Weekly Highlights
This week has felt a lot different as we started our week with a day off for kids and professional development for teachers and ended it with today’s snow day! We’ve done our best to keep routines in tact and continue our learning. Thursday morning we had a special chapel with guest speaker Cleopatra Kennedy. She knew Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. well and sang before or after his speeches often. She has been actively involved in the civil rights movement and a gospel singer ever since. She told many stories of her experiences and reminded us that we’re all God’s children and deserve to be treated with kindness.
Important Dates
- January 29: For the Kidz Field Trip- Thank you drivers! Please send along a booster seat if you are able (if your child doesn’t ride the bus). Children should dress in comfortable clothes and wear socks. We will be moving a lot! Thank you EVERYONE for turning in your permission slip already!
- A note about weather: If ZCS has a snow day, the field trip is cancelled and will hopefully be rescheduled. We will also look at the areas near For the Kidz to determine if it is safe for us to travel. Please keep an eye on your email if something needs to change due to weather!
- February 13: (tentative date) 100th Day of School (see reminders section)
- February 14: Valentine’s Day (see reminders section)
- February 15 & 18: No School (Winter Break)
- March 31: Baby Izenbaard’s Due Date 🙂
Reminders
100 Day: Zero the Hero (secretly Mr. McAboy) will be visiting our school to help us celebrate 100 days of learning! We will not have a class party, but will be doing a few fun literacy and math activities. God has been so good these 100 days! We are going to celebrate by dressing up like super heroes! Feel free to be creative by making a cape or using one you already have and think of a special super power 🙂 Perhaps a special gift or talent God has blessed your child with. Have fun!
Valentines Day: I always look forward to celebrating this special day of love and friendship together. We will have a small class celebration where we’ll participate in a few different centers. One center will be passing out valentines. Please make sure there are enough for everyone- 23 students- and that your child fills out only the “From____” section. You may leave the “To ____” section blank. Valentines may be handmade or store bought- keep it simple!
Report Cards: Report cards are available online starting today. Unfortunately, the office is closed today due to weather, but please contact them on Monday when they reopen if you need help with Parent Portal. Sadly, I do not know how to help you with this step.
- Report card grading system
- The skills left blank on the report card have not been taught fully or assessed yet. We will be covering these skills more in the 2nd half of the school year.
- A 1 indicates that a child is beginning to reach that goal, a 2 indicates that a child is developing that skill, and a 3 indicates that a child has mastered that skill. It is perfectly acceptable for a child to be at a level 2 right now. We are hoping that all students are growing past a 1 at this point, but kindergarten is all about beginning school skills. Every child learns and grows differently and every success is reason to celebrate! The next couple of months are big months for learning and growth!
- Please let me know if you have any concerns or questions. I would love to talk with you about your child’s report card!
Curriculum
Bible: We continue to focus on Jesus’ ministry. This week we learned about Jesus’ time spent with Zacchaeus and the Samaritan Woman at the well.
Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them. For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Mateo 19:14 Pero Jesus dijo, “Dejad a los niños venir a mí y no se los impidais. Porque de los tales es el reino de los cielos.”
I don’t have a separate video for this verse, but we are learning this song by Steve Green. The lyrics are from our Bible verse. Please click here to share the song with your child. (Please be aware of unpredictable ads that may play before the song.)
Literacy: In grammar we used our 3-day week to review letters, sight words, and adjectives. Our add.a.lingua curriculum is really designed to be taught in 5 days. Rather than rush through things I prefer to pause new instruction at times and take time to review and solidify our learning a bit further.
Math: We started thinking about numbers as parts that make up a whole. For example, the parts of 6 are 3+3, 4+2, 5+1, and 6+0. For further explanation, please see the parent letter that went home this week.
Writing Workshop: Your kids are ready to write their first pattern book on their own! Our snow day interrupted that plan a bit, but we’ll start here next week. 🙂
Up in Lights: Henry was Up in Lights this week! Henry, God gave you an awesome sense of humor! Henry’s favorite song, Mexican Rhapsody, is sure to bring laughter to your day.
