May Newsletter

Note: Students will need some assistance connecting with the blog games with ** in front of them. The addresses did not link us directly to the games. Sorry for any inconvenience.

The month of May is here and it’s hard to believe that our school year will soon come to a close. We look forward to our trip to Binscarth to watch the play “Honk” on Wednesday, May 11th . This is not a regularly scheduled Kindergarten day, but we are asking children to come this day for our fieldtrip. We are putting in this full Kindergarten day in trade for a very short day on June 27th (Kindergarten Graduation Day). Hopefully the weather will warm up and we won’t need to dress for snow! If you have any questions or concerns regarding the trip, please feel free to contact me. Otherwise, as long as your child has a bag lunch for the day, all should be well. We will leave at 10:00am and return for our regular 3:25pm dismissal. A note specifically addressing our fieldtrip will be sent home in the first week of May, along with a permission slip.

We will shift our focus to “The Garden” for the month of May. We will learn about what plants need to sprout and flourish, and the stages of growth a plant follows. We will soon complete our study of the alphabet. Our last letters to study are Ww, Vv, Qq, Yy, and Zz. We will continue to review all other letter names and sounds each day.

To further enrich what children have been learning about letters and sounds, our Kindergarten class is ready to begin to learn to read! Shortly your child will bring home a “Reading Folder”. There is a note attached to the folder explaining how this program will work. Your child will bring home a “book bag” inside the folder. You and your child can read these books using the suggestions on the folder note. Your child will then return the “book bag” to school the next Kindergarten day and exchange it for a new one. Although it is not an expectation that your child read in Kindergarten, and I will not be evaluating him/her in reading, this is a wonderful activity that excites and motivates! Have Fun!

* Folders do not need to be sent to school on our Field Trip Day -- we will not do a book exchange on this day!

The following is a list of skills we will be working on in preparation for the June report card: counting to 100, number recognition to 10, recognizing all uppercase and lowercase letters, knowing all letter sounds, printing all letters (a-z), printing first and last name, and working independently. Please feel free to practise these skills at home with your child. You could even “test” them yourselves to see what they already know!

As well, I am still encouraging children who have not yet received a “Shoe Lace Tying Certificate” to keep practising to tie at home. When this task has been mastered and your child can show me, he/she will receive a certificate and pick from the prize box. I cannot stress how important this skill will be for your child, and it is most easiest learned one on one with a parent at home, and with a reward from me!!!

We will be having a Kindergarten Graduation once again this year. The date for the graduation will be Monday, June 27th, 2011. Children will come to school at their regular time (9:00) and the graduation ceremony will begin in the gymnasium at 9:20. The presentation will be approximately 45 minutes long. Parents and guests are welcome to attend. The school day for Kindergarten will end after this time and children will go home with their parents. Summer holidays will officially begin! More information regarding this occasion will be sent home in June!

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. Enjoy the month of May!