Kindergarten News!
Knowing Jesus, Growing in Faith, Serving God’s Children
October 5, 2009
Dear Parents,

Welcome to a short week! We have no school this Thursday and Friday for teachers’ in-service and conference in Chamberlain. There is no school on Monday, Oct. 11th, for Native American/, Columbus Day. I will be gone again this Monday and Tuesday to a conference in Spearfish on Classroom Behavior Management. Mrs. Likens will be here both days. The children did well for her. Tell them to keep up the good work and be good listeners!
There will be no gym on Monday, but it will be on Wednesday instead. On Tuesday we have the firemen coming with their puppets to talk about fire safety. I’ll let you know next week about other fire safety events coming up. On Tuesday get those library books back and folders with lunch menu for the next week and an “e” item. You don’t have to send the math binder or book buddy. Keep those an extra week. Play the three games in the folder now. I put a dry erase marker in for playing the Dice Race right on the protector sheet.
Our Bible lessons this week are about the Israelites going into the Promised Land. We’ll learn about Joshua leading them across the river safely and how God kept them safe, even during battles. Our memory verse is Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Chapel is at 2:15 this week, with one of the classes leading it. Our offerings for this month go to our local humane society.
Book It begins this month. This is a reading program sponsored by Pizza Hut. It runs for six months and each month the children can earn a pizza certificate by reading with their parents. This means you can read to them, but they can read to you, too, using the little books that come home in the bags. In the folder is a calendar sheet for you to put somewhere handy where it won’t get lost. At least 5 nights a week try to read for 15 or 20 minutes. They color in the letter for that day. Send it back at the end of the month and I will present them with their certificate. It’s one of the most important ways to spend time with your child!
A big THANK YOU to those who sold cookie dough for our big PTL fundraiser this year. It was a big success exceeding our total from last year! If you sold cookie dough please pick it up this Wednesday, the 6th, from 3 to 5PM.
In math the children are counting sets of things in many fun ways, through games now. They need to be counting, counting, counting! It’s important that they actually count sets of things, from sets of two or three, up to twenty. Observe how they go about it. Do they check their counting? Do they move things as they count them, or line them up to make it easier to recheck? Do they count out loud? Ask them how they know how many they really have. Ask them to compare two sets of things before they count them, then after. How many more or less? Always be talking about what they are doing and why! They are learning so much more when they have to tell you how or why they do things! Vocabulary to use includes: more, less, fewer, total, set, numeral.
We move on to the letter “Ee.” Bring something that begins with Ee tomorrow. We’ll work hard adding this letter and its sounds to our growing list. Check to see if your child can write them as you say them. Ask for capitals and lowercase letters Aa through Ee. Say a word and see if they know what it begins with. Several are still a little lost, and we need to stay on top of things so they don’t become overwhelmed. A few minutes a night can help so much! Use those flash cards in the plastic homework bag if your child has those!
We are already working on autumn projects. The seasons are fun to compare. We continue that theme. Don’t disturb your leaves in the phone books yet. Add more if you find some pretty ones! We’ll be using them at the end of the month for a project. This week we will learn what plants and animals need – air, water, food and other things. They sure know the difference between living and nonliving things! Someone answered so aptly the other day when they said, “Living things are all made by God. People make most of the nonliving stuff!”

I put in a book order form. Please return the orders by Next Wednesday, Oct. 13th. Make any checks out to Scholastic Books. The class receives free books if you order online. I also added another catalog online with science and math books. If you want to do this just go to www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs and go to the parent section. They will have you register and the first time you will need this activation code: GV63V. You do need to do this by Oct. 13th, too, as I will finish the order that night.
God’s blessings on your week,
Roxi Withee