The s Of a Great Kindergarten Year

Mrs. Sarah Krachenberg Endeavor Elementary 554-5241 ext 20202

sarah.krachenberg@kentwoodps.org

1ALLERGIES: We often have students in class with peanut (any nut) allergies. I will be making up a monthly snack calendar and each child will be asked to bring a snack to share with the whole class. Please do not to send in items with peanuts or peanut oil. (You will need to check the ingredients.) The oil gets on hands and onto items in our room. If you have any questions, please contact me. ARRIVAL: Our morning begins at 8:57. We have playground supervision beginning at 8:50. The children should line up by our classroom door when the bell rings. ATTENDANCE: Daily attendance is very important in kindergarten, as it is at each grade level. Consistency is a vital key to the learning that is taking place. Please place a priority on your childs daily attendance. If you do, they will! In the event your child is going to be absent, please contact the office (554-5241). ART: Kindergarten heads to the art room eighteen times throughout the school year. Paint shirts will be provided.

BACKPACKS: Please send a full-sized back pack with your child each day. This is a good way for notes and papers to make their way home safely to you. Please label the backpack with your childs name. BIRTHDAYS: Your child is invited to bring a snack on his/her special day. Because birthdays are special occasions, cupcakes or cookies would be fine. (Providing drinks is not necessary.) In the event your child has a summer birthday, well plan to celebrate all of the summer birthdays together in early June. Please do not send birthday party invitations to school to be handed out unless each child will receive one. We hope to avoid any hurt feelings. BOOK ORDERS: Each month I will be sending home various book order forms. This is an excellent opportunity to add to your childs library at a reasonable cost. Please return by the date provided in an envelope and make checks payable to Scholastic. You can also go directly to their website and order books. Our class code is H88D.

BUS NOTES: If your child rides the bus home or to daycare after school, I will be sure your child is on the bus each day. In the event you need to pick your child up at the end of our day, please be sure to send me a note. Unless I receive a note (or phone call) telling me not to put your child on the bus, I will do so. CANDY: Please do not send candy with your child to school. (Our party days are the exception!) If candy is sent as a birthday treat, well send it home with the children at the end of our day. COMMUNICATION: Many Fridays your child will bring home a note telling about our week. If you have a concern or a question, dont hesitate to call. I can be reached at 554-5241 before or after school, or through e-mail. In the event you need to leave a message, my extension is 20202. COMPUTERS: Each week we will be heading to the Computer Lab. Our lessons support what we are learning in the classroom, and help children to gain mouse control. CONFERENCES: Parent-teacher conferences are held twice a year, in mid-November and late March. However, if there are concerns by either parent and/or teacher, a conference can be held at any time. DISMISSAL: Class will dismiss at 3:45. We try to get our kindergarten students out to their busses by 3:40 so they can be the first students on.

E-MAIL: A wonderful way to communicate! I do check this as often as possible. My e-mail address is sarah.krachenberg@kentwoodps.org. FIELD TRIPS: We will be taking two trips this year. I am planning on taking the children to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch in mid October and Teusinks Pony farm in late May. FOLDERS: You have been asked to provide your child with a pocket folder to bring to

GUM:

school each day. Notes coming home will be placed in this, and if you have notes for me, please send them to school in this same folder. Taking folders out of backpacks and checking for notes will be part of our daily routine. Please empty your childs folder frequently and keep the papers that come home at home. Please do not send gum to school. (This is an Endeavor policy.)

GYM SHOES: We will be having P.E. every week. Your child will need a pair of non-scuffing shoes. (These do not have to be new, or left at school.) If you would like to leave them at school please be sure to mark your childs name on both shoes. HALF DAYS: Over the course of the year, we will have several all school/district half days. Dismissal time on all school half days will be 12:03 pm. HOMEWORK: Our kindergartners have homework calendars, which has a homework option for each day of the month. Please feel free to adapt it if it is too easy or too difficult. This will begin in October. INVOLVEMENT: Your involvement in your childs education is invaluable! Studies show that parental involvement is directly linked with a students academic success in school. There are a variety of ways to be involved in the classroom as well as with Endeavor activities.

