Orientation

**  A   ** **  B   ** **  C’s   ** **  Of   **
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**  Kindergarten    ** **  With   ** **  Mrs. Kelly And Mrs. Pifer   ** ** A  ** __ Absence __ If your child is ill, please call the office (724-7073) and inform us of your child’s absence and the reason for it. This is for your child’s safety. If a student must leave early for a doctor’s appointment, go to the office to sign him/her out and the secretary will call him to the office. Never send another person to pick up your child without informing your child’s teacher or the secretary. __ Allergies __ If your child has allergies or special medical needs please let us know. We have a paper that needs to be filled out for any medication. __ Attendance __ A successful school experience is the responsibility of    the child, the parent and the school. Your child's progress, both academically and socially, is influenced to a great extent by daily participation. Regular attendance without tardiness is a key. __ Arrival and Dismissal __ Pupils should arrive between 8:10 and 8:25 AM. Students should not arrive prior to 8:10 AM (unless they are   eating breakfast at school) since supervision by the school staff is not available. No child or parent should be in the building before this time. School begins promptly at 8:25 AM. Afternoon dismissal is at 2:30 PM from the South end doors. All walkers will be dismissed after all buses have left. __ Art __ The children will attend a 40-minute Art class once a week with our art teacher. ** B  ** __ Backpacks __ = To help your child carry messages and information to  = = and from school, you are asked to provide a backpack. = = Please have your child remove the notes and papers daily  = = from the backpack to share with you. = __ Birthdays __ Birthdays are special occasions for young children. If   your child wishes, he/she may bring a treat for the class. We will celebrate summer birthdays during the last few weeks of school. All Birthday treats must be store bought and unopened. __ Book Orders __ Every month each class will send home the Scholastic Book Club Catalog for you and your child to look over. These clubs offer wonderful books at reduced prices what a great way to build your home library! __ Breakfast __ A school breakfast is served every morning at 7:50 AM. The breakfast menu generally consists of cereal or a muffin with juice and milk. Students who want to eat breakfast should enter from the front door promptly at 7:50. ** C  ** __ Calendar __ A calendar of events and the monthly school breakfast/lunch menus will be sent home in the Friday Communication folders at the beginning of each month. A calendar listing events specific to your child’s class will be sent home by the classroom teacher. __ Conferences __ Parent/Teacher conferences are held twice a year. We will discuss your child's accomplishments, strengths and overall progress. Please feel free to schedule additional conferences at any time throughout the year if    the need arises. ** D  ** __ Discipline __ Kindergarten classrooms are a small community where teamwork and good relationships are expected. We will spend time learning class procedures and practicing them. Each student is expected to act within our standards of behavior. To establish good order and help the children learn self-control, they will be guided to respect themselves and their companions through specific directions, positive reinforcement, suggested new activities and responsible actions. __ Dress appropriate __ Please keep in mind that our classrooms are kept cool in   the winter. Dressing your child in layers may help them to be more comfortable. Please remember we will have recess everyday. Flip-flops are not acceptable. ** E  ** __ Eating __ If your child has any food allergies please let us know in    writing. __ Emergency Card __ Please complete and return the emergency card promptly. If your home or work phone number changes, inform the office so you can be located quickly if an emergency occurs. __ Emergency Closing __ If schools are closed for a snow day or an    emergency, radio stations 94.3 and 100.3 or the local TV    stations and channel 72 will make an announcement, generally by 7:00A.M. The district will also activate their severe weather phone tree. ** F  ** __ Field Trips __ We plan several field trips that are both fun and educational for the children. Parent drivers are generally not permitted, so buses will have to be used for transportation. We often need parent volunteers on   the trips and chaperones will be chosen on a first come, first served basis. Please return permission slips as soon as possible after they are sent home. __ Fire Drills __ Fire drills are held on a monthly basis throughout the year. All students will participate and are expected to   walk quickly and quietly to their designated exit. We will practice and become familiar with procedures before our first scheduled drill. ** G  ** __ Gym __ The children will have a 40-minute gym classes each week. The children are asked to wear sneakers on gym day and girls might consider wearing pants or having a pair of shorts to slip on under their dresses. Please watch for a schedule to come home with your child’s gym day. ** H  ** __ Hands on Learning __ We feel that the best way to help children learn important concepts is by doing meaningful hands-on activities. There are times when seatwork is required and necessary, but for the most part, our classrooms will be an active learning environment. __ Health __ Please let your child’s teacher know of special circumstances, which may affect your