WEEK IN A PEEK!
September 25, 2009
Dear Parents,
THIS WEEK WE: are continuing to work on our handwriting. Encourage your child to play school and practice writing. Watch as the form the letters. Make sure they start with their pencil at the top.
We celebrated Johnny Appleseed’s birthday this week and made applebutter. We made graphic organizers with the apple theme and wrote a book. It is titled I Like Apples. They are doing a great job!
NEXT WEEK WE WILL: talk about our community helpers and jobs that they think they would like to do. Everyone dreams of being a firefighter, policeman or cheerleader someday! We will think of other professions that might be pretty cool. If you would be willing to share your profession with us in some way, give me a call and we will schedule a day that you can talk to the class. We would love to hear from you. We will finish interviewing each child in the room and continue work on introducing letters for handwriting. Practice them at home using the form that is on the reference sheet I sent home earlier.
CHECK OUT LIBRARY BOOKS: It is always a big deal to get to check out books from the big library. Mrs. Jones has been teaching them how to take care of books. Tuesday was their first time to get to check out books! We will go everyday to Open Checkout. (or almost everyday) This is a time for the children to return books and check out new ones. The books do not have to be returned every day but if you have read them, it is an opportunity to get some more! Be sure to write them down on the book slips too!
OPEN HOUSE: THURSDAY OCT. 1st Come out and visit our classroom. It will be open from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
BOOK SLIPS: I got several book slips back this week. Since next Wednesday is the last day of September, I will accept book slips for Sept. until Thursday. After that it will go toward the October goal. Continue reading and turning in the slips when you have filled them with 10 books. I want to add just one more suggestion. After you read the book to your child, close the book and have your child tell you about the story. I am finding that after reading a story they are not able to retell it to me. This is the same for children that can already read themselves as well as the ones that are not reading and are just listening as you read a good book. They should be able to sum up the story in just a few sentences. If they struggle with this, ask them questions using Who, What, Why, Where and When. It will add to their enjoyment of reading a book together and they will get a lot more out of it.
PARENT CONFERENCES:
It will soon be time to share with you what your child is learning in Kindergarten! Please plan to attend on either Oct. 27th or Oct. 29th. There will be a sign up sheet at Open House on next Thursday, Oct. 1st.
FIELD TRIP: The trip to the Campbell’s Maze Daze is Oct. 8th. If you have not returned your permission form and money, please send on Monday in the Friday folder. Thanks.
Grandparent/Grandfriend Day
Monday, September 28th, Mathews School Gym
Please note the start times of each grade level program below!
Kindergarten 1:15 p.m. 1st Grade 9:30 a.m.
2nd Grade 11:30 a.m. 3rd Grade 12:15 p.m.
4th Grade 10:30 a.m.
Each grade level will begin their time with a performance directed by Mrs. Genung. Following the performance, Grandparents/friends will then get a chance to see the classrooms, visit with teachers and take pictures!!
We look forward to seeing you!!!
Reminder: Students will be eating sack lunch in their rooms on this day! The sack lunch will consist of ham and cheese sandwich, chips, cookie, fruit and milk.
(School lunches will not be available for guests)
Any questions may be addressed to Mrs. Brock, Counselor 449-3115
MERIT AWARD:
Congratulations to Cody Gardner. He gets our merit award this week. Way to go! :)
Thank you,
Donna Mountjoy
THEME: Occupations

WEEK IN A PEEK!

