AM Kinder Parents

Starting in January, am kindergarten will no longer be playing outside on the playground before school due to the cold weather. Please have your child go directly to their classroom after winter break (January 4th). Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

-Simonton Kindergarten Team

Mrs. Wright's Class

We have been busy celebrating the season in class this week. Your kids wrote about their holiday wish, learned about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah and have made several crafts to decorate the classroom. It has been a great week! Today all of the kindergarten classes combined to enjoy the Polar Express story, hot chocolate and holiday wishes. Everyone had a fun time and wonderful behavior despite the excitement. Tomorrow will be our class party in which all parents are invited to attend. The party will be:

AM- 9:15-11:00 am
PM- 1:45-2:55 pm

Please come to sing carols, enjoy hot cocoa and listen to winter stories. It will be the PM class' last day before break. AM kids will come on Friday as normal.

This week we finished introducing our alphabet. Our last letter to learn was Z. The kids have done a great job learning the letters and sounds. I have been doing several assessments to make sure that all students are where they need to be with mastery of letters and sounds. If your child is still having difficulty recognizing letters/sounds, please work extra hard over break with these skills. After winter break we will be working on reading strategies, sight words and word families. It will be essential for all kids to have the letters and sounds mastered. In math I will be assessing number recognition and writing for numbers 0-20. I am confident most kids have 0-10, but know we continue to have a difficult time with the "teens". Practice this over break with your child. Thanks!

Well, I hope the holiday season finds you happily surrounded by family and friends. Take time to relax and enjoy the holiday magic. I will see you all back to school on January 4th.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year-

Kindergarten Parents...

POLAR EXPRESS DAY

On Wednesday, DECEMBER 15th we will be enjoying an “imaginary ride” on the Polar Express. We would like for students to wear their pajamas, robes, and comfy slippers on this day. We will be listening to the Polar Express story on tape in class and will then share snacks, Holiday stories and Holiday wishes with one
another. If you have any questions or concerns,please contact your child’s teacher.

Thank You!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. We have lots of fun activities coming up in the next couple of weeks. Can you believe we only have 2 weeks until break?

This week we are learning about the letters J and V as well as doing lots of assessments to make sure everyone is where they need to be at this time of the year! Just as a heads up, your child should know all their letters, sounds, and numbers through 20 by the winter break. If your child is struggling, make sure you work with them extra hard over the break.

The school is sponsoring a holiday store that your child can come and buy presents for their family members. The store is only open in the mornings but PTO will be opening for 1 special day THIS Wednesday, December 8th for our PM kindergartner's. If you would like to send your child money in the red box that was attached to the paper work on Wednesday, they will be able to go THIS Wednesday with their money.

Next week we have a lot going on. On Wednesday, December 15th, we will be getting together with the other kindergarten classes for some fun center rotations. One of the rotations will include the reading of the story The Polar Express. Students are invited to wear their PJ's on this day to get in the mood of the story.

On Thursday, December 16th, we will be having our winter party from 1:15 - 2:30pm. I will be sending home the information and the donations needed for our party in the next couple of days. As always, we will need party helpers to help make our party a success!

On Friday, the 17th, there is no school for PM kindergarten! If your child goes to the kinder express program, they will go there until 11am at which time you will need to pick them up.

Everyone has been doing a great job with their little books as well as getting their homework in! We are all doing a great job of getting everyone where they need to be for first grade.

This week I am going to start introducing the -ip family words, such as hip, lip, sip, ship, and chip. See how many words you can come up with as a family!

I hope everyone has a great week, if you have any questions, please email me!

Mrs. Wright's Class

Wow...it's December. Where has the year gone?! We are almost half way through our school year and your kids are doing super. Most students are starting the reading process and have a little book that they are bringing home to read. If your child has not received a bag, we will continue to practice/master the letters and sounds and they will receive one after break. Last week we learned about the letters Q and U. The kids practiced a little poem about those letters and "sticking like glue"...see if they can recite it for you. This week we will be working with letters J and Y. In math we will continue to work on numbers through 20 and will move our way up to 30 before the holiday break. Last week we also started our winter benchmark testing for DIBELS. The students have made a lot of progress so I think we will all be thrilled with their growth.

We have started learning about the winter season and holidays celebrated during the month of December. There will be several projects coming home in the next 2 weeks...I am sure you will enjoy them as much as your child enjoyed making them. We have our holiday party scheduled for Thursday, December 16th, more information will be coming home about that this week. If you have any questions about the activities going on in class or would like to come in and help, you are always welcome to join us!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

Good Morning! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday! Can you believe it is almost December? This year is sure flying by.

This week we will be learning about the letters q and u. Remember, q and u always stick like glue and can never be alone! The students always get a kick out of that. We will also be continuing to work in our dalmatian math books. These books help us to reinforce all the number practice we have been done. Remember, since some of our friends work slower than others, if you see work coming home not completed, you need to be completing them at home. This will really help to make sure they realize the importance of working and not talking!

We have been doing a lot of "show me" in math. I will ask a student to show me a certain number of cubes and they have to count that many out. Most of the students are doing well with this until we get into the higher teens. They like to skip around when we get into the higher numbers. This would be a great activity to practice at home.

Dibels testing will be coming up in the next couple of weeks. Students will be tested over how many letters they can say in a minute, the sounds like hear in a word, the beginning sound of words, as well as reading nonsense words. We have been practicing these skills in small group but extra practice at home is always helpful!

Thank you to those who have been reading and returning the orange little readers. Please remember that most of the time it is just me in the classroom and I will not necessarily get to read with each student everyday. I try my hardest to return books at least every other night so please be understanding if you do not get a book home each night.

I hope everyone has a great week! If you have any questions, please contact me.

Mrs. Wright's Class

We had a great day! All kinder classes participated in Thanksgiving crafts, had a popcorn treat and did a pattern turkey. The projects came home today so you have lots of festive decorations. Since we were not our regular schedule today...I did not get to read with the students. I will do so on Monday and will distribute new books as necessary. I did collect homework, but the new packet will not go home until Monday as well. I would like for families to relax and enjoy the company of each other. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and restful break.

Mrs. Wright's Class

Happy Thanksgiving Week! We will be busy these next three days we are at school. This week we will review our letters learned last week, V and X, and introduce a new letter...E. Please help your child brainstorm words that begin with these letters as well as review what sounds they all make. We are almost finished with learning the alphabet and I hope all students have the letter names and sounds mastered by our December break. We are still working on numbers 0-20 and will practice number recognition, writing and one to one correspondence with these numbers until the holiday break as well.

The turkey project that went home last week is due TODAY. If your child has not turned in their turkey, please do so ASAP. They will decorate our classroom until December 1st and will then be returned home. The ones that have come in sure do look great. Thanks for your participation with these!

