Kindergarten Capers

Monday, September 3, 2012

Hi Kindergartners!!!!

See you tomorrow!!!! val

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Hello New Kindergarten Families!

August/September Special Dates at a Glance:

Aug. 31 Welcome to Platt Day for Students
6-7:30 P.M.

Sept. 4 First Day of School 2012-2013

7 Trip to Calder Dairy Farms, 10 A.M.

9 BTS Picnic, County Farm Park

18 Picture Day!

24 Picture Retake Day

28 Field trip to the Toledo Zoo-
departure promptly at 8:45 A.M.

August 22, 2012

Hello New Kindergarten Families!

Welcome to Summers-Knoll School and welcome to Kindergarten! I am so very excited about being your child’s teacher and looking forward to seeing those precious faces walk through the door! Our awesome Head of school Joanna and the whole staff has been working very hard to continue to make our school and new building a creative, inviting, and nurturing place where your child can feel safe, grow socially, and be challenged academically. A special Thank You to all of the Kindergarten Parents who were able to attend the SK New Building Open House this past weekend. I appreciated being able to chat with you a bit and hear all of your positive comments. And to those families who were not able to make it yet, I am looking forward to seeing you (and all of your lovely children) really soon! "Welcome to Platt Day" is Friday, August 31 in the evening!

Here is some information and also some quick reminders to hopefully answer some of your initial questions. Please feel free to email me at vtwynne@gmail.com with any of your concerns as I attempt to make this a smooth and enjoyable transition for your Kindergartner and your entire family.

P.S. An extra note to your child from me will be arriving soon in the mail. Kindergartners, can you tell what some of those pictures might be?

General Info

Entrance to the Kindergarten will be made through the main entrance (North rear) of the school each morning. Parking is available at the rear as well. SK has a lovely tradition of having All School Morning Meeting each day at 8:40 A.M.! This daily gathering provides for great camaraderie and sets the perfect tone for the day. A.M. Care is from 7:30-8:30 A.M.

School begins promptly at 8:40 A.M. so it is imperative that your child arrives on time. Arriving early also allows for your child to feel more empowered in his/her environment and eases transitions as well. Our Cloak Room Area is located right outside of our classroom across from the South entrance of the school. Please provide a complete change of clothes–shirt/dress, pant/skirt, underpants, socks, to be stored in your child’s cubby area in the cloakroom. Your child will be required to have rubber-soled gym shoes for Physical Education classes. Optional/seasonal items include- a jacket/ raincoat, rubber boots, hat, gloves etc. (I know, it’s hard to think about that right nowJ.) The nearest restrooms to our classroom are across from the Library. Individual Kindergartners will be generally escorted to the restroom and class restroom breaks are planned throughout the school day.

Daily attendance is taken, but the children will be asked to sign themselves into the classroom on Monday mornings. This Sign-In activity provides your child with some practical “practice” at writing his or her name. It is perfectly fine if your child is tentative about writing or in the beginning stages of the process. The exercise is designed to give them some ownership and sense of responsibility so even if your child writes a scribble, it is still valued and valuable. Kindergartners, as time goes by, become proud to see their own writing abilities and improve as the year progresses. And while speaking of attendance, please call the school and inform us if your child will be late or absent. We will be attending many field trips and outings (some spontaneous) and it is essential that your child is properly accounted for. It is also important to know if your child will be picked up early and/or have appointments during the school day. I will also attempt to inform you as soon as possible about scheduled trips and outings and send out emails of unplanned excursions as well. Volunteers and/or Chaperons are always welcome! My email address again is vtwynne@gmail.com. I will respond at my earliest opportunity usually the same day. I will call or email you (both parents) directly and immediately for more urgent concerns i.e. injury or illness. Our amazing Office Manager, Karen, will inform all families of any school closings and/or early dismissals.

Please complete and return a "Child Web" regarding information I can use to provide optimal individualized care. Extra copies are available in the classroom on the teacher’s desk. Please return completed forms sometime during the first few weeks of school. Our first Kindergarten Parent/ Teacher Conferences will be scheduled for October 15-19^th. Various A.M. and P.M. time slots will be available.

There will be a Sign Up Sheet for Snack Duty. This consists of each family and myself providing the classroom’s snack for one whole week, 2 snacks per day, several times during the school year. A list of classroom allergies will be provided A.S.A.P. Although nothing can be ever be 100% certain, we at SK attempt to be a nut aware school as much as possible. Please consider ingredient and nutrition content while snack shopping. The classroom and school’s ongoing goal is to provide a healthy, nutritious environment for all students as much as possible. A suggested snack list will be provided to all families. Family traditions are very important to us! Please feel free to share your family’s traditions/celebrations (i.e. your child’s birthday) and we will work them into our classroom snack plans wherever possible. Also, feel free to provide alternative snacks for your child at any time. By the way, any takers for Snack Providers September 4-7th or 10th-14th?

Volunteers are always welcome in our classroom! Please let me know your desires and availability. We already have Skye's Mom coming in on a weekly basis to assist us with cooking projects and how to make healthy snack choices! Thanks, Gabrielle!

