Introduction

2014-2015

Welcome to Kindergarten!  Your child is about to start a new adventure!   I am looking forward to a fun and exciting year! The children will grow emotionally, physically, socially, and intellectually in kindergarten. The following is some important information that will help you become familiar with my classroom.  Kindergarten is a big step in your child’s life. Kindergarten is the beginning of your child’s journey in education. As your child’s first teacher, you have been doing a lot to make starting school a positive adventure. Working together, we can help your child grow and thrive.  Kindergarten will continue to work on developing three skill areas:  academic, motor, and social/emotional.  This booklet contains the basic information you’ll need or want to know about your child’s kindergarten year in my classroom. 

I am absolutely delighted to be teaching Kindergarten this year!  I have been a teacher for 15 years, and have been at William Holliday teaching kindergarten for 3 years and 4^th grade for 5 of those years.  I previously taught in Iowa, and moved here in 2006.  My husband, Layne, and I live just down the street from school.  I have 2 daughters Auralia, 6, who will attend 1st Grade here at William Holliday , and Aurora, 3 years old, who will be in Pre-K!  Layne works at the Science Center in St. Louis as an Electronics Exhibit Designer.  I graduated from Iowa State University in 1999, and began teaching in Dows, Iowa in the fall of that year.  I have taught K-8 Spanish, ESL, Computer, Title I math, 4^th grade, 5^th grade, 6-8 grade math and reading proficiency classes, Family and Consumer Sciences, and I was the curriculum and professional development coordinator for a year.  In 2009, I graduated from McKendree with my master’s degree in School Administration.  I am just so excited about teaching Kindergarten and can’t wait to get started with your little ones!

A

A

Absences:  If your child is absent, please call the school office at 233-7588 by 8:30 in the morning.  You can use Ext. 500 if no one answers the line and that information will be recorded in the office and be passed along to my voicemail box.  At the beginning of the year especially, it seems children seem to “share” germs.  If your child is sick, please keep him/her home for at least 24 hours after the fever breaks and he/she is feeling like him/herself again. This will reduce the number of germs the children are exposed to and keep everyone’s absences to a minimum. 

Art:  We will have a 30 minute  art class on Wednesday with Mrs. Donahue. 

Attendance:  the school day begins at 8:30.  Students will not be allowed in the classroom before 8:25 unless arrangements have been made with the teacher.  If your child plans to eat breakfast, they will need to be in the cafe by 8:20.  Parents entering the classroom with their child will need to say “good-bye” and exit by 8:30.  If you arrive late, it is your responsibility to take your child to the office and get an admittance slip.  If you are volunteering, you must sign in at the office. 

B

B

Backpacks:  To help your child carry messages and information to and from school, you are asked to provide a backpack. Students will be given a green HERO Folder from me to send notes and information to you and for you to send notes to me. Please have your child remove the notes and papers each day from the backpack and the HERO FOLDER to share with you.

Birthdays:  We celebrate birthdays in our room – if your family needs to be excluded from this practice, please let me know! If your child has a birthday, you will be scheduled for snack on or near that day if it falls on a weekend.  As a Kindergarten team, we have come to the consensus that cupcakes will not be allowed as a Birthday Treat for our students.  There are several reasons for this including health and the mess that Kindergarteners make on the carpets.  If you wish, you may want to have lunch with your student on their special day.  IF your child has a summer birthday, we can celebrate that in one of two ways:  celebrate a "half" birthday or we can celebrate before we let out for the summer.  Please just let me know what you wish to do, I will be very flexible with this.

Book Buddies:  Our class will be participating in book buddies with Mrs. Moore’s 4^th grade.  We will have book buddies for a half of an hour on Thursdays.  Students will read with their buddies, do projects, make books, conduct experiments, and other center and skill activities. 

Book folders:  Starting in a few weeks and continuing through the year, students may come home with “Take Home Books.”  More instructions will follow when your student is ready for these. This folder becomes "homework" and you will have designated days to return this homework.  The folders will also contain sight word practice for kindergarten.

