Early Pick-Up
If you need to pick up your child early, please go to the office. The secretary will then call our classroom to dismiss your child. This helps keep everyone safe at all times.

E-Mail
Please feel free to e-mail me anytime. I'm usually quick to respond. My address is ckenney@bethpage.ws.

Field Trips
We will schedule a field trip for the school year to go along with our topics of study. No child will be permitted to go without a signed permission slip. We are usually allowed to have a few parents accompany us on each trip. (Younger siblings are not allowed to attend.) I will invite different parents on each trip, in order to be fair to all kindergarten families.

Fire Drills
Fire drills occur throughout the year. Sometimes kindergartners are nervous about the procedure, but we will practice as a class, and with the rest of the school. We will be experts at fire drills!

 

Gym
Our class will have two 30 minute gym classes with Mr. Zito each week. The children should wear lace-up or velcro sneakers on gym day. Girls might consider wearing pants or having a pair of shorts to slip on under their dresses.

Golden Rule

Treat others the way you want to be treated.

 

Handwriting Instruction
At home, you can help reinforce correct handwriting form by encouraging the correct pencil grip (have students pinch the pencil with their thumbs and index fingers) and reminding your child that letters are formed from the top down. We will be using the Fundations program this year for letter formation. Letters begin at the sky line or plane line. Please refer to the Fundations Updates that are sent home so you can reinforce the correct letter formation with your child at home.

Homework Expectations
Kindergarten families play a vital role in educating their child. Your child will need your help to make homework activities a part of his/her daily routine. Please plan to spend 5-10 minutes each day doing homework activities (practicing skills we're learning), and 15 minutes reading! Packets will be sent home on Monday. Please try and do a little each night with your child. Send the completed packet back in your child's folder on Friday.

Good habits formed in kindergarten can form a strong base for future learning. At school, our learning builds on itself from day to day. Be sure to ask specific questions about the school day. Try, "What did you do at school today?" instead of, "How was school today?" Or, try "What stories did you hear today?", "What centers did you play in today?" ,or "What letters/words did you practice today?" Find a good time to talk about the school day. Sometimes children are tired right when they get home, and need to think about other things for awhile.

Helpful Homework Hints:
* Break homework down into a fun evening routine, and stick to it!
* Set aside a special place just for homework.
* There is always homework, even if there is not a worksheet. Do
"homework activities" each and every day! Check the "What's New" page for an idea of what skills/letters to practice.
* Keep a box or basket for books, flashcards, and learning games. Keep crayons, glue, scissors, and pencils just for homework.
* Remember that the time you invest in your child during primary school years will really pay off later when your child needs to work independently!

Illness
The question of when to keep your child home from school is often a difficult one, especially when decisions must be made first thing in the morning. School attendance is very important, but it is also important to keep your child home if he/she is sick. This helps to make him/her more comfortable and prevents others from becoming sick too. Children function more effectively in the classroom when they are healthy. Please remember that your child should be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school.

Journals
We write in journals almost everyday to learn the vital concept that print conveys meaning. We use journals in several ways. We write about fun things happening in our lives, respond to things we have read, and we also use journals to write sentences similar to ones we are reading.

Kindergarten
Kindergarten is very important! In kindergarten, we establish learning attitudes and habits that can last a lifetime. Lots of times it may seem that we are just having fun and playing, but we are working very hard learning many things!

Kindness
In our classroom, we treat each other with kindness and respect. We are all different and special! Treat others they way you want to be treated is the Golden Rule! We refer to it often!

Library
We will visit the Kramer Lane Library once each week. Books are due one week after they are checked out. Please help your child return materials on time. Follow our Backpack Rule: When you finish reading a school library book, put it right back in your child's backpack. Don't ever put it anywhere else, and it won't ever get lost. When kindergartners follow the Backpack Rule, they are taking a big first step towards building responsibility.

Math
Our kindergarten mathematics curriculum provides boys and girls with mathematical experiences that help them develop number sense and a positive attitude towards math! We employ a hands-on, problem solving approach. We use lots of games, too!

Medicine
If a student needs to take any medication during the school day, an adult must take it to the nurse's office. Students are not allowed to transport medicine by themselves.

Money
Periodically, your child will bring money to school for lunch, field trips, book club orders, or the school store. When sending money to school, be sure to use an envelope or zip lock bag clearly marked with your child's name, what the money is for, and the amount enclosed. Please send exact change when sending cash. Put the envelope or zip lock bag in the zippered pouch included in your child's Kramer Lane Folder. This way, money isn't easily lost.

