Dear Parents,
Miles for Mayfield is tomorrow!  Remember that we will be walking at the track at Ocoee Middle School at 1:00.  There will be concessions so remember to send money.  Please dress your child appropriately.  They should have long pants, a jacket and tennis shoes on tomorrow.  Check the weather to be sure, but I think it will be cool.  Don't forget to send in your money.  I have told the children that I will match every dollar that they raise so that we might be able to win the Chik-Fil-A party!

Next week is Fall Break - NO SCHOOL!  We will not be sending home a poem on Friday for the week of Oct. 31.  We will have two letters in our word journal and we will also be sending home our math journals that week.  The week of the 31st is only a four day week as there is no school on Friday, November 4th.  The teachers and assistants will be taking part in staff development.

If your child's word or math journal or poetry notebook is still in his backpack and not checked, that means that he or she did not put it in the basket.  They are reminded to do so several times each morning, but some children are still having difficulty with this task.  We encourage independence in Kindergarten!

If your child has worn home clothes that are not his or hers, please return them to the classroom.  These are extra clothes that we have on hand in case of emergencies, spills, or just when clothes from home may be uncomfortable!  Thank your for your consideration.

Continue to work on letter sounds and letter (capital and lower case) recognition with your child.  Also you can work on correlating a numeral with the correct quantity.  These are standards that we continue to work on in class!

Have a wonderful Fall Break and we'll see you on the 31st of October.  Remember, no costumes at school please!
Mrs. Parker

It's Pumpkin Patch Time!!!

Dear Parents and Students!
We have had a great beginning to the fall season.  We will journey to the pumpkin patch on Thursday.  Please remember to wear sneakers and jeans or long pants on this trip.  We will be taking a hayride and wondering around the pumpkin patch.  Flip flop and shorts will quickly become uncomfortable!

You can place your Scholastic book orders online if you wish.  Just remember that our classroom code is H24BQ.  This must be entered in order for us to get credit for the classroom and we get extra points if parents utilize the online ordering system.  I am trying to save up enough bonus points to order a Math Mat for the children to use during center time!  Book orders can still be returned to me (or placed online) until 10/14, so order your October and November books soon!  Look for December order sheets to arrive soon.

Please be reminded that we are a nut-free school and Ms. TaJuan is highly allergic to bananas.  We have had several children bring peanut butter and bananas in their lunches.  Be aware if your child's lunch contains nuts or bananas he or she will not be allowed to eat this and will need to purchase a tray lunch from the cafeteria.  On that same note, please do not send in food that must be prepared or heated.  We are unable to heat or prepare any lunches for children.  We send home a monthly menu from the cafeteria so that you can plan your child's lunches in advance.

Remember that there is no school on Friday as this is a Staff Development day for all of Cleveland City Schools.

Hope you all have a wonderful week and long weekend!
Mrs. Parker and Ms. TaJuan

September 20th Updates and Reminders

Hello Friends!
We have been so busy in Kindergarten!  We have learned all about the letters, Ss, Mm, Tt, Aa and Pp.  The next few weeks we will be focusing on the letters Kk, Ll, and Ii.  Remember that every Friday is Letter of the Week Show and Tell.  Your children can bring an item from home to share with the class.  We have had so much fun doing this.  This Friday, September 23rd will be Pajama Day.  Your children can wear their favorite pajamas, wear their slippers and we'll eat popcorn!

Also this week we have our Book Fair taking place in the library.  Your children are allowed to visit the library for Book Fair in the mornings before class, 7:40-8:00 and also during Library time, which will be tomorrow at 2:20.  You may also visit the Book Fair with your child after school.

Many of you have asked about Parent Conferences.  They are scheduled to take place during two Thursdays of October, the 13th and the 20th.  If you have questions or concerns and would like to schedule your conference before this date, please contact me at cparker@clevelandschools.org or at 472-4541.

Fridays are ice cream days. If your child would like to purchase ice cream on Fridays, you may send in $.50 on Friday or send in a few dollars and we will deposit it to their account and they can use it as needed.  Please make sure your lunch account is up to date.  Charging meals is not allowed, therefore your child will not be able to purchase a lunch if his or her account is not current.

A couple of things that we have been working on in class are spelling our first an last names orally, writing our first and last names, counting, sorting and identifying numbers 0-25.  Continue to work on your Math Journals, your Word Journals and your poems - you guys are doing a fabulous job!

Have a great week!
Mrs. Parker and Ms. TaJuan

Week Three!

As we begin our third week in Kindergarten, we have been working on the importance of finishing our work in a timely fashion.  Our morning work is our "recess ticket" and our afternoon work is our "centers ticket."  This means a student will be unable to participate in recess unless all their morning work is completed and if a student's afternoon work is not complete, he or she will be unable to take part in centers until the work is finished.