Book orders:  Periodically throughout the year, you may be receiving a book order newsletter from Scholastic Book Club, Troll Book Club, or Trumpet Book Club. These offer great children’s books at a minimal cost to you. If you wish to order, complete the order form, place it in an envelope with a CHECK made out to the appropriate book club and return by the date on the order form. NO CASH PLEASE. I will also set up the on-line ordering for your convenience.  I am certain you will be thrilled with anything you order.  I literally spend hundreds of dollars on the books from these clubs for both home and school.

Breakfast:  Students must arrive prior to 8:20 in order to eat breakfast at school.  Consult the William Holliday handbook for further information.

C

C

Classroom Discipline:  The following are the rules for our classroom.

          Rule #1:  follow directions quickly

          Rule #2:  raise your hand for permission to speak

          Rule #3:  keep your hands, feet, and all other objects to yourself

          Rule #4:  use small voices inside

          Rule #5:  take care of your things and keep our classroom neat and clean
          Rule #6:  work together, get along, and respect each other

          We will be addressing and rehearsing these rules using Whole Brain Teaching.  In this method, when a student breaks the rules, I will call out the rule number, all of the students will respond together with saying the rule out loud.  The student will then have a chance to correct himself/herself.  If the student does not comply, further action will be taken.  Students will recite the rules using gestures.  The brain learns in five ways, by seeing, saying, hearing, doing, and feeling.  We will be using all of these modalities in an upbeat way to engage students in proper self-control.  We will be practicing the rules several times a day.  Students will be clearly instructed on what is expected during rug time, centers/stations time, seat work time, and on any other places and situations they may be in during the day. 

I believe very firmly in logical consequences for misbehavior.  All discipline will be done in a private matter, although students may be visibly missing from activities.  The punishment will fit the crime.  I will only discuss the discipline of your child with you, and will not discuss other students’ consequences etc. due to privacy issues. 

All students begin the day on green regardless of the previous day.  The first step after green will be a 5 minute timeout during "choice" time and a classification of yellow.  I will write you a note on the daily behavior sheet about why your student was moved to yellow.    Should further non-compliance occur, or further incidences follow, students will be moved to red.  Again, you will be notified.   The student will lose his/her “Choice Time” and may be removed from other activities in the classroom.  It is at this point, I may call you depending on the severity of the behavior.  Should students need to be moved beyond red, they will be removed to the office, and either the Dean of Students or I will call you about that discipline action.  “Choice Time” may include extra recess time, but will not include the big after lunch recess.  Students’ playtime and opportunity to be active is VERY important to development and being ready to learn in the classroom. Once students have served their time or missed the activity, they will have an opportunity to move back to green.  However, if they move to yellow 2 times in one day, they will go home on yellow regardless if they served their time or not.  I will only record the final color of the day on the behavior log sheet, although I may write you a note saying, " served a time out today." In kindergarten we are spending a lot of our time learning about what classroom behavior looks like and sounds like.  Each time rules are broken, I try to have positive conversations with the students about how different choices can be made and how all actions in our lives have consequences whether they are negative or positive. 

Computer:  We will have computer class each Wednesday for a half of an hour.   We also have 6 computers located in our classroom.  We will be using a variety of age-appropriate programs that reinforce math, readiness, and reading skills.  We have a lot of really exciting technology here at William Holliday.  Students on occasion will be using IPADS with special apps loaded just for kindergarten.  Children will work on these devices during centers time.

Conferences:  Parent teacher conferences are scheduled two times per year as per the schedule.  We will meet in October and February to discuss your child’s progress. We do not have to wait for these dates, should we feel that discussion should take place about your student’s learning.  In-between conferences can be held over the phone, done by email, or we can meet face to face.  

D

D

Dismissal:  Students will leave our room together at 2:55 when the bell rings.  I will walk your students in a line through a pre-established route to ensure that all students are where they are supposed to be.  Please do not pull your students out of line.  Pick-up students will be delivered to the playground gate area, and students will be walked directly to their other destinations including the buses.  If your child’s mode of transportation changes on any given day, please send a written note or call by 11 a.m. of that day.  Please do not email me after lunch time as I may not see this before the end of the day.  The best mode to get dismissal information to me is through the office.

