April 11th, 2011
Dear Parents,
Our few weeks left are going by too quickly! Here is a list of all the special activities coming up, and there are plenty! Hang on to your hats! Let me know if you can drive for any of them. There is a driver list by the door.
· Our Reptile Gardens trip is on Monday, May 2nd. We will leave at 1:00PM so that we can be back by 3PM. This costs $5 for children and $8 for adults. Those who want a season pass can pay $7 for children and $11 for adults. They are much more expensive after the middle of May so this is a good deal. We’ll need drivers, so come join us if you like this trip!
· Our circus will be performed on Friday, May 6th, at 2:30PM. We’ll really spend time on it this week! Hopefully you can come, but feel free to invite grandparents or others, too, especially if you can’t leave work.
· Monday, May 9th we will perform our circus for an assisted living facility, we just haven’t decided which one yet! If you could drive keep that afternoon open. I’ll let you know details about time and place later.
· Friday, May 13th, will be the Track Meet at O’Harra Stadium on the School of Mine’s campus. This is a whole day activity. The children are brought to the School of Mines Track by 8:30AM and picked up at 2PM. We encourage parents taking time to join us if possible, as it is a fun day. I will have help taking care of those who don’t have a parent in attendance. Each child will be in two races and one field event. This year the boys run in the morning and the girls run after the boys, which means usually right about noon. More on this next week! They should bring a healthy lunch and drinks, but I think they will also have a concession stand. They should have layers of clothes for comfort, sunscreen and a hat. They’ll be spending time with Mrs. Winjue and me getting ready for this! So it is important to have running shoes on every day now rather than sandals or cowboy boots.
· Our kindergarten graduation will take place along with the preschool’s on the last day of school, Wednesday, May 25th, at 8:30AM. The graduation will last until about 9:30, including cake afterwards. Those who want to take their children home after cake may, but I’ll keep the rest until 11:15 AM, when everyone lets out for the summer.
We are learning about Philip and the Ethiopian this week, from Acts 8. We learn that God wants all people to come to faith in Jesus and be saved. He makes us His children as the Holy Spirit works faith in us through His Word and in Baptism. Our Bible verse is Psalm 119:105 “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
If you check their work in the Monday folders you will hopefully see a lot of repeat work (a list of fast words, sentences written, and pictures made out of shapes). This is work done during our Reading Workshop centers throughout the month. If you don’t see many duplicates then this is something you could discuss with your child about being on task and working hard the whole time.
This week there is no new math game. Really work on those games that involve putting numbers together to work on those addition facts. Next week there will be a new game. There is also a new word list in your homework bag. Please make sure your child knows how to read AND write the kindergarten words before trying the first grade ones.
It is amazing how well they are spelling! Phonics or Word Study Time has become so much fun because they really enjoy learning new phonics rules and such! Give them an opportunity to share what they can do. Writing to grandparents or even little postcards to someone is so much fun for them right now. They know they can use their reading and writing knowledge many ways. This week we keep working with short vowels. We have also begun our Poetry unit and the students are really enjoying writing short poems rather than stories. These will be in a binder outside our door if you would like to see them hopefully towards the end of this week, if not, for sure next week.
God’s blessings on your week!
Natalie Graumann