Last week we learned about the letter Mm and the /m/ sound.  This week we will focus on the letter Tt and the /t/ sound.  On Fridays, students may bring in something from home that begins with the letter of the week.  Last week we had lots of monkeys, men and mermaids!  Great job and what fun we had show and telling about our "Mm" things! 

Remember to practice the poem of the week with your children and to complete your word journal and send it in by Wednesday!  I loved looking through the work journals last week...we have some very creative children and parents.

How can I help my child be successful in Kindergarten?  I get asked this question all the time!  Here are some ideas: Work with your child during daily activities such as bath time, dinner time, bedtime.  Help them count from 0-25, or backward from 10-0.  Practice writing their first names with them and if they have mastered writing their first name, work on their last name!  Talk with your child about the colors and shapes that are in his or her environment.  Little things add up quickly for a five year old!  They are learning things so fast, it is amazing! 

Have a great week!
Mrs. Parker and Mrs. TaJuan

Dear Parents,

We have had another fun and busy week in Kindergarten!

We will begin sending home our word journals on Monday of next week.  We will have the letter of the week on a page in the journal.  Your child will need to find pictures of words that begin with that letter and paste them on the page and write the word.  For instance, next week is the letter Mm.  Your child might find a picture of a monkey in a magazine or newspaper.  He or she will need to cut out the picture, paste it on the Mm page and then write the word “monkey” underneath the picture.  You can use magazines, newspapers, clip art, pictures from home, etc.  Just be creative!  This will be a fun memory for your child to keep when their word journals are complete.  Please return the word journals on Wednesday.

CONGRATULATIONS to each child on successfully reciting our first poem, “The Friendship Cheer!”  I could see the hard work and practice in each child’s proud smile!  Way to go parents and Kindergartners!!

A Scholastic order form is included in your child’s red folder.  This is a great way to build your child’s personal library and ear books for the classroom at the same time!  Please complete the form and return it to me by Friday, August 26^th.

We have a classroom blog set-up.  Please visit our site and join as a “follower.” Our address is www.mrsparkerskindergartenpage.blogspot.com; check it out!  I have listed some good books for your children, websites for children and websites for parents.  I will also begin posting my weekly newsletter on the blog instead of printing out a paper copy.  The weekly newsletter will be available by Friday of each week and I may post some “extra” from time to time.

Our Kindergarten standards state that children name all letters in the alphabet, both uppercase and lowercase.  We are working on our letters and letter sounds through worksheets, songs and activities at school.  Children should also be able to spell their own name in written form and orally and we are working on this at school daily.  Please help your child with these skills at home as well.

We are sending home a behavior chart so that you can see how your child behaved in class throughout the week.  We have had several students that have had to move their clips for talking and not following directions.  This is not a big deal and it is expected of five year olds.  We do have to get into a routine and the children need to be aware that there are “talking activities” and “non-talking activities.”  I have been helping them to adjust by announcing, “This is a talking activity.  You may talk quietly with your friends at the table while you work.” Or “This is a non-talking activity, please listen to my instructions.”

Remember to provide me with a new phone number EVERY TIME there is a change.  I must be able to contact you in case of an emergency. 

Days to remember:

o   Poetry Notebooks – Go home on Friday and are returned to school by Thursday.

o   Word Journals – Go home on Monday and are returned to school on Wednesday.

o   Math Journals – Go home on Tuesday and are returned to school on Thursday.  (We will start sending home the math journals after Labor Day.)

We celebrated two birthdays this week!  Happy Birthday to Jase and Madilynn!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Parker and Ms. TaJuan

How can I help my child at home?

You can help your child at home by letting them color with crayons or markers.  Help them to hold a pencil and practice writing their name.  We are trying to develop our students' small motor skills and coloring is a great way to help those skills.  They can color in a coloring book, draw freely on plain paper or scrap paper, or they can color a color page that you print off of the Internet.

You can also work with them on letter recognition and learning to spell his or her first name.  Count with your child; by the end of Kindergarten they need to be able to count to 50. This can be done during bath time, or when you are getting supper ready...any time will do!  Repetition is the key!

Have fun with your child.  We have a wonderful group of Kindergartners and they are so sweet and eager to learn.  Let them show off!

I will keep posting ways to help your child succeed in school.
Thanks,
Mrs. Parker

Our First Week!

We had a great first week in Mrs. Parker's class.  Ms. TaJuan and I are getting to know each of the children, their personalities and their many strengths.  We feel very fortunate to have this wonderful group of children to work with this year!  Keep checking back for updates and classroom information and reminders!