to follow these rules. We have 6 Easy Class Rules: 1. Listen when others are taking. 2. Follow directions. 3. Keep hands, feel and objects to yourself. 4. Work quietly and do not disturb others. 5. Show respect for school and personal property 6. Work and play in a safe manner.

9 Classroom Management Praise/Reinforcement/Rewards: We used a purple, blue, green, yellow and red system. Students may move up and down on the chart throughout the day. If they break one classroom rule, they will move their close pin to yellow (warning). If they break another rule or misbehave again, the student will be place on the red (consequence.) When a student is moved to red, they receive a REFOCUS form that comes home to be discussed and signed by a guardian. Goals 1. Intellectual Development 2. Descriptive Information 3. Concepts 4. Perceptual Motor Skills 5. Memory 6. Getting Along With Others 7. Social Responsibility 8. Creativity 9. Independence Methods of Teaching/Learning 1. Large Group 2. Small Group 3. Discovery 4. Learning Centers 5. Guest Speakers 6. Field Trips

10 Fine Motor Skills Fine motor skills are very important to your child s kindergarten day. The following list will help you to improve your child s fine motor skills. 1. Help your child hold a pencil correctly. 2. Practice making straight lines and curves. 3. Encourage neatness. Praise all efforts! 4. Have writing supplies accessible to your child at all times. 5. Encourage your child to draw pictures for you or a friend each day. 6. Practice writing child s first name. The first letter should be uppercase and the rest of the letters should be lowercase. 7. Have your child use scissors frequently. Cutting pictures or coupons from magazines is a fun way to practice. 8. Provide your child with chalk, paints, and play dough to build fine motor skill muscles. 9. Remember that your child needs to feel that you appreciate the fact

11 they are trying to write or draw. It is important that your child has fun while doing these activities. * Please keep in mind that the average time span for an activity with a 5 or 6 year old is minutes. I am looking forward to a fantastic year with your children!