Looking ahead, December will be a busy month for your kindergarten student. We will start DIBELS testing the first week of December. We will also be learning about the many holidays celebrated around the world this season. If you have any activities or information that you would like to share with our class, please contact me. We would love to have parents/grandparents join us for a lesson. Our holiday party will be December 16th. Mark the date on your calendar, all parents will be welcome to attend. More details as well as donations needed will be forthcoming. I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving break and know that I am thankful for your help and support of our classroom!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

This week we will be learning about the letters x and v. We will be working especially hard on our handwriting. I am having the students write x and v words using their best handwriting. A lot of the students are struggling with writing in between the lines so I will try to stress that more at school. You can do your part at home by making sure they are using the lines correctly. We use the term "mr. letter man". He teaches us about the lines, he has a head line, tummy line, and foot line and sometimes he is fishing into the water. Students need to make sure their lowercase letters are under the tummy line. I have a lot of students wanting to write above the tummy line. Kindergarten is really the only grade that focuses on handwriting so we need to make sure they soak it all in now! There is a great website, www.handwritingworksheets.com that you can print your own handwriting worksheets off of. Just make sure you are choosing the d'nealian style since that is what they are graded on in my class.

Progress reports will go home on Friday. Remember, the language arts grade is the handwriting grade! Please let me know if you have any questions. This time around they were assessed on all 26 letter sounds. Remember, everyone needs to know all letter names and sounds by the end of December, thats only 1 month away! I will be assessing them on their upper and lower case letter names in December.

The next round of dibels testing is coming up in December. This time your student will need to name letter names as fast as they can, tell the beginning sound of a word, segment a word saying all the letter sounds they hear, as well as read nonsense words such as jin. These are some great things to be practicing at home!

A new homework packet went home on Friday. Please let me know if you did not get one.

This Friday November 19th, PTO is sponsoring a movie night, Toy Story 3! Tickets are 3 dollars a person and include popcorn and a soda. Presale ticket packets will be sent home tomorrow. Come out for a great family movie night and to help raise money of our school!

The turkey project came home today! They are all due back to me by next Monday the 22nd. If you get it done early feel free to send it in when it is done! This is such a fun project and I cannot wait to see what everyone comes up with!

The next two weeks will be filled with fun Thanksgiving projects. Make sure you are checking your child's backpack and folder for great things to decorate for the holiday with!

If your student is coming home with work that is not complete, please have your child complete it as part of their homework. We are expected to work at such a fast pace in half day kindergarten that some students are not able to get everything done. This does not mean they shouldn't be finishing it at home! I always tell the students to take it home and finish it so hopefully you are doing your part at home to allow them to finish what they did not get done in class.

I hope everyone has a great week! If you have any questions, please email me.

Mrs. King's Class

Hi, Every one!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks and it will continue to just get busier and crazier as we get closer to the holidays. I will try harder to post more often, but I have also been sending out a lot of information via e-mails, so if you are not getting those e-mails please let me know.

We are close to the end of the alphabet with only x and v next week and e the following short week. Then all that is left is J, Y, Q, U and Z. Morning students who have demonstrated that they know all the letters and sounds and can blend simple consonant, vowel, consonant patterns started with out Books in a Bag. The little orange and yellow pre-decodable books, a letter from me and a sign off sheet should have accompanied the book. Please follow the direction on the letter and have your child read the book to you several times. sign the sheet and send the sheet and the book back in your child's folder. I will be trying to read with those students who bring them back every day, but they have to have read it and you have to have signed the sheet before I will give them a new book. This will become part of their homework every night. The books will start out quite simple-one or two words to a page and progressively get more difficult. So even though they seem very simple at first please take the time to listen to your child read it several times as this builds the habbits we are trying to instill in them. Our Book in a Bag program is one of the MOST IMPORTANT parts of what you can do at home to help your child be successful at school, so please make it a priority in your family. The PM students will start to bring those home on Monday. As I become confident that your child is ready I will send the books home. They must know all their letters and sounds and be able to do some blending. I would like to have everyone reading books by the Winter Holiday, but for some this is going to mean a lot more work on the flashcards and letters at home. I can not do it without your help. There is also a reward for finishing each list your child will receive a Book It coupon from Pizza Hut good for a free individual pizza. Your child can earn one coupon per month so read, read, read and eat pizza!

Homework went home in folders today so please check your child's folder so that you have homework. This packet will be do before the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Book Orders from Scholastic. If you are interested in ordering books I will leave that open until Monday evening. I sent an e-mail out with the site and activation code for you in case you lost it. If you ordered books last time you are all set, all you need to do is log on. If not and you can't find the flyers the website is www.scholastic.com type parent into the search window and then all you need to do is put your mouse on the parent tab at the top and a drop down list will show and chose Book Club Orders. My activation code is: GMQ7K
There are lots of books that are less than $3 and quite a list for only $1. What great stocking stuffers or exchange presents!!!

Mornings are getting chilly please make sure that your child is dressing appropriately. I know we went straight from Summer to cool weather, but the students are complaining about being cold on the playground in the morning. When it gets really cool, we will begin to have the students come right into our classrooms for a few months until the warmer weather returns. But we will see what the weather brings the next few weeks and I will let you know when that will happen.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Don't forget next week is Curriculum Night on Wednesday and PTO Movie night on Friday.

Mrs. Wright's Class

We have been busy learning about letter W this week in class. The kids have been brainstorming words that begin with W and have been hunting through the classroom to find how many W's they can find on walls. They are doing super! In math we have been working at writing numbers 0-20. This is a difficult skill and we need lots of practice and repetition for mastery. We have also been enjoying picture books about fall. Ask your kindergartner to tell you about the signs they see that show fall has arrived.

This is just a reminder that today will be the last day to order from Scholastic before the holidays. The next order will not come home until January. If you were planning on ordering books for gifts...do so today.

Our classroom is in need of ELMER'S glue sticks and baby wipes. If you are able to donate either of those items...THANKS a bunch!

Some of the students have brought home their "Book in a Bag". This is our reading program that all students will participate in. If your child has not received a bag yet, don't worry. I am staggering the students and starting the reading process with each as appropriate. If your child has a bag please read with them nightly. I will try my best to return a new book the day they bring it back, but sometimes things get crazy (like today) and I do not get all books returned. This is an exciting endeavor for your child so please make the reading process enjoyable for them. We want to foster a love for reading at their young age!

Tomorrow there is no school. What a welcomed break for all. Happy Veteran's Day and thank you to those who have fought for our freedom!

Mrs. Wright's Class

Happy November! We are already a week into the month, my how time flies. We have been busy in class. Last week we learned the letters K & O. We also learned the sight word MY. Ask your kindergarten student to give you a sentence using our new word...MY. In math we are still working with numbers 0-20. We are spending quite a bit of time with numbers to make sure all students write, recognize and can count correctly. Please continue to review these concepts at home. Beginning last week we also started our fall unit. We are talking about leaves changing color, weather cooling off and things we are thankful for. There will be some festive projects coming home soon!

With the holidays quickly approaching most of the students are already talking about what presents they hope to receive. A gift I recommend is BOOKS! Kindergarten students love to listen to stories and enjoy looking at picture books. Please visit the Scholastic Book Clubs site if you are interested in ordering. This will be the last order before the holiday break, so don't miss out! Our class code to order online is: GLG4W. If you have questions or concerns regarding the book clubs, please let me know. The order will be due Wednesday, November 10th...so order today!

