Welcome to Kindergarten!

Angelina, Claire, Daniel, Emily, Eve, Heather, Jacob, Jenna,

Jeremy, Julie, Kylee, Michael, Mikey, Samantha, Shayla, Tyler

 

Greetings
 
It is with great pleasure that we will welcome back Emily Scalise to our class this month.  Miss
Scalise, a UConn student, will be completing her student teaching experience in our kindergarten classroom through April.  Many of you may have met Miss Scalise in the fall, when she gained
experience in our classroom one day a week.  


 


  
Winter Clothes Reminder
The children may not play in the snow unless they have both snow boots and snow pants to wear.   Some
children keep an extra pair of snow pants and/or boots at school. Please let us know if you would like to do this.  The children who do not wear snow pants and snow boots need to play on the blacktop during recess.   Please label your child’s clothing.  Many students have the same or similar colored snow pants. 
The children are often unsure which items belong to them. Labeling your child’s clothing will help us ensure the right clothes go  home with the right child.


  
Themes
 
~ winter/snow

~ bears/Goldilocks
and The Three Bears

~ MartinLuther King Jr.


The 100th day of School
It is hard to believe that we are quickly approaching the 100th day of school.  We have been counting the number of days we have been in school since our first day together.  We will soon begin a countdown in the classroom with a chain.  Each day the kids will get to take off another link as we get closer to the 100th day.  For the 100th day of school, we are asking that you assist your child will coming up with 100
things they can share with the class on the 100th day of school.  Here are some ideas 100 pennies, stickers, pieces of cereal, paper clips, crayons, or letters.  Your child’s 100 collection should not be too heavy or cumbersome for your child. Putting your child’s 100 collection in a clear Ziploc bag will make easyfor them to show their collection to the other children without spilling  it.  Some children have chosen to make a small display with their collection. This would also be acceptable.  For many kids it may be easier to count out 10 groups of 10 to get to 100.     Right now we have  21 more school days, which means our celebration would be on February 15th  (if we have no snow days).


Valentine’s Cards
On Feb. 14th our class will have a Valentine’s Day Party   If your child is bringing Valentine cards, they must make one out for every student. This way no one feels left out. This activity is good writing practice for your child.  Attached is a list of student and teacher names in our classroom that your child may copy.

In compliance with health and wellness policy, I am asking that you do not send in any candy or sweets with the Valentines.  These will be returned to you if they come in.

Kindergarteners Are on the Ball!

This year we added 4 ball chairs to our classroom and they have been a big hit with the students. A ball chair is simply a therapy ball with stability feet/legs. There are many positive benefits to using them over traditional chairs and I have listed many of them below. When students sit in traditional hard chairs they are more likely to slouch and have poor posture.   With the ball chairs, students must have proper posture to remain balanced and on thechair.  The children love using them and we hope to add more to our classroom one day.



Benefits of Ball Chairs

• Assists in improving
  posture


• Enhances attention and
  concentration


• Improves learning through
  movement


• Promotes “active sitting”- with little to no
  disturbance


• Improves blood flow to all parts of the body,
  especially the brain


• Strengthens core (postural) & back muscle
  groups


• Improves balance and
  coordination

 

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