Kindergarten Team

Mrs. Blackmon	lauren.blackmon@fcps.org	ext. 62899
Mrs. Hawkins	dale.hawkins@fcps.org	ext. 62903
Mrs. Matlock	barbara.matlock@fcps.org	ext. 62897
Mrs. Semler	andrae.semler@fcps.org	ext. 62896

KINDERGARTEN NEWSLETTER
MAY--JUNE 2008

DATES TO REMEMBER:
Friday, May 2- 1:30 Early Dismissal
Monday, May 26- MEMORIAL DAY NO SCHOOL
Friday, June 6- Fountain Rock Field Trip
Thursday, June 12- Kindergarten Celebration 10:00–11:00
Field Day 1:00-3:00 (More info. to follow)
Friday, June 13- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL 1:30 Dismissal

We will end our year with the theme, I AM GROWING. We are learning about life cycles. We will be planting seeds and watching them grow. Warm weather brings out bugs and spiders, which makes for a perfect opportunity for observing and investigating. Our Fountain Rock field trip is a wonderful source of information for these topics.

ACTIVITIES YOU MAY WANT TO DO AT HOME:
• You may want to take a walk with your child through a garden or weeds and look for spider webs.
• Try using chocolate icing on a round cracker and 8 pretzel sticks to make a spider treat. See if you can make a spider web on a pancake with syrup…yum!
• Have your child create a spider web and write his/her name on it (remember Charlotte’s Web?). This could be done with a pencil, crayon, some glue and yarn. Bring it to school to share with the class.
• Take a walk by the river, pond, or creek. Observe the animals living in and around the water.
• Visit your local supermarket and find the lobster or fresh fish tank. Draw pictures and write about what you have observed.
• Plant a window box of flowers or start a small container garden to be moved outdoors later. Graph the growth of the plants.

During the months of May and June we will be reviewing and reinforcing the following Language Arts and Math skills:

Language Arts:
• rhyming words and word families
• beginning and ending sounds (sound/letter connection)
• blending sounds in words and segmenting sounds
• writing using consonants in phonemic spelling, stressing spaces and punctuation and the use of lowercase letters
• retelling stories for comprehension
• correct letter formation

Math:
• ordinal numbers… 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
• combining like sets to 10 or more (addition)
• removing like sets from 10 or more (subtraction)
• measuring using nonstandard units such as Unifix cubes
• graphing
• counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s to 100+
• estimating
• continue using math vocabulary in daily life
• counting backwards from 31
• recognizing and naming numerals to 31 and beyond

At this time of year we are beginning to prepare the children for the transition from kindergarten to first grade. We have been casually introducing the first grade teachers, as we see them in our hall, and pointing out where the first grade classrooms are located. We are encouraging the children to become independent workers. We are requiring the children to sit and focus attention to tasks for longer periods of time. There are NO construction or imagination centers in first grade. That is usually the number 1 question!!!! (But there are many activities to do when work time is completed!)

As the saying goes “All good things must come to an end.”
It is hard to believe that the end of the year is near. We have almost
completed our year of kindergarten and the children have grown and prospered
in many ways. It has been a very good school year for all of us. The
Kindergarten Team would like to thank you for your support and help
throughout the year with all of our activities and projects.

Have a Safe, Enjoyable and Relaxing Summer.
Your Kindergarten Team,
Lauren Blackmon, Barb Matlock, Dale Hawkins, Andrae Semler

*Please continue to read the books sent home in the KIWI packs until we collect them for the summer.

********************THANK YOU*********************

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