Lastly, this message is quite overdue! I would like to THANK each of the parents/grandparents who attended our Harvest Party on October 29th. The party was a huge success and I appreciate the great turnout of family we had. It was so helpful to have the extra hands to assist in our projects. Your help was outstanding so THANK YOU again. If you were not able to make it to our Harvest Party, don't fret we will have a Holiday Party in December that all will be welcome to attend. I will have the date soon so you can plan ahead.

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

Good Morning! I hope everyone had a great weekend now that the weather is finally cooling down!

This week we will be focusing on the proper way to write the W and words that begin with the /w/ sound. We are also starting the -ig family. The words that we will be focusing on are, pig, fig, big, wig, dig. Please make sure you are helping your students sound these words out so everyone can recogize and spell them on their own!

We will also been working on our sight words using our sight word chant. I hope they have all sung you the sight word chant!

Remember, there is no school this Thursday, November 11th, due to Veteran's Day.

In small group, we are focusing on segmenting words. The dibels test is coming up again at the beginning of December and everyone needs to be able to segment a word. For example, if you say "cat", students should be able to sound out the word by saying /c/-/a/-/t/. We have been hoping the words out in class to show them the motions of each sound. Students will have to sound out real words as well as nonsense words such as "foz". With your help at home, I know everyone will do a great job!

Next Monday, 11/15, I will be sending home an at home project for your whole family to work on. Everyone will be getting a turkey to decorate however they would like with whatever they would like. You can use beans, feathers, cereal, markers, glitter, pom poms, crayons, rice etc. Basically anything you want! We will be hanging them up in the classroom for everyone to enjoy. This is always my favorite project of the year since it is so fun to see what each family can come up with.

I hope everyone has a great week! If you have any questions, please email me.

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

Can you believe it is already November? The time sure is flying by in kindergarten!

Thank you to everyone who helped at our harvest party. I think everyone had a really great time and hopefully everyone came home full of stories!

This week we will be learning about the letters K and O as well as continuing our -in family. We will also be continuing numbers 0-20. Please make sure you are having your child count orally to 20. I have a lot of students that can count to 14 and then they get all confused. Counting orally is the first step to putting everything in order. Also, please make sure to saying the word teen, a lot of students think they are saying thirty instead of thirteen.

On Wednesday, November 3rd, we will be having our spirit night at McDonald's. I will be there so I hope to see lots of you there! This is a great way to earn money for our school.

On Friday, November 5th, we will be having our bingo night from 6:30 - 8pm this is a fun night for the whole family.

Next Thursday, November 11, there is no school due to Veteran's day.

A new homework packet went home on Friday. Please let me know if you didn't get one.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Have a great week!

Mrs. Wright's Class

This week we have continued our unit on pumpkins and bats. We have also introduced the letters B & K and in math we are working with numbers 0-15. You can see we are busy. The kids are doing well and we are all looking forward to our harvest party this Friday. Donations for the party were due today. If you did not get your item in, but plan on sending something please let me know. The items that were not donated will have to be purchased and we do not need duplicates. You are all welcome to join in the festivities on Friday. We will be doing crafts, pumpkin tasting and will have our costume parade at the end of each session. The more the merrier! We will be using the whole class period to complete the activities so join us if you are able. I hope to see you all on Friday...Happy Harvest!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Can you believe this is the last week of October? Time is sure flying fast in kindergarten. This Friday, October 29th we will be having out harvest party. I have a couple of parents coming in to help but can always use more. If you are able to help up we will be getting started around 12:45. We will also be participating in the school wide parade at 1:20pm so if you would like to see that you are welcome to come around that time.

This week we will be learning about the letters B, K as well as bats and pumpkins! We will also be starting our morning journals this week. Everyday students will write in their journals. These are a fun way to track the progress of each student.

We will also be introducing the -an family. These are words that all end with -an such as man, fan, can, ran, etc. We will learn to sound these words out and put them back together again.

Scholastic book orders went home on Friday. If you are interested in ordering books please return the orders by Monday, November 5th. If you would like to order online you can do so by going to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs our activation code is GLZRC. If you have any questions please let me know!

Thank you to everyone who came to the fall festival on Saturday. It was a fun time!

I hope everyone has a great week, let me know if you have any questions!

Mrs. Wright's Class

What a great week back. The kids were super and everyone jumped right back into our classroom routines and were such hard workers. Just a couple of things before we start our weekend:

-Tomorrow is the Fall Festival (10-2pm)
-Book Orders are online and ready to view
-Mrs. Banner will be our substitute on Monday, Oct. 25th
-Party donations should be turned in Wednesday, Oct. 27th
-Our Harvest Party is Friday, Oct. 29th

If you have questions in regards to the party or your donation, please contact me ASAP. We are hoping to have several parents join in the harvest fun. Well, I hope to see you all at the festival tomorrow. Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Mrs. King's Class

Hi, Everyone!

I hope everyone had a great break! I know I did. My trip to California was fun and relaxing and Disneyland was super fun!

I enjoyed meeting with almost all of you during conferences. We are plowing ahead with the letter Ii this week and Bb and Kk for next week. We are also working on those numbers 0-15.

Next week is the week of Halloween and also Red Ribbon Week, which is drug awareness. The schedule for next week looks like this: Monday there will be a kick off presentation by the Student Council and students will receive a sticker. Tuesday is wear a Red accessory day. This means bows, headbands, socks or jewelery-just make sure it is not something that will interfere with our regular school day. Wednesday is "Be an Example Day" dress like a friend. Thursday is wear a red shirt day. Friday is the day of our "Harvest Celebration" and the Costume Parade. Students are asked to wear costumes that portray a character from a book or a historical figure or just wear red. No Masks, weapon type accessories (swords, play guns, knives, magic wands or other items that could be used as a weapon), no blood-fake or real and nothing super scary as there are lots of little ones around. You may send your child to school in their costume, because of lack of time do no send it in a bag with them. We just do not have the facilities or time to change them. The school-wide parade will begin promptly at 2 pm. AM parents you are welcome to bring your AM students back to school for the parade, but you will need to bring them back to school a few minutes before 2 and stay at school until the parade is over.

AM will do our own mini parade in the morning probably right at the end of the day if you would like to attend.

The actual "Party" will be vary simple this year. Both AM and PM I am asking each child to bring a banana to school by Thursday October 28. We will be making edible spiders and ghost toast that day as their snack. I am asking that you don't send any cookies or cupcakes or other candy to school as they will get plenty of that over the weekend. If you really feel the need to send in something please put it in a bag or something that can be sent home with each child. We will be doing fun activities throughout the morning and afternoon session so if you are available and would like to come in to help that morning or afternoon, please let me know and I will get you more details.

I will be sending home a new scholastic book order on Monday. You will be able to access it and order online just like the other one. I have all the flyer's open for Firefly and Seesaw for September, October, November and December although not all those flyer's will be coming home. They haven't sent me the December ones yet and they shorted us on the Novembers ones so be sure to go online and view all the flyer's with all the available books. Books make great gifts for the holidays and many are available for between $1-$5 what a bargain!! The order will be here for the Winter Vacation begins.

Don't forget Fall Festival is here at the school tomorrow from 10 am until 2 pm. I have told all the students I will be here from 10 until noon, so come by and enjoy the fun, food, entertainment and a great time for all!!

