Mrs. Pybas' Kindergarten

Our seeds are growing!  Every day we check, and another child’s seed has sprouted!  I wish you could hear the excitement in their voices and see the smiles!  Each child is tracking the growth of his/her seed in their plant journal…so not only are we experiencing science in action…we are also improving our writing skills.  Our Kindergartners are growing just like their seeds!  Their reading skills are blossoming, and their writing skills are improving greatly!  I am so proud of their hard work!  Remember to practice the sight words every day.  Go back and practice previous sight words as well as the new ones that are introduced each week.  The practice and reading you do at home are like the sunshine and rain that help seeds grow!  Thanks for all you do!

Being able to read sight words and numerals without hesitation is crucial to a Kindergartner’s success in Kindergarten.  Please take every opportunity to practice both skills with your child.  Your child should be able to read these words without ANY difficulty:

I   am   the   little   a   to   have   is   we   my   like   he   for   me   with   she   look   see   they   you  

He/she should be able to easily identify the numerals 0-20 presented to him/her out of order.

We will continue to work on both of these skills in class.  If your child is struggling with either of these skills, please take the opportunity to work on them at home.

Thanks!

It is hard to believe that it is 2012!  This year promises many new activities and learning opportunities for your child at school.

*We will begin going to the computer lab weekly.

*We will write, write, write!

*We will begin to work on math facts to five.

*We will compare and contrast stories and authors.

*We will HAVE FUN while we learn!

Thanks in advance for reading with your child this year AND for practicing our sight words with him/her.

YOU ARE YOUR CHILD’S FIRST AND BEST TEACHER!

This will be a very short week at school.  Both days will be full of fun and learning!  Don’t forget that Tuesday is PAJAMA DAY!  We will all wear our pajamas to school.  Throughout the day we will enjoy THE POLAR EXPRESS and even have hot chocolate!  “Thank you” to the parents who have volunteered to send the hot chocolate supplies!

I hope your family has a wonderful holiday.  Enjoy every minute of it with your child.  You are making memories that will last a lifetime!

Your child is learning many new math concepts this month.  We are working on addition and subtraction.  The children are listening for words like  “how many all together”  or “how many are left” to know whether to add or subtract to find the answer to math questions.  They are learning to identify the minus sign and the plus sign, too.  Take every opportunity to add and subtract with your child.  Example:  When your child is helping set the table, say, “Please, get two plus three more forks.”  When you have finished eating a cookie snack, say, “We had 10 cookies and we ate 6.  How many are left.”  “Real world” experiences like these will help math make sense to your child.

Winter is certainly here!  Please be sure to send your child to school with his/her coat, hat and gloves or mittens.  We will go outside if the temperature is above freezing.  Also, please help your child practice zipping his/her own coat.  I will ask your child to try zipping his/her coat  three times before asking me to help.  Thanks so much!!  Together we can foster your child’s independence.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family!  It is time to get back to school and work.

This week we will be reading the book, Little Quack.  The book will provide many opportunities for us to identify verbs, to recall story details, to retell the main events in the story (plot), to review the characteristics of fiction and non-fiction stories, to learn new vocabulary words and even to add sets!  We will be busy, busy, busy!  Be sure to review our sight words for this week with your child:  me, with she.

Thanks for reading with your child every day!

Weren’t you proud of our class last week!   They did such a super job on the Thanksgiving Program.  “Thank you” to those of you who were able to come to the program.  The children worked so hard and were so excited to present the program to  you.

I hope each of you has a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family.  My favorite Thanksgiving song that we have been singing in class reminds us to “just be thankful for the good things that we’ve got”.  We all have so many things for which to be thankful.  I am thankful for you and your children.  You all are truly a “good thing” in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dawne Pybas

Thursday at 12:30 PM our class will present “A Kindergarten Thanksgiving” in the music room.  I sure hope you are able to attend.  The children are SO excited!

We are reviewing the letter Ii and its sound /i/ like in igloo this week, and we will be working on identifying the letters Bb  and Nn and their sounds.  At the end of this week, your child should be able to easily identify the letters – Aa, Ss, Tt, Mm, Pp, Ii, Nn and Bb- and their sounds.  If your child is struggling (even a little bit), please, be diligent in practicing them at home.

This week our story, Whose Garden Is It?, is filled with rhymes.  We will be looking for rhyming words in other books, matching rhyming words, playing rhyming word games and drawing rhyming words.  Take every opportunity to practice rhyming words with your child at home.

Thanks for all you do!

Our class is working hard on our Thanksgiving Program.  Thank you for helping your child practice his/her lines at home.

We hope you can come and enjoy seeing Thanksgiving through the eyes of Kindergartners.  The program will be at 12:30 on Thursday, November 17.

Our new sight words this week are “for” and “we”.  Please practice these with your child at home.

Your child should be able to read these sentences to you.  Ask him/her to read them for you.  If your child struggles with reading them, encourage him/her and keep practicing!

1. Tip is a cat.
2. We like my little cat.
3. Pam can sip it.
4. He can pass the cap.
5. I have a mat for my little cat.
6. I like the maps.

Thanks!