Friday, April 23, 2010

In case you are looking for pictures from the Field Trip, I am having trouble with this web site uploading the pictures. I will try next week.
Thanks! :)

WEEK IN A PEEK!

April 23, 2010
Dear Parents,
THIS WEEK WE: continued study of insects and watched our caterpillars grow. We have 12 that will hopefully develop into butterflies! “The Grouchy Ladybug” helped us with telling time and we continue to write stories.
NEXT WEEK WE WILL: talk about zoo animals. They love animals of all kinds so I am sure they will enjoy finding books in the library about different zoo animals.
FIELD TRIP: It was great. The weather cooperated! An extra special thank you to all the parents that helped out! You’re awesome!
I have posted a few pictures on the blog.

SPRING CARNIVAL: APRIL 30TH If you have not sent donations for our raffle basket, send ASAP.

Kindergarten Celebration! Our theme is Getting Down With Mother Goose! It is on the calendar for May 4th in the gym at Mathews Elementary.
Students are asked to arrive by 6:15 p.m. and report to their classroom to be ready for the performance at 6:30 p.m. A rehearsal will be held earlier that day.
SUMMER SCHOOL: If you are planning to send your child to summer school, be sure to return the enrollment form soon. It would be a great peek into 1st grade.
BOOT CAMP: APRIL 30TH
FIELD DAY: MAY 7TH
If it rains, we will try again on May 10th.
Thank you,
Mrs. Donna Mountjoy

Thursday, April 1, 2010




WEEK IN A PEEK!





April 1, 2010
Dear Parents,
THIS WEEK WE: read the classic Tale of Peter Rabbit. It is a great story! We wrote books, counted and graphed eggs, and had a great time hunting Easter Eggs! Thanks for sending the eggs. The weather was perfect! I will post pictures on the blog. http://mountjoyskindergartenclass.blogspot.com
NEXT WEEK WE WILL: begin a unit about plants. We will explore what a plant needs to live, grow and become strong. Of course we will have to write about them.
FIELD TRIP: We will tour the Springfield Cardinals Stadium on April 22nd Thanks for sending the permission slip so quickly. We are getting all the paper work done! If you haven’t sent the permission slip yet, please send next week. Now we just need the weather to cooperate. 
SPRING CARNIVAL: April 30th Kecia Roemen requests that all contributions be in by April 23rd. If you have questions call her at 522-8492
KINDERGARDEN CELEBRATION: May 4th. Watch for details!
FIELD DAY: May 7th Watch for details.
TALENT SHOW: May 18th
If your child is interested in performing, return the entry form by April 9th.
NO SCHOOL: TOMORROW, APRIL 2nd. HAVE A GOOD HOLIDAY WEEKEND. 
Thank you,
Mrs. Donna Mountjoy

Friday, March 5, 2010

WEEK IN A PEEK!

March 5, 2010
Dear Parents,
THIS WEEK WE: explored the solar system. I think almost everyone can name the nine planets that orbit our sun. They have done a lot of writing and aliens seem to be a common topic. We also talked about the phases of our moon. I hope you will encourage your child to look in the night sky and identify the phase of the moon this month as it waxes and wanes.
NEXT WEEK WE WILL: talk about the farm. This is one of my favorite topics because I grew up on a farm! As one of 5 daughters, Dad worked all of us pretty hard. (He would laugh to hear me say that. I am sure he didn’t think we worked hard enough.) Mom also had some pretty high expectations. We were all taught how to cook, sew, take care of farm animals and drive the tractor. I am planning for the children to write riddles about something on a farm.
READING SLIPS: CONGRATULATIONS once again to the following students that have met their monthly reading goal: Mason, Connor, Katie, Cody, Johnny, Alison, Nolan, Erin, Isaac, Markus, Marley, Joshua, Kailey, Michaela, and Apryl. Special congrats to Kailey! She read 80 books during the month of February. Way to go, Kailey! A Pizza Hut Coupon is enclosed. Thank you so much for keeping with the program and reading with your child. That kind of commitment always pays off!
YEARBOOK: Announcing…
The Helen Mathews Elementary
2009-2010 YEARBOOK
Our yearbook will be in full color and includes our school name and year imprinted on the front. Standard yearbooks are $16.00 with the option of purchasing personalization for an extra $5.00. Order forms will be sent home on March 5th. Don’t miss out…Turn in your order form, with payment, to your classroom teacher by March 15th!
MARK YOUR CALENDAR:
No School: March 12
Spring Break: March 22-26
Thank you,
Mrs. Donna Mountjoy

Friday, February 26, 2010

WEEK IN A PEEK!

