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