Information about kindergarten
Parent/ Teacher Relationship
I believe that communication is the key to a great parent-teacher relationship and to help your child to reach their full potential. I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. To contact me you can:
- You can send me a note in your child’s take home folder
- Email me at [email protected]
- Call me at school (715) 359-2417 extension 5338
I will do my part to update the class website with things happening in the classroom and upcoming events. For individual concerns, I will contact you by phone, send a note home, or email you (if email is provided).
School Attendance
Your child’s consistent and prompt attendance at school is crucial to their success. Most kindergarten learning activities are group oriented and involve interaction with all classmates and therefore cannot be made up at home. Please view school as a priority and see that your child attends every day except for in illness and emergency. If your child is going to be absent please call the office at (715) 359-2417.
If you know your child has a doctor’s appointment in the morning, please let the attendance line know that they will be late to school that day.
Change in Transportation
If you plan to pick up a child that normally rides the bus or you wish for your child to ride a different bus than usual, you must send a written note. Please not rely on your child relay this information. Young children often become nervous, confused, or upset when they are unsure of their schedule. If no written note is received, your child will be sent home by their usual method of transportation.
Outdoor Recess
The children will be going out for recess everyday unless it is raining or the temperature is below zero. Keep this in mind when helping your child select their clothing for the day.
When winter approaches please take the time to label all of your child’s gear with their name before sending them to school. Our hooks get very full and it easy to mistake snow pants, boots, and hats.
Book Orders
Your child will be bringing home a form to order books about once a month. If you wish to order, simply fill out the form and send a check made out to Scholastic Books in an envelope. Of course, there is no obligation to order books. These orders provide parents a convenient way for parents to buy quality books for their children at a low price. As an added bonus, for every dollar that is spent on books, the classroom earns points to purchase its own books. It is a program that benefits both families and the classroom.
Change of Clothing
Keeping an extra set of clothing in your child’s back pack is recommended-even if your child has not had an bathroom accident in a while. If an accident happens, we have an extra set to change them into and it avoids the hassle of having to wash and return office clothing. Label the bag with your child’s name in case it falls out of their backpack.
Birthdays
Birthdays are a special day for young children. To celebrate, you may send treats to school for the class. Prepackaged, store bought treats are the required per our new health and wellness district wide policy.
Please contact me a day in advance so that you have the exact number of students in the class. Children with summer birthdays can celebrate any time you would like. Our classroom does have various allergies, but those families will provide a special treat on that day for their child.
Snack
Our classroom will have one snack during the day, every day. Please provide a healthy snack for your child for this time. They will have the opportunity to have milk at snack. Payment for milk will be taken from their hot lunch account. Our classroom does not have a refrigerator available to keep snacks cold.
Per our school policy, no peanut or tree nut snacks are allowed within the classroom. Students may pack peanut/tree nut items in their cold lunches to be eaten in the lunch room.
Lunch
Our lunch runs from 12:00- 12:45. The bell rings at 12:15 to dismiss students to lunch recess, but students may stay longer to finish their lunch if needed.
Kindergartners only get the choice of the first choice listed on the lunch menu (you will see that the menu has two options for lunch for grades 1-5).
Some parents enjoy eating or bringing lunch for their child on special days. To avoid your child’s lunch account from being charged please let me know through e-mail or note a day ahead of time. Most children forget or get confused when parents bring lunch and sign up for hot lunch even though Mom or Dad are bringing them lunch from home for their child that day.
Vacations/ Extended absences
If your family is planning a vacation or extended absence for more than three days from school, school policy requires you to fill out a pre-arranged absence form. This form allows teachers time to gather homework and materials your child would miss while they are gone. Administration must approve the completed form one week before the planned vacation or absence.
You can pick up a prearranged absence form in the office. After filling it out send it in your child’s take home folder so it can be completed and approved.
Mindful Moments
In our classroom positive behavior is encouraged in students by allowing them to take an active role in making classroom rules and expectations. This encourages them to take pride, safety, and ownership of their classroom. I keep clear and consistent expectations in my classroom.
To help students learn to regulate their own bodies and self control I use a system based off of The Zones of Regulation. This simple systems allows children to learn about their emotions and learn strategies to help their body in different emotional states.
This plan will be discussed with your child at school. Please take the time to discuss it at home as well, so that your child knows you are aware of the classroom behavior plan.
Take Home Folder
Your child will have a folder designated as a take home folder. This folder will be used all year long as means of communication between home and school. One side will be for items that need to come back to school, and the other will be for things that can be left at home. Please check your child’s folder daily.
I will check the folders every morning for notes, lunch money, and transportation change notes. Please ensure your child brings their folder every day!
Homework
Night time can be a special time to connect with your child after their day at school. Kindergarten expectations for homework include:
- Reading to your child nightly, whether it be your child’s favorite book or one they bring home from school. This is highly important for your child to strengthen their reading skills.
- Practicing sight words
Volunteer
Please feel free to participate in your child’s kindergarten year, as you are able. Helping hands are always needed! Whether it is reading a story to the class, helping with field trips or class parties, or any other preparations your child will be greatly impacted. Please watch the website for events that need volunteers or your child’s take home folder for when the classroom is ready for room volunteers!