Have a safe weekend!!
Mrs. King

Mrs. Wright's Class

Welcome Back! I hope everyone enjoyed their week off. The kids were excited to be back and I was happy to see everyone eager to return to school. This week we are learning about the letter I. We have been talking about the 2 sounds this letter makes and we have also learned about the word I. There is a lot of learning going on. Please review these sounds at home and have your child give you a sentence that uses our new word I in it. In math we are reviewing numbers 0-10 and will start moving on to numbers through 15 next week. It seems while some kids have the numbers down (recognizing and writing) several of us are still struggling. Please review this skill nightly with your child.

Tomorrow is picture re-takes. If you wish to have your child's photos re-done, please send your original package back to school tomorrow. We will be doing them in both the am/pm sessions. On Saturday we will have our annual fall festival. Please join in the fun! If you are able to volunteer contact me asap and I will get you connected with the volunteer coordinator. We are still in need of help. We also have our classroom harvest party quickly approaching (Oct. 29th). I have assigned each family an item to donate. If you are able, please return the item to school no later than Wednesday, October 27th. Thank you for your help! Parents are welcome to attend the party and costume parade. It will be a fun day for all.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns regarding many of the upcoming events. Thanks for your support!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

I hope everyone had a great break! This week we are focusing on the letter I and its sound. In math we will be practicing numbers through 15. I will really be focusing on showing me the number of objects using different items from our classroom. You can do your part at home by asking them to show you the different quantities of items.

Homework packets will go home today. Please let me know if you do not get one.

Thank you to everyone who came to parent teacher conferences. If you missed your conference and would like to schedule a new time, please let me know. I am only available in the afternoon on the Simonton Campus

For those of you who will be starting the reading series, these books will start coming home Monday the 25th. If you have any questions about the reading series please let me know!

If you asked for the sight word flashcards to be email out, I will hopefully be doing that at the end of the day.

Friday, October 29th is going to be our fall harvest party. Students are welcome to dress up for this party. I am going to need lots of help to make sure this party runs smoothly. I will be sending home a note about the party tomorrow as well as an item we need donated for the party. Please mark on that paper if you will be able to help at the party.

This Saturday, October 23rd, is the schools fall festival. This is a great activity to bring the whole family there. I have a great time every year and I am hoping to see lots of you out there this year. pre-paid wrist band envelops went home last week. Please let me know if you have any questions about the fall festival.

As always, if you have any questions please email me! Have a great week.

Mrs. Wright's Class

Thank you all for taking the time to meet for our fall conferences. The schedule was a bit hectic this week, but we had a wonderful turnout for conferences and it was a pleasure to chat with you all in regards to the kids. They are doing super and I am amazed at how well they are grasping the concepts and progressing through the kinder skills. After break many of the kids will be ready to start reading. You will see the "Book in a Bag" come home with instructions on how our reading program works. If your child is not to that point yet, please don't worry. It is important to keep working with the letter recognition and sounds in order to better prepare them for their progression to reading. This week in class we spent time reviewing the letters learned during first quarter (M,S,R,T,N,D,P,C,A,G,F) and worked on numbers 1-10. We still struggle with recognition of numbers 6-10 as well as writing them. Please practice this over break.

This next week will be a wonderful break for all. While we didn't send home activities to do during the time off, please continue to review concepts and skills we have been working on in class. We want to keep the learning and skills fresh for our return on October 19th. We will have a busy couple of weeks after our return so please mark your calendar with the following dates:
10/20- PTO Meeting 6:30 in the MPR
10/22- Picture Retakes
10/23- Fall Festival
10/25-29th- Red Ribbon Week
10/29- Harvest Party and School Parade

I have spoken with many of you in regards to our Harvest Party on the 29th. All parents are welcome to attend and the more help...the better! There will be a flier going home on Tuesday, October 19th in regards to the details and donations needed for our party so please look out for that. Thanks again for the support you continue to provide to your child and our classroom. I hope everyone enjoys the break.

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

I hope everyone had a great weekend. This week is sure to be a busy one. We will be reviewing all letters, and numbers that we have learned up to this point.

We will also be continuing our writing skills. We are working on learning about beginning capital letters, finger spaces, and periods. I also tell my students that they need 2 fingers between each word. This helps them to get the proper spacing between each word.

Remember, conferences are this week. I have conferences scheduled for everday this week. I am still missing quite a few conference confirmation slips. Please return the slips to be as soon as possible so I can change conferences around if we need to.

There is no school for PM kindergarten on Thursday. If your child attends kinder express, they will only go to kinder express on Thursday from 8:15 - 11:15. All students need to be picked up at 11:15 on both Thursday and Friday. All PM kinder students will come on Friday from 8:15 - 11:15am.


Homework is due this Friday. A new homework packet will go home the Tuesday after fall break. Remember, there is no school the Monday after fall break, the 18th.

I look forward to seeing everyone at conferences to show off all the great work we have been doing in kindergarten!

If you have any questions, please email me! ktrowbridge@jocombs.k12.az.us

Mrs. Wright's Class

This upcoming week will be busy! Monday will start off with a substitute teacher, Mrs. Banner. The kids are familiar with her, since she has been a sub for Mrs. King, so I am sure things will go well. I told the kids I would be out so there should be no surprises. As I return on Tuesday the conference schedules will begin. This will be a busy 4 days as I meet with each of you...all 40. If there happens to be an issue with scheduling last minute and you are not able to attend the conference, please let me know ASAP. I have confirmed times with all of you so I anticipate a great turnout. I look forward to discussing your child's progress thus far.

Last week we introduced letters H & L. The more letters we add the smarter these little ones get. This week we will spend time reviewing all the letters learned during our first quarter of school. They are catching on and soaking it all in. Keep up the great work. We are still working with numbers 0-10. This week we will continue to focus on numbers 6-10, please continue to reinforce these skills at home. We have wrapped up our apple unit and will begin learning about pumpkins and bats for the month of October. We will also have a Harvest Party to celebrate our learning on Friday, October 29th. I will need some parent help so please let me know if you will be available that day and are interested in assisting. More info regarding donations and the day's activities will come home after break.

I look forward to meeting with you this week at conferences. See you soon-

Mrs. King's Class

Sorry, it's been so long since I have posted to the blog. I was out Friday at a Math Training and it was also Saturday so I had a very short weekend, but I learned some very interesting new things about teaching math to students so it was well worth it. I will be out again on Wednesday afternoon to take my husband to a Doctor's appointment. Sorry, but it is important. I don't like to miss days close together but this couldn't be helped. Bev Banner the same sub will be here so and she is very good so that will provide some continuity.

We are already to end of the first quarter. Parent/Teacher conferences have been scheduled the letters with your day and time will be coming home this week. In order to accommodate all the families I need to meet with, my conference schedule will begin on Tuesday. So if you get a conference scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday it is not a misprint, I have so many I need to do that I have to schedule almost every spare minute that week to get them all in. Please keep in mind how many I am doing as you get your schedule and try to make it at the scheduled time. I don't have anymore evening times so if you cannot make it at your scheduled time about the only thing left is before school. If you absolutely can't make the scheduled time, please send me a note and let me know which morning you would be available so I can reschedule. Again, I don't have any late afternoon or evening times available. Report Cards will not be sent home, you must come in and meet with me to receive the report card.

