Kindergarten Syllabus

2010-2011

I would like to take the opportunity to welcome each of you to the Kindergarten experience at the Midland Academy.  I am looking forward to a great year.  I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you a little about myself.

 I have been married for sixteen years.  My husband and I live in Midland.  My husband is the sports editor for the Midland Daily News.  Our family consists of two daughters named Nahomie and Ellie.  They keep us very busy. We adopted Nahomie from Haiti in 2004. She is now 7 years old.  We were also blessed with our first biological child ten weeks after Nahomie arrived.  Her name is Ellie.  She is now almost 6 years old.

I am beginning my twenty second year of teaching.  This is my thirteenth year at the academy. I firmly believe that the Academy is a great place to teach and educate your child.

 I graduated from Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio with an elementary education degree.  I have attended Central Michigan University for my graduate classes.  Prior to teaching at the academy, I taught a third and fourth split classroom three years, as well as a third grade class for four years. I also have guest taught in all grades K-6.

 Projects

          We will be doing various projects throughout the year as time allows.  This will require your involvement at home.  These projects will correlate with the topics that we will be studying.  More detailed information will be given to you when the time for the projects draws closer.  At the present time I am planning on the students possibly doing a project when we are discussing these topics:

1. Animals
2. Sun, Moon, Stars
3. Communities
4. Simple Machines
5. Graphing

As the year passes, more opportunities for projects may arise.  I will inform you of each project well in advance

Units of Study

Animals

Pumpkins

Apples

Communities

Fall

Families

Thanksgiving 

Sun, Moon, Stars

Our Environment

Day/Night

Kwanza

Christmas

Hanukkah

Food/Nutrition

Five Senses

Valentines Day

Wheels

Machines

St. Patrick’s Day

Weather

Safety

Spring

Pond Life

Rocks and Soil

Plants

Dinosaurs

Bugs

Field Trips

          We will be taking field trips periodically throughout the year.  We will rely on you to help us with our transportation.  If you would be willing to drive for field trips, please fill out the field trip forms, which can be obtained from the Hospitality room.  A copy of your driver’s license and proof of insurance will also need to be put on file.  There will be a sign up sheet posted before each field trip for you to volunteer to drive.

Tentative field trips:

1. Petting Farm
2. Baynes Apple Farm
3. Planetarium
4. Dow Gardens
5. Hospital
6. Saginaw Children’s Zoo
7. Auburn Greenhouse

Homework Policy

          Daily homework is given Monday through Thursday nights in Kindergarten.  It is family friendly and meant to be done by you and your child.  This homework is a follow up of what we have done in school that day.  Homework will come home in a two pocket folder that has your child’s name on it.  Homework is to be completed and returned in the folder the following school day unless otherwise noted.  If you happen to go on an extended vacation, your child will receive the work missed when they return. You will be given ample time to make it up.

          Monthly homework sheets will go home at the beginning of each month.  These will be fun activities that you can do with your child to reinforce what we are doing in school.  I request that you complete three of the activities each week.  Please indicate the activities that you completed each week.  The calendar and the journal page should be returned to me at the end of the month.

Thursday Folders

          Our class newsletter will be sent home on Thursday of each week.  This is my main form of communication to let you know what is occurring at school.  It is very important for you to read this each week so that you can be well informed about school and classroom events. Your child will be bringing home a large brown envelope containing the newsletter, any papers for the week and notes from the school office. This brown envelope is your child’s Thursday Folder. The Thursday folder should be returned to school on Friday (or the following school day).

Grading System

          I do not give letter grades in Kindergarten.  The report card will be graded with:  S=Secure   D=Developing   B=Beginning.   Daily papers are graded with a star, smiley face, check plus, check, or check minus.  At times I may write comments at the top of the paper if I feel a paper needs to be fixed or practice needs to occur. Students will also be assessed using a rubric for their responsibility and effort in class.  You will be notified of your child’s status bi-weekly throughout the year, as well as on their report card.

