Dear parents,
I am looking forward to starting my time with your child. Qiao Laoshi(Ann Hildrenbrand) has spent the first two weeks building classroom community and setting up learning routines. Next week we will dig deeper into contents. Please see the following information regarding important information and curriculum we will cover.
Information and Reminders:
Room Mother: A big thank you to Kristi Van Dyk to be our room mother this year!
Thank you so much for signing to be a volunteer. I’m wondering if anyone might be willing to help me monitor the kids during lunch time on Tuesdays while I have grade level meetings. Your job will be to remind students to stay seated while eating, help students open packages, and be an adult presence in the room. The only thing I ask is that you please monitor the whole class rather than sit with just your child. Some parents have even read a book to the class (in English) once the kids are settled in to eat. (This is totally optional.) Younger siblings are welcome to come with you. Your kids are welcome to eat lunch or a snack as everyone around them will also be eating their lunches. You can come at 11:50 and leave till every student go out for recess at 12:20. If we have indoor recess because of the weather, please stay till 12:45. The sign up is here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11N2ysK2h3OIJDNf15RIGihGLSXfauwVq4a3vCbyUyEY/edit
Pick up time: Each day at 3:25pm, I will need to walk students who ride the bus to the bus line. I will also have bus duties on Mondays and Fridays on which days I will leave the classroom at 3:20pm. If you plan to pick up your child, I would be really appreciate if you come between 3:20pm to 3:25pm. This makes sure the kids who do not ride the bus won’t be unattended. (One exception is for students who wait after the walker bell to be picked up by an older sibling in the school. Then please talk to your child to wait in the classroom until he/she be picked up by the sibling.)
Field Trip: Wednesday October, 17 DeGraaf Nature Center at 9:30am. We will leave school at 9:00am.
If you like to drive for field trips, please take pictures of your vehicle insurance and valid driver’s license and email them to Carrie in the office. Her email address is cpapay@zcs.org
Worship songs: We will learn a worship song in Mandarin each month. You can find the video on my blog under worship songs.
From the immersion program director
I wanted to take this opportunity to re-introduce myself to our immersion families. My name is Jodi Pierce, and I serve as the director of our immersion programs. Among other professional experiences, I have taught in the immersion setting abroad, served as the director of another immersion program prior to ZCS, and hold a MA in Dual Language and Immersion Education. I am passionate about the opportunities that immersion education offers our students, and I am determined to help our staff make our immersion program the best it can be. If you have any immersion-related questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to stop by my office (Office #69 between the media center and gym) or send me an email (pierce@zcs.org). It is a blessing to be partnering with you as we strive to “Love God, Love Kids, and Love Learning!”
Curriculum
Language Arts
We will be working on recognizing our Chinese names.
We will continue learning basic strokes in Chinese and Chinese numbers.
We will also introduce color words.
Math
We will learn about relate objects and numbers through 5; draw scenes of 2 and 3; counting and arranging through 5
Science
We will learn about names of body parts to prepare for learning the Five Senses unit next week.
Bible
Creation days 1 and 2; creation days 3 and 4
We will learn about the fruits of the sprit throughout the year. For the next few weeks, we will learn about the fruit of love.