Please keep working at home on the letter sounds, writing first names, numbers and counting. These are all important skills that need as much practice as we can get at home. I have seen some real improvement in some students first names, but others are still really struggling to remember to write it correctly all the time.

I e-mailed the new snack list for October and November today. If you didn't get one or you had problems reading it please let me know I can send home a hard copy or e-mail you the dates your child is assigned for snack. Thanks to all of you who have been so very good about sending snack in even when I forget to send the bag home! It is working great and the children love being able to hand out snack on their day!

Don't forget that the week of Parent/Teacher Conferences we will have a schedule change-on Thursday AM students will come as usual and go home at 11:05-regular school gets out at 11:15. I would suggest being here by 11:05 and beat the crowd because it will be crazy and you will not be allowed to leave your car in the drop-off area. If you are going to leave your car you will have to park and then use the crosswalk to come and get your child. This is a little different for the AM parents, so please be prepared.

There is no school for the PM Kindergarten Students on Thursday.

Friday, there is NO SCHOOL for the AM students, the PM students will come from 8:15-11:15 If you send your AM student to school on Friday, you will be called and expected to come and get your child!!

Have a great week and I look forward to meeting with all of you for Conference next week!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

Fall is finally here! Now lets all hope the weather starts feeling like fall.

Homework went home on Friday. Please let me know if you don't have a packet for this week. This week we are learning about the letters L and H. Please practice at home by having your student find as many things in the house that start with these letters.

In math we are continuing our numbers through 10 as well as AB patterns and ABB patterns. An example of an AB pattern would be red, blue, red, blue. An example of an ABB pattern would be red, blue, blue, red, blue, blue. Practice at home by seeing if your family can make a pattern using objects from around the house such as forks and spoons!

Conferences are coming up next week. Everyone will be getting conference slips sent home shortly. Every one's conferences will be scheduled for either Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday afternoon. Please try your hardest to keep your scheduled appointment since there is no wiggle room. If there is no way for you to make your assigned time, please let me know ASAP so we can try to reschedule you for another time. Thank you in advance for your understanding while I try to fit everyone in next week.

Thursday, October 7th, there is no school for PM kindergarten. Kinder express students will come to school from 8:15am - 11:15am. Friday, October 8th all PM students need to come to school from 8:15am to 11:15am.


On Friday October 29th we will be having our Harvest Party. Students will be allowed to dress up on this day. Ashley, Johnathan's mom, is this year's room mom. She sent home information about herself on Thursday. She will be the one heading up the harvest party as well. We will be sending out information on how you can help shortly. Please make sure you are returning the survey that Ashley sent home on Thursday as soon as you can. I will make sure Ashley gets all that are given to me.

I hope everyone has a great week! If you have any questions, please email me!

Mrs. Wright's Class

Happy Fall! Yesterday we had a great time welcoming our new season. The day consisted of apple painting, apple tasting (green apple was the most popular flavor) and an apple investigation. The kids had fun and I hope they shared some stories with you. Now that fall is here we hope to see some cooler weather soon! I have promised each of the classes that there will be more time for outdoor fun when the fall weather decides to arrive.

We were busy learning our letters G & F this week. We will be learning H & L next week so please continue to practice the letters at home too. We are working with numbers 0-10 and pretty much have 0-5 down (writing and recognizing). This coming week we will spend more time on numbers 6-10. Homework was due today. If your child did not get their packet in, please turn it in on Monday. They also received a new packet that will be due before our break on October 7th and 8th. Those days will be a 1/2 day (dismissal at 11:15 am) so I will have the AM CLASS on Thursday, October 7th and will have the PM CLASS on Friday, October 8th. Whatever day your child comes to school, either Thursday or Friday, please turn in the packet then. We will have conferences scheduled that entire week. Your date and time will be coming home soon. If you are unable to attend, please contact me ASAP so we can work something out. I have 40 families to meet with so scheduling is tight.

I have challenged the kids to the Scholastic "Read 10 Books and Give" Campaign. A book marker went home a few weeks ago with space for 10 book titles that you and your child have read together. If you have misplaced the book marker...do not fret. Please write the titles of 10 books on a slip of paper and bring it in to school when complete. We have a poster in our classroom for each child to sign when they complete their part. When our poster is filled, we will mail it back to Scholastic who will then donate books to a classroom in need. Thanks to those of you who have already turned your book marks in. WAY TO GO!!!

I hope a relaxing weekend is in store for all of you. See you Monday-

Mrs. Wright's Class

Wow...the weeks are flying by! I apologize for my lack of posts last week. I don't know where the week went?! This week we are off to a great start. The kids are learning about letters G & F. We will practice writing these letters in upper and lower case form as well as work on recognizing them and brainstorming words that begin with these letters. Quiz your child at home to see if they can tell you 3 words that start with each of our new letters. Last week we focused on letters D & N so it would be great to review those as well. In math we are still working with numbers 0-10. It is important for us to master writing and recognizing them before we move on to other math concepts. The kids are doing great, but I ask that you continue to practice these skills at home too.

On Thursday we will be celebrating our first day of fall. In class we will be doing apple prints, some taste testing and an apple dissection. All month we have been learning about the famous fruit so it should be a fun time for all! On Friday, September 24th the Scholastic Book Order will be due. You can go online to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs to see the latest and greatest books for sale. Our class activation code to order online is: GLG4W. You can also send in the paper order form with a check. Each time you order books, our class earns free books...so order today! Homework will also be due on Friday. Each time your child brings in a completed packet they earn a treasure box. This is a reward for all of their hard work. Don't forget your packets!

First quarter is coming to a close and conferences will be here before we know it. If you have a work schedule to accommodate or a conflict with the dates (October 6-8)please let me know in advance and we can schedule a time to meet beforehand. I look forward to meeting with each of you to discuss your child's progress. Well, I think that is all for our latest and greatest classroom news. Your kids are doing super. Thanks for your continued support!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

I hope everyone had a great weekend! This week we will be focusing on the letters G and F. We will learn how to write it and some things that start with those letters. We will also be continuing numbers 0-10. We are almost through our first math chapter! Way to go kindergartners.

Fall conferences are coming up on October 7th and 8th. Since I am at two schools this year conferences will be a little different. I will only be available to do conferences at Simonton on Wednesday from 2 - 5pm and Friday from 12 - 4pm and Monday and Tuesday from 330 - 5pm. Conference slips will be going home soon. Please try your hardest to keep your scheduled time. If you already know of a conflict or an afternoon that would work best, please let me know now so I can schedule you accordingly. There will not be much wiggle room since I will be at two different schools. Thank you in advance for your help.

Thursday is the first day of fall and we will be having an apple celebration. We will be painting with apples, eating apples, telling about our favorite apple, and doing an apple craft. If you would like to help out at our apple celebration please let me know! The fun will be from 1-2pm.

Keep up the great work at home and if you have any questions please contact me!

Ms. Trowbridge's class

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend.

This week we will be continuing our apple unit and will even get to do some apple sequencing. We will also be learning about the letters N and D.

This week we will be starting our writing. Today we will be writing about something we did at school. We will slowly add more and more writing each week until everyone is able to write their own sentences!