Blue, Gold, and White Points

       Blue, gold and white points are a way for students to be active citizens in their community.  Each student should complete one activity per point color during the school year.  Suggestions for point completion are as follows;

Blue: Sport Activity

       Swimming lessons, soccer, t-ball, ice skating, dance, etc.

Gold: Club Activity

       Daisies, Cub Scouts, Awana, Sunday school etc.

White: Community Activity

       Cleaning a park, singing at a nursing home, donating items to needy, etc.

Progress Reports

          I do not send home progress reports. I will see most of you each day, so I plan to verbally talk to you if I have any concerns with the academic or social development of your child.

Academic Expectations

          Kindergarten is the first time for a lot of children to be in a structured, academic classroom setting.  Therefore, a major part of Kindergarten is learning to act appropriately in the classroom.  Social growth will be very important this year. The students will be expected to sit quietly during whole group time.  They will also be expected to listen when someone else is speaking, raise their hand to speak and keep their hands to themselves. Academically, each child should be able to perform each item listed on the Math and Language Curriculum sheets and they should have knowledge of all of the topics on the Social Studies and Science Curriculum sheets by the end of the school year.  Some students may go beyond that.  The curriculum sheets are the minimum standard.

Testing

          The students will be taking the COGAT, which is a cognitive test, as well as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in the spring. The students will take the Iowa test each year, and the COGAT will be given at previously chosen years.  We do not call these tests in Kindergarten.  We treat it as a book with fun activities in it.  We do not want the students to be fearful of this.  The exact days and times will be given to you as soon as they are set. Results will be given to you as soon as we get them.

Snack

          The students will have time to eat a snack each day.  We depend on you to provide a healthy snack as well as a drink for your child.  This is a time to energize the students for the rest of the morning, not to fill them up with sugar. Please keep the snack healthy and simple. Snack items can include cheese and crackers, pretzels, fruit, etc. Please do not send pop, or candy to school with your child.  The students are given 10 minutes to eat their snack each day.

Parent Helpers

          Parents are always welcome to help with classroom work.  There is a blue tub labeled parent work on top of the mailboxes. Please feel free to take the tub to the library and work on the items inside. Prior to school starting in the morning, you are also welcome to take the chairs down from the tables. We enjoy our parents sharing in the education of their children.  We do ask that younger siblings not be brought to class during your volunteer time due to the fact that this is an academic time. Please sign in at the office upon your arrival.

Behavior Bucks

          Behavior Bucks are small rectangular paper dollars that are given as a positive reward for turning in monthly homework, completing book it, or just for being well behaved.  Students save these to spend on store day.

Class Store

          At the end of each quarter, we have a class store where the children can spend their Behavior Bucks.  Parents are responsible for supplying the funds to purchase these items. We request that parents give $5.00 per quarter ($20.00 total) to supply the store.  A price is put on each item and the students get to go the store and buy things.  This teaches them the value of money and the value of completing their work and behaving properly.  Later along in the school year, the students will be able to trade in the one dollar bucks for five and ten dollar bucks.  This is great reinforcement in the area of math and behavior.  We will be looking for parents who are willing to set up and run the store once a quarter.

Book Clubs

          We will be sending a book order to Scholastic Book Clubs approximately once a month.  There are many great books available at a very reasonable cost through this book club.  The books will also be on the level of your child.  I hope you will participate in this opportunity because this will enable us to earn points toward free books for our class library.

Sharing

          Sharing will take place once a week.  Our sharing will occur each Friday. Sometimes the students will be given guidelines as to what they can bring in for sharing (ex. something that begins with the letter s).  When this is the case, you will be informed of that in the newsletter. Please allow your child to bring only one item for sharing.  Anything brought in for sharing must be small enough to fit in a plastic grocery bag.  We will begin sharing on Friday, September 17^th, 2010.

 V.I.P.

