Ending of Week 1!

What a fantastic first week of school! All of the students did a great job learning our routines and began to feel comfortable in our school environment. They have been busy all three hours we were in the building. We have begun working on numbers and Montessori practical life and sensorial work. They are learning the routine of finishing a paper/pencil activity then choosing a “work” (they call toy still) from our shelves. In the Montessori environment we slowly learn the materials so we are using them correctly. During our whole group learning time we are working on rules of the classroom, how to be a good friend, and our morning meeting routine (day of the week, month, date, year, and weather person). All of these are an important way to start our day. I know very well that students do best in routines and we will continue to practice these the next couple of weeks!

Some information that might be helpful:

Next week is still half days. Dismissal will be at 12-12:05 at door 18 like we have been.

Open House is Wednesday, September 8th from 6-730. We will be in the back parking lot along with the Kona ice truck and a PTA table. Please stop in to grab some info and chat.

For your assessment appointment time please make sure you are here on time! I am hoping to do them all back to back so I get the most time with each child. The assessments this year are a variety. I will be observing, asking some questions, and having them write and letters/sounds/number recognition. Lots of components. Testing will take beyond the one appointment time but we will finish anything remaining during the school day. You will receive an email in the middle of September of goals we will be working on until December with your child specifically after I finish the assessing.

Reading log books can either be books from your home or the books I send in the book bags each week. I was so excited to hear how much they liked them today from your children! They were so proud they could practice and read them! I understand if you need to build up to the 20 minutes of reading time a night. We are beginning new routines and you can increase the amount of time each night if needed so you are up to 20 by October.

The orange sight word books we will be starting the week of Sept 13th. They are going to be practiced in class and then brought home in book bags. You can quickly go over them with your child each night if you are able. These are helpful so that we are working on the same words. When your child passes a list I will add a sticker over that number and let you know when to move on to list 2. Remember to not move on until you hear from me or see the sticker.

Reminder that book bags are to be brought to school daily! I will be switching out books each week as we work on them in small group. I typically start my reading groups in the middle or end of September. They each have a block of time where they come up and work with me in small group on sight words, reading strategies, and comprehension strategies.

If your child is going to be absent you have two ways to tell the school. You can email me and I can put it in as an excused or unexcused absence. Or you can call Ms. Bernadette in the office.

Reminder no school tomorrow or Monday for Labor Day weekend! I will see everyone on Tuesday! 🙂