Information for Mrs. Wells Kindergarten Class

Information for Mrs. Wells’ Kindergarten Class

“Play is the highest form of research” – Albert Einstein

Dear Parents,

Welcome! Kindergarten is a very special year for you and your child. We will see many amazing changes in your children. I believe that you and I are a team and must work together to make your child’s experience a positive one. In order for us to be successful, I stress open lines of communication. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. I will do the same. I look forward to working with you and your child this year.

I would like to take the opportunity to share some important information about our classroom. Please read the following carefully.

Rules of the classroom: The rules of the classroom will be posted on my blog after the class develops and agrees upon them. I let the student choose rules that they feel will help provide a positive and nurturing learning environment. This will help your child take responsibility for his or her learning from the very beginning.

Snacks: We will have a short break in the morning for a healthy snack. Children are responsible to bring their own snack. They may drink water from the classroom, please do not send a drink other than water. We only have a short time to eat and don’t want to have to worry about cleaning up sticky spills when we have to get back to work.

Lunch: We will be eating lunch daily between 12:22 – 12:52. If your child will be buying lunch it would work best if they prepaid for the week or month online. Students will be assigned a lunch number that they will need to memorize as soon as possible. Even students who pack their lunch should learn their lunch numbers. If you send in cash please send it in an envelope or zip-lock bag that is clearly labeled with your child’s name and lunch number. We strongly discourage paying daily. If your child brings a lunch from home please help him/her learn how to open and close their lunch box, food, thermoses, and Tupperware. If you’d like to join your child for lunch please sign in at the office and meet us outside the cafeteria.

Rest Towels:

Please return clean rest towels to school every Monday. Your child will bring it home at the end of the week. Rest time will be phased out within the first few months of school.

Transportation: Please inform me in writing (not email) if your child’s transportation routine will be changed in any way. The safety of your child is my first priority!

Birthdays: We will make your child’s birthday a special day in the classroom. Although we do not permit birthday treats you are more than welcome to come eat lunch with your child on their birthday.

Scholastic: You will get scholastic order forms in your child’s folder. If you would like to order books or other materials from scholastic you can follow the instructions included to order online. The more books that are ordered the more classroom titles we will receive.

Daily Folders: Folders will be sent home daily. Please make sure to look at the folder daily – important information could be included in these folders. Don’t forget to initial your child’s daily behavior calendar. If finished work is sent home please remove it and keep it at home unless I have requested for it to be returned. Please send back all important papers that need to be signed the very next day.

Finished Work Folders: Each student will bring home a manila folder at the end of the week with their finished work from the week. Please spend time going over the finished work with your child, reviewing the comments and lessons. Please send the folder back to school empty the following Monday.

Classroom Behavior/Management: All of the Kindergarten classes are using a point system to reward positive behavior as well as redirect negative behaviors. We will be using Class Dojo to track our points. This system allows me to give points for specific positive behaviors such as following directions, working hard, or helping others. Class Dojo also makes it easy for you to see how your child’s day has gone. You will be asked to sign up with a special class code which will give you access to your child’s account.

Daily your child will start with 4 points! They can earn and lose points throughout the day. The goal is to end the day with 4 points. Just like adults, students don’t always have perfect days. If something major happens in class, I will contact you.

Please see the table below for more information about the point system:

Homework: I would like you to read to your child every night. F.R.E.E – Family Reading Every Evening! They need to see printed text often and hear an adult “model” how to read in order to establish a strong foundation for reading. I will also post a monthly newsletter, calendar of homework activities, and a “think-tac-toe” homework sheet on my blog. The monthly homework includes activities such as: recite your phone number to a family member, practice tying your shoes, write your sight words, and how many paws do 2 dogs have? The Think-Tac-Toe activity is just an additional activity that your child can complete at home to increase their independence, curiosity, and creativity. These activities are completely optional.

Baggie Books: As the students become more independent readers I will begin to send home baggie books. It will include an instruction sheet as well as a log to document their progress. I will give you more information about the Baggie Books when we are preparing to use them!

Sight Words: Sight words are words that are used frequently in books on the Kindergarten level. During the year we will have “sight words of the week” that your child will need to practice at home as well as at school. At the end of the week your child will be assessed on their ability to identify, spell, and use the sight words. This is purely a form of assessment so that I am able to monitor which words each student can read and write. The sight word schedule is located on the blog for easy access for the whole year. Feel free to move ahead and learn new words if your child is doing well mastering the weekly words.

Resource Schedule:

Contact: Please feel free to contact me through notes or email ( ) . I will get back to you as soon as possible. I rarely check email in the evenings as this is important time I have to spend with my family. I do feel that communication is a huge factor in your child’s success and I will be in touch frequently. If you would like to come in and talk to me in person please make an appointment with me and we can have a conference. Once again I cannot take time out of the teaching day to have a one on one conference without an appointment.

Blog: My classroom blog is this will contain a large amount of information. All of my newsletters will be located on the website as well as other fun items.

I am truly looking forward to working with you and your child throughout the year. My goal is to guide them to success through positive reinforcement and for them to have respect for all and love learning!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Wells

My Teaching Philosophy:

I am a committed educator and child advocate. I believe that children possess multiple intelligences and therefore exhibit diverse learning styles. Children learn through hands-on exploration, investigation, play, and prediction. Lessons and activities should always be developmentally appropriate. The classroom environment is always safe, supportive, and welcoming while promoting self-discovery and self-awareness. Students should have opportunities to try out new ideas and be challenged with new experiences that engage budding readers, writers, scientists, historians, mathematicians, and artists. Each child is encouraged to move beyond his or her level of current understanding. I set high expectations that students strive to reach and exceed.

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