MERRY AND BRIGHT

This is a joyous season.  We send our wish for peace, love, and hope!  May your days be merry and bright!  I love these pictures...I hope you do, too!

WITH LOVE

 Dear Parents,
Almost every day the children and I talk about my two most important jobs.  I believe that they would all tell you with a smile that my most important jobs are to keep them safe and to make them smarter.  As you might imagine, I usually think about keeping kindergartners safe from monkey bar tumbles, pointed scissors, unkind words, tipping chairs, tripping feet, and block towers that crash.  Today I was reminded that my job, and my promise to your children, is not always what we might expect it to be....sometimes in this world the unthinkable happens.

My heart hurts for the children, teachers, and families at Sandy Hook and for all of us who want to protect the innocence of childhood.  So today, hug a bit longer, find time to make cookies, let the laundry stay in the basket, snuggle in your jammies, teach your kindergartner how to give an Eskimo kiss, and embrace the sparkle in your child's eyes.

With love,
Miss Sawyer

SILLY SOCK DAY on FRIDAY!

Hello!

Friday is popcorn day!
Friday is SILLY SOCK day!
Your child is invited to wear silly socks to school on Friday.
Silly socks might be.....
   *socks with frogs  or silly characters on them!
   *socks with dots or stripes!
   *socks that don't match!
   *short socks and tall socks!
   *tights with socks with footies with shoes!

Have fun finding SILLY SOCKS to wear.
As you might guess...we will be taking pictures on Friday!

Welcome To Fall!

Welcome to fall!  Here is a little video I put together of the munchkins celebrating beautiful days, colorful leaves, and delicious apples!

Our Goal is 100!

This month Meadow Lane School is participating in a FOOD DRIVE for the Food Bank of Lincoln.  Our goal as a classroom is to collect 100 items for the food bank!  We are curious how much that will look like in our coat hall and we love the number 100!  You will find a decorated brown lunch sack in this week's Wednesday folder that you can use to send back food items to school.  All contributions are appreciated as we try to reach our goal of 100!

Bundling Up!

As the cool days of autumn move our way and mittens warm our little hands, I would like to ask you to start preparing for the chilly days ahead by practicing with your child how to bundle up by themselves.  Here are a few tips and ideas for you and your child:

*Practice zipping, snapping, and buttoning coats!
*Practice putting on mittens, boots, and hats!
*Practice changing boots and shoes!

*Practice every night as a part of your nightly routine.  Do not try to practice when you need to be somewhere as you will not have time.
*Make sure mittens are put on last as our hands can do more things without mittens on them.
*If your child does not have boots yet for the winter, please consider a pair of boots that simply pull on.  Boots without lots of laces and buckles are best for little munchkins.

*Children who can bundle up by themselves are very proud!
*Parents of children who can bundle up by themselves are happy and have free time!

McDonald's Night

Good morning!
Just a quick reminder that tonight is McDonald's Night!  I will be at McDonald's from 5:00-6:00 and am looking forward to seeing some of my darling munchkins!  McDonald's at 5600 "O" Street is sponsoring this event for Meadow Lane.

THANK YOU!

THANK YOU for attending Parent-Teacher Conferences!  I had conferences for all 20 of my little munchkins!

THANK YOU for sending apples!  We are anxious to taste our applesauce today!

THANK YOU for attending the Parent Work Night...I always appreciate helping hands!

THANK YOU for keeping Timmy and Brody in your thoughts and prayers.  May their daddy's love always guide and strengthen them!

Reminder: Parent Work Night

TONIGHT is PARENT WORK NIGHT!

I will be at school tonight from 4:00-6:30.  If you would like to come and help with projects and preparing materials, please join me!  You may come and go as it works into your schedule...you do not need to be available for the whole time.  I have projects that will take 15 minutes and some that will take 60 minutes...any amount of time you have is appreciated!  Thanks!

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

Oh my!  Our days are filling up with fun activities and things to do!  Please take note of these dates on your calendar!  Thanks!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4

Parent-Teacher Conferences

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5

Popcorn Day:  Children are invited to buy a bag of popcorn for 25 cents.

Get Your ZZZ's Spirit Day:  Children are invited to bring a stuffed animal to sleep with at rest time!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8

Parent Work Night:  If you have some free time and would like to help prepare materials and projects for kindergarten, please join me on Monday from 4:00-6:30.  You may come and go as it works into your schedule...you do not need to be available for the whole time.  PLEASE go to the comments section of this blog post and let me know if you will be attending so I have some idea of how much work to get ready for you!  Thanks!