Dress: Please be sure to have your child wear clothes and shoes appropriate for the classroom and playground. Please consult the William Holliday handbook for further dress code rules.  Remember….we move our bodies a lot throughout the day in class, we play actively at recess, and most days we cut, glue, paint, and even spill! School clothes should be play clothes.  Tennis shoes should be worn on PE days (Mondays and Tuesdays), as students will not be allowed to change their shoes or participate if they do not where them.  This is especially important, as kindergarten will not be changing shoes for PE this year.

E

E

Early Dismissal:  On school improvement days, we will be dismissing at 11:30 a.m.  On that day, students will receive a snack in the morning before they head home.  On Parent/Teacher Conference early dismissal days, students will go home at 1:50.  Please let me know if your child will be going home a different way on early dismissal days.

Email:  You can contact me via my school email address:  ribel@pwh105.org .  I will check my email on a daily basis.  If it is urgent, please call or leave a voice mail. 

Envelopes:  Please send all money for lunch, book orders, etc. in a sealed and labeled envelope.

F

F

Field trips:  Kindergarten will be taking two field trips this year.  We will be pumpkin picking in the fall and taking a trip to the Magic House in the spring.  More details and information will follow.

Family Groups:  All students at William Holliday are part of a multi-grade family group.  Family groups are led by 2 or more staff members who act as “parents” of the group.  Family Groups are comprised of students from every grade from K-5.  Family groups usually meet on early dismissal SIP days and other special occasions.  Family groups may sit together at assemblies and participate together in activities on Field Day.  Family groups stay together for the duration of the time that students are at William Holliday.  This is a great way for older students and younger students to interact and become friends!

H

H

Hands on Learning:  I feel that the best way to help children learn is to make learning fun!  Important concepts can be learned by doing meaningful hands-on activities.  There are times when seatwork is required and necessary, but for the most part, our classroom will be an active learning environment.

Homework:  Homework is one of those things we have had a lot of discussion about here at school this past year.  As a result, homework may be sent home in the folder.  All homework is due sometime during that week unless marked otherwise on the sheet.  All homework will come home in the green "HERO Folder” or in the student's book folder.  The work should be worked on for a short period of time each day. This allows children to take their time and do their best work.  Homework is not always paper.  Many times it may be something like counting practice, practicing letter and sight word identification, or some other skill like that.  The items your child will need to complete the homework include a PENCIL, SCISSORS, GLUE, and CRAYONS; these are to be kept at home.

*All printing is to be done in pencil.

*All pictures are to be colored with crayons.

On nights that specific homework is not assigned, please keep in mind that your “homework” is to read to and with your students every day. Reading daily is more important than anything else.  In addition, you can practice recognizing letters, sight words, numbers, shapes, and colors.  Writing creatively and practicing handwriting are also expected to be done at home.  Your child is expected to know these readiness skills:  full name, address, telephone number, parents’ names, basic colors, counting to 10, printing first name beginning with a capital letter and the rest in lower case, recite the alphabet, birthday (month and date), and tying shoes.  Your extra help at home really makes a difference. 

Later in the year, students may come home with “Take Home Books.”  More instructions will follow when your student is ready for these.  

I

I

Ibel:  my name is pronounced:  “I-bull”, not “eye-ball” :)  or “I-bell”  

J

J

Journals:  One strategy that will be used to help convey the vital concept that “print conveys meaning” is the frequent use of journal writing.  In these journals the kindergartners combine their emerging writing skills with their drawing skills.  As the children are exposed to a variety of phonics and reading experiences, journal entries will move from drawings and “inventive” spellings towards more conventional writing.

K

K

Kindness:  students in our classroom are encouraged and expected to treat all members of our class as well as others with kindness and respect. Bothering others, bullying and interrupting learning will not be permitted.

L

L

Library:  We have library on Tuesdays for half of an hour.  Students will have the opportunity to check out books and bring them home.  In the Library they will be given lessons on how to use the library, read stories, and assist students in checking out books.

Literacy Centers:  During literacy centers, children practice reading and writing skills while the teacher works with individual children or small guided reading groups.  The center activities are designed to strengthen letter/sound knowledge, listening skills, oral language expression, rhyme, letter formation and cooperation.  We will also be incorporating Daily Five this year:  Read to Self, Buddy Read, Listen to reading, word work, and writing about reading.

