The Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children published a list of Covid-19 stories for young children. These stories help children understand what is happening in the world during this strange time of quarantine. For a deeper look, be sure to check out and download the materials below.
Here's the playdough recipe and cooking video I told you all about last week. I hope your playdough turns out as fantastic as mine!
We will use playdough with our upcoming home learning lessons...so have it ready to use! You can find the recipe by clicking the link above or by visiting our Google Classroom Week 3 files.
Make your batch of playdough and take pictures so I can see what color you chose to make and all the cool things you make with it.
Ever wonder where we are headed for the week, in terms of the PVP specialist class schedule? I do post the upcoming special class in our weekly class newsletter, but this might help you keep track from now until June 2020.
We need your help! Socks are one of the least donated items in shelters, yet one of the most NEEDED items. PVP's kindergarten team is on a mission to collect 1,000 (or more)pairs of socks during the month of October. We have joined a national program called Socktober, which was started by Kid President creator Brad Montague several years ago. It’s a movement to get kids and adults to help their local homeless community in an easy, fun way. In past years more than 10,000 schools, families, businesses, churches, and other organizations have rallied together to bring Socktober to life. People from every state and continent have taken part in Socktober!
According to Kid President, every night in the United States an estimated 600,000 people live on the streets. This October, SoulPancake and Kid President would like millions of people to prove that even the smallest acts of love, like donating a pair of socks, can make a big difference in the lives of our neighbors who are homeless. This year we will also be donating socks to our local families and students in need and we will be working with Lydia Sanders at BGPS to help in those efforts.
We will be accepting pairs and packages of NEW socks in all sizes, types and colors. Donation boxes will be placed throughout the school by Tuesday, October 1st. A large box will be located in the front office area as well. Donations will be accepted throughout the entire month of October. Please encourage students/parents to bring NEW pairs or packages of socks to school and place the socks into one of the collection boxes that will be labeled for SOCKTOBER! Also, NEW blankets would gladly be accepted and can be put into the donation boxes as well.
Please help spread the word to families you know and encourage them to join in our efforts. To help you get motivated to collect socks, here is a message from Kid President and Grover...
{All socks and blankets are new, never used, worn or washed,
and everything should still be in their new packaging.}
Can you imagine having to tie shoes for 20-25 kiddos each day? Ahhhhh! That's the stuff a teacher's nightmares are made of (no joke). If and when your child's shoe comes untied at school, he/she will be encouraged to either tie their own shoes...or find a friend to help them do it. In our classroom, students must "ask three before you ask me". That means, ask at least three friends before asking a teacher for help. (Children already able to tie looooove to show off this skill.)
Now is the time to start teaching your child to tie. Here are two videos that you can watch with your child to help them learn this process. Keep in mind, tying shoes take a LOT of fine motor skills. Be patient with your kiddo as they learn this tricky task.
Once your child learns to tie, have them show me so I can shower them with praise and a prize!
What Not to Bring
We have a STRICT no nut policy in our classroom. This means no tree nuts or peanuts. This rule is enforced because I, your child's classroom teacher, have multiple, life threatening nut & food allergies.
If you pack a lunch containing nuts, your child will not be able to eat it. I will send it back home, and your student will need to go through the lunch line to get something else for the day. This rule also applies to snacks. Please check all granola bars and trail mix packets for nuts, too. If your child will only eat PB&Js for lunch, it's time to start branching out and finding new foods for her/him to eat. Sunflower seed butter is the alternative to peanut butter that our school uses. You might want to buy a jar and try it at home.
Easy Open Containers
Pack meals and snacks in containers your child can open and close on their own. Lunches and snacks are eaten in our classroom each day. I am in the classroom during this time. Please pack lunches and snacks your child can open independently. Lunchables and juice pouches are fun, but they are not child friendly to open. With 20-25 (sometimes more) students in the room, it would be impossible for me to open every component for each kiddo. Pack kid-friendly lunches. We have a drinking fountain in the classroom, but students are always welcome to keep a leak-proof water bottle in their cubby during the day.
Time Frame
Lunch is short. We eat from 11:20-11:40. If your child is a slow eater, they will probably not finish their lunch in that time frame. At 11:40, the entire class goes outside for recess. If your child has leftover lunch from home, they are welcome to eat it during snack time in the afternoon.