February 26, 2010
Dear Parents,
THIS WEEK WE: packed for a pretend picnic, as we wrote our book this week. We also sequenced and wrote a book about the Little Red Hen. We decided it was a good idea to help out when people ask us. Actually, everyone in the class said they would have happily helped out planting the wheat and taking care of the plants. I know they enjoy eating fresh bread right from the oven! We did that! We read lots of books with food in them and thought about the added benefit of healthy teeth. (They really made us hungry.) Thanks for the nutritious foods you sent for snacks this week. We had something special every day!
NEXT WEEK WE WILL: take a look at day and night (complete with phases of the moon) and look past our atmosphere into space. Here’s a way to remember the planets. My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. Can you name them? In recent years they have found a couple other planets too. There is also a controversy as to whether some planets are really planets. We will talk about things astronauts need in space and of course write a book. We will make a space scene to help us remember the planets. We are working a lot with word families such as sun, run, fun etc. and rhyming words. Practice at home too.
End of Quarter: The end of 3rd quarter is March. 11th. I am testing. You may want to practice with your child this weekend recognizing numbers to 31, counting to 100 and reviewing letter sounds.
CARING KID: Marley is our Caring Kid for February! Our word was trustworthiness. She is a great example of that trait! Congratulations! 
READING SLIPS: Monday will be the last day I will accept reading slips for February. After that any slip will go toward the March reading goal. 
No School: March 12
SPRING BREAK: March 22-26th
THEME: Space
Thank you,
Mrs. Donna Mountjoy

Friday, February 5, 2010

WEEK IN A PEEK!

February 5, 2010
Dear Parents,
THIS WEEK WE: studied about Missouri. We made a special poster to record facts learned about Missouri. By the end of the week, it was our goal to be able to recognize the shape of Missouri and know something about landforms (mountain, valley, river etc. In addition, I hope they will be able to tell you the state bird, the state insect, and other state symbols. Our Valentine party was today! Thank you to all the parents involved in making it a special event for our class! :)
NEXT WEEK WE WILL: talk about the community helpers at our post office. We will recognize their hard work 6 days a week getting the mail delivered all over our country. My dad worked as a substitute mailman so I have fond memories of getting to go with dad on his rural route and trying to quickly stuff the mail in the boxes. If I was really good, he would buy me a coke. Those were the days! 
BOOK FAIR: The Book Fair started started today, Feb. 5th and will continue through next Thursday evening, Feb. 11th. They have some great books!
BOOK SLIPS: Congratulations to the following students that turned in book slips for the month of January.
Mason, Sophie, Connor, Cody, Johnny, Alison, Nolan, Erin, Isaac, Markus, Marley, Joshua, Kailey, Michaela, and Alaya. Special congrats to Marley with 70 books read during the month! Yeah! You will find a Pizza Hut coupon enclosed.
CONFERENCES:
Feb. 9th and Feb. 11th .
I have enclosed a note with your date and time. If your appointment time won’t work, call or send a note and we will figure out a time that will work.
No School: Feb. 12th
EMERGENCY NEED!: We are in need of gluesticks. Please send on Monday! Thanks!
THEME: Community Helper (mailman)
Thank you,
Mrs. Donna Mountjoy

Friday, January 22, 2010

WEEK IN A PEEK!

January 22, 2010
Dear Parents,
THIS WEEK WE: talked about the impact Martin Luther King, Jr. had on our country today. They seemed to be very interested in why people were so mistreated. We are doing a lot of writing! Composing a story means you need to put events in an order and write what happened first, next and last. We did that with a couple projects this week. They did an awesome job!
NEXT WEEK WE WILL: celebrate the 100th day of school. We have been counting up to 100 and looking forward to getting to 100 since the beginning of school. Please send a ziplock bag with 100 of something next Monday. It can be 100 paper clips, 100 cheerios, 100 pieces of candy, (we won’t eat it! At least we will try not to! :), 100 nails, 100 stickers. We will compare by weighing, sorting and classifying them into categories throughout the week. The official 100th day of school will be next Tuesday. We will have fun 100 ways!
PARENT CONFERENCES: Feb. 9th and 11th. We will have a traditional conference. Attached is a sheet with time slots. It will be first come first serve. Just fill out the time that best fits your schedule and return to me. I will try to honor the time you select as closely as I can. I will send a confirmation to you by the end of next week. Thank you.
VALENTINE DAY PARTY:
Our PTA moms will be hosting a party for our classroom on Friday, Feb. 5th. I don’t know a lot of detail yet but I understand it will have a 50’s theme! If your child wants to make a special container to put their valentines in, please be working on that at home. Use your imagination and each child will have a very unique container! Send to school sometime during the week of Feb.1st. Below is a list of children’s names in our class. They can address valentines to their classmates and deliver them before the party on Feb. 5th!
Mason Sophie
Connor Katie
Cody Johnny
Alison Chris
Nolan Erin
Isaac Markus
Alaya Marley
Joshua Kailey
Michaela Apryl
MITTEN TREE: We have taken the mitten tree down and packed the gloves, mittens and hats. They will be taken to Least of These. Thank you so much for your donation.
THEME:
100 days of School
Thank you,
Mrs. Donna Mountjoy
FROM OUR ROOM MOTHER:
Kindergarten raffle basket items are needed by Tuesday, April 20th. They will on display at the Spring Carnival April 30th. Now is a great time to buy those clearance items. Sports is our theme. Any items would be greatly appreciated. You can bring the sports items to school any time between now and April 20th. I will collect them weekly from Mrs. Mountjoy. If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call. Kecia Roemen 522-84