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9

Apple Day:  Please send ONE or TWO apples to school with your child!  We are making applesauce!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11

Writing Assessment:  As a part of your child's writing grade for the first quarter, I will be collecting and scoring writing samples from writer's workshop.  I will be looking for story ideas, pictures with details, labels, words, and even simple sentences!  We are learning SO MUCH about being authors and illustrators!  Please make sure your child gets plenty of sleep on Wednesday night and has breakfast in the morning! 

by:  Linnea

by:  Timmy

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES

Hello!
Just a quick note to remind you that Parent-Teacher Conferences are this Tuesday and Thursday!  Please check your calendar and plan on meeting with me in the kindergarten room!

I will have some art supplies out for you to make your child a card/note as a way to let them know you appreciate their hard work and are so happy that they are a SMART KID LEARNING!  You may make your card before or after our conference!

Thanks,
Miss Sawyer

MARVELOUS MATH

MATH HOMEWORK:  Thank you for helping your child with their math homework.  I do believe that practicing at home will increase success at school and in life!

PRINTING THE NUMBER FIVE:  Please know that we have started to print the number five a bit differently this week.  The new way and language that goes with it makes the five easier to print and it matches our homework pages and practice worksheets.  Another advantage is that it makes the five less likely to look like the letter "s"!  Happy printing!

BIG MATH TEST:  Our first BIG math test is coming up this Thursday.  Please practice printing numbers 1-5 with your child as I believe it will be the most challenging part of the test.  You may also practice counting items 1-5, comparing more and less quantities, and finding things that are the same and things that are different.

TEST TAKING IDEAS:  Please remember that eating breakfast, getting a good night sleep, and coming to school happy are all important factors for success when taking tests!

Smile! Smile! Smile!

Just a quick reminder that Individual School Pictures will be taken this Wednesday!  Every child will have their picture taken, but only parents/guardians ordering will receive pictures.  Your order form with payment must be at school on Wednesday...the company does not take late orders.

A Little Bit of This & That!

BOOK ORDERS:  Book orders will be due tomorrow (Thursday)....thus giving you one more day to pick out and order your favorite books either online or via the paper flyers.

THANK YOU:  A big THANK YOU to all of the parents/guardians who showed up for Curriculum Night last Thursday!  The count is not official, but I do believe that our class had the highest turnout!  I appreciate your time, interest, and willingness to support your child's school adventures!

BLOG FOLLOWERS:  Thanks again for signing up for our BLOG!  Right now we have 15 out of 20 children who have someone signed up to read our blog.  That's wonderful!  I am still hoping to get five more followers...I am the eternal optimist!

POPCORN AND SPIRIT FRIDAY:  This Friday the children may bring 25 cents to school to buy a bag of popcorn AND they are invited to wear Meadow Lane colors or Meadow Lane shirts to share their school spirit.  Our colors are blue and yellow.  GO MUSTANGS!!!!

THE DAY IS HERE...

Today you get to find out what a smiley and a frowney are in kindergarten!
Today you get to answer when Miss Sawyer says, "Parents, Parents!"
Today you get to write a sentence as if it were for the first time in your life!
Today you get to draw Miss Sawyer's favorite animal...can you guess what it is?
Today you get to sing, draw, write, and color some...and be happy!
Today you get to walk in the shoes of your kindergartner and I believe you will be amazed at the life they lead, the problems they solve, the joy they bring, the imagination they create, and the skills they learn to carry them into tomorrow and beyond.

See you tonight at CURRICULUM NIGHT!
Session one  --  6:00-6:35
Session two --  6:45-7:20

CURRICULUM NIGHT

Hello!
Just a reminder that Curriculum Night is this Thursday!  I am looking forward to seeing all of you at one of our kindergarten sessions.  Please click in the "comments" section at the end of this blog and let me know which session you will be attending.  The two choices are 6:00-6:35 and 6:45-7:20!  The sessions will be in our classroom.  Please make a name tag as you enter the room!

Curriculum Night Topics:

Daily Schedule:  parts of our day
Curriculum:  reading, writing, and math
Communications:  blog, Wednesday folders, e-mail, and phone calls
Behavior Expectations:  rules, strikes, think time, & "yeah for me" notes
Parent Practice:  making letters, drawing, and counting
Questions & Answers

Goodies and Gifts:

Remember that I will be giving away prizes every 10 minutes and that I have a gift for all of the parents who attend...not to mention materials for you to use with your children at home!

One More Thought:

This is a night for sharing a lot of information, interacting, and learning all about the "new" kindergarten....not the kindergarten of "days gone by" when you and I went to school!  In order to help us all focus and make the most of our time, please make other arrangements for your children.  Thank you.
   
  

YEAH for us!

Yeah!  What an amazing day!  We did such a fabulous job working in groups, following directions, trying our best, and staying in our spots!  I took pictures of SMART KIDS LEARNING to share with you!  When we practice "mirror" it sounds and looks like this:

"SMART KIDS LEARNING"  (hands on head)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"SMART KIDS LEARNING"

"EYES ON TEACHER"  (point to eyes)

"VOICES QUIET"  (point to mouth)

"VOICES QUIET"

"HANDS IN LAP"  (hands resting in lap)

LISTENING TO LEARN

Listening is SUCH an important part of learning!