September 18, 2009
Dear Parents,
THIS WEEK WE: worked on alphabet activities and talked about the seasons during a year. It is hard to choose your favorite season. There are parts of each season that is pretty nice! We are finishing up an alphabet quilt and hope to have it up for display next week sometime.
NEXT WEEK WE WILL: do some fun activities with apples. We will make several graphs as we think about apples, orchard’s and mom’s apple pie. In fact, when we are done with all our apple activities, we just might make something special for Grandparents. We will continue to work on our handwriting as we introduce each letter. We will also work on patterns and attributes of a variety of materials.
FIELD TRIP: Mark your calendar for Oct. 8th. We are planning to visit the Campbell’s Maze Daze located southwest of here. Enclosed is a permission note with the details. If at all possible, please send on Monday in the Friday folder. It takes time to get all the paper work done in order to go on a field trip. Thanks!
A copy of the note I sent home is below!
Johnny Appleseed’s Birthday is next Sat. Sept. 26th. We will celebrate it on Friday Sept. 25th by wearing clothing that Johnny may have worn. Jeans, overalls, plaid shirt, handkerchief, etc. We are going to make the pot that he wore on his head!
Thanks! :)
MERIT AWARD: Michaela Utter and Alison Kamies are our merit award recipients this week. Way to go!
GRANDPARENT DAY: Sept. 28th.
THEME: Seasons of the Apple Tree
Johnny Appleseed
Please send 2 apples to school with your child on Monday! We will sort, compare, and graph them. I am also planning a Grandparent surprise with them for the following week! 
Thank you,
Mrs. Donna Mountjoy
September 18, 2009

Dear Parents,
We are planning a Field Trip to the Campbell’s Maze Daze on Thursday, Oct. 8th. The cost is $6.00 per child for admission. The PTA has graciously agreed to pay for the transportation costs again this year.
There will be a hayride while at the pumpkin patch and the children will each be able to pick 1 pumpkin. There will also be a maze to walk through .They will tell us about their farm and how they grow their pumpkins. We will eat a sack lunch there. Your child can get one from the school cafeteria or bring one from home. We will be leaving the school building at 8:55 a.m. and will return around 12:30 p.m.
Please send the admission fee of $6.00 to school in a sealed envelope marked field trip with your child’s name. You can write a check to Mathews Elementary or send cash. Admission for parents is $6.00. Parents will pay for themselves at the farm. (Sorry, parents won’t be able to get a pumpkin unless you purchase from their store.)
Please indicate below if you would be available to help supervise the children. We ask that you do not bring preschool children on this day. This will enable us to provide the best possible care of our kindergartners. We are looking forward to a great time with the children! Hope to see you there!



__________________________________________________________

_______________________ has permission to ride the school bus to Campbell’s Maze Daze with his classmates and teacher on Oct. 8th. I have enclosed $6.00 for the cost of the field trip. In the event of an accident or sudden illness while on the field trip, I authorize school personnel to take whatever action is deemed necessary in their judgment for the health of my child including, but not limited to, authorizing medical treatment.
______ My child will be receiving a sack lunch from the cafeteria on Oct. 8th.

______ My child will bring a sack lunch from home.

______ I would like to help with the supervision of the children. I will meet you at the school by 8:40 a.m. then you can drive your vehicle to Campbell’s or carpool with others parents. I agree to pay $6.00 admission for myself upon arrival at Campbell’s Maze Daze.
______ Sorry, I can’t help this time.

Parent Signature______________________ date:_________________

WEEK IN A PEEK!

September 11, 2009
Dear Parents,
THIS WEEK WE: read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and did several alphabet activities. There was so much to do that we just couldn’t get it all done in 4 days so we are going to continue with this theme next week. I have several other alphabet books to share and we will write our own. We interviewed Katie, Markus and.
NEXT WEEK WE WILL: continue to work on and finish some alphabet activities. We will continue to interview each child in the room and work on introducing letters for handwriting.
HOMEWORK: I am enclosing a sheet that shows correct letter formation. Refer to it to help your child practice at home. Most of the letters start at the top to form. Watch that they place their pencil there to begin forming a letter. Pencil grip is sometimes a problem with young children. I try to encourage them to use the thumb and first finger to grip the pencil down close to the lead. Then put the remaining 3 fingers tucked in under that. That should be a comfortable grip and one that will allow adequate pressure to the paper as they write. Try it!
FIELD TRIP: We are planning to visit the pumpkin patch at Campbell Farm Oct. 8th. We would love for you to come. More information later.
NOTEBOOKS: If you recall, I asked for each child to have a 1” notebook as part of their supplies. If you have not sent one yet, please do so. I am using it as a portfolio to show your child’s progress throughout the year.
BOOK SLIPS: September will be over before you know it. Keep reading and turn in the book slips as soon as they are full with the 10 books. Several people have some slips turned in but we need more. A love for books nearly always starts with being read to.
MERIT AWARD: This week’s merit award goes to Johnny Gonzales and Isaac Nuccio. Our character word this month is responsiblity. We are working on being responsible for our own things. Way to go!
THEME: Seasons of the Apple Tree
Thank you,
Mrs. Donna Mountjoy