Music
The students will be attending music class twice a week. The children learn the basics of music education and will be sharing many wonderful songs! Our music classes are 30 minutes long. We also sing a lot during our classtime, too! There are lots of fun songs that help us learn important concepts in kindergarten!

Notes
Kindergartners will bring home school notices in their Kramer Lane folders. It is very important that you check and empty this folder on a daily basis, so that you don't miss important school events. Please send any notes for the office or for me back in this folder. They are checked every morning.

Nurse
We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful nurse, Mrs. Gorman. Please be sure to send in any change of contact numbers in case she needs to get in touch with you.

“Oh Well!”
Kindergartners can get upset very easily when things don't go the way they think they should. Everyone makes mistakes, even the teacher! Learning to say “oh well” can help children cope with their imperfections, and handle situations that are different than the norm. When I couldn't think of anything that started with letter O, I had to say, “Oh well!”

Questions
Please don't hesitate to ask any questions that you might have. I am happy to talk with you! Please feel free to call me at school. Or you can always write a note or email me.

Reading Instruction
We will use a Balanced Literacy approach to teach kindergartners to read this year. During the first portion of the year, boys and girls learn concepts of print. We discover how letters and words are different, and how print works on a page. As we learn/review letters and letter sounds, we locate things that we know when we read a new story together. We then learn something new that we can put into our archive of “known” things. We will have also have a reading specialist coming into our classroom to help with instruction three times a week. Reading is a very exciting part of kindergarten!

Recess
The boys and girls in full-day kindergarten will play outdoors for approximately 30 minutes each day (unless it is raining or too cold). Please keep this in mind when helping your child to select clothing for the day.

Second Step
We will be using the Second Step Program as our character education curriculum this year. It teaches the students about empathy, emotion management, and problem solving through puppets, role playing and reviewing situational photographs.

Science
The focus of our science curriculum is on developing an awareness of the world in which we live. Through scientific inquiry, concepts are presented in the life and earth sciences, including the study of animals and plants, the five senses, general health, magnets, Earth Day, and the four seasons. We explore these areas utilizing a literacy based, hands-on approach. In the spring we will witness the life cycle of ladybugs in our classroom.

Science
The focus of our science curriculum is on developing an awareness of the world in which we live. Through scientific inquiry, concepts are presented in the life and earth sciences, including the study of animals and plants, the five senses, general health, magnets, Earth Day, and the four seasons. We explore these areas utilizing a literacy based, hands-on approach. In the spring we will witness the life cycle of ladybugs in our classroom.

Snacks
We will have snack time every day. Please send a healthy snack with your child. A granola bar, raisins, cheese and crackers, popcorn, fruit, yogurt, Goldfish, and pretzels are all good choices.

Social Studies
Our kindergarten social studies curriculum focuses on how we relate to others in our families, classroom, school, and community. We also learn all about holiday celebrations, and when they take place during the year. Activities are designed to engage our natural curiosity for the world around us.

 

Transportation Changes
Any time that you know your child will have a change from the normal routine, please write a note to let me know. Your child will not be allowed to go home any way other than usual if we are not notified in advance.

Uniqueness
Kindergartners learn that they are all special and unique! During the year, we will have opportunities to describe how we are alike and different from others.

Volunteers
I will need many volunteers to help with parties and special projects throughout the year. Please keep checking your child's Kramer Lane Folder or my website for upcoming events! We will also need chaperones to accompany us on field trips.

Website
Thank you for visiting us on our website! I hope that you will visit the site often.

Writing
Our writing program builds on what each child already knows. Writing begins with scribbles and proceeds to lines and circles, random strings of letters, words and spaces, and eventually sentences. Your child will be encouraged and praised for all attempts and accomplishments in writing. It is SO important to provide a risk-free environment for writing, so that the children aren't afraid to try. At home, you can help by providing your child with writing tools, such as pencils, crayons, markers and paper at home. Don't worry about spelling words just right.” Praise the letter/sound attempts that your child makes. They'll get better and better as the year progresses!

The X-tra time you spend at home establishing good school habits and routines will provide the foundation for future success!

You
YOU are your child's first and most important
teacher. Your child learns so many things from you: things you teach directly and indirectly. You can help reinforce concepts that we are learning in school, and you can help by showing your child that school and reading are important. Thank you so much for your efforts at home. They truly make ALL of the difference in the world!

Zzzzz!
Make sure that your child gets plenty of rest each night. Establishing and maintaining a bedtime routine is a wonderful gift you can give to your child.  It will help him/her to be alert and ready to learn each day! If you include some "snuggle with a story" time, bedtime is a wonderful time to bond with your child! Reading with your child is one of the best things that you can do to help him/her be successful in school! Children are NEVER too old to be read to.