Lunch:  We have lunch from 10:55-11:50.  Children may bring a packed lunch from home or eat a school lunch.  Each morning when students enter the classroom, they will sign up for their choice for lunch.  Students will be sent home with a calendar monthly with the menu.  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD KNOWS WHAT HIS OR HER LUNCH CHOICE IS WHEN THEY ENTER THE CLASSROOM.  Also the menu changes monthly as far as alternatives for the main course so watch that carefully.    

M

M

Music:  Our music teacher is Miss Witlatch.  We have music on Thursdays and Fridays for a half and hour each.  Of course, we will use music as an integral part of what we do in the kindergarten class each day.  We will be singing songs to help us learn and remember.

N

N

Newsletters:  Weekly newsletters will be sent home either via email or in paper copy form.  This information will also be posted on our classroom website:  http://mrsibelkindergarten.blogspot.com  and will be available to you at all times.  Newsletters are usually sent home on the first day of the week. 

Nurse:  our school is very fortunate to have a nurse.  The nurse's office is near the main office, and you can call her with any questions you may have.

O

O

Open lines of Communication:  I am more than happy to talk to you about your child face to face, by email, or by phone.  Please understand that it may be necessary to schedule a time to talk outside of the day when students are not in the classroom.  I will not grant a conference time during instructional time and do not believe in taking time away from students’ learning to have a conference with parents.  I may try to call you during the students’ specials time or during lunch time should time permit.  

P

P

Parent Volunteers:  I have so much planned for this year and I really depend on parent and adult help. Parent volunteers will be especially important this year.  I will be sending home more information and volunteer opportunies as the year progresses.  If you are a working parent like me and can’t necessarily volunteer time directly in the classroom during the day, but you would still like to help (I always have things to cut, color, etc-and if that sounds like fun to you) we can figure out how you can help! 

Parties:  We will have 3 classroom parties this year.  We will have a Fall Party, Christmas Party, and Valentine’s Day Party.  Information from the PTO will come home to you about these parties.  We will be looking for room parents to help out with these parties. 

PE:  we have physical education on Mondays and Tuesdays for a half an hour each.  Students are required to wear tennis shoes on the day of PE or they will not be able to participate.  We will not be changing shoes for PE at the kindergarten level, so be sure students wear appropriate shoes on those days. 

Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence:  as part of the beginning of the William Holliday school day, both of these activities will take place via the morning announcements.  Please let me know if your family has special concerns with either of these.

R

R

Report Cards:  Report cards are issued every nine to ten weeks.  These reports reflect the progress your child has made toward various kindergarten objectives and uses a grading system that reflects the developmental nature of kindergarten learning.

Recess:  The children will play outdoors for about 25 minutes after lunch each day (unless it is raining or too cold). Please keep this in mind when helping your child to select clothing for the day. If your child is too sick to play outside, he/she is too sick to come to school. There is no lunchtime supervision available for children to stay indoors at lunch. Additional afternoon recess will be at my discretion.  If your child has a medical reason for not participating in recess time, he or she MUST bring a note and your child will sit outside the nurse’s office during recess time.

Restroom breaks:  students will have several opportunites to visit the restroom facilities throughout the day.  I do request that students use the restroom shortly before coming to school.  We will go to the restroom midmorning, again before lunch to prepare for lunch, after lunch during our quiet listening time, and during milk/snack break in the mid afternoon.  Students will potentially have the opportunity to go the restroom during centers/workstations time, but this will take away valuable time for learning and growing.  Students will not be allowed to leave the room during instruction unless it is an emergency.  Please let me know if your child has any special restroom concerns or health issues.

S

S

Sharing:  Throughout the students will be able to participate in sharing activities.  Sharing/speaking in front of the class is an important skill and we strongly encourage you to have your child participate every time.  Unless it is your child’s share day, please leave all toys at home! There are plenty of stimulating manipulatives in our classroom, and this will keep us in compliance with the William Holliday handbook.   At this age, when their toys come to school, they are often lost or broken, which leads to broken hearts and tears. If any school supplies come home by mistake – scissors, puzzle pieces, glue bottles, books, game pieces or anything else that your child did not bring to school, please return them as soon as possible…no questions asked!

