Welcome to kindergarten! The beginning of a new school year always brings excitement for students, parents and teachers alike. This year will bring many new and exciting experiences. Your child will make new friends, learn many new things, read interesting stories, and sing fun songs. This year your child will learn all about the alphabet, to help you learn about our Kindergarten class, I have put together the ABC’s of our Kindergarten classroom! I am looking forward to all the possibilities this school year brings!
Attendance ~ It is very important to be present everyday possible. We learn so much everyday. If your child is absent, please send a note on a separate piece of paper as to the reason why and I will turn it into the office.
Alphabet ~ Knowledge of the alphabet is key to learning to read and write. We will cover the alphabet however, many children enter Kindergarten already knowing their letters and many of their sounds (not just able to sing the alphabet song), which is great! If your child does not know their letters, please begin to work on this at home immediately to give your child a good start. Begin by teaching the letters in your child’s name.
Book Bags ~ Children will need a back pack or school bag big enough to fit their planner, folder and projects coming home. Back packs with wheels are not allowed at school.
Bus Transportation ~ Children riding the bus must fill out the transportation form and turn it in to the office. You can find out your child’s bus stop at www.flaglerschools.com .
Birthdays ~ Birthdays are a very big deal for all children. If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday at school, you may bring in a store bought treat for the class. Please let me know at least a day in advance. If your child has a summer birthday, you may want to celebrate their ½ birthday at school. Birthday party invitations will only be sent home if the entire class is invited.
Book Orders ~ Scholastic book order forms will be sent home monthly. Scholastic offers great deals on age appropriate books and our classroom earns free books from your purchases. You can also purchase books to donate to our classroom library; we will place a “donated by” bookplate in every donated book.
Behavior ~ Good behavior is essential so that all students have the best learning environment possible. The number one rule in our class, “Treat others as you would like to be treated.”
Car Riders~ Car riders are picked up using a number system. Please help your child learn their number; it will make the car rider process much smoother. The car rider line does tend to be long the first few days, but does improve quickly. Please be patient.
Conferences ~ There will be two mandatory conferences scheduled during the school year; usually at the end of the 1st and 3rd nine-weeks. I am also available for conferences by appointment as needed during the school year. Please feel free to contact me to schedule and appointment at 447-1500 x6618 or phillipst@flaglerschools.com .
Crayons ~ Many kindergarteners are very rough with their crayons, loosing and breaking them. Please ask your child if they need new crayons each nine weeks. I suggest buying several packs now while they are so cheap and storing them for when they need new ones.
Dress Code ~ Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for school. As a general guide line, shorts should come to their finger tips and tank top straps should be the width of two fingers. Flip-flops and shoes without backs are not allowed.
Discipline ~ All students will begin their day on the happy face. If at any time during the day your child chooses to act inappropriately he/she will receive:
1st offense: Verbal Warning (now is the time to correct your behavior)
2nd offense: Straight face: five minutes of time out/note in planner
3rd offense: Sad face: non-participation in a fun group activity/note in planner
4th offense: Blue Slip is written / note in planner
5th offense: Referral and sent to the office for further consequences
*Your child may also earn his/her way to WOW student during the day for outstanding behavior!
*Your child’s behavior will be noted in the planner each day.
Dibels ~ Three times a year your child’s early literacy skills will be assessed using the state wide Dibels test. The oral test is administered on an individual basis by another teacher. During the open house I will explain the test more and things you can do at home to help prepare your child at home.
E-mail ~ My e-mail is phillipst@flaglerschools.com . This is the best way to contact me.
Eat Breakfast ~ You have always heard, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and it is! With our schedule, the morning is academically packed and lunch is not until 12:25, they will need a good breakfast. Breakfast is available at school, but the children will be very rushed to eat it.
Early Dismissal ~ If you will be signing out your child from school early, please write a note in your child’s planner. You will need to go to the front desk to have your child called down for dismissal.
