We had a busy week in kindergarten, including our special assembly to kick off our March is Reading Month! Included in this letter are some special dates for some fun activities we will do in March to encourage reading. Just this past week Emma Konynenbelt’s mom came and read the book, Lola Dutch, for part of Emma’s up in lights celebration! If any of you would like to come and read a book to our class this month let me know! We would love it!

Important dates:

March 3-Optional Parent/Teacher conferences

Wednesday, March 4: Wear SILLY SOCKS to celebrate reading month with Fox in Socks

Wednesday, March 11: Wear a HAT to celebrate with the book Cat and the Hat

Tuesday, March 17: Wear GREEN to celebrate with the book Green Eggs and Ham

*Reminder that K & 1st grade WILL NOT be participating in the elementary program

Tuesday, March 24-Field Trip to Visser Farms 10:30-11:30. Drivers plan on arriving at school at 10:05. *Dress for any weather as we will be walking to different buildings on the farm. Boots are preferred if there is any snow or wet ground.

Friday, March 27: Wear PAJAMAS to celebrate with the book The Sleep Book

April 3-10 Spring Break

April 17 ZCS Auction

Curriculum:

Bible: This week we continued to learn about the miracles of Jesus. We read the story from the Bible of the disciples casting their nets in a different spot and catching ENORMOUS amounts of fish, we also read the story about Jesus healing the blind man. We have a few more weeks of studying the miracles of Jesus and then we will start our unit on parables.

Word wall word: in (So far this year we have done:  I, the, a, am, look, see, at. go, we, me, up, is, like, this, here, come, my, it and on)

Daily 5: We continued to work in our groups continuing to work on sliding through sounds. This is a great thing to practice at home with your child, especially in consonant, vowel, consonant words. Examples would be words such as hat, man and gum. We also wrote our word wall words in gel bags this week!

Phonics: We are continuing our study of word families. This week we added the -an family.

Math: This week we continued to work on making teen numbers and understanding the concept that teen numbers have one group of ten in them. We made stacks with our unifix cubes so that we could “see” the numbers.

Handwriting: This week we finished the uppercase letters with the letter J and started working on our lowercase letters. We practiced both a c and an o.

Writing workshop: This week we did a fun activity to draw a picture and write a sentence on our own of why we like or don’t like snow. I figured that was a good topic for this week as I sense we are all ready for warmer weather! We are also continuing to write books during daily 5. Next we will begin to write how to instructions.

Up in lights: This week Emma Konynenbelt was up in lights. Emma’s mom came to share about her and also read her favorite book, Lola Dutch, and then joined us for lunch. On Friday, Emma’s dad came to have lunch with her! We are so glad Emma is a part of our class. She is extremely full of joy and her sense of humor has us all laughing quite often! She definitely spreads the joy of Jesus in our classroom!

It was a nice week back after a restful four days! We are continuing to work at not only being good students but also kind friends. A big part of kindergarten is learning to be a good friend to those around us. I am constantly encouraging the students to look out for each other as well as always include one another. We often discuss these things during our devotion time and then work on putting them into practice during the day!

Important dates:

March 3: optional parent teacher conferences

March 13: No PM bussing

March 17: Spring elementary music program 6:15- more information coming soon

March 24:Field Trip to Visser Farms 10:30-11:30. Drivers plan on arriving at school at 10:05.  A sign up genius will be going out soon!

April 3-10:Spring Break

April 17: ZCS Auction

Additional information:

Here is the link with information about our upcoming OPTIONAL parent teacher conferences. They will take place on March 3.  If you received an email from me, it simply means I’d like you to sign up for a conference. This doesn’t mean I am necessarily concerned, but that I feel face to face time would be good. If you do not receive an email, you may choose if you’d like to sign up.

Curriculum:

Bible: This week we started our unit on Jesus’ miracles. We read from our Bibles about Jesus turning water into wine and calming the storm. We talked about how only Jesus could do these things and how amazing He is and how even more amazing it is that He loves each and everyone of us!

Our new Bible verse is Luke 7:22

The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf here, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

Word wall word: it (So far this year we have done:  I, the, a, am, look, see, at. go, we, me, up, is, like, this, here, come,my and on)

Daily 5: This week I was able to work with everyone at least once. We also are continuing to talk about strategies for figuring difficult words. Everyone should have a paper in their book bag with some of those strategies. One of the ones I emphasize the most is to slide through the letters. I also make sure that they understand that is absolutely ok to try things and not get them right the first time. That is how we learn!

Phonics: This week we worked on making a class book with places we would like to visit and what we would take with us. For instance, Mrs. Arnold is going to California and taking cats and Miss Tracy is going to the beach and taking a ball. This was a fun activity to practice coming up with initial matching sounds for words.