Snacks:  Each month a calendar will go home with snack assignments.  When it is your turn, please send a nutritious snack (no soda, candy, or empty calorie foods) to school to share with the class.  This should be a healthy snack that is quickly eaten, such as a box of crackers, cheese, cereal, fruit, applesauce or pudding (please provide spoons too), raisins, apples, grapes etc. We will get a drink of water after our snack on the days that we do not have milk.  We have approximately 21 students in our class.  (As of today, I have not received a final count yet.)  Snacks must be commercially prepared and packaged.  If your child has a birthday, you will be scheduled on or near that day.  As a Kindergarten team, we have come to the consensus that cupcakes will not be allowed as a Birthday Treat for our students.  There are several reasons for this including health and the mess that Kindergarteners make on the carpets.    Snack time is in the afternoon each day at 2:10 p.m.  Please keep in mind when sending snacks, that we only have about 15 minutes to eat during this activity daily.   

If you forget to provide snack on your given day, I will do my best to use what I have in the classroom to cover it.  If I do not have enough left over snacks, the students will go without snack for that particular day.  If you do miss your snack day, I just ask that you provide snack to replace the snack we used as soon as you are able.  I am a busy working parent, and I get how that can happen from time to time.  Please watch the snack calendar and I will also put a reminder in the weekly newsletter to help you out.  You may provide snack early and send it in.  It is helpful to me if you label it with the student's name and the date you are supposed to bring snack.  If your family has financial challenges, please don't hesitate to talk to me about it, I'm sure we can work something out.

T

T

Toys: Bringing toys to school is discouraged because they distract the children from learning. If a toy is accidentally lost or broken, feelings will be hurt.  It is also against the William Holliday rules for students to bring toys to school.  If toys come to school by accident, I usually ask the students to make sure they stay in their backpacks.  If they come to school multiple times, I may confiscate them and return them to a parent who comes to pick them.  Sometimes items that are not necessarily meant to be toys become toys and we will talk about that (example:  bracelets, toy-like attachments to backpacks, etc.)

V

V

Visitors:  William Holliday has a policy that ALL GUESTS (including familiar faces) are required to check in at the school office. William Holliday welcomes and encourages family involvement. It is important to remember that while this may seem inconvenient to frequent visitors, it is the goal and responsibility of the school to create a safe learning environment.

W

W

Website:  Our class has a website:  http://mrsibelkindergarten.blogspot.com/ 

You (and strangers) will not be able to do a web search for the website.  The only way to access it, is to directly type in the address. It is also directly linked from the pwh105.org address under classroom websites.  You may want to bookmark this site and check it regularly once I have it fully up and running.  If any of you are familiar with running “Blogspot” I would appreciate any knowledge you have about creating links and making it easy to search and follow.  I also try to be very careful about not posting the faces of my students on the website.  I don't want that for my own children.  I will try to post pictures about what we are doing and of our activities.

Y

Y

Younger Siblings:  It is in your child’s and the program’s best interest to have our parent volunteers available WITHOUT younger children. This not only allows your full attention to be focused on the class, but also allows for some special time between you and your kindergartner.  Thank you for making childcare arrangements for younger siblings.  This is also true during parent teacher conferences, although I realize it is not always possible.  I know how distracted I am as a parent when my children are being their cheerful out-going selves, and I am trying to have a serious conversation with someone.

Z

Z

ZZZZ:  School will keep your students busy.  Make sure that your child gets plenty of rest. Setting and keeping a bedtime is a wonderful gift you can give to your child.   It will help them to be alert and ready to learn each day!  Students will probably come home from school very tired for the first few days.  We do not have naptime here at school and all day kindergarten is a real adjustment for some kids.

Final Thoughts

I will let you know if there are any changes to this handbook or if I have any further information.  As I made this, we have not even had the first day back to school, nor have we had a Kindergarten team meeting.  I will keep you posted!  I am looking forward to a wonderful and memorable school year!

~Mrs. Ibel

Room 6

618-233-7588 (school) Ext. 196

ribel@pwh105.org

http://www.mrsibelkindergarten.blogspot.com