KINDERGARTEN CAPERS
Week of 12/8/08
This past week we worked on our Christmas projects along with our rehearsals for the Christmas Show on Thursday. Everyone did an outstanding job that night. Now it is time to practice for our Christmas Around the World presentation on Friday.
This past week we finished our Chapter in Math and we will begin our next Chapter in January. This week we will be focusing on counting by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s and 10’s to 100. Also identifying days of the week and today, yesteday, and tomorrow.
In Reading we have been reviewing our Red Words on our Word Wall, practicing our Chant Chart, and identifing pictures that began with “n.” The children practiced filling in the missing word in a sentence and we have been reviewing the word families of “at, “an”, and “et” through the Starfall Reading Program under my website. The children have also been taking turns reading the sentences in the stories for the “at” and “en” word families. The children continue to strengthen their writing skills through almost daily Journaling and they are getting the hang of Squiggles.
This week, in Religion, the children learned about the life of St. Nicholas, Juan Diego, and Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Second Grade also presented the story of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe at Mass on Friday and did an outstanding job. We continue to practice praying with reverence and focusing on our prayer time instead of itching, scratching, or leaning on tables and chairs.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
WATER BOTTLES - these are necessary, even in the cool weather.
FRIDAY - Around the World Presentation - 9:00 a.m. in the MPR.
RSVP’s - Please don’t forget to resond to the paper sent home on Wed. It requested the number of people attending on Friday and what you will be bringing. There will be a signup sheet for drinks. (water, juice, juice boxes for children).
ADVENT WREATH - don’t forget to glue on the flame over the third candle. Remind you child to keep up with the Advent chain.
Have a blessed week.
Carol Prezkop
The Third Week of Advent:
Each night this week we want to pause in gratitude. Whatever the day has brought, no matter how busy it has been, we can stop, before we fall asleep, to give thanks for a little more light, a little more freedom to walk by that light, in joy.
Our celebration of the coming of our Savior in history, is opening us up to experience his coming to us this year, and preparing us to await his coming in Glory.
Come, Lord Jesus. Come and visit your people.
We await your coming. Come, O Lord.
KINDERGARTEN CAPERS
Week of 12/01/08
This week we began our Christmas Centers and our Christmas stories.The children were introduced to the 12 Days of Christmas not only as one of our Centers, but also one of our songs for our Christmas Around the World Presentation on Friday, December 19th.
In Reading we identifyed pictures that began with the /b/ sound, identified the high frequency word “like” in sentences, began our Word Bank books with words that are in the “at” word family, read the words on the word wall, and we summarized the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In handwriting we practiced writing the lowercase b which is quite different than other letters. It is our only letter in D’Nealian that is completed from the bottom up to close the b. We also spent two days on identifying the end punctuation for telling and asking sentences. The children loved interacting with the Smart board on our balloon pop for these lessons. All children were actively involved in thinking what the answer was and showing me with their cards their answers before the child chosen gave the answer.
This week in Religion we talked about the season of Advent and created our Advent chains. Please don’t forget to have your child pull a chain off each night. The chains go to December 24th and on the 25th you place Baby Jesus in the manager. The children learned about St. Francis Xavier on his feast day, December 2nd, we attended Adoration on Wednesday, and Mass on Friday. Each week the childen are doing a better job on focusing and participating in the Mass. Please continue to encourage your child to participate at Mass when you attend as a family.
In Math we recognized and named groups of 0-5, used ordinal numbers from 1st-5th position, and we solved problems by interpreting graphs. We have also counted by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, and backwards.
Our class continues to struggle with their Listening and Following Directions Skills and so I have introduced a new card system. All children start the day with no cards and they earn a card for every half hour that they are on task back to purple. For two days it has been very successful and I hope that it continues. It appears that the original way was not working well with my very social butterflies.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Water bottles - please remember to send in one every day. Give this responsibility to your child.
Christmas Program - Thursday, Dec. 11th. Please be at the room any time after 6:00p.m.
Have a wonderful and blessed Advent week.
Carol Prezkop
Second Week
O Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace,
come and save your people.
Joy of every heart,
Strength of those who are poor,
come quickly to help us.
Prince of Peace,
teach the lion and the little lamb,
teach the cat and the mouse,
the the hawk and the tiny bird,
teach everyone who doesn't get along
to live in peace.
KINDERGARTEN CAPERS
Week of 11/24/08
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It is hard to believe that November is over and we are now into the holiday season.
