It was an exciting week in kindergarten! We experienced our first recesses with snow, started our nativity scene project, watched 2 up in lights presentations, and met a real author Friday afternoon.
Important Dates
December 15: NO pm bus or hot lunch
December 18: Jingle Jog 10:30-11:00
December 18: Kindergarten PJ day! Send slippers or cozy socks but NO stuffed animal friends
December 21: 9:00 am Christmas Chapel
December 22: Christmas Party in our classroom 10:30-11:45am
December 22: Christmas offering $ due (optional)
December 22: Christmas Party in our classroom 10:30-11:45am
December 25-January 5: Christmas Vacation
Reminders
- Nativity Scene Project- Shoebox: Tuesday, December 19 each child will need an empty shoe box (with the top too.) This will be the stable. Please do me a favor and do not bring in a shoe box until December 18. It would be tricky to try to store that many shoe boxes for long! We have plenty of tp tubes! Thank you!
- Recycled Christmas Cards: As a part of the writing portion of Daily 5 I would like to offer the kids the opportunity to write Christmas cards. If you have any blank Christmas cards will you please consider donating them? If you’re like me and recycle the cards after reading them and putting them on the fridge for a while, will you please cut off the pretty picture part before tossing them in the recycling? These make great “post cards” and kids often enjoy writing on the blank side on the back of the picture. Thank you!
- SignUp Genius: There are still a few slots open to help with our nativity scene project and to donate supplies for our Christmas class celebration. Please use this link to sign up for a slot if you’re able and interested! Thanks!
- Jingle Jog and PJ Day: Each year ZCS students run for 12 minutes around a gym to raise money for our sister school in the Philippines. Our class will run on Monday, December 18th from 10:30-11:00. This is an event that many parents love to come watch as their will be lights, music and running kiddos! We have a kindergarten tradition to run the jingle jog in our pajamas! So please send your child to school in their cozy clothes (but remember they will be running for 12 minutes!) and slippers. We will use our gym shoes while running, but your child may wear slippers in the classroom. Questions? Please ask! 🙂
- Snow Clothes: The time of year has arrived! I am so thankful you sent warm clothes and boots on Thursday when the snow arrived. I have a few pointers/ideas for you:
- If your child is particular about his/her snow clothes (wants their pants tucked into the boots, or gloves tucked into their coat) please work on these skills at home. You may not believe it but by Christmas break most kindergartens can dress and undress 100% independently. 🙂 Keep working with your child at home.
- Please send snow clothes each morning in a reusable bag, just like what we use for our beach towels. This gives them something to put wet and dirty clothes into at the end of the day. With that, please be sure to check that bag EVERY night. Take out the pants, hats, and gloves, and let them dry out. The worst is when a child opens the bag for morning recess the next day and finds WET clothes from 2:30 pm the day before.
- Unless you bring your child to school by 8:25 am, there is NO need to dress your child in their snow pants before school. They do not need them on while riding the bus… unless you are using them for an added layer of warmth. 🙂 Most children who ride the bus do not have time to play outside before the 8:40 am bell rings.
- If you are going to send inside shoes to school (different from their gym shoes) please have them be slip on shoes. We take our shoes on and off at least three times a day, and unless your child knows how to tie their own shoes, this is tricky. Consider a pair of crocs, slippers with a hard sole or a velcro shoe. Thank you! 🙂
- Recycled Christmas Cards: As a part of the writing portion of Daily 5 I would like to offer the kids the opportunity to write Christmas cards. If you have any blank Christmas cards will you please consider donating them? If you’re like me and recycle the cards after reading them and putting them on the fridge for a while, will you please cut off the pretty picture part before tossing them in the recycling? These make great “post cards” and kids often enjoy writing on the blank side on the back of the picture. Thank you!
- Christmas Offering: ZCS decided (a few years ago) to forego the traditional gift exchange between students in the classroom. Instead, we are asked to find someone/something local to contribute to this Christmas. All kindergarten money will go to help a ZCS family in need of some basic items this Christmas. Please consider sending $2 to help with this cause. If you choose to donate just send an envelope labeled “Christmas Offering” on the front. Thanks for helping your child be a blessing this Christmas.
Curriculum
Bible: We started our nativity scene project this week! We learned about the angel who spoke to Zachariah and Elizabeth and then the angel who spoke to Mary. We learned that angels had an important job- to tell people good news from God. On Friday we learned about Mary and made our 2nd person for our nativity scene. This week we began our December Bible verse.
Lucas 2:6,7 Mientras estaban allí así que dio a luz a su hijo primogénito. Lo envolvió en pañales y lo acostó en un pesebre, porque no había lugar para ellos en la posada.
Luke 2:6,7 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Literacy: In grammar I introduced adjectives. Like articles, adjectives, describing words, are “friends” of nouns because they are often together. We played detectives and tried to figure out what would be revealed in my PowerPoint presentation based on the adjective clues.
- Read aloud: Soy una hoja
- Vocabulary Words:
- la hoja- leaf
- el sol- sun
- el árbol- tree
- la oruga- caterpillar
- el agua- water
- Word wall word:tu (your) tú (you)
- Phrase of the week:Me gusta _____. (I like…)
- Letter of the week/handwriting letter: Tt
Math: We continue to explore addition problems and different ways to represent them. This week we also started a new round of Christmas math centers. We did a round in the morning one day so that I could meet with a small group of students who often aren’t at school in the afternoon. The kids loved this change of pace!
Writing Workshop: We wrote our first list this week. We brainstormed Christmas things that we like to practice our phrase of the week. Then each kindergartener wrote their own list!
Exploring God’s World: This week we continued to talk about Earth materials- water, agua, sand, arena, soil, tierra, and rocks/pebbles, rocas/piedras. We used our new knowledge of adjectives to describe each material after we closely observed them in partners.
Up in Lights: We had 2 Up in Lights presentations this week! On Monday Addison’s family joined us. It was clear Addison is such a great big sister and loves helping take care of her 5 younger siblings. She hopes to be a nurse when she grows up.
On Thursday Aubrey’s family joined us! Her older sisters are both in the SI program and shared favorite memories so far of being Aubrey’s sister in Spanish! I think this was encouraging and motivating for the kindergarteners to hear. At the end of her presentation, Aubrey introduced her pet rabbit to us.
From the Immersion Coordinator, Jodi Pierce
What language should I encourage my child to read in at home?
We encourage parents to let your child take the lead in making this decision. There will likely be a time when your child will prefer to read in the target language because s/he feels more confident in that language. This should not cause you to worry about your child’s English development though; there will be another time in your child’s school career that s/he will prefer to read in English. Ultimately, reading strategies will transfer from one language to the next, so as parents, you can focus on encouraging a love for reading, regardless of the language. I highly recommend having quality books available in both languages so that your child can choose. Our school library and the public libraries have a decent selection of Spanish books and are beginning to invest in Mandarin books. Spanish students can access thousands of titles on Raz-kids, and Mandarin parents have access to quality literature through iChinese Reader; be sure to connect with your child’s teacher if you are unsure how to use these websites. The teachers can also give guidance as to what level is best for your child. If you are looking to purchase books, be sure to check out the websites for ChinaSprout (Mandarin), Amazon (Sp., Mandarin, and Eng.), and Scholastic (Sp. and Eng.).