Summer+Letter

**August 10, 2009** 
 * Dear Families,**

It’s almost that time! It is so exciting to imagine the children gathering together in our classroom for the first time. The kindergarten year can be a wonderful adventure for the entire family. I encourage you to become involved in whatever way is possible for your family. Maybe you can help with classroom projects on a regular basis, or perhaps you can help by making materials at home for classroom use. Each family has special talents and exciting interests to share which helps to make the class more varied and exciting than any teacher can do alone. Come read a book or sing a song with us. If you have a skill, craft, project or interest you would like to share with the group, please let me know.

You may have many questions about the kindergarten year. Throughout the year, I will post newsletters on this site to inform you about the things we are doing in class. Usually I will post on Friday night. Sometimes I may skip a week or perhaps post something during the week. If you prefer to have a paper memo, let us know and we will send it home. There may be some notices that will be sent home.Check your child’s back pack or bag often because kindergarten children don’t always remember to tell you that they have a note from school. Your child will have a folder for school notices. The school wide memo, The Bridge, is sent home on Friday. Your child’s folder should come back to school the day after it is sent home. Please feel free to call me at school or send an email mknee at sau53 [dot] org. Check on-line for kindergarten information as well. During the year, the newsletter will be posted on this site under Kindergarten News. We will also have information on our [|classroom blog]. You will find info and pictures about our class work on the blog.

On the first day, please send a note telling us whether your child will be going home by bus or car. The bus company will tell us the correct bus but if your child will take the bus someplace other than home, please tell us where. Dismissal is at 2:00. The bus students will be walked to the buses and the car riders will be walked to the back of the school, by the cafeteria. You will need to come inside to sign out your child.

We do take time to have a snack break in kindergarten everyday. Your child may bring a drink from home or purchase milk or juice from the school hot lunch program for 35 cents. You may pay for drinks by the week or even longer. A form will be sent home each week where you will check off the drink choices for your child. Please fill it out for the entire week. You do not have to purchase a drink everyday but fill out the form for the week. We use a community snack system, which involves parents taking turns sending in a healthy snack for the entire class. During our staggered opening days, the teachers will provide snack for the class but not snack drinks. Information will be sent home about the community snack schedule and appropriate foods to send for snack. If your child has any food allergies, please let us know.

Your child can bring lunch from home or participate in the school hot lunch program. Meals cost $1.50. We will eat in the cafeteria. Each family will have an account where they add money on a regular basis. We will send home a form each week for you to fill out listing the days and the meal you wish your child to buy. There is pizza every day and a regular hot meal. Kindergarten child do not use the salad bar. We ask that you fill the form out for the week and let us know in writing if there is a change for a particular day. Once again, it is hard to depend on the children for information about hot lunch. We have to place our lunch orders early in the morning and sometimes the children do not remember to tell us.

Please send your child to school in comfortable, washable clothes. Much of our work is done while sitting on the floor. The children use paints and markers and accidents can happen. We have paint shirts but even these don’t offer complete protection. We will go outside often during the beginning of the year to use the playground or the area outside our room. Sometimes we walk in the woods or along the trail by the pond and sturdy shoes make the walk easier. The children will need a pair of sneakers for physical education class. Our gym class is on Monday.

Each day for the first half of the school year, we have a quiet time after lunch followed by a cozy reading time. The children rest quietly for about 15 minutes. Then we spend another 15 minutes listening to stories. Each child needs to bring in a towel to leave at school for our quiet time. It does not have to be fancy or new, just big enough for your child to lie on. Please do not send in blankets, quilts or pillows. We have limited storage and a towel fits nicely in each child's cubby.

Back to school time often means changes for children and families. Transitions are exciting opportunities for children to learn and grow. Making a smooth transition between home and school can help children feel good about themselves and teach them to trust other adults and children. We share a role in making your child feel safe and secure in school. Be enthusiastic about the start of school. If you are excited and confident, your child will be, too. Let your child become involved with getting ready for school. Begin an earlier bedtime and also the wake up time several days before school begins. On the first days, reassure your child if he/she is having trouble separating. Remember not to prolong the good-bye. Be firm, but friendly about separating. Never ridicule a child for crying. Instead, make supportive statements like, “It’s hard to say good-bye.” When at home, set aside some extra time for chatting.

This is going to be an amazing year. Thank you for your part in preparing your child for school. I look forward to the upcoming year and hope to see you at our Open House, Monday, August 24. You received a letter in the mail, stating the times for the Open House.