WEEK IN A PEEK!

Sept. 4, 2009
Dear Parents,
THIS WEEK WE: Our topic was “All About Me”. We wrote a book! We have continued to introduce a student of the day and interview them. This week we interviewed Connor, Joshua and Alison. They are comparing the starting sounds, length of names, even number of syllables by clapping. This week we even made a class books of our names in which we counted out the number of letters that made up our name. (We will have to show it to you sometime.) We made a graphic organizer with the same information too. We are learning big words too like “graphic organizer.” We are exploring our math manipulatives and drawing conclusions by using our calendar wall.
NEXT WEEK WE WILL: do a unit on the alphabet. I plan to read lots of alphabet books. We’ll study their shape and sound. We will also brainstorm words that start wtih various letters. Obviously, this is something that will last much longer than one week. It will kick off some special routines that will guide our study of letters and words!
READING SLIPS: Each week I
will put a reading slip in the Friday Folder. When you have completed listing the title of 10 books on that slip, please return it via the Friday Folder on Monday and I will record the number of books your child has read. Please return it only when it is full with 10 books read. If you need more than one reading slip a week, let me know. You can also record the books read on a plain piece of paper if you don’t have a reading slip. I have made a chart outside our classroom door to keep track of our reading. Our goal is only 10 books a month. So only I shape will go on the wall outside our classroom each month but I will keep track of how many books are read by each student and put additional stickers on their cut out shape for every ten books read. Some have already sent several book slips back. Keep up the good work. The children are excited about earning a shape. The more we read and are read to the better readers we become. I hope this will be a convenient way to keep track of books read and create a bit of competition or at least a desire to read more. Our first shape will combine Aug. and Sept. so we have time to get a lot of books read. At the end of Sept., I will see who read the most and that child will get a special certificate! Everyone else that met the goal of 10 books read will receive something special also. (Maybe a coupon from McDonald’s or somewhere!)
MERIT AWARD: This weeks merit award goes to Erin McFall and Marley Seaton for being responsible which is our new character word this month. Kailey Tate was recognized at the Caring Kid assembly on Monday as a Caring Kid showing a cooperative spirit! Congratulations Kailey! Yeah!
T-SHIRTS: Each of the kindergarten classes will have t-shirts for the children to wear on field trips and special occasions. It will help greatly in watching the children and keeping them accounted for at all times. I have enough t-shirts for all the children and have turned the tie dyeing project over to Markus’ mom. Thanks!
HIGHLIGHTS MAGAZINE: I have enclosed a form from Hightlights Magazine. If you are interested in receiving this for your child, return completely and I will send it in to the company. However, even if you don’t want it, please sign and return it in the Friday folder. They will give the classroom prizes for just returning the slips. You don’t have to buy anything and they will not contact you.
PTA MEMBERSHIP: Don’t forget to join PTA. They are an active group of parents that do so much for our school. Like everything else it takes teamwork and a little bit of money. Thanks! :)
FRIDAY FOLDER: Please return to school on Tuesday. Enclose any notes, lunch money etc. Thank you.
GRANDPARENT DAY: SEPT. 28th
NO SCHOOL: Monday, Sept. 7st.
THEME: Alphabet
Thank you,
Mrs. Donna Mountjoy