WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 9-13

Dear Kindergarten Family,

 

This will be a short week for us. We will be reviewing all the letters that we have studied, and the vocabulary that we have introduced so far. Last week our students enjoyed learning a lot about penguins and polar bears. We discussed the difference between a fact and an opinion. This week we are sure they will all have a lot of fun learning about pirates. The vocabulary words that we will be discussing for this unit are: pirates, eye patch, voyage, navigate, explore, jewel, ship, Jolly Roger flag, treasure, island, telescope, captain, compass, and ocean.

 

Some of the stories that we will be reading for this unit are the following:

 

Do Pirate take Baths

Bouncy verses combine with fun illustrations to make the perfect handbook for pirate wannabes.

Humorous rhyming answers to eleven questions about the life of pirates.

 

 

 

The Night Pirates

Is a children’s adventure book about some brave little girl pirates that take a young boy called Tom (along with the front of his house) on a mission to steal the treasure of some really, tough grown-up pirates.

How I Became a Pirate

Jeremy Jacob was just a boy building a sandcastle on the beach, until the day the pirates came. The pirates were in need of a digger to help bury their treasure. And the captain couldn't help but notice that "He's a digger, he is, and a good one to boot!" The crew heartily agreed, "A good one to boot!" And that is how Jeremy Jacob became a pirate.

 

For the next two weeks we are going to be talking about Honduras. Some of the vocabulary words that we will be talking about are: map, Lempira, coins, waterfall, island, heroes, mountains, flag. If you have anything about Honduras that you are willing to share with us, we would really appreciate it. You are more than welcome to come into the classroom and talk about this beautiful country, show pictures, or even share a typical food with the kids. Let us know in advance if you would like to do a special activity with the children.

 

For the next two weeks we are going to be doing a lot of activities about beginning sounds. You may want to help us out at home by asking your child certain questions such as “what is the first sound you hear in the word bed, house, car, etc.”

 

This week we are going to introduce new sight words. These words are: he, was, for, on, are. Please practice daily ALL the sight words with your child at home. Children do not learn new words by being exposed to them only once. Repetition is key to sight word acquisition. A good strategy to practice sight words with your child at home is playing a game called “Concentration or Memory” You simply write each word on two cards, shuffle and lay face down to play.

In Math we are going to introduce the concept of Pictographs. We will learn that a Pictograph is a way of showing data using images. At this point we will just be learning how to read a pictograph.

 

 

 

Last Friday, you all received information about the Honduran typical breakfast that we are going to have with the students this Thursday, September 12^th. You do not need to send your child with a snack on this day since we will all be having the breakfast. Children will be dismissed at 11:45 a.m. on this day. The program will begin at 11:00 at the gym if you would like to come and join us. Let us know if you have any problem with whatever you were assigned with. Thank you in advance for your support with this celebration.

We would like to thank Felipe Bertrand and Lia Ochoa for donating the ingredients for KinderKafe last week. The children enjoyed making a pink pig pancake. They were adorable. This week we will NOT be having KinderKafe because of the holiday.

 

 

IXL Practice. For this week practice the following skills:

 

Numbers and counting up to 10

1.     C.1 Count to 10

2.    C.2 Count dots - 0 to 10

3.    C.3 Count blocks - up to 10

4.    C.4 Represent numbers - up to 10

5.    C.16 Complete a sequence - up to 10

 

TIP OF THE WEEK:

Sing songs, read rhyming books, and say silly tongue twisters. These help kids become sensitive to the sounds in words.

 

GAME OF THE WEEK: Color walk

Have your child gather sheets of construction paper or a stack of mismatched hand towels and lay them down in a path all through the house. (To keep her from slipping, tape down the construction paper or towels with masking tape, which won't ruin your floors.) Tell her to keep colors separate, so there won't be, say, three sheets of red paper in a row. Once she's done, the challenge is on: Can she walk from one room to the next by stepping only on certain colors? Can she make it from one end of the house to the other, stepping only on blue and red? Can she manage it on all fours, or by hopping?

A variation of this game is to write the sight words on the papers

We would like to remind you that there is a $ 120.00 or Lps. 2500.00 fee to buy all the supplies your child will be using throughout the school year. If you have not sent this fee, please do so as soon as possible.

 

 

 

 DPTO SURVEY – Please take a minute and fill out this very short survey for the Discovery School Parent-Teacher Organization.  As you are part of the DPTO, the executive team wants your feedback and ideas on events and focus for the year.  Both parents are encouraged to fill out the survey. Click here to fill out the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q6QY2VF

 

 MIDTERM REPORTS are going to be sent home this Thursday, September 12.

INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION - We want to thank the parents who have already contacted us and offered goodies for the Typical Breakfast on Thursday, September 12. If you have not done so, please give us a call or send us an email.

HOLIDAY – Please remember that this Thursday is an early dismissal day (11:45). There will be NO SCHOOL on Friday, September 13 and Monday, September 16 as Honduras commemorates its Independence. We hope you all have a great 4-day weekend.

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE – Parents who are not using an automatic debit system with a credit card to pay tution are asked to stop by the Finance Office to obtain their payment cards as soon as posible.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPEMENT IN SEPTEMBER – On September 23, Ms. Judi Fenton is returning to Discovery to follow up on her visit and Professional Development sessions with teachers last year. A schedule will be provided once it is finalized with her. There will be no school on Wednesday, September 25, so teachers can participate in an all-day training.