FIRST DAY LETTER!!

Dear Kindergarten Parents,

       Welcome back to school and welcome to our Kindergarten Campground.  I hope you received my “welcome” letter in the mail.  We have 8 critters in our classroom this year.

       Be sure to take a moment to go through the BRIDGE folder for classroom and school wide information.  There are a few things you will need to fill out and return.  The folder is a great way to transport information between school and home (hence the name BRIDGE...building the gap between school and home).  Please keep it in your child’s backpack and check it daily. 

Here’s some important classroom information:

Weekly Specials Schedule:

Monday:       Computer @ 9:25-10:00

Tuesday:       PE @ 9:25-9:55

Wednesday:  Library @ 1:25-2:25

Thursday:       Music @ 10:20-11:20

Friday:       Art @ 9:30-10:15           

REMEMBER TO WEAR TENNIES ON TUESDAYS FOR PE.  TENNIES may be left in your child’s cubby so they’re always here if you’d like.

Return library books every TUESDAY!

“VIP of the WEEK” (sharing):

We will begin having the “VIP” in the next few weeks.  Everyone will get a chance to be the “VIP” (name will be drawn). The VIP will have lots of RESPONSIBILITIES such as taking care of the campground mascot (Virgil) for the week at home and writing about his adventures, sitting on the fire-pit stump and acting as campground host, and most importantly bringing in something to share the week that they are “VIP”.  All week we will be learning different things about the VIP (through their ALL about me poster).   After 9 full weeks of VIP, we will begin MYSTERY bag sharing (more info to come on this later). Sharing is an important time to build speaking and listening skills and get to know each other better.  Please try to avoid toys and knickknacks.  We want to see and hear about pictures, nature, pets, trips, crafts, books, science collections, something related to class theme, etc.

BOOK ORDERS:

Each month (or so), I’ll send home 3 orders from Scholastic Book Club:  See Saw books, Lucky books, and CLICK.  These clubs provide great, inexpensive books and materials.  Also every order helps build bonus points that I use to order books to build our classroom library.  If you place an order, please make check payable to Scholastic Books, not to the school or me.  I’ll keep you posted on due dates in the weekly newsletter.  The first book order will come home in the next few weeks. **PLEASE let me know if you are interested in handling the book order. It is a great way to volunteer if you work full time and can't come into the classroom. It can all be done online as well.

TIMES:

School begins at 8:00 and ends at 2:30. Children shouldn’t arrive at school before 7:50.   Please make every effort to have your child here on time so we can have as few classroom disruptions as possible. We encourage you to send your child to school on the school bus. The bus is always on time and it saves gas.

HOMEWORK:

For the first few weeks of school there will be no official homework (except our ALL about ME tee project). We’ll get that started later. I encourage you to read to your child every night. Reading to your child is important for building literacy and sharing the joy of reading.

POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT:

We have several things going on in our classroom to support positive behavior. We will be using “BEHAVE” your Beans, which is a system I have established to support good behavior. There are 3 jars in the room with a big bowl of dried beans next to them. Individual children can earn the class a bean by demonstrating good behavior. Example: Doing exactly what is asked of them or remembering their rules and setting an example. The class as a whole can also earn a bean for good behavior. Example: working quietly, nice line, and good reports from other teachers. Once one jar is full, then we have extra recess time or choice time, two jars full will reward the whole class with a special treat from Mrs. Griffin’s house, three jars full will reward the class with the most magnificent surprise so work hard to see what that is.

NOTE: I will explain more about Positive Behavior support during our PARENT night.

SCHOOL WIDE/CLASSROOM RULES are:

BE SAFE, BE RESPECTFUL, BE RESPONSIBLE, and BE FRIENDLY

We will be learning how each rule works all around the school.

For example: How to be safe in class, the hallway, in line, in the bathroom, at lunch and at recess.

**Please talk about these at home too!**

VOLUNTEERS:

I love having volunteers in the room. I would like to set up a schedule on PARENT night. Right now the children and I need to spend time building our relationship and become comfortable with routines and expectations. This is all part of building a strong classroom community. I will begin using classroom volunteers in October.

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:

I will be POSTING a weekly newsletter (Griffin Gazette) every Monday on

http://holdhandsandsticktogether.blogspot.com updating you with news in our classroom, explaining upcoming events and as communication from me to you so please read the POST, as it will have IMPORTANT information. I will be sending this link via email unless you request a paper copy.

UPCOMING Events:

**PARENT Night is Wednesday, September 9^th at 3:30 – 4:00**

This is a time for us to discuss important Kindergarten information, learn about curriculum, and get to know each other. No children please. This is all for now. Please feel free to email or call if you have any questions or just want to say HI! I am looking forward to a great year together. 

Email: lgriffin@tcsd.org

Phone: 208-399-2477

Sincerely, Lauren Griffin