          We will have a Very Important Person each week until we have cycled through all of the students.  A schedule will be typed and sent home with your child soon.  When your child is the V.I.P., they will have an opportunity on Friday to tell the class about themselves and their family. A poster board containing family pictures should be brought to school. Their poster will then be hung up in the classroom until the following Friday.  Please include any family traditions or heritage items. Things to include could be favorite family outings, vacations, birthdays, family members, etc.  Be creative!  It doesn’t have to be the size of poster board, but pictures should be mounted so that we can hang up the display on the bulletin board.

We will begin this on September 24^th.

Library

          Students will be allowed to go to the library each Tuesday. At this time, they will have a story read to them by the Librarian. Students may not check out a book unless they have returned their book from the previous week. Books can be dropped in the return slot in the media center any time during the week. The library book will be your child’s ticket to check out a new book each Tuesday. Mrs. Mealey is our librarian and she does a wonderful job with the students.

Other Specials

          The students will have Spanish Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in our classroom.  They will have gym on Thursday in the gymnasium.  Please help your child put their gym shoes on when you drop them off in the morning on this day.  Music will be on Tuesday in the music room, and Art will be on Monday in the Art room.  A special schedule is posted in the classroom inside the classroom door.

Birthday Celebrations

          We will recognize the birthday of each child.  Those children that have birthdays in the summer may choose a day in May to celebrate their birthday.  You are welcome to send a birthday treat with your child.  Please let me know in advance what you plan to bring. We do request that the treat be something that does not require preparation on our part. On their special day, each student will be allowed bring home the classroom birthday bag.  This birthday bag, the book, and the journal should be returned the following school day.  Your child may keep the other items in the bag.

Allergies

          If your child has an allergy and you have not talked to me about it, please do so as soon as possible. 

Absences

          If you know in advance that your child will be absent, please send a note to let the school know.  If your child is unexpectedly sick, you may call the office to let them know, and you should write a note the next day.  If you prefer, you may just write a note on the day that your child returns to school. Due to the fact that our day is so short, we request that you not schedule appointments for your child during school hours.  If for some reason you must remove your child from school early, please let me know in advance and sign them out in the Hospitality Room (office) before you come to the classroom to remove your child.

Transportation

          If your child is to ride home with someone other than yourself or their normal ride group, please let me know by sending a note.  If the arrangements are made after your child arrives at school, please you call the office and they will let me know.  We are very careful about who we send our students home with.  We will not release your child to someone whom you have not granted prior permission.

Concerns

          If there are any concerns that I have with your child, I will speak to you when you pick up your child after school.  If that is not feasible, I will call you on the phone that afternoon.  I am not one to let problems linger. This includes academic concerns as well as discipline. If you have a concern with your child, please feel free to call me at school.  The office will take the message, and I will either call you during a break or in the afternoon.

Classroom Needs

     If the classroom is in need of particular items, I will usually ask for them in the Newsletter. If you are interested in purchasing books for the classroom, I will be happy to give you some titles.  There are many books in our book club that would be helpful in our classroom.

The Midland Academy of Advanced and Creative Studies

Kindergarten Content

• Counting
• Number Relations
• Collecting Data
• Recording Data
• Patterns
• Measuring
• Time
• Matching
• Sorting
• Graphing
• Beginning Problem Solving
• Addition
• Subtraction
• Money
• Number Stories
• Place Value
• Fact Families
• Solid and Plane Shapes

 Language Arts

• Letter Identification
• Sound Identification
• Print Concepts
• Punctuation
• Rhyming
• Onsets
• Blending
• Segmentation
• 100 Sight Words
• Letter Formation
• Story Retelling
• Story Sequencing
• Journal Writing

Science

• Animals
• Sun, Moon, Stars
• Plants
• Pond Life
• Bugs
• Machines
• Apples
• Pumpkins
• Our Environment
• Food and Nutrition
• Five Senses
• Weather
• Rocks and Soil
• Dinosaurs

Social Studies

• Communities
• Mapping
• All About Me
• Families
• Holidays
• Safety
• Needs and Wants
• Manners
• Citizenship
• Conflict Resolution
• Socialization
• Economics