Progress reports went home on Friday, let me know if you have any questions. Please keep in mind this is the first progress in kindergarten and we have lots of room to grow! A new homework packet also went home on Friday. Make sure you are checking the back page of the homework packet. This is where I attached every ones star of the week reminders. There is only 1 spot left at the end of May so please try your hardest to make the week assigned work.

The school fundraiser packet is due tomorrow. Please turn it in as soon as you can. Thanks for your support.

The book fair is going on all this week! Stop by and get some great books for at home. You are also helping to support the library with every purchase.

Wednesday is the PTO meeting in the multi-purpose room. This is a great way to get involved. The PTO meeting is from 630-7pm.

I am still looking for parent helpers. If you are able to volunteer please let me know. Even if it is a onetime thing or a last minute thing we are always in need of help to run our centers.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Mrs. King's Class

O.K. I can't just copy and paste the e-mail information into the blog. So Check your e-mail if you did not a get an e-mail from me today-Friday, September 10. Then e-mail me so I can figure out why you didn't get it and send it to you. I am not going to repeat everything from the e-mail. Just check out the important dates and things here on the blog and have a great weekend.

Mrs. Wright's Class

We have had a wonderful week! The last four days were spent learning about the letter A, apples and reviewing numbers 0-5. We will be ready next week to add numbers 6-10. Please start practicing all numbers 0-10 at home. We had a wonderful turnout for our Grandparent's Breakfast today. Thanks to all of you who came out to celebrate. There were quite a few families from our classes who attended and it was wonderful to meet you all.

Homework was due today and most everyone brought their packet back to school. Your kids earn a treasure box when they return the completed packet so if you did not get yours in today...please return it on Monday. There was also a new packet sent home today. Please feel free to get a head start on that! Also in the folder was your child's progress report and DIBELS scores. Since it is the beginning of kindergarten and the first grading period, your child's grades/scores may be lower than you had hoped. Please understand that we are just starting off and it is very hard to give these kids a % grade based on their performance since most of the skills are new to them. I am thrilled with each of their progress and I hope you are too. These scores will increase over time and you will see a difference in the % come October. If you have questions about your child's grade or progress thus far, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend. I will see you back to school on Monday ready to learn!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

This week we are learning about the letter a. We are learning the correct way to write it as well as some things that start with the letter a. We are also getting to make some fun apple projects. We will be learning about apples for the next two weeks and will even get to paint with apples!

We will also be continuing numbers 0-5 but adding 6-10. Students should be able to write the numbers 0-10 and be able to count that many objects. We are doing lots of fun counting activities to help us learn this!

We also have lots of new songs under our belts. Ask your student if they can sing you their favorite!

Remember, homework is due on Friday! A new packet will go home Friday as well. I am looking forward to seeing all the hard work everyone did on their homework packets.

Please make sure you have marked your calendars about the upcoming days off in October. Only AM students will come on Thursday October 7th. All students need to be picked up at 11:15am. Only PM students will come Friday October 8th from 8:15 - 11:15am.

Progress reports will go home on Friday. Please understand that this is only the first four weeks of kindergarten and everyone is still learning. Don't be shocked if the scores are not where you would like them to be. Everyone is doing a great job of progressing and we will be able to see the growth between this progress report and the next. If you have questions on your progress report please don't hesitate to ask!

I hope everyone has a great week.

Mrs. King's Class

Wow!! Week number four has come and gone!! We are working hard on lots of new skills in our kindergarten adventure. We have introduced 6 letters Mm, Ss, Rr, Tt, Pp and Cc. We will only introduce the letter Aa next week and take a day or two to review during this short week. Remember NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY!!

We are also working on numbers 0-5. We are writing, recognizing and counting. We are also working on one-to-one correspondence with each number (counting out that many objects for each number). Writing our names and cutting are the other two motor skills we are working on. You child should be bringing home a name paper that we do everyday in class. Please take a look at it-if they are making progress and it is becoming readable YEA! If not I really need you to do some extra work on it at home. With less than 3 hours per day I just can't get them all the practice they need at school. Fun ideas to do at home would be using shaving cream on the table (it cleans at the same time) or pudding on a plate or cookie sheet. Using the sidewalk chalk or water and paint brushes on the sidewalk or driveway. Sticks or fingers in the sand or dirt. All of these are more fun than paper and give them an opportunity to write a little larger while getting the motion of the letters down and building their muscles. Cutting is also an issue for lots of the children. Some are really struggling-I realize that scissors are scary instruments in the hands of children, but we really need to get them able to cut. If you don't have safety or kid friendly scissors at your house and you are noticing your child may be struggling, I have a few extra pairs of scissors that I would loan out so they can get some extra practice in at home.

For the most part our behavior has settled down and we are doing a pretty good job. I have also has several parents ask about the color of the stars or stickers and I re-read the information I sent home and it is a bit confusing so I hope this might clear it all up. If they come home with a star or sticker whatever the color or shape or whatever, it means they had a great day! No warnings and they did just what they were supposed to do. If they come home with their box colored in either green, yellow or red. That means we had a issue-and extra warning-talking or not following directions or something. Green means 1 extra warning, yellow means 2 and red means 2 or more. Some things like hitting and dangerous or mean things might skip green and yellow and go right to red. A green may not have an explanation, but usually if they have a yellow or a red I will write an note, either in the square or on the back. If for some reason I don't please feel free to e-mail or call me to find out what might have happened. Every once in a while-as you in the afternoon have already noticed-we run out of time and I might not get to stickers at the end of class. I usually will try to do an e-mail to let you know what happened and then I put two stickers in the next day. Again if you ever have questions about behavior please contact me.

A few reminders Scholastic Book Orders were due today-I didn't get any brochure orders-there are several online orders. I will give you until Tuesday to send in the brochure or go online and get the books ordered. Again there are several in each brochure that are less than a dollar and Scholastic matches dollar for dollar with free books in our classroom!

Grandparents day is coming up next Friday. We are doing a breakfast. Grandparents or adopted grandparents-aunts, uncles who ever the child might want to invite that lives near is welcome to come have breakfast at school on Friday morning. They will be talking pictures and then rooms will be open for a quick visit. PM kindergartners are welcome to attend with their grandparents as well. They will just go home after breakfast and come back at our regular school start time.

Thank you for remembering to send snack on your assigned day. I have forgotten to send the snack bag several times and you all remember to send it in anyway. It is much appreciated and the children do enjoy sharing snacks each day.

I do appreciate all your support and hard work from home. You all have a great group of kindergarten children and I enjoy being their teacher. Thanks for being willing to trust me with them every day!!

Progress Reports will come home next Friday. Keep in mind that this is the beginning of Kindergarten and they are not expected to know all these things yet, so don't panic over what looks like low scores. The Report Card system used by the district is not Kindergarten friendly, but is what we are asked to use anyway. We will have parent/teacher conferences in October and we will sit down and discuss your child individually.

I hope everyone has a great long weekend and I will see you all on Tuesday morning!!