Folders ~ Students will use two folders in class. A yellow folder will be used to bring home daily work. Please remove and review your child’s work with them nightly. The yellow folder should be brought to school daily. A red folder will be used for home work. Every Thursday your child’s homework and classroom newsletter will be sent home in his red folder. Return the red folder, with your child’s homework inside it, by the following Thursday. It is your responsibility to replace folders if needed.
Foot Wear ~ Your child will be running and playing everyday. Flip-flops or shoes without backs are not allowed.
Field Trips ~ We generally take two field trips during the school year. If you would like to be a chaperone, you must be an approved volunteer. The volunteer approval process take several weeks, so please complete the paperwork at the beginning of the year.
Getting Home ~ Please make sure your child and his teacher knows how your child will be getting home. On days that your child will be going home a different way, a note must be written in the planner.
Grades ~ Letter or number grades are not given in Kindergarten. A “+” is used when a child is consistently demonstrating a skill correct. A “√” is given when your child is making progress. A “-“is used when your child needs improvement.
Giving Tree ~ There is a giving tree in the classroom listing needed items for projects that are not provided by the school. These items will help make learning more fun. Donations from the giving tree are greatly appreciated.
Homework ~ Homework for the week will be sent home every Thursday and your child will have a week to complete the assignments. Please sign the homework to show that you have reviewed it. It is up to your child to turn in his homework. I will ask the children for their homework folder, but time will not allow for me to go and look for it. In addition to the assigned homework, you should be reading, writing and reviewing letters and words with your child nightly.
Help at Home ~ Please “help” your child with his work, but do not do it for him.
High-Frequency Words ~You will receive a list of words most frequently used in reading and writing. Please help your child learn these words. Flashcards and bingo are great ways to help your child learn these words.
Illnesses ~ Please do not send your child to school sick. If your child becomes ill at school, he will be sent to the nurse. If the nurse feels the child needs to go home, she will call the parents. Please make sure there are at least two contact numbers on file for your child.
Jackets ~ When the weather starts to cool off, please make sure your child’s name and teacher’s name or room number is in your child’s jacket. You would be amazed at the number of jackets in the school lost and found with no name on them.
Keep your Readers ~ Your child will come home with little reading books every week. These are great books for your child to read through out the year. I suggest buying or making a special shoebox size box to store your child’s little readers “library”.
Library ~ Our class will go to the school library on the same day each week. Children are allowed, with parent permission, to check-out a book to bring home each week. The book must be returned the following week in order to check out another book. Children will also learn library skills during our visits.
Lunch ~ Children can bring their lunch or purchase the school lunch for $1.50. Please remember to pack a nutritious lunch for your child. Kindergarteners are not allowed to bring soda for lunch. When buying lunch, check the school lunch menu to make sure your child will eat the meal being served. You may come visit your child during lunch if you like.
Money Matters ~ When sending in money with your child, please place it in a sealed envelope labeled with your child’s name and what the money is for. The easiest way to pay for school lunches is to put money in your child’s account for several lunches. Your child will be given notice when their account is getting low.
News ~ A weekly newsletter will be sent home most weeks. The newsletter will inform you of what skills were covered in class that week, upcoming events, things to know and important dates. Please take time to read the newsletter and discuss what was learned that week with your children.
Names ~ Your child should be able to write his first name, and know his first and last name. During the year we will work on writing first and last names with capital first letters and the rest lowercase.
Open House ~ We will have a kindergarten parent open house scheduled during the first month of school. We will discuss kindergarten expectations and answer parent questions. Parents will meet in their child’s classroom. If at all possible, please try to attend without children.
Planners ~ Please check and sign your child’s planner every night. Your child’s daily behavior and any notes will be written in the planner. This is also the place to write notes to the teacher.
PTO ~ The BTES Parent Teacher Organization is a great group in which to become involved. The PTO helps with various aspects of BTES. Many things would not be possible at our school without the PTO.
Playground ~ Kindergarteners will have the opportunity to play on the playground during the school year. Playground safety rules will be enforced to avoid possible injuries.
