Valentine Party

                                                                       

Dear Families,

         The Valentine’s Party will take place on Thursday, February 11.

         All of the children enjoy exchanging valentines with their classmates.  You may choose to have your child make valentines for each child in the class or you are welcome to use store bought valentines.  Either type of valentine is perfectly acceptable.  Please be sure though that your child brings a valentine for EACH child in the class (20 valentines).  We do not want anyone to feel left out or have any hurt feelings.  If you feel you are unable to provide a valentine for each child in the class please contact me for other arrangements.  We also do not want any child to feel left out that they do not have any valentines to give.

         Please decorate a box (such as a shoe box or Kleenex box) for your child’s valentines and send it to school.  You may send the box to school whenever it is ready and we will display it in the classroom until the valentine’s party.          Please send your child’s valentines to school on the morning of Thursday, February 11 in a sack or baggie labeled with your child’s name.  The valentines should not have names on them as to who they are to, just that they are from your child.  That makes delivery of the valentines much easier- your child can just drop one valentine in each box.

         Thank you!

                           Mrs. Kathy Green

 

                                          

Winter Wear

Please be sure your child comes to school EACH DAY with appropriate winter wear including coat, snowpants, boots, hat, and mittens. I have a very limited supply of items to lend out, and we seem to have an epidemic of kids coming to school without their needed items! I had one pair of snowpants to lend out, but they have disappeared. If anyone finds a navy blue pair of snowpants at home that are not yours, it is possible your child borrowed them and accidentally wore them home. Please return them if you find them! Thanks! Children who do not have snowpants to wear at recess have to stay out of the snow. This makes them very sad if they have to stand on the sidewalk the entire recess.

Also, PLEASE be sure to send shoes with your child every day, or better yet, tell them to leave their tennis shoes in their locker at school so that they are sure to have them every day! It is so uncomfortable for them to klump around in big boots all day, plus their feet get very hot and sweat and that is uncomfortable. Children who do not have tennis shoes on gym days have to sit and watch, and then they are sad that they can not participate. Please help your kiddos out by checking their backpack everyday to make sure they have all that they need for school!

Kindergarten Sledding Tomorrow!

Tomorrow (Friday, January 22) we will be having a Kindergarten Sledding Party! We are providing the sleds (PLEASE do NOT send any!) Just make sure that your child is dressed appropriately to go outside and sled. Snowpants, boots, hat, mittens, and warm coat are a must!! We will have fun tomorrow!!!!!

                         Christmas Gift Exchange

This year our classroom Christmas gift exchange will be an art supply gift exchange.  Please stay within the theme of “art supplies” when purchasing your child’s gift for the gift exchange.  Following are some ideas for gifts:

Playdough                                                watercolor paints

Specialty crayons and paper                  special scissors

Stamps and ink pads                               paint with water books

Floam                                                         craft kits

Markers                                                     colored pencils

Colored chalk                                            construction paper

The possibilities are endless!

Gifts should be approximately $4.00-$5.00.  Please make sure the gift is appropriate for either a boy or a girl.  The gift can be labeled as “To: A Friend, From: (your child’s name)”.

Feel free to send the gift in to school early.  You will need to explain to your child that we will play a game and it will be a surprise to see who gets their gift.  We will exchange gifts at the party on Thursday, December 17.  Please send the gift in to school before then so I can prepare the gifts for the game we will play.               Thanks!               Mrs. Green

REMINDERS:

1. Monday is a delayed start. Also on Monday, we return to the book fair to purchase books. If you want your child to make a purchase, please send the order form and money to school with your child. You may pay with cash or check. Don't forget to add Michigan sales tax of 6%.

2. Please send in your parent/teacher conference note ASAP so I can plan accordingly! There is no school for students on Thursday due to parent/teacher conferences. I will have sign-up sheets available at conferences for our Thanksgiving activities and needed items.

3. We had snow at recess for the first time on Friday. We have gotten spoiled with warm temperatures through the middle of November! It is time to get out the winter coats, hats, and mittens! Please send these items to school daily as we do go outside even if it is cold and snowing!

November News:

         November is a busy month for Kindergarten! Here are some things you may want to mark on your calendar.

         Next Tuesday, November 10, is our Elementary Family Night. You are invited to come to the elementary cafeteria between 5:00-6:00 for a free taco supper. This will be followed by activities in the classrooms from 5:30-7:00. Each grade level will have various learning activities set up in the classrooms for the students from their grade to participate in. Please come and be sure to visit Mrs. Brinks’, Mrs. Green’s, and Miss Thompson’s classrooms for some fun and great learning ideas. Please send back the blue flyer your child brought home if you will be attending, so we can get an idea of how much food we need.

         On Thursday, November 12, we will visit the book fair and each child will make a “wish list” of items they would be interested in. They will bring their “wish list” home with them Thursday night. On Monday, November 16, we will go back to the book fair and make any purchases that you might want to have your child make. “Shopping” with 21 kindergartners is always a treat, so if anyone is available to help us “shop” at 12:30 on Monday the 16^th, I would sure appreciate your help. Just drop me a note or an e-mail. We will shop right after lunch, so maybe you would like to join your child for lunch that day and then help us with our shopping afterwards.

         There will be no Holiday Bazaar this year due to construction on the auditorium. The Holiday Bazaar is the biggest fundraiser for the PTO. We are hoping to have increased participation in our book fair and also in our “Labels for Education” program to try to make up for some of the lost revenue. Please keep saving those labels- ask relatives too!

         Look for your child’s first report card to come home next Friday, November 13. Parent/Teacher conferences will take              place on Thursday, November 19. There will be no school for students that day. Appointment times should be coming home from the office very soon, possibly even today. Please try to keep your appointment time if at all possible, because it is very difficult to reschedule conferences for 21 students. However, if your time just will not work for you, please let me know as soon as possible so I can try to make different arrangements.

         The week of Thanksgiving is an exciting and busy week for kindergartners as we prepare a “feast” to share together. On Monday, November 23, we will begin to prepare the feast. We will make homemade butter and cornbread. We will also prepare to make the main course of our feast, our traditional “stone soup” or “Friendship Soup.” For those of you who do not know what Stone Soup is, you can find out by reading the traditional tale Stone Soup, which can be found in many different varieties retold by many different authors. To work together to make this soup, each kindergarten class will be responsible for providing several items for the soup. Each child will be asked to bring something for the soup. There are other items that will be needed for our Thanksgiving celebration as well, so I will have a sign up sheet available at conferences. I will also be looking for parent helpers to help in food preparation that week, as well as parents to help serve the feast on Wednesday afternoon.

         Please remember that you can always keep in touch with me via e-mail through the mcbain.org website. 

SNACKS Needed!

The children are eating up the breakfast items much better/faster than I predicted! On top of those items, we are going through one boxed/packaged snack a day. So if each person would send in one snack for the month (enough for 21 students), that would be a big help! Please plan on providing one snack per month for the snack cupboard for the rest of the school year!  Thanks so much!