Mrs. Wright's Class

We have made it through another busy week. Your kids are doing super and we are having a great time learning. This week we focused on the letters P & C. Over the long weekend quiz your child on whether or not they can recognize the letters/sounds for M,S,R,T,P,C and words that begin with each letter. This will be a good time to review. Next week in class we will be reviewing all the letters learned thus far and will add a new "surprise" letter to our line-up.

We are making progress on writing numbers 0-5. This is a skill that will come in time and after much practice. The more practice the better, so you can always work on writing the numbers at home too. We will continue our study on numbers throughout September and will be moving to numbers through 10 next week. During the month of September we will also be studying apples. We will be taste testing different types of apples, doing apple art and have some fun books to share with one another all about apples. Look for some fun projects to be coming home soon.

Well, I think we will all enjoy the 3 day break. I hope you find time to rest and enjoy the company of family and friends. See you back to school on Tuesday...we have more busy days ahead.

Please mark your calendar with the following dates:

-Sept. 10th Breakfast with Grandparents (7:30-8:15am)
-Sept. 10th Progress Reports Go Home
-Sept. 13-17 School wide Book Fair
-Sept. 15th Fundraiser Packet Due
-Sept. 15th PTO Meeting (6:30pm)
-Sept. 16th Fall Picture Day
-Sept. 23rd Math Curriculum Night (6-7pm)

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

We are off to a great start this week! We are learning about the letters P and C as well as lots of things that start with those letters. We are also continuing our review of numbers 0-5 and figuring out how many that is. This weeks words are; my, the, I, green, yellow, red.

On Friday, a new homework packet went home. If you have any questions on any of the homework please don't hesitate to ask me! The kids seem to be really excited about having homework so hopefully they are just as excited about doing it.

Remember, I will be gone Thursday and Friday of this week. Mrs. Banner will be my sub.

I am still looking for pencil boxes. If you are able to donate pencil boxes please send them with your child.

I hope everyone has a great week!

ktrowbridge@jocombs.k12.az.us

Mrs. Wright's Class

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Last week we introduced the letters R and T. The kids are moving right along in mastering the alphabet. This week we will focus on letters P and C. Keep working at home on letter recognition, the sound that each letter makes and quiz your child on words that begin with each letter. We will also continue learning about numbers 0 through 5. Our book order was sent this weekend and there is usually a 2 week turn-around. If you did not order this month, don't worry the orders will come out each month with new picks. I will send the books home with your child as soon as I receive them at school. Everyone received a homework packet on Friday. Please work on the activities nightly. If you have questions or concerns, do not hesitate to email or call. We have a busy week of learning ahead!

Kindergarten Families

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

We have recently been experiencing some safety issues during afternoon dismissal. Families, we ask that you set a good example and only cross from the parking lot to the sidewalk in our designated crosswalk. This will mean a few more steps and a few seconds from your day, but it will also help to ensure that everyone, students and family members alike, get home safe and sound. Also, please teach your children to look both ways before crossing any street.

Thank you for your cooperation-

Simonton Staff

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

We had a wonderful Wednesday! Everyone was busy working on their T's and telling me some words that started with the letter T. We also were working on the proper way to write the number 2. As you get the papers home, make sure you are going over them with your child. If you see they are struggling on some of the handwriting, I would encourage you to help them at home so they do not fall behind.

I would like to start something new by giving each student a pencil box to keep their crayons, scissors, glue, etc. in. I am asking that each parent brings in a pencil box for their student. You are welcome to put their name on the top so they always know it is theirs! If you are able to donate more than one pencil box, that would be helpful for those who cannot. I would like pencil boxes by Monday so we can start our new routine! Thank you ahead of time for helping me with this transition.

Scholastic book orders are due Monday. If you would like to order books, please place your order online or send in the form by Monday.

Just as a heads up, I will be gone Thursday,9/2 and Friday, 9/3. I have already told the students this to prepare them for change so if they are telling you that I am gone you will know too! My sub will be Mrs. Banner, she has been my sub numerous times and I know everything will run smoothly while I am gone.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week. Please email me if you have questions.

Mrs. Wright's Class

This is just a reminder that Scholastic Book Orders are due Friday. If you have not ordered online or sent your child's order form in to school, please do so by Friday. Also, tomorrow is Tuesday which means PE for the AM STUDENTS. Don't forget to wear your tennis shoes!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

Happy Friday! We have made through our first two weeks of kindergarten and everyone is doing a great job! Everyone is learning the routines and procedures each day and we even started doing our center rotations.

Next week we will be focusing on the letters R and T as well as numbers 0-5. We will be practicing writing these numbers and letters the proper way. I would encourage you to start working with your child at home to help them with their writing. We will also be focusing on the sight words: green, yellow, red and my.

Homework will be sent home next Friday. Homework will be a two week calendar and I encourage you to do two activities each night. Homework will be due two weeks later. I understand that situations come up and you might not be able to do two activities one night so you are more than welcome to catch up or work ahead if you know you will have a conflict. Homework is essential in a half day kindergarten to make sure they are getting all the skills necessary for first grade. If you start healthy homework practices now, your child will have them for the rest of their life!


Star of the Week starts next week. I will be sending home the jar with next week's star. There were some conflicts with dates and I needed to shift the calendar so your week might not be the one your signed up for on meet the teacher night. I will be sending home when your week is hopefully next week!

I will be starting our parent helper calendar in the first week of September. If you would like to be considered as a weekly or biweekly parent helper, please email me and let me know and I will contact you about a day. Parent helpers are essential to making kindergarten run smoothly. As a parent helper you will assist me by running small groups, supervising the class while I am in reading groups, making copies, filing, and hanging their work on the walls. The more helpers I have the more we can get done! If you are interested in a weekly or biweekly position please let me know.


Scholastic book orders went home this week. If you would like to order any books please return the order or order online by August 30th.

As I'm sure you have noticed, we have been practicing cutting this week. Lots of students still need extra help with cutting. Please practicing cutting at home. A great way is to simply give them old newspapers or magazines and let them cut them up. This is an easy way to get lots of fine motor practice!

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. If you have any questions please contact me!

Mrs. Wright's Class

Well, we have made it through our first two weeks with flying colors. The students are doing great and we are perfecting our classroom routines and school behaviors. This week we introduced the letters M and S. We spent all week recognizing words that start with these letters as well as practiced writing the letters. I am sure you have seen our letter papers in your child's folder. Each day while going through the folder please converse with your child about their day and review concepts that will be found throughout the paperwork your child brings home. I also ask that you initial or sign off on the Character Always Card (behavior log). I know most of you are looking through the work, but have not signed off on the log...please do so on a daily basis. Thank you! In math we have been working on numbers 0-5. Next week will will begin working in our math textbooks continuing with numbers through 5. The kids are looking forward to this. At home you can practice by having your child write the numbers as well as count various objects 0-5.
Next Friday your child will be bringing home their first homework packet of the year. It will be pretty self explanatory, but if you should have questions please ask. This week I would love if each family would work on writing first names, numbers 0-5 and the letters M & S (upper and lowercase). This support at home will help your child master the skills necessary to move forward with our learning. I hope all of you have a restful weekend. See you on Monday-

Mrs. King's Class

We are almost to the end of week two. We have been working hard on learning routines, rules and procedures as well as how to hold a pencil, use scissors and recognize and write our names. We have not officially started homework but if you could start working on writing their names correctly at home and reading every night that will get you in the habit until homework comes home next Friday. When practicing their names please make sure that your child is making a capital letter at the beginning and then all lower-case letters for the rest. Also encourage them to grip the pencil or crayon with "pincher" fingers. That is the first two fingers and the thumb. I have some that are still using a fist grip and this is very difficult to control the crayon and pencil. We are still using the fat crayons and I would encourage the use of those at home also. Pencils are difficult because they are very thin, harder to control and take a lot more pressure to write. Also cutting is an issue in both classes. The more you can practice cutting skills at home. Cutting skills are also writing skills as the same muscles are used for both.