Last week we focused on Thanksgiving crafts and we made our Dirt Cake that we shared with Mrs. McCormick’s Class. The children made great Pilgrims thanks to the talents of Mrs. Knaggs and the assistance of Mrs. Wimbush. This year the collars and hats were made out of felt instead of paper. The girls can also use their aprons when they play house or dressup at home.
As we continue to thank God for our many blessings, we now move into the season of Advent. This is a time we prepare ourselves for celebrating the “coming” or Jesus’ birthday clebration. It is a time of spiritual reflection as well as cheer and anticipation. We will be asking the children how they prepare for Christmas as a homework assignment. Please assist your child in completing this activity.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
SAVE THE DATE - Dec. 19th - 9:00 am - MPR. Our class will present “Christmas Around the World” for parents and siblings. We will have a sign up next week for items to bring to share for a snack.
Restroom issues - we appear to have a few restroom issues in our room with our boys. It appears that some are using the floor and the walls. If you have a boy, please talk to him regarding the proper use of a restroom. Until further notice, all children will sign a sheet before using the restroom in the classroom.
Water bottles - please remember to send a water bottle with your child every day.
Adopt a family - each year the classrooms are assigned a family in need. Our tree will be set up with the ornaments by the middle of the week. Please stop by to take an ornament. If you are unable to come to the classroom, a list of needed items will be sent to you in order for you to choose. Thank you for your generosity.
Have a wonderful and blessed week.
Carol Prezkop
THE Advent Wreath MEANING
1st CANDLE- (purple) "CANDLE OF HOPE"
We can have hope because God is faithful and will keep the promises he made to us. Our hope comes from God. (Romans 15:12-13)
2nd CANDLE- (purple) "CANDLE OF PREPARATION"
Preparation means to 'get ready'. "Help us to be ready to welcome YOU, O GOD!" (Luke 3:4-6)
3rd CANDLE- (pink) "CANDLE OF JOY"
The angels sang a message of JOY! (Luke 2:7-15)
4th CANDLE- (purple) "CANDLE OF LOVE"
God sent his only Son to earth to save us, because he loves us! (John 3:16-17)
KINDERGARTEN CAPERS
WEEK OF 9/8/08
This week our theme was “All About Me”. We discussed what makes each person special, similarities and differences. Our theme was also present in Reading and Religion.
In Reading the children continued to practice identifying and writing the letters I-L, identifying the missing letters in the alphabet, completing activities in our Handwriting books, and practicing our RED words. We have begun our first theme of “All About Us” with stories and activities and the children were introduced to Journal writing.
In Math we have finished our concept of sorting items by color, shape and size. The children are becoming more familiar and comfortable with the Opening Board activities and identifying the day of the week, the month, date, and year, today, tomorrow, and yesterday, and counting forward and backward. Next week we will begin graphing.
This week our Science experiment was the “Milk Experiment”. Both the Kindergartners and 5th Graders enjoyed witnessing the chemical reaction of Dawn dish liquid when it came in contact with the food coloring in the milk. It was a very fun experiment. Next week we will talking about body parts and what they help us to do.
The children have completed their illustrations for their Creation books. We read them in class and I hope that your child shared their books with you. We also discussed the story of Joseph and his colorful coat, we attended an introduction to Atrium with Mrs. Donahue, and we discussed how God made each one of us special. We continue to work on the Sign of the Cross, praying with reverence, and Mass procedures.
On Thursday we attended the school wide prayer service on the front lawn in remembrance of 9/11. I shared information with the class about that day in 2001 when I was asked why we did what we did. The class was in awe of the pictures that we viewed on our Smartboard.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
WATER BOTTLES - Please remember to pack one every day. Sport tops are preferred due to water spills.
SNACKS - thank you for remembering to pack your child’s snack. Please continue to remember these, especially on hot lunch days.
MAGAZINE ORDERS - please try and order at least one magazine through our drive. If everyone orders at least one, then our class will receive a pig for the pig races.
CLASSROOM VOLUNTEERS - information will be emailed this week on a meeting after school, Tuesday, Sept. 24th.
Have a safe and blessed week.
Carol Prezkop
"In the Lord, put your trust."- Psalms 11:1
God is with you in all that you do."- Genesis 21:22
KINDERGARTEN CAPERS
Week of 9/1/08
This week the children shared their people, what they liked to do, and what each one of them wanted to be when they grow up. Their people will be on the wall this coming week along with the items they found for the assigned color for the Color Hunt.
In Reading the children listened to stories, practiced writing the letters Hh and Ii, and filled in the missing letters. We practiced reading and writing our first five REDwords. Next week there will be the next 5 RED words to practice.
