It was an amazing first week of school! Every day I was impressed by your children. A phrase I have used many times this week is “In Kindergarten we always try our best.” Your children did that and with such happy hearts. They have met new friends and old. They easily mask up when it is time and don’t complain. They are learning to keep hands to themselves and even walk in line with space between friends. (We do pretend to be superheroes with an arm out front :)) It has been a true joy to get to know your children and I am looking forward to getting to know them and you even more!

Each morning we begin our day with devotions. I use “Veggie Devos” from Veggie Tales. It has a focus verse, short application, thought of the day and prayer. It is just right for kindergarten. This week we enjoyed getting our hearts ready to hear God’s word and our minds ready to think about it. We even took devotions outside.

Here we are singing “My God is So Big!”

We are learning a lot of routines this first week. When children come in to school they are already so good and at hanging up backpacks. Now they also take out red folders and move lunch names to their lunch choice, lunch AT home or lunch FROM home. *If your child is going to order hot lunch, please send a note or email the first few times so we know he/she is ordering correctly. Thank you!

We have started to work out way through the alphabet. We are learning letter formation (handwriting) and practicing letter sounds. This is a research based method we use at the beginning of the year. I have enjoyed the excitement the class has for this “work.”

Next week we will begin a social studies unit on classroom community. We celebrate the differences and notice similarities we have. We do this through a project called “My Book of Friends.” For each friend, we write his/her name, draw his/her and learn something about him/her.

This week we also introduced the fruit of the spirit. It was perfect to begin with love as our ZCS theme this year is Lead with Love. We also read a devotions about Queen Esther who led God’s people with love! It was amazing to see how everything connected. We will continue to focus on the fruit during our Bible time for the next two weeks.

The class received Bible to use during our kindergarten year. They were so excited to look through them and keep them in their book boxes. It is one of my favorite parts of kindergarten.

Our afternoons our a little busy with specials and purposeful play. We know that play is purposeful because we can see children develop social skills during this time of communications, creativity and compromise. I set out and open up a few play areas then draw names to determine who chooses what to play first.

On Friday we had a little fun coloring masked boys and girls that looked just like us! 🙂 They loved it.

Here we are sitting at our table spots for the first day of school! We had many opportunities to learn a new way of doing school and your kids did great! They were definitely hungry for snacks and lunch! I imagine tonight they will be tired. It will be such a good week to learn together. I am looking forward to tomorrow and many more days teaching these wonderful kids!

We had our first day convocation/chapel live streaming in our classroom. It was a fun experience. It was also convenient for many kindergarten bathroom breaks. 🙂 It amazes me how children adjust to these new times. They put masks up and down with ease and no complaint. They readily washed hands and used hand sanitizer when asked. One child even asked me if we were going to have any zooms. 🙂 I am thankful for the support you have given to them that they are able to be so comfortable!

Parent Night KB This is the link for the PDF of the parent night information.

We’re All In This Together is a fun video Mrs. Arnold and I made to get everyone excited about working together this year.

here is the link to updated pick up and drop off  information that is new for this year as well as a lot of other helpful information. We are excited to try it out! Please note the school may need to make adjustments as the year goes on. There was also an email sent from the school with visuals of the signs we will be using and map showing the routes and doors.

Questions & Answers:

Are we using beach towels this year? Yes, please include a beach towel in a reuse bag for your child to use at rest or other times of the day when we need a designated spot.

Are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches allowed? I have sent an email out to our school nurse to confirm that we do not have any food allergies. I will let you know if she provides any different information, but right now I can YES, peanut butter is allowed.

When do we drop off school supplies? Please bring supplies to the open house Monday. Thank you so much for providing these. Any extra donations may also be dropped off at the open house.

Drop off and Pick up…there were some questions on this and I think the email from school covered it well. We will continue to get to know this system as we try it out. Remember that you may park and then walk your child into school for the first week and then after that first week you may park and walk them to the door or drop off with the car line. Kindergarten uses Door I.

I also thought I would include the many faces of Mrs. Bronsink 🙂

Dear Kindergarten Parents,

As the new school year approaches, I pray that you are having an enjoyable and relaxing last few days of summer! It has been a wonderful summer for our family. We have enjoyed as much sunshine and family time as possible.  My husband, Aaron, and I have two daughters at ZCS. Elle is going into 6th grade and Eden is going into 2nd. This spring we added a puppy to our family! Our dog, Mando, is an Aussiedoodle (Australian Shepherd & Poodle mix). I have never owned a dog before, so I am learning a lot and loving it!

As you know, kindergarten is an important transition year for you and your child. It is an honor to walk with you through this school year. It is my goal to make you and your child feel as comfortable as possible as we begin this journey together. This year brings us some new challenges, but I am confident that we will be able to overcome them with God’s help in love and in grace.

Here are a few things to look forward to:

• Parent Information Video: sent via email before August 17

Please watch for an email coming to your inbox before August 17 with a presentation containing information that will be helpful to know before we start the school year together.

• Monday, August 24: School-Wide Open House

Please watch the Blue Note for details. If you are not receiving the Blue Note please contact Nakisha DeJong ndejong@zcs.org.

• Tuesday, August 25: First Day of School                              

• Friday, September 4 – Monday, September 7: Labor Day Vacation

• ZCS Open House: Monday, August 24 Last Name A-I 2-3pm J-R 3-4pm S-Z 4-5
• ZPS Busing *You should have received a letter from ZPS with your bussing schedule. On Monday, August 24 you will be able to have a practice ride with your child. Please note the change that when you arrive at school, parents and children will go to the playground and NOT classrooms. Kindergarten teachers will be outside to say hello! We will be wearing masks as students will wear them for recess.

Thank you, in advance, for supporting our class by bringing school supplies. The generic kindergarten list is available on our website. Please note I have added a few extras that fit our specific classroom needs. This list is below.

All items may be dropped off during the school Open House.

I know that you will be sending me your most precious gift. Thank you for entrusting your child to me this year. I am confident that this year will be a wonderful and exciting year if we depend on each other and the Lord for guidance. Please feel free to email me with ANY questions or concerns. My email address is mbronsink@zcs.org

I’m looking forward to seeing you very soon!

Mrs. Mary Bronsink