Robert Little's K3 Kindergarten Class
Copeland/Pierce/Stroyan/Thomson
Here is a little introduction to your kindergarten educator team.
Miss Copeland, Mrs. Thomson, Miss Pierce and Mrs. Stroyan are your Educators.
Our first priority is to create a safe, loving environment where children are excited to learn and feel free to make mistakes that help them build on their love for learning.
We also understand what a great privilege we have in caring for and educating your most precious children and we are excited to work with you to ensure everyone (including you) feel good about your experience here at Robert Little. Not only do the five of us work well together but we are very fortunate to have a wonderful kindergarten team environment that includes two other classroom teams. We want you to feel comfortable in the fact that when you drop off your children they are welcomed into an environment that is geared towards their interestest and explorations ---- an environment where they learn through play (academically, socially and emotionally).
Communication: We believe very strongly in the connection between home and school and we will work with you to ensure your child has the very best experience possible at Robert Little. Please use emails, Mr. Zippy communication notebooks, phone calls, and this website as communication tools available to you and your families. Of course Amanda and I will be happy to meet with you face to face if that works better for you, just make an appointment so that we can devote our attention to you either before or after school when we don't have the children around.
Mr. Zippies: We will be sending home a clear velcroed bag with your child's name on it. We will be using these as daily communication devices so please check these on a daily basis --- we do. Precious artwork, important information packages, Library books, Snuggle Up Home reading materials, and school-wide communication will be sent home and returned back in their Mr. Zippys.
Snack Time: We participate in free flowing snacks. That means children can eat whenever they want for the first two periods of the day. We ensure they have all eaten twice by asking them to move a photo of their faces along on a chart. A lot of parents worry that their children won't eat enough or won't know when to eat. These are all valid concerns but we have found that in no time at all children adapt. You can help them by ensuring they can open all their containers, marking them with #1 or #2 so they know when to eat each item, and making sure they all have their names on them (trust us they won't be able to tell which items go in their bags if they mix with the other children's containers). If you don't want them to eat their snacks first and leave the sandwich then let's work on sending only the things you want them to eat --- they can enjoy those Halloween candies once they get home.
Snuggle Up: Some students receive a plastic bag with the book or reading materials, a recording sheet with instructions, perhaps a list of sight words, or a sentence strip -- the contents change with the needs of your child. These go home on Mondays and should be returned back to us each Monday morning. Mrs. Garton-Bevan volunteers in our room for this program and we very appreciate of the time and dedication she puts into helping 'our' kids read.
Extra Clothing: Children will be expected to have both indoor and outdoor footwear. Indoor shoes should be suitable for gym and regular indoor play. They will be putting these on and taking them off INDEPENDENTLY four times a day so please practice with them before you send them to school. It's also very important to LABEL them. It's really cold so please send in the appropriate clothing (jacket, hat, mittens (gloves are very difficult to wear so sending mittens works best) and an extra set of mittens (for when the first ones get wet), snowpants, boots). Please send a set or two of extra clothing (all labelled in a labelled ziplock bag) with your child --- don't forget a pair of socks and underwear. We will be sending these home periodically for you to check the fit (growth spurs) and if they are weather appropriate (cords in June are too hot) as well as if they are able to be independently changed (they have to take off the old and put on the new by themselves) and finally LABELLED (we can't say this enough times).
General Information
January Update:
Math Math Math: 100's club, counting, skip counting, subtracting, forming numbers, 1:1 correspondence, measuring, estimating, and exploring how many ways numbers can be represented.
Special Dates:
Glow in the dark and Light Day - bring/wear something that lights up or glows on Friday, January 15th.
Backwards Day - clothing and routines will be backwards on Wednesday, January 27th.
Weather:
It's cold outside and we go outside. Each child needs: snowpants, boots, coat, hat, mitts (gloves are not as easy and sometimes colder), scarf/neck warmer, change of socks and mitts. All of these should have your child's name on them.
Pick Up/Drop Off:
We appreciate your support as you drop off and pick up outside the gate. It is the school policy not to have strollers in the halls (fire regulations) and to say good-bye at the doors (e.g., outside the school). We ask you to please stay outside the gate in order for us to ensure everyone goes home with the righ family.
Supplies: You have been so very generous and we thank you so much for that. Please check out our Parent Corner and look in your basement to see if you can help us out.
Play Dough:
Please let us know if you can supply us with some of the items.