We have been working very hard on getting our routines in place, getting through our September themes and eating some yummy foods!! Here is what we have been up to the past couple of weeks!
The children worked very hard on their Nursery Rhyme booklets! They came out so cute!! They worked on a lot of cutting and writing letters while making them! These are skills the children need a lot of practice with at the beginning of Kindergarten.
We are moving along in Fundations! We have learned the letters t, b, f, n, m, i and u. We work on sky writing the letters, finding the magnets on their magnet board and forming them properly on their white boards. Any practice at home will be greatly appreciated!! Alphabet rings will be going home next week to some children to practice the story of each letter. The children have to say the letter, the picture, then the sound. (t, top, /t/) They should be practicing these every night!! Also, I will be sending home a laminated piece of Fundations paper to practice forming letters properly and eventually to write words and sentences on!
We have added Word Work and Work on Writing to the Daily 5. We now have all areas up and running!! The children have worked hard at building their stamina and we are up to two 10 minute blocks!! The children are working the whole time, staying in one spot, working quietly and cleaning up their materials quickly. I am so proud at how quickly we got to 10 minutes!!! These Playdoh mats were from Kindergarten Lifestyles on TPT, but she only has Sight Word ones available now.
I have been using DeeDee Wills Work On Writing area and the children love it as much as I do! They are going to become great writers in this area! I lowered my writing table and they sit on little pillows on the floor! So engaged, aren't they?! I love using Deanna Jump's Dab of learning Fun Sampler! Who doesn't like to use Bingo Dobbers?
Playdoh Dig is my new favorite Word Work center!!! I can't find it on TPT, but I linked it to Pocket Full of Kinders page. She has tons of other great products!
The children liked spinning to find letters with this No Prep Apple activity!
We have finished up exploring our math materials. We are moving onto counting! The children had fun making different things out of shapes :) Here is a train and a person! They are so creative and beginning to realize that everything is made of different shapes! They also worked on sorting buttons different ways...by size, shape, number of holes and color.
Apple time is one of the best parts of September!! We did this apple craftivity (that still needs to be put together and sent home!!) to show what the inside of an apple looks like.
The children helped Mrs. Dunn make applesauce...
and helped me make apple crisp!
They were really good cooks!!!
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Applesauce was liked by more kids than the apple crisp. Maybe we will go with apple cake next year :)
Lastly, the children have started reading with their 4th grade Reading Buddies on Fridays!! They get soooo excited for Friday afternoons! The 4th graders can't wait until the Kinders can read books to them!!!
**PARENTS**
Ways to help at home
- Have your child practice writing their name with only the first letter capital.
- Practice letter identification and the letter sounds-out of order, not in abc order
- Help your child learn how to tie their own shoes. They will get a Pete the Cat Shoe Tying License!!
- Count with your child by 1s, 5s, and 10s. Count backwards from 10.
- Say words to your child and have them tell you what the first sound is. (What sound is at the beginning of "door"?)
Please start sending your child to school with a coat every day. It is very cool on our playground because it it in the shade at the time we go out. A lot of children have only been wear their shirt or a thin sweatshirt. Please LABEL your child's coat. They often forget what they wore to school that morning :)
Don't forget to send in your child's signed permission slip to go to the farm. They will not be allowed to go if you do not send in a permission slip.
Have a great weekend!
Aimee