Pictures ~ During the school year, I will take pictures of the children participating in class. I will post group pictures on the class web site. Occasionally newspaper photographers may also come in for pictures. Please let me know if you would not like your child’s picture published on the web site or in the newspaper.
Questions ~ Please feel free to contact me regarding any questions. If I do not know the answer, I will find it out for you. The best ways to contact me are via e-mail or in the planner.
Reading ~ It is so important to read everyday! Read to your child, with your child and listen to your child read. It is also important to let your child see you read for pleasure. We will send home readers and your child will bring home library books. While reading, don’t just read the words, talk about the story and help your understand the story. Predict what will happen, summarize what has happened, discuss how you could change the story, and ask reading comprehension questions.
Report Cards ~ In kindergarten, official report cards are sent home at the end of the 2nd and 4th nine-weeks. A skills assessment will be discussed with you at conferences at the end of the 1st and 3rd nine-weeks.
Supplies ~ A list of school supplies for the year will be given to you during “meet your teacher day”. Depending on the usage of supplies there may be additional supplies required for the second half of the school year.
Snack ~ We will have a designated snack time every morning in the classroom. Please send your child daily with a small snack they can eat neatly during this time. I suggest packing their snack in separate Ziploc bag (not in their lunch box). Unfortunately, I will not be able to provide a snack for your child if they do not have one of their own. Water is the only drink allowed in the classroom.
Spelling ~ During writing, your child will not be expected to spell all words correctly. Your child should spell a word as it sounds. An example may be spelling “army” as “rme”. High-frequency words should be spelled correctly as they are learned..
Sentences ~ Your child will be expected to compose and write sentences on his own. This process begins with stressing that children speak in complete sentences, and then we will get them to put it in writing. We are looking for sentences that begin with a capital letter, have spaces between words and ending punctuation. Generally children begin writing simple sentences during the second nine weeks.
Schedule ~ The class schedule will be distributed. If your child must miss part of the school day, please try to avoid missing academic portions of the day.
Show and Tell ~ To encourage children’s speaking and descriptive skills, we will have show and tell on Fridays. Children will bring in an object from home that goes along with the week’s theme. A show and tell reminder will be in the newsletter.
Tardies ~ All students need to be in class by 9:40. Students arriving after 9:40 must report to the office before coming to class.
Tying Shoes ~ If your child is unable to tie shoes, please double knot his shoes or have him wear shoes that do not require tying . Continue to have your child practice tying their shoes!
Toys ~ Toys, video games or trading cards are not allowed at school. (The exception is show and tell days) Toys brought to school will be confiscated.
Units & Themes ~ During the school year we will cover various units and themes. Units include: Names, Nursery Rhymes, Transportation, Fall, USA, Thanksgiving, Holidays Around the World, Seasons, Dr. Seuss, 100th Day, Farm and Oceans. If have valuable information (books, pictures, guest speakers) relating to our themes, we would love for you to share them with our class.
Volunteers ~ I love volunteers! If you would like to volunteer to work in the classroom or go on field trips, please fill out the volunteer paperwork. Once you are approved, you can start volunteering. If you are unable to volunteer in the classroom, but would still like to help, there are several ways to help from home.
Website ~ The school website www.flaglerschools.com/BTES is full of useful information. Our class has a website full of information and great links. You can access our class website by going to the school website, clicking on faculty & staff, then kindergarten and Mrs. Phillips class. I suggest book marking the sight and checking often to stay informed. If there is additional information you would like on the class sight, please let me know and I will do my best.
Writing vs. Handwriting ~ “Writing” refers to students independently composing and writing words or sentences related to a topic. “Handwriting” refers to forming the letters and words correctly.
Water bottles ~ Students can keep a “half-pint” water bottle with water in their desk to drink and refill during the day. Water is the only drink allowed in the classroom.
X-tra Special ~ The students in my class are X-tra special to me!
Yearbook ~ The BTES Bobcat yearbook will be pre-sold during the second nine-weeks of school and will be delivered the last few weeks of school.
Zaner Blouser ~ Zaner Blouser, or traditional, is the handwriting style we use in class.