JACKETS: As the weather changes with the seasons, please keep in mind we do go out for recess each day. Please label your childs clothing! KINDERNEWS: This is our weekly newsletter that will be sent home at least every other Friday. It will help to keep you informed as to what is going on in our classroom, as well as what is coming up. LATE ARRIVALS: In the event your child is arriving late, please take them to the office to

sign them in. LIBRARY/MEDIA CENTER: We are fortunate to be able to visit our media center once a week. The children hear a story and then check out books which we take back to our classroom where we can all read them until the following week. MUSIC: We will have music with Mrs. Sneller every week, and I also incorporate music in many of our activities. We all enjoy it! NAMES: Often the first words children read are their own names, as well as the names of those around them. In the beginning of our year, we will be learning to recognize, read and write each others names. When children write their own names in our classroom, they are encouraged to make only the first letter a capital. Reinforcement at home is helpful! OFFICE: In the event your child will be absent, late, or picked up by someone else, please call the office (554-5241). PARENT HELPERS: There are many ways that you can be involved in your childs kindergarten year. I will be sending home a parent survey that you can fill out and return to me stating your availability and desire to help out. I make out a monthly calendar and I usually start scheduling parents toward the end of September.

PARTIES: There will be three holiday parties throughout our year (Oct., Dec. and Feb.) Parents are welcome as well as younger siblings. Forms will be sent home through the PTC to ask for help with food, supplies and activities. PHYSICAL EDUCATION: The children will have PE class with Mrs. Ostipow every week. It is important for children to have soft-soled shoes to wear in the gym on these days. PLAY DOUGH: We use play dough on a regular basis. If you would like to make a batch for our classroom, please let me know on the parent helper survey and Ill send a

recipe your way. POPCORN FRIDAYS: On most Fridays small bags of popcorn will be sold by the PTC for 25 cents. Popcorn that is purchased will be sent home with your child. QUIET: What is that? RAIN DAYS: Often a favorite of children! On rainy days instead of heading outside for our recess, we stay inside and use things from our Indoor Recess Cupboard. RECESS: Each day we will be going outside for lunch recess and afternoon recess. Please mark all jackets and coats with your childs name. During the winter months your child will need boots, snow pants, and gloves and mittens, as well. Please label their boots and snow pants because we usually have several pairs of black snow pants and the students dont always recognize their own.

SNACKS: I will make out a monthly snack calendar and each child is expected to bring in a healthy snack to share with the whole class when it is their scheduled day. We consider our snacks to be our brain food and we will be focusing on healthy food choices. Some healthy snack suggestions include: crackers, cheese, fruits or vegetables, pretzels or muffins. Please try to avoid snacks high in sugar. If your child has a food allergy, please let me know ASAP. SPECIALS: Our schedule will be sent home as soon we have it.

TELEPHONE: I can not accept phone calls during classroom time but the office will pass calls on to me before and after school. You can always leave a message on my voicemail. TOYS: Please encourage your child to leave all toys at home. On occasion they get lost or broken and I have to send home an unhappy child. In addition it can be

very distracting and we do have plenty of things to play with in our classroom already! VOLUNTEERS: YOU help to make our kindergarten year a wonderful one. I am hopeful you are able to spend at least one day with us...your child will love it! WINTER GEAR: Remember...we do go outside even in the winter! If your child is in need of warm outerwear, please let me know. I usually have extras on hand. WRITING: Encourage your child to write, write, write! They can help you make shopping lists, write notes to family members, make treasure maps, etc. In kindergarten we focus on using the sounds they hear (sound spelling) rather than book spelling. eXamine: Please be sure to examine your childs backpack each day. The folder should come back and forth to school every day. One of their jobs at school is to give me their folder at the beginning of our day and then to transfer important notes from their cubbies into their folders so that they can take them home to you. It is my main avenue for communication on a daily basis. YOU!

Thank you in advance for being an important part of our year!

ZIPPING: Please encourage your child to zip his/her own jacket. Though this takes time as they are learning, it gives them a wonderful sense of accomplishment and we ALL benefit! ZOOPHONICS

All of the kindergarten classrooms at Endeavor use Zoophonics for our phonics portion of the Language Arts program. We believe it is a fun and effective way of learning the sounds and names of the letters. Look for a folder to come home soon with our animal friends.