On Wednesday the children attended their first Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. They did well with being quiet for a long period of time and then we prayed together. We will be attending Adoration once a month and parents are welcome to attend with us. I will advise you when we attend in October. We are continuing our practice of praying with reverence and procedures for Mass.
In Math the children worked with partners to sort objects by color and shape. We then worked in our workbooks identifying same and different and sorted objects by color. This week we continue to work with sorting objects by shape and size and begin graphing.
We are also working on using manners, appropriate voice levels, becoming self-disiplined and taking responsibility for ones actions.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
SNACKS - please don’t forget to pack your child a snack everyday. We do not have extra snacks in the classroom.
WATER BOTTLES - Please send one every day. It is important that the children stay hydrated. If possible, please send in water bottles with a sport top. We have had a number of spills already in the classroom with the open top bottles.
LUNCH DRINKS - If your child brings his/her lunch please pack a drink in it. Milk or juice is available for purchase at lunch for $.40 if you do not pack one.
Have a safe and blessed week.
Carol Prezkop
Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.
- Job 37:14
KINDERGARTEN CAPERS
WEEK OF 8/25/08
This was a very fast week. The children continued their practice of listening, following directions, and following classroom and school rules. This past Wednesday, Mrs. Douglas spoke with the class about rules and procedures to help keep them safe and to learn. Her lesson reiterated our procedures and their importance.
In Reading we visited familiar fairy tales and nursery rhymes, practiced writing the letters D-G, identified these letters in groups of letters, and completed activities with the missing letters by using listening and following directions skills.
The class was introduced to their first Math book assessment where they had to identify and use positional words they had been taught to this point. The hardest part to this is that there is no help. The assessment helps me to assess if children need additional practice with these concepts. Next week we will begin sorting and classifying objects.
On Thursday the class met their 5th grade Science buddies from Mr. Brant’s class. Together each group completed an egg experiment. The groups had to decide their materials, if the egg would cook outside, and each group had to choose a place to place their experiment. The results varied but all eggs cooked to some degree over the 3 1/2 hours they were outside. We did have some mishaps with our experiments being picked up and put into the trash, but I retrieved them to see what the result was of each. Both classes had fun and we will meet every other week to complete some type of experiment throughout the year.
In Religion we are finishing with illustrating our Creation books, learning our Creation songs and listening to stories about Creation. Next week we will discuss how we can take care of our world and put the finishing touches on the books. In addition to this, we are practicing saying prayers with reverence and practicing the procedures for Mass. Please continue to reiterate these when you attend as a family. This helps to reinforce what is expected of them at our all school Masses.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
NO SCHOOL - Sept. 1st and Sept. 2nd
WATER BOTTLES - Please send a water bottle each day. If at all possible, please send one with a sport top. We have had a number of spills in the room with the regular tops.
SNACKS - Thank you for packing them for your child. Please don’t forget them on the days that your child has hot lunch. We do not have any backup snacks in the room.
DRINKS - please pack your child a drink in their lunch box. Your child may also purchase milk or juice for $.40.
FRIDAY Folders - please try to send them in by Tuesday. The behavior calendars, that will be stapled into your child’s Friday Folder, are marked daily.
THANK YOU to all the parents that were able to attend our Çurriculum Night on Thursday. If you have any questions, please feel to contact me at any time. If you were unable to attend, your child should have brought home the folders left in their cubbies.
STAR OF THE WEEK - If you have not sighed up your child for Star of the Week, I will sending you a separate email.
SHOW & TELL - NO Show & Tell next week due to it only being 3 days. Reminder - Your child’s Show & Tell is every week on the day assigned, except when we have 3 day weeks. On the 4 day weeks, children who have Show & Tell on Monday, will have it on Tuesday.
Have a safe and blessed holiday and week.
Carol Prezkop
"God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good."
(Genesis 1:31)
KINDERGARTEN CAPERS
We completed our first full week and are off to a great beginning of our school year. The children have been busy learning class and school wide procedures. Each day was a little bit better and we will continue with this next week. It is very important that all children understand and learn our procedures and rules.
In Reading and Language Arts the children listened to a number of familiar stories. They were introduced to sequencing pictures to retell a story, and we compared different versions of familiar stories for the main characters. In the Reading Workbooks the children practiced writing the first three letters of the alphabet and used their Listening and Following Directions skills.
We are reviewing shapes and colors through popular Nursery Rhymes, Math, and Art activities. This integration will continue over the next two weeks. The children are also learning Color Songs, which helps them spell the color words.