child. These could include medication that may make him sleepy, a death in the family, etc. Also, please let us know of any allergies your child may have, especially food allergies. We sometimes cook or do food activities to complement lessons in kindergarten and it would be helpful to know when we plan our recipes. __ Homework __ Homework will be sent home once a month or as needed. You and your child should complete the work together giving support when needed, and return it on the due date. Completing and returning homework helps build a sense of responsibility and prepares him for the homework he will have to complete in later school years. Occasionally, we’ll ask your help in completing “family” homework--it’s called that because the whole family is encouraged to get involved in doing it. From time to time your child will bring home reproduced books and sentences that they have worked with in school to share with you. These take-home books and sentences promote home involvement and allow for reinforcement of book concepts, reading strategies and beginning comprehension skills. Please take the time to enjoy this special reading time with your child. ** I  ** __ Illness __ The question of when to keep your child home from school is often a difficult one, especially when decisions must be made first thing in the morning. It is important, however, to keep your child home if he/she is ill. This helps to make them more comfortable and prevents others from becoming ill. Children function more effectively in the classroom when they are healthy. If your child is running a fever, they must stay home. __ Independence __ Kindergarten fosters independence. Part of this is the ability to positively separate from parents at school. We encourage that you give your child the opportunity to practice this skill by saying goodbye at the outside door. Staff will be readily available to escort your child to their teacher. __ Independent reading __ : Because children learn to read by reading, they need plenty of opportunities to read independently. Sufficient time and appropriate materials are necessary to develop and strengthen reading abilities. By giving the children time to read both at school and at home, we can work together to provide a literature-rich environment and a life-long love of reading. ** J  ** __ Journals __ One strategy that will be used to help convey the vital concept that “print conveys meaning” is the frequent use of journal writing. In these journals the kindergartners combine their emerging writing skills with their drawing skills. As the children are exposed to a variety of phonics and reading experiences, journal entries will move from drawings and “inventive” spellings towards more conventional writing. ** K  ** __ Kindness __ Students in our classrooms are encouraged and expected to treat all members of our class as well as others with kindness and respect. Bothering others, bullying and interrupting learning will not be permitted. ** L  ** __ Library __ The children go to the library one day a week. In the library the Librarian will entertain them with a story. Later in the year the children will have a chance to select a book to borrow for a week. __ Literacy Centers __ During literacy centers, children practice reading and writing skills while the teacher works with individual children or small-guided reading groups. The center activities are designed to strengthen letter/sound knowledge, listening skills, oral language expression, rhyme, letter formation and cooperation __ Lunch __ We will eat lunch each full day of school. Children may bring a packed lunch from home or eat a school lunch. The lunch menu is sent home monthly in your child's red folder. Please discuss lunch choices with your child at home and help them decide what they would like for lunch each day. ** M  ** __ Math __ The kindergarten mathematics curriculum provides students with mathematical experiences that help them develop number sense and a positive attitude towards mathematics that will continue through their school career and their lives. We   employ a hands-on, problem solving approach. __ Music class __ Our music teacher will be teaching the children the basics of   Music education and will be sharing many wonderful songs! We   are scheduled to have music for two 40-minute periods weekly. ** N  ** __ Names __ Practice writing names the “school way” a capital letter to    begin and then lower case letters to follow. __ Names on Materials __ Many students may have the same backpack, coat, boots, etc. Please make sure your child’s name is on all of their belongings. __ ****Nurse __ We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful nursing staff at Second District Elementary School. They will tend to   minor scratches and scrapes, as well as sudden illnesses. For more serious injuries, they will contact you. Please be sure to   send in any change of contact numbers in case they need to get in touch with you. ** O  ** __ Open backpacks __ Open backpacks daily to check for notes and projects. __ Open House __ Open house will be coming. Watch the calendar we send home for a specific night and time. ** P  ** __ Parent Involvement __ Your support of school activities makes your child feel important and sends the message that you value school! We are always happy to have your help for special activities in the classroom, and during centers. We will try to let you know at least a week ahead of time if we need help. Requests for help will be published in classroom newsletters. We hope that you can come and join in the fun. __ Parties & Celebrations __ There are three main