Being around a group of 20 children all learning "how to do school" is sometimes an overwhelming feeling!  As a parent, you know what it is like to get one or maybe four children to listen to you and so you might be wondering what we are doing at school to facilitate learning to listen in a group of 20 children.

Here are two examples of strategies I use in the classroom.  It would be wonderful if you could talk to your child about the importance of listening, the need to be quiet sometimes in a classroom of 20 children, and maybe even practice these activities with them at home!  Hopefully your child should be able to model what these activities LOOK and SOUND like at school.  Enjoy!

SMART KIDS READY TO LEARN:  I ask the children to show me "smart kids ready to learn"! Smart kids who are ready to learn have their hands in their laps, their eyes on me, and a quiet voice that is not talking.  Their brain is ready to be smarter!

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS:  I have a variety of instruments that I play in the classroom to get the attention of the children.  I have an xylophone,  a maraca, a tapper bell, and a music wand.  When the children hear the sound of the instrument they know that they are suppose to put their hands up in the air and that their voices should be quiet.  After I give directions, we clean up and move when we say the rhyme:  "1, 2, 3...quiet as can be!"

JOY in every day

Please enjoy this first peek into our room! We have learned SO MUCH in four days about being in school, following rules, rotating in groups, walking in line order, and how to be...SMART KIDS LEARNING!

Welcome To Kindergarten

"The more that you read, the more that you'll know.
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go!"

-Dr. Seuss

Welcome to KINDERGARTEN.  I am so happy that you have found us on smartkidslearning!  Oh, I can't wait for the places we'll go.....

A BITTERSWEET GOODBYE

Hello!  I am starting to brainstorm and work on my blog for next year.  I appreciate your patience with me as a new blogger and your willingness to let me learn and grow during this year.  I hope you are having a wonderful summer and enjoying time with your adorable children!  Please know that I will be deleting you from my "subscribers list" later this week.  You are most welcome to rejoin me in the fall if you wish!

With love,
Miss Sawyer

KINDERGARTEN CELEBRATION

Greetings from the munchkins!
Just a quick reminder that our Kindergarten Celebration starts at 10:15 Friday morning. Please remember to pack your lunches if you did not sign up for a school sack lunch.  I will be wearing my GREEN TIE DYE shirt! We are so excited to have guests and to be going to the park! See you soon!

We can make a difference!

This video is being brought to you at the request (and pleading) of the munchkins in our classroom. We finished these posters last week and they thought it would be "MOST FUN" to post them on the blog. I must admit, we have some wonderful ideas for taking care of the earth and doing our part to make the world a better place. ENJOY!

MAKING THE WORLD BETTER

We are GOING GREEN in kindergarten!

We made TIE DYE shirts!
We created BIRDS out of baby food jars!
We painted CATERPILLARS that once were egg cartons!
We designed EARTH DAY posters!
We learned many ways to REDUCE, REUSE, & RECYCLE!

Something GREEN will soon be SEEN....

What happens when you TWIST, TIE, DUNK,  and SWIRL???  

You will soon find out!
HAPPY EARTH DAY!

CHET AGER AWAITS US!

Hello!
Just a reminder that we will be going to Chet Ager Naure Center on WEDNESDAY of this week.  It looks like there may be a chance of rain in the forecast.  Please check the weather (things change quickly in Nebraska) and dress your child in comfortable, warm, and old clothes.  We will be going rain or shine...fortunately Chet Ager has indoor activities as well as trails and nature hikes.  How exciting!

Miss Sawyer

GO BIG RED!

GO BIG RED!  How fun it was to have Husker players in our classroom!  Cory Burleson, Kale Kiser, Brandon Pierce, and Rich Sanguinetti were delightful guests who lit up kindergarten with joy and enthusiasm.  Here are some pictures from our day!

Cory and Brandon singing with us!

Take me out to the ballgame!

Kale and Rich helping us with batting practice.....batter up!

I'm "SPRINGING" back into our blog!

Happy spring and welcome back to our blog!  As a new blogger I am learning that, like many things in life, changes and new routines take time, energy, patience, practice, and repetition.  I started our classroom blog this fall thinking that it would be easy and fun to "jump" on the computer and communicate with parents via a blog.  Well, as you have noticed, I am an EMERGING BLOGGER with much to learn!  There is a wonderful quote that I keep tucked in my mind when I get frustrated and think that everything I do should be done extremely well the fist time.  It goes like this:   

"Learn to be patient with yourself.  Enjoy the process of growth for what it is...an ongoing opportunity to become the best we can become at all levels in our life.  Don’t push the river.  Just let it flow."

So I am going to be patient, put my blogging picture by my computer, and gather a classroom of enthusiastic munchkins to entice me down the river!  Wish me the best!

Miss Sawyer