Engaging God’s world: This week we continued our unit Barriers in Motion. We discussed what a force was and how forces stop and start objects in motion. We then experimented with balls of different sizes and shapes and how force affected their movement.

Math: This week in math we continued to work on teen numbers and learning that the one in the beginning means it has one group of ten in it. We also cut out different shapes and worked on sorting and classifying them based on number of sides, size and color.

Up in Lights: This week Alex Taylor was up in lights. His grandpa came in and had lunch with him one day and his mom came on Friday to share about him and she also brought us delicious pizza!  A huge shout out for such a nice treat! We are so blessed to have Alex in our class. His smile and personality light up our room!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Thank you so much to all the parents who came and helped at our Valentines’s/100 Day celebration! It couldn’t have happened without you! It was a fun day and a busy week in kindergarten!

Also this week we were so excited to welcome Noelle back!  We are so thankful to God for this answered prayer!

Important dates:

February 14-17: No school: mid-winter break

March 3: optional parent teacher conferences

March 13: No PM bussing

March 24:Field Trip to Visser Farms 10:30-11:30. Drivers plan on arriving at school at 10:05.  A sign up genius will be going out soon!

April 3-10:Spring Break

April 17: ZCS Auction

Additional information:

Book of friends: This week we added Noelle to our book of friends! It was so fun to have her back and a great way to celebrate that day!

Up in lights: This week Isleigh Lowe was up in lights! Her mom, sister and grandma came to share about her and then have lunch with her! They also brought Isleigh’s dog Murphy with them! Isleigh is an absolute joy to have in class with a heart of gold! She is always willing to put others before herself!  We are blessed to have her in our class!

It is so hard to believe we are well into February with our weather having been so mild. I was thankful for the good roads as we traveled to For the Kidz gymnastics for our field trip. I would like to thank all the parents who drove and chaperoned. It would not have been possible without you! Thank you for all you do to help our classroom run so well!  This coming week is another busy one with only four days and Valentine’s Day and 100 Day thrown in as well as our chapel! Looking forward to celebrating with your children!

Important dates:

• February 11: all school chapel
• February 13: Valentine’s Day and 100 day celebrations(more information below)
• February 15-18: No school Winter Break

Additional information:

We began the week learning about Zeeland Christian’s AMOR (Acceptance, Mindfulness, Ownership, Responsibility) initiative. We traveled the school listening to different teachers talking to us about behavior expectations. During the week we really worked on taking ownership of things we do and not blaming others for our actions. We are excited as a school to continue to see this develop. We also were very excited to meet our new mascot, Ronin the Ram.

Chapel on February 11th will be held by the eighth graders with a bit of help from the kindergarteners. We will have a small part in this and you are welcome to come and watch!

This Thursday, February 13th will be our Valentine’s day party. It will be from approximately 10:45-11:40. When your child fills out their valentines it would be great if they brought in valentines to pass out to the entire class (16 students). You do not have to label the To: section of the valentines, but just the From:. This will make it much easier for the students to hand them out! Also these may be either homemade or purchased, whatever you prefer. The moms I have signed up to help are Katie VanDyke, Kristin Brookens, Kristin Bouman, Stephanie Klein and Jill Koning. If you could be at our room around 10:40 that would be great. I would like to start the party at about 10:50 and finish around 11:40. Thank you in advance for your help!

100th Day is approaching soon! It is scheduled for February 13 (Yes along with our Valentine’s day party! because of that we will be combining some of our celebrations.) We will be doing lots of fun activities that day to celebrate the number 100! One thing we will be doing is dressing up like super heroes! Mr. McAboy will be dressing up like Zero the Hero that day and surprising us in our room as well! Please feel free to use anything you have at your home to make your child into a super hero, be creative and have fun! Do not stress about this as all of your children are super heroes already! We just want this to be a fun day for the kids!

Curriculum:

Bible: This week we continued our study of the ministry of Jesus here on earth. We sang the song, “Zaccheus was a wee little man,” and discussed how Jesus changed his life. We talked about the power of God to change even someone who was stealing from others and make him want to follow Him and do what is right. We often talk in our daily devotions as well how it can be hard to do the right thing but that Jesus is here to help us and that He will always love us even if we don’t make the right choice.

Word wall word: to (So far this year we have done:  I, the, a, am, look, see, at. go, we, me, up, is, like, this, here, come and my)

Phonics: This week in phonics we practiced listening to the sounds of words in simple consonant, vowel, consonant format and then writing them. We continue to go over vowels almost daily as those are the trickiest to learn.