Please keep in mind that this The SK School Blog is my way of keeping families abreast of current classroom and school-wide activities. I make Kindergarten entries at least once per week and attempt to include photos and other general information about our classroom’s learning experiences. Please subscribe at vtwynne.blogspot.com to receive prompts of new entries and feel free to make comments about what you find most enjoyable or helpful. More specific or confidential/personal info will be shared in person or by email. I am also available for chats before (I usually arrive at 7:30) and after school and evenings (after 3:45 most days) or you may call me to find out my mid-day availability times. I try to reserve other times during the school day for the kids and for planning to provide optimal attentiveness to their needs and concerns.

Whew!! I think that's it for now. Again welcome, Happy Labor Day, and I’ll see you all on the 4^th of September if not before!

Valerie (Val) Tibbs-Wynne (The kids call me Val generally)

Our “General” Kindergarten Daily Schedule

7:30-8:30 Morning Care

8:30-8:45 School-wide A.M. Meeting

8:45- 9:00 Homeroom

9:00-9:45 Math, (beginning in January Latin 9:15-9:45)

9:45-10:15 A.M. Snack/Recess

10:15-11:10 PE & 11:10-11:30 HR (M, W); 10:15-11:30 Homeroom T, TH

K Buddies with Mrs. Carpenter’s class Thursday’s 10:30-11:30

11:30-12:30 Lunch/Recess Daily

12:30-1:25 Music (M, W), HR (T), Science (TH)

1:25-1:55 French (M, T) HR/French 1:55-2:25 (W) 1:25-2:35 HR (TH)

2:35-3:30 (T, TH Art) or HR (M,W,F)

3:30 end of day, Parent pickup or escort to Aftercare

Friday's all-day open schedule allows for classroom time, field trips, etc.

Other information, changes, and corrections will be forthcomingJ

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Donation Day for Andy's Cans!

Kindergartners came full circle, (or shall I say cylinder) with our "Andy Warhol Can!" unit. We have been collecting, counting, sorting, moving, and removing soup and other cans around our classroom since November and we have finally come to the end of a marvelous journey.

As you may have read in previous blog entries, our class began the project by studying Pop Artist Andy Warhol's Soup Can Series of paintings especially the one titled "100 Cans." We also read A Weekend at Uncle Andy's written by his nephew James Warhola. Throughout the year, we also discussed how there are those in need of food, clothes, and other resources all over the world. A generous outpouring of cans came in throughout the next weeks and months. We made 100 cans our goal and graphed our results. We ended the unit (and the school year) with a trip to meet one of those needs.

Yesterday, we packed our 113 cans and jars into boxes, loaded them onto the bus ( a special thanks to Ava's Dad for being "the Rooster"), were praised and cheered on by our head of School, Joanna; and ventured across town to Food Gatherers. We immediately knew we were in the right place because of the carrot shaped door handle, gigantic carrot pillars, and the worm motif on the garden hose!

The volunteers at Food Gatherers graciously accepted our donation and began quickly loading the cans and jars into a giant barrel. We nearly filled it half full! The attendant then went and weighed our gift and reported that we had donated 130 lbs! He thanked us for all of our efforts. We then took time for a photo op and headed back to school for lunch. I wonder if anyone had soup?

Thank you to all of the SK children and families who participated with your donations.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

School-wide Field Trip to PuppetArt Theatre, Detroit

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Power of a Dollar!

Kindergartners ventured out to the Dollar Tree Store for a real life "Money Math" experience. Each child was equipped with a dollar bill, 6 cents, and an ever-changing idea of possibilities. We walked the isles exploring office supplies and pondered- Should we get more spools of tape for our creations? Index cards for all of our dictated ideas? Gardening tools? We eventually settled for buying sombreros for our Mexican fiesta snack, erasers, and more baskets for toting our treasures.

Previously in the classroom, we investigated coins- the value of each and which President appeared on each coin. We also practiced sorting and adding same and mixed groups of coins. We experimented with the best penny cleaning solution (dish soap worked best) and had rousing games of "penny derby" (flicking coins across the table to try to get as many coins as possible to land inside a bucket versus outside.) We practiced counting by 5 and 10 using nickels and dimes. We also discussed the significance of the leaf, Capital Building and Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home) being present on the back of coins.

Kindergartners browsed a bit then made individual purchases at the store. We each presented our money to the cashier and practiced our "please" and "thank yous" when paying for our selections. We also chatted with the store manager and showed her our purchases. This trip was a great culminating activity for our "Money Math" unit!

Back at school, we practiced our newly acquired skills during choice time. We took turns ringing up our dollar purchases (including tax), distributed receipts, and played with our purchases. Some even negotiated "buyer's remorse."

Trip to Maia's for Japanese Children's Day Celebration and Lunch

One of the best ways to learn
about another person
is to listen to them,
allow them to tell you about themselves,
and to show you who they are.

Maia allowed us the opportunity to celebrate her, her family, and her family's traditions.
We were greeted at the door of their home with a traditional Japanese greeting and bow from Maia's paternal grandfather. The warm welcomes continued from her grandmother and mom.

The family proceeded to lead us through various activities that included locating Japan and specifically Okinawa on the world map with Mom; a lesson in calligraphy and language from Maia's Grandmother; and the art of beautiful and appetizing Bento Boxes with Grandpa.

Prior to our arrival, Maia selected and illustrated our lunch menu for our bento boxes (personalized with our names written in Japanese) that included teriyaki chicken, pickled cucumbers, oranges, grapes, sweet rice in tofu wraps, and sushi. All of the Kindergartners ate this delicious meal in near silence ( a first for us) and returned for seconds (and thirds)!