This past week our class met two of their buddies that they will be working with this year. Our Religion Buddies are from Mrs. Christopher’s 3rd Grade Class and we will meet on Mondays to review the Gospel readings, complete Religion activities and stories, and watch various videos on saints. On Thursday we will meet with Mrs. Hernandez’s 6th Grade Class for Reading Buddies and sometimes Religion. Our other two buddies are Mrs. Navarro’s 6th Grade Class and Mr. Brant’s 5th Grade Class. Mrs.Navarro’s Class will be our Tuesday Reading Buddies and Mr. Brant’s Class will be our Science Buddies on every other Thursday.
Our first Religion theme is Creation. The children are learning about the order in which God created things, each child is illustrating their own Creation book, and we are learning a song about Creation. In addition to this, we are practicing the Sign of the Cross, the Glory Be, a Grace before meals, and praying with reverence. We will be practicing Mass procedures every week before Mass and I would like you to encourage your child to do these when you attend as a family. We are practicing how to genuflect, standing without touching anything during Mass, holding hands during the Our Father, giving others the sign of peace, and to receive a blessing without it being a drive by blessing, walking back to the seat with folded hands, and genuflecting at the end of Mass.
Next week we will finish our Creation theme, begin All About Me, and begin position words and sorting in Math.
Important Information:
Instructional Assistant - I have a permanent Instructional Assistant as of this past Thursday. Her name is Mrs. Colleen Johnson and I am very excited on having her. Mrs. Johnson fits perfectly with our class.
PE- Monday and Wednesday are our PE days. Please have your child wear their tennis shoes and their PE uniforms.
Curriculum Night - Thursday, August 28th. It begins at 6:30 p.m. in the MPR.
Water Bottles - these are very important to help your child stay hydrated.
Snacks - Please continue to pack your child a healthy snack everyday.
Lunch - please tell your child when he/she has hot lunch. This way our lunch count is accurate.
Fridays - we do have lunch on Friday. Please pack your child a regular lunch.
Have a wonderful and blessed week.
Carol Prezkop
God, you created everything,
and you love it all.
Wisdom 11:24
(copy 1)
KINDERGARTEN CAPERS
Week of 9/1/08
This week the children shared their people, what they liked to do, and what each one of them wanted to be when they grow up. Their people will be on the wall this coming week along with the items they found for the assigned color for the Color Hunt.
In Reading the children listened to stories, practiced writing the letters Hh and Ii, and filled in the missing letters. We practiced reading and writing our first five REDwords. Next week there will be the next 5 RED words to practice.
On Wednesday the children attended their first Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. They did well with being quiet for a long period of time and then we prayed together. We will be attending Adoration once a month and parents are welcome to attend with us. I will advise you when we attend in October. We are continuing our practice of praying with reverence and procedures for Mass.
In Math the children worked with partners to sort objects by color and shape. We then worked in our workbooks identifying same and different and sorted objects by color. This week we continue to work with sorting objects by shape and size and begin graphing.
We are also working on using manners, appropriate voice levels, becoming self-disiplined and taking responsibility for ones actions.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
SNACKS - please don’t forget to pack your child a snack everyday. We do not have extra snacks in the classroom.
WATER BOTTLES - Please send one every day. It is important that the children stay hydrated. If possible, please send in water bottles with a sport top. We have had a number of spills already in the classroom with the open top bottles.
LUNCH DRINKS - If your child brings his/her lunch please pack a drink in it. Milk or juice is available for purchase at lunch for $.40 if you do not pack one.
Have a safe and blessed week.
Carol Prezkop
Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.
- Job 37:14
KINDERGARTEN CAPERS
WEEK OF 8/25/08
This was a very fast week. The children continued their practice of listening, following directions, and following classroom and school rules. This past Wednesday, Mrs. Douglas spoke with the class about rules and procedures to help keep them safe and to learn. Her lesson reiterated our procedures and their importance.
In Reading we visited familiar fairy tales and nursery rhymes, practiced writing the letters D-G, identified these letters in groups of letters, and completed activities with the missing letters by using listening and following directions skills.
The class was introduced to their first Math book assessment where they had to identify and use positional words they had been taught to this point. The hardest part to this is that there is no help. The assessment helps me to assess if children need additional practice with these concepts. Next week we will begin sorting and classifying objects.
On Thursday the class met their 5th grade Science buddies from Mr. Brant’s class. Together each group completed an egg experiment. The groups had to decide their materials, if the egg would cook outside, and each group had to choose a place to place their experiment. The results varied but all eggs cooked to some degree over the 3 1/2 hours they were outside. We did have some mishaps with our experiments being picked up and put into the trash, but I retrieved them to see what the result was of each. Both classes had fun and we will meet every other week to complete some type of experiment throughout the year.