parties each year---Fall, Winter and Valentine’s Day. We will have some other celebrations that we   will organize such as Thanksgiving, the 100th Day of School, Easter, and our End of the Year Celebration. __ PTO __ We have a wonderful parent teacher organization. Please consider becoming an active member. ** Q   ** __ Questions __ Since many of you are new to Second District School this year we are sure that you may still have some unanswered questions. Please feel free to call us at school (between 8:00    8:15a.m. or between 2:30-3:30p.m. ). Or you can always write a note. ** R   ** __ Red Folders __ Your child will be given one red folder on their first day of school. This folder will contain your child's work for the day, along with any important papers that must be sent home. Please take the time to empty this folder with your child and discuss the contents. __ Recess __ The children will play outdoors for 20 minutes after lunch each day (unless it is raining or the wind chill is below 20 degrees). Please keep this in mind when helping your child to select clothing for the day. __ Report Cards __ R eport Cards reflect the progress your child has made toward various kindergarten objectives and uses a grading system that reflects the developmental nature of kindergarten learning. __ Restrooms __ Have your child use the restroom shortly before coming to    school. We have a restroom located between our kindergarten classrooms that the children may use as needed. Please make your child’s teacher aware of any medical problem that might require more frequent restroom trips. ** S  ** __ Shared ____ Reading __ Shared reading is an interactive process used with the whole class. As the teacher reads a story, children join in on phrases or words that they know. During subsequent re-readings, children read more and more of the text, until they are able to read the story independently. Shared reading is an   opportunity for the teacher to model conventions of print and the use of reading strategies. __ Snack __ Kindergarteners generally get hungry by mid-morning so we   request that each family contribute to our snack program. Every child should bring in a snack to share with the entire class (about 20 students). This should be a snack that can be   quickly eaten, such as a box of crackers, cookies, fruit roll- ups, raisins, apples, etc. We will get a drink of water after our snack so no drinks are necessary. Please remember that all snacks must be store bought/ pre-packaged and remain unopened. ** T  ** __ Three Then Me __ We have a rule called “three then me”. The students must ask three other students to help them do simple tasks before they ask me. Examples – tying their shoes, zipping their jackets, etc. This is a great family activity to practice. __ Tie Your Shoes __ Please practice tying shoes with your child. This is a skill that requires time and attention. __ Toys __ Bringing toys to school is discouraged because they distract the children from learning. If a toy is accidentally lost or   broken, feelings will be hurt. ** U  ** __ Unique __ Kindergartners learn that they are special and unique. Kindergartners have opportunities to describe how they are alike as well as different from others. They share their culture and learn about different cultures within the class. __ Use an inside voice __ We will refer to quiet voices or regular talking voices as   inside voices. ** V  ** __ Visitors __ Second District has a policy that ALL GUESTS (including   familiar faces) are required to check in at the school office. Second District welcomes and encourages family involvement. It is important to remember that while this may seem inconvenient to frequent visitors, it is the goal and responsibility of the school to create a safe learning environment. ** W  ** __ Walking Field Trip __ A walking field trip note will be sent home the first week. Please return it to the school as soon as possible. __ Writing __ Our writing program builds on what each child already knows. Writing begins with scribbles and proceeds to lines and circles, random strings of letters, words and spaces and eventually sentences. Your child will be encouraged and praised for all attempts and accomplishments in writing. Providing a risk-free environment is paramount to your child's    progress in writing. If possible, please provide your child with writing tools, such as pencils, crayons, markers and paper at   home. ** X  ** __ Extra Supplies __ Throughout the year we sometimes need supplies above and beyond our classroom materials (such as metal coffee cans   and extra dry erase markers.) These needs will be posted in    the class newsletters. Extra items that you think we might be   able to use are always welcome. ** Y  ** __ Yes __ Yes your baby is already in kindergarten. Please know that we   will do our best to make sure your child is taught what needs to be taught, taken good care of, and treated fairly and respectfully. __ Younger Siblings __ It is in your child’s and the program’s best interest to have our parent volunteers available WITHOUT younger children. This not only allows your full attention to be focused on the class, but also allows for some special time between you and your kindergartner. Thank you for making childcare arrangements for younger siblings. ** Z  ** __ Zzzzz __ Make sure that your child gets plenty of rest. Setting and keeping a routine bedtime is a wonderful gift you can give to your child. It will help them to be alert and ready to learn each day! __ Zip your coat __ Please practice zipping at home with your child so that when Winter hits they can zip their own coat.