May 2013 Newsletter
Dear Parents:
What a Spring we are having! Snow, rain and more snow!
Definitely not the classic Spring season!!
This is the month I like to hatch chicks with the
children. I was anxiously awaiting the green light from my farm
mom as to whether or not we would be able to incubate chicks in the classroom.
She got back to me last night and has fertilized eggs for us and has a home
afterwards for our new chicks. So the
students will be excited to learn that they will be involved in the caring for
and the whole hatching process from the beginning to the end. I am planning
on putting the eggs into the incubator on Tuesday, April 30h, therefore,
the eggs should start hatching around Tuesday, May 21st. Please feel free to
stop in after to school to see the chicks once they have hatched. I am thinking Wednesday, May 22nd
or Friday, May24th will be the date, as the chicks will be strong enough, for
viewing. I am sure the children will keep you posted as to what is
happening.
The students will
be completing the learning of all the letter names and letter sounds. All
alphabet concepts will be reviewed throughout the remainder of the school year.
We will start a new Literacy program called “Key
Links”. Key Links Literacy helps build a foundation
to help students learn to read. This
program encourages students to discuss answers to questions that require
critical thinking. They are encouraged
to give opinions and to generate their own questions. Key Links helps students use and interpret a wide
variety of visual information so they are prepared to analyze and evaluate what
they see and read. It makes reading
enjoyable for the students, with exciting titles like “The King’s Pants”, “I am
a Robot” and “Sleeping Animals”. Positive attitudes lead to positive results. In
math we will be exploring a new unit: Geometry and Measurement. Your child
will be learning about shape and space of 3-D objects and how to compare 2
objects to tell which is taller, longer, heavier, or holds more.
To further enrich and support the
Kindergarten children’s reading, we will be starting a “Home Reading” folder. So
shortly your child will be bringing home a “Reading Folder” with new
books in it each night. On the back of the folder are some suggestions for conducting
the reading session at home. Just remember to keep the reading sessions short
(10 minutes), fun and positive. Then your child will associate book time as
positive and fun time, as opposed to, it feeling like a chore or homework
period. Please return the folder each
K-Day, as the books from their folders are switched with the other students
each morning. Learning to read is an extra, not an expectation for
Kindergarten, so what they absorb from the reading experience is all good. This is a wonderful
activity that excites and motivates!
Mother’s Day is on Sunday, May12th and we have a small
gift to send home. So if you could send an empty gift bag (paper lunch bag
size) to school by Wednesday, May 8th,
that would be greatly appreciated.
We
will be having a Kindergarten Graduation once again this year. The
date for Kindergarten Graduation will be
on Tuesday, June 25th, 2013. Children
will come to school at their regular time (9:00) and the graduation ceremony
will begin in the gymnasium at 9:20 a.m.. The presentation will be
approximately 45 minutes long. Parents
and guests are welcome to attend. The
school day for Kindergarten will end after graduation and the children will go
home with their parents. Summer holidays
will officially begin! More information regarding this occasion will be sent
home in June!
Just
a reminder to keep sending extra pants, socks and whatever you feel is needed
to get us through this snowy, rainy, muddy and wet spell.
Keep warm and have an egg-cellent month!!!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Kulcsar