In Religion we are finishing with illustrating our Creation books, learning our Creation songs and listening to stories about Creation. Next week we will discuss how we can take care of our world and put the finishing touches on the books. In addition to this, we are practicing saying prayers with reverence and practicing the procedures for Mass. Please continue to reiterate these when you attend as a family. This helps to reinforce what is expected of them at our all school Masses.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
NO SCHOOL - Sept. 1st and Sept. 2nd
WATER BOTTLES - Please send a water bottle each day. If at all possible, please send one with a sport top. We have had a number of spills in the room with the regular tops.
SNACKS - Thank you for packing them for your child. Please don’t forget them on the days that your child has hot lunch. We do not have any backup snacks in the room.
DRINKS - please pack your child a drink in their lunch box. Your child may also purchase milk or juice for $.40.
FRIDAY Folders - please try to send them in by Tuesday. The behavior calendars, that will be stapled into your child’s Friday Folder, are marked daily.
THANK YOU to all the parents that were able to attend our Çurriculum Night on Thursday. If you have any questions, please feel to contact me at any time. If you were unable to attend, your child should have brought home the folders left in their cubbies.
STAR OF THE WEEK - If you have not sighed up your child for Star of the Week, I will sending you a separate email.
SHOW & TELL - NO Show & Tell next week due to it only being 3 days. Reminder - Your child’s Show & Tell is every week on the day assigned, except when we have 3 day weeks. On the 4 day weeks, children who have Show & Tell on Monday, will have it on Tuesday.
Have a safe and blessed holiday and week.
Carol Prezkop
"God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good."
(Genesis 1:31)
KINDERGARTEN CAPERS
We completed our first full week and are off to a great beginning of our school year. The children have been busy learning class and school wide procedures. Each day was a little bit better and we will continue with this next week. It is very important that all children understand and learn our procedures and rules.
In Reading and Language Arts the children listened to a number of familiar stories. They were introduced to sequencing pictures to retell a story, and we compared different versions of familiar stories for the main characters. In the Reading Workbooks the children practiced writing the first three letters of the alphabet and used their Listening and Following Directions skills.
We are reviewing shapes and colors through popular Nursery Rhymes, Math, and Art activities. This integration will continue over the next two weeks. The children are also learning Color Songs, which helps them spell the color words.
This past week our class met two of their buddies that they will be working with this year. Our Religion Buddies are from Mrs. Christopher’s 3rd Grade Class and we will meet on Mondays to review the Gospel readings, complete Religion activities and stories, and watch various videos on saints. On Thursday we will meet with Mrs. Hernandez’s 6th Grade Class for Reading Buddies and sometimes Religion. Our other two buddies are Mrs. Navarro’s 6th Grade Class and Mr. Brant’s 5th Grade Class. Mrs.Navarro’s Class will be our Tuesday Reading Buddies and Mr. Brant’s Class will be our Science Buddies on every other Thursday.
Our first Religion theme is Creation. The children are learning about the order in which God created things, each child is illustrating their own Creation book, and we are learning a song about Creation. In addition to this, we are practicing the Sign of the Cross, the Glory Be, a Grace before meals, and praying with reverence. We will be practicing Mass procedures every week before Mass and I would like you to encourage your child to do these when you attend as a family. We are practicing how to genuflect, standing without touching anything during Mass, holding hands during the Our Father, giving others the sign of peace, and to receive a blessing without it being a drive by blessing, walking back to the seat with folded hands, and genuflecting at the end of Mass.
Next week we will finish our Creation theme, begin All About Me, and begin position words and sorting in Math.
Important Information:
Instructional Assistant - I have a permanent Instructional Assistant as of this past Thursday. Her name is Mrs. Colleen Johnson and I am very excited on having her. Mrs. Johnson fits perfectly with our class.
PE- Monday and Wednesday are our PE days. Please have your child wear their tennis shoes and their PE uniforms.
Curriculum Night - Thursday, August 28th. It begins at 6:30 p.m. in the MPR.
Water Bottles - these are very important to help your child stay hydrated.
Snacks - Please continue to pack your child a healthy snack everyday.
Lunch - please tell your child when he/she has hot lunch. This way our lunch count is accurate.
Fridays - we do have lunch on Friday. Please pack your child a regular lunch.
Have a wonderful and blessed week.
Carol Prezkop
God, you created everything,
and you love it all.
Wisdom 11:24