Funny Stuff
All of my food allergy chatter has me feeling a little bummed out! I so dislike that I have to police my classroom for nuts. Having a serious allergy stinks. So, I will leave you with a video from Mr. Brooks, a school principal with his own opinions regarding juice pouches and Lunchables. I am a mom, so I totally get the fun factor involved with these things, but they are such a pain when you are alone in a classroom with 25 kindergarten friends at lunch time!
Did you know? Kids who read for just 20 minutes a day are more successful in school and life. Ordering from Scholastic Book Clubs is an easy way to find the best books that are just right for your child’s grade level and interests. Plus every order you place earns FREE Books for our class to share. Our class appreciates your support!
Order online by using our Class Code QNH7N (or look me up by our school name, "Pleasant Valley Primary")
Orders are due the last Friday of each month
Orders are submitted on the due date. Even if you place the order online on the 15th, I will not submit the class order until the due date. That will give each family plenty of time to order, and submitting the order all at once is how we get FREE shipping. As soon as your order is delivered to our classroom, I will send it home with your child. It takes about two weeks for orders to arrive.
2019-20 Order Due Dates:
September 9/27
October 10/25
November 11/29
December 12/27
January 1/31
February 2/28
March 3/27
April 4/24
May 5/15 *
* May's order will be submitted early to ensure all items arrive before the last day of school.
Welcome to the 2019-20 school year at Pleasant Valley Primary! I have created a kindergarten family learning calendar for you to enjoy with your little one. I encourage you to choose a few activities to complete each week. Doing so will grant you valuable one-on-one time with your child and help reinforce what we are learning in the classroom. If you choose to do only one item listed per month, make sure it's Taco Tuesday! Cooking with children is a functional math activity, and adding a new addition to the taco line-up each month offers children a chance to try new food(s).
A new calendar will be sent home each month. If you lose your printed copy, feel free to download a new one by clicking the calendar below.
Wanting to make working on reading heart words a hands-on activity at home? Feel free to download my heart word playdough mats by clicking here. Research shows that young children learn best when they are moving and actively participating in whatever it is they should be learning. Working with playdough to form and build words is a fabulous way to engage young learners!
Read the word, roll a playdough "snake", and build the word
Because the heart word list I use in the classroom is color coded, I chose to print each color level on paper that matches. It helps me sort the words quickly, and it also allows me to have students working on the level they need the most practice reading. The words can certainly be printed on white copy paper, though.
I run the mats through my personal laminator so that the mats will hold up with 22 sets of hands touching them week after week. I also cut the mats into cards because I have multiple students using these at one time.
Laminated & trimmed word cards
However, you do not need to laminate the mats for home use. You could build the words directly onto paper with the dough, or you could place each printed sheet in a plastic page sleeve, as I did in the picture below. This protects the mats from sticky dough and makes for easy storage if you place the page sleeves in a 3 ring binder, as seen below. (Heavy weight, non-glare page sleeves work best for this activity.)
Mat in a plastic page sleeve
Playdough can be purchased at any of the retail stores around, but you might have all of the ingredients to make a batch in your kitchen.
This batch has two packets of watermelon limeade drink mix. Yum!
Hello, new kindergarten families. The BEST help you can give your child from the beginning of the year through Thanksgiving break is to practice the ABC Phonics Chart nightly. Make sure you and your child are both using the American Sign Language sign for each letter. Also say the letter sound as you go through the alphabet. {It will sound something like this; letter is A, sound is /a/.}
If your child is struggling with learning letters and letter sounds by the time fall conferences roll around, I will have you continue this routine through Winter Break. Never underestimate the power of repetition! Some children simply need the grace of time.
Here is a link to the chart, and there is a paper copy in your child's take-home folder. Please leave it in the folder, but do practice every night after you clean out the take-home folder. I encourage you to print a copy and place it in your home where it is easy to find and use: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u8-fodO6SSmDWb-_TkzVMb2NO54h8svR/view?usp=sharing
I have a feeling nobody wants to chit chat with me about lice, but...well...lice happens. It happened to my kids twice when they were younger. Trust me when I say, it is a big old pain in the rump to get rid of it once it enters the house (and classroom).
I wanted to be proactive this school year and spread the word on tips that can help families better understand head lice. Click here to download a PDF document containing all sorts of information regarding treating head lice, as well as how the life cycle unfolds.
Are you scratching your scalp as you read this? Because I have certainly scratched mine at least 17 times while typing this blog post. *scratch, scratch*