Daily 5: This week I was able to meet with each group once. If they did not bring a book home this week it is because we did some activities with letters and sounds. We are also starting to work on strategies for figuring out words we don’t know.

Math: This week in math we worked on teen numbers and we discovered that each teen number has one group of tens it it!

Book of friends: We are continuing to go through our book of friends, this week we spelled Luke’s name and then drew a picture of him! We all enjoyed making his curly hair on our pictures!

Up in lights: This week Lynden Brookens was up in lights! Her mom came to share about her and have lunch with her and her dad came as well. We also read the book Hyena Ballerina, which is a great book about accepting others for who they are. We are so blessed to have Lynden with her bubbly personality and helpful spirit in our classroom!

What a great week in kindergarten!  During the week we have had many opportunities to talk about the power of God and how he cares for us! We are continuing to pray for Noelle daily and we are already thinking of things to do to welcome her back! God’s love is definitely evident in your children! This coming week will be another busy one as we will be going to For the Kidz gymnastics on Thursday morning!! Looking forward to seeing many of you then!

Important dates: 

• February 6: Field Trip to For the Kidz gymnastics (more information below)
• February 11: all school chapel
• February 13: Valentine’s Day and 100 day celebrations(more information below)
• February 15-18: No school Winter Break

Additional information:

Our Field Trip is scheduled for February 6, this Thursday, at For the Kidz gymnastics in Wyoming MI.  The drivers I have down as coming are Kristen Bouman, Kristen Brookens, Jill Konynenbelt, Dee Worley and Bryce Huffman. If you could be to our classroom by 9:50 on Thursday morning that would be great! Also, if you bring your child to school and it is possible, please leave a car seat with them!  I am so looking forward to this field trip and I am sure the kids will love it! As we begin to plan for this trip I wanted to let you know that there will be NO HOT LUNCH for our class on this day as we may possibly get to school too late. Also, please send your child in comfortable clothes and make sure they are wearing socks that day ;)!

Chapel on February 11th will be held by the eighth graders with a bit of help from the kindergarteners. We will have a small part in this and you are welcome to come and watch!

February 13th will be our Valentine’s day party. It will be from approximately 10:45-11:40. When your child fills out their valentines it would be great if they brought in valentines to pass out to the entire class (16 students). You do not have to label the To: section of the valentines, but just the From:. This will make it much easier for the students to hand them out! Also these may be either homemade or purchased, whatever you prefer.

100th Day is approaching soon! It is scheduled as of now for February 13 (Yes along with our Valentine’s day party! because of that we will be combining some of our celebrations.) We will be doing lots of fun activities that day to celebrate the number 100! One thing we will be doing is dressing up like super heroes! Mr. McAboy will be dressing up like Zero the Hero that day and surprising us in our room as well! Please feel free to use anything you have at your home to make your child into a super hero, be creative and have fun! Do not stress about this as all of your children are super heroes already! We just want this to be a fun day for the kids!

Curriculum:

Bible: This week we studied the story of Nicodemus and what it means to have new life in Christ. We made butterflies to hang in our classroom to remind us of that new life!

Word wall word: my  ( So far this year we have done:  I, the, a, am, look, see, at. go, we, me, up, is, like, this, here and come.)

Phonics: This week we learned about word families and what they are. In particular this week we studied the -at family and worked on putting some -at words together.

Daily 5: This week we continued to progress in our skills during daily 5. During our writing portion we are putting together pattern books which goes along with what we are learning in our writing workshops. We also did some word work games to practice beginning sounds and rhyming words. I also let the students know that if they write down books they read at home on their book list I will put stickers on it during their daily 5 time! Keep reading to them as well! The more they are exposed to print and letters the more they will learn!

Writing workshop: This week we continued to work on writing pattern books. We practiced the skill of brain-storming and then wrote pattern books that started with I see.

Math: This week in math we did simple addition and learned about making partners for numbers. For example: partners of 6 are: 0+6, 5+1, 4+2 and 3+3. We also learned that you can also switch the numbers around and the answer will still be the same! We practiced this by putting some animals in “cages” at the zoo! During math centers we practiced counting on from ten so instead of counting every number 1-10 we just say 10 and keep counting!

Handwriting: This week in handwriting we did the uppercase letters T and I. We have one more uppercase letter to go and we will be moving to lowercase letters! When we practice making our letters we also are reviewing their sounds again. This is a great way to review our letters and sounds!

Up in lights: Adalynn VanDyke was up in lights this week. Her mom and siblings came to share about her on Thursday and her dad came to have lunch with her on Wednesday! Adalynn is an absolute joy to have in our class and is always willing to help everyone around her!! We are so glad she is a part of our class!