On Friday a couple of Scholastic Book brochures will come home along with a cover letter that explains how to access online ordering. If you have used the online system before you will be excited to know that it is much easier, just follow the directions on the letter. All book orders need to be turned in or done online by September 3rd. There are several books that are a dollar or less and for every dollar you spend a dollar will come back to our classroom. So your support is greatly appreciated.

We have started introducing letters and numbers this week. We have learned Mm and Ss and are working on numbers 0-5. Again counting things and finding things that start with the /m/ and /s/ sound. The more exposure and support the children get at home the more successful they will be in the classroom.

Things seem to be going well, just keep in mind that a few greens and yellows are normal for the first weeks of school. They are just learning to follow procedures and rules and I am very strict to help them remember. I know today lots of AM greens went home. The only time to really panic is if there is a red or a pattern of several yellows in a row.

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me or call and leave me a message. I will get back to you as quickly as possible. Remember to send in all the forms that needed to be signed and to keep a bag of dry clothes in your child's backpack.

A big thank you to all the parents who have supplied snack already. I am trying to remember to send the bags home but even I have forgotten you have remembered and that is great!! We really appreciate it!

I am looking forward to a wonderful year with each of your children.

I am working on a distribution list for each class so that I can also e-mail every one when needed.

KINDERGARTEN PARENTS

We are in our second week of kindergarten and things are going well. Here are a few items/reminders that need your attention:

-Tomorrow is early release. AM kinder is released at 10:15 am and PM kinder starts at 11:35 am and dismisses at 1:35 pm. Please remember that every Wednesday we will be on the early release schedule.

-Any kindergarten students who wish to ride their bike MUST lock it outside of bike racks. It is very difficult to have a staff member unlock the gates after/before our am/pm class. Please lock them in the rock area on the east side of the bike rack. Thank you for your help with this!

-Our music teacher has a blog she would like for you to check out: www.mrsjonesmusicclass.blogspot.com

-We have our first PTO meeting tomorrow, August 18th, at 6:30 pm in the multi-purpose room. Please join us!

-We hope you are checking the blog on a weekly basis. This is where we will be giving you weekly updates and reminders.

Thank You- Simonton Kinder Team

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

Happy Monday everyone! This week we will be focusing on the letters M and S. We will be learning the proper way to write them, what sounds they make, and some words that begin with these letters. Students will have the opportunity to write these letters in several different "fun" ways including with playdoh, in shaving cream, and with sidewalk chalk. In Math, we will be learning about the numbers 0 and 1 as well as the color words, yellow, green, and red. We will also be working on the proper ways to spell our first names.

The first PTO meeting is this Wednesday in the gym at 6:30pm. This is a great way to get involved in the school.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email me!

Have a great Monday.

Mrs. King's Class

Welcome to Kindergarten. I can't we believe we are already at the end of our fist week of a new school year. It has been a great week! We have worked hard in class learning new classroom rules and procedures, meeting new friends and getting used to our school environment. We are learning fast and having fun.

I sent home a snack calendar for each class. It has the month of August and September. The rest of the snack calendars will be e-mailed home instead of the hard copies, but I haven't got all your e-mail address into the system yet to create my distribution list so I wanted to do a hard copy the first time. Also listed on the snack calendar is our special schedule. Don't forget that tennis shoes or sneakers are required for your child to participate in P.E. I have lots of students wearing flip-flops to school. While I understand that they are easy to put on and cooler, they are also very dangerous and hard to keep on our feet. Please, Please try to put your child in shoes that at least strap on so that we can stay safe.

Also please make sure your child has a change of clothes in a bag in their backpack. They will remain in the backpack unless we need to use them. Dress code has also been an issue this week. Yes we do have a dress code for Kindergarten. It is in the Combs District Handbook and every student is required to follow it. Basically children should wear age-appropriate clothing that does not interfere with the education of others or themselves and covers their bodies appropriately. This means no bare mid-diffs or backs-this includes short shirts, low rise pants halter top shirts or dresses or spaghetti straps or mesh/see-through materials without something underneath it. Toys and other personal items should not becoming to school either.

A Scholastic Book order will come home at the end of next week. This is a great way to build up your home library and usually several books for a dollar or less and for every dollar spent money comes back to the classroom so that I can continue to add to our classroom collection.

We are off to a great start and I look forward to a wonderful school year. Thank you for all your help and support.

Mrs. King

Mrs. Wright's Class

Dear Parents-

Our first week went wonderful. The kids are settling into our classroom routines and we are definitely off to a great start. These are just a few reminders for the upcoming week:

-Please send a change of clothes, labeled with your child’s name, to school if you have not already done so. These clothes will be kept in our classroom in case of accidents or spills.

-Snacks and Water Bottles are encouraged! The students have an opportunity to eat snacks during recess time. Please remember to label snacks and water bottles with your child’s name.

-Students should be bringing their folder to school each day. This is how classroom information and schoolwork will be sent home. Please check your child's folder nightly and sign off on their Character Always Chart (behavior log).

-Scholastic book orders went home today. Each time you order books, our class earns free books. Check the flier or website out today: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Our class activation code to order online is: GLG4W

Thank you so much for all of your help and support thus far. I am so happy each one of your children found their way into my class this year.

Have a great weekend!

Ms. Trowbridge's Class

So far our first week has been so much fun! We are getting to know each other and learning the rules. Every one's behavior has been outstanding and all green lights.

It is very hot in the afternoon and I would encourage everyone to bring a water bottle. That way we can bring it out onto the playground and not have to take time away from our recess for water breaks. Please make sure you are labeling your child's water bottle.

Everyone needs a snack everyday. If your child is in kinder express, they need two snacks, one for kinder express and one for my class. Please make sure the snacks that you are providing are little. We only have 15 minutes for snack and recess and the students are having a hard time eating the larger snacks.

Starting on Thursday we will be going to library. Everyone will get to learn about the library and about books!

Remember to sign off on your child's behavior chart each day and praise them for the green lights. We will be cracking down on rules later this week and next week so watch out for the yellow lights. Being consistent with behavior in school and at home will be the key to having a successful year!

Thanks to everyone for their support! If you have any questions email will be the easiest way to get a hold of me since I am at two schools. ktrowbridge@jocombs.k12.az.us

Have a great week!

Welcome Kindergarteners

We are thrilled to be your teachers this year. We have a fun filled adventure ahead. I hope you are looking forward to making new friends and learning new things. We look forward to growing and discovering with you.
Your kindergarten teachers;
Mrs. Wright, Ms. Trowbridge, Mrs. King, and Mrs. Johnson