Friday, January 15, 2010

WEEK IN A PEEK!

January 15, 2010
Dear Parents,
THIS WEEK WE: worked with mittens. We did some reading and writing about penguins. We have been counting by 2’s as well as measuring items with cubes.
Did you know mice have tails that are different lengths and can be measured? We did it! 
NEXT WEEK WE WILL: continue with a winter theme talking about snowy winter days.
VALENTINE DAY PARTY:
Our PTA moms will be hosting a party for our classroom on Friday, Feb. 5th. I don’t know a lot of detail yet but I understand it will have a 50’s theme! If your child wants to make a special container to put their valentines in, please be working on that at home. Use your imagination and each child will have a very unique container! Send to school sometime during the week of Feb.1st. Below is a list of children’s names in our class. They can address valentines to their classmates and hand deliver them before the party on Feb. 5th!
Mason Sophie
Connor Katie
Cody Johnny
Alison Chris
Nolan Erin
Isaac Markus
Alaya Marley
Joshua Kailey
Michaela Apryl
MITTEN TREE: We have a mitten tree set up in our room. With the cold weather the mittens we donate will be very much appreciated. I will keep the tree up for another week and then they will be donated to Least of These. Several brought in mittens, gloves and even hats. Thank you for your support of the community outreach project.

NEW THINGS:
We have started a lot of new things this week and continuing others. Please don’t let this overwhelm you. I want to encourage you to continue with the Fast Start poem. If you need to do it every other night so you can spend time on the bag book that is fine! Do what you can do. The main thing is spending time reading with your child. I have two parents that have volunteered their time for the children to read the bag book when it is returned. Yeah!  By the way you can count the time you spend on Fast Start and the Bag Book as a book on the Book Slip! Everyone does not have a Bag Book yet but they will soon! 
SNACK: If you have not sent a classroom snack for January, please send sometime next week.
THEME: Snow
Thank you,
Mrs. Donna Mountjoy
FROM OUR ROOM MOTHER:
Kindergarten raffle basket items are needed by Tuesday, April 20th. They will on display at the Spring Carnival April 30th. Now is a great time to buy those clearance items. Sports is our theme. Any items would be greatly appreciated. You can bring the sports items to school any time between now and April 20th. I will collect them weekly from Mrs. Mountjoy. If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call. Kecia Roemen 522-84

Monday, January 11, 2010

WEEK IN A PEEK!

January 11, 2010
Dear Parents,
LAST WEEK WE: got reacquainted and talked about our new year. Winter is here and with it the cold weather is upon us. VERY COLD! We read The Mitten by Jan Brett and several other books that had mittens in them. We have found matching mittens, added mittens, and counted mittens by two’s. We are writing a book and introducing the words said and have to our reading vocabulary.
THIS WEEK WE WILL: continue with mitten, snow and possibly penguin activities.
REPORT CARDS: are going home today. Please sign and return the envelope on tomorrow in the Friday folder.
DECEMBER BOOK SLIPS: Congratulations to Mason, Sophie, Connor, Cody, Johnny, Alison, Nolan, Isaac, Markus, Marley, Joshua, Kailey Michaela, Apryl and Alaya for meeting the goal of at least 10 books read for the month. Cody, Johnny, Markus and Kailey turned in 50 books! Good job! You will find your Pizza Hut coupon in the Friday Folder. I know with the holiday it wasn’t always easy to make time to read with your child. It does pay off though. Please continue to read every night and turn in the reading slips as you get 10 books read. If you have not been reading with your child, it is not too late. Start tonight!
BOOK ORDER: There is a Scholastic book order enclosed. Please return the order next Monday with the Friday Folder. Be sure to put the order form along with the money sealed in an envelope. Checks should be made out to Scholastic Book Club. I have also signed up to make it possible to order books on-line. Just go to: http://www.scholastic.com/clubsordering
Our class user name is: MountjoysKClass and the password is: bookorder I have enclosed a note about this also. The cut-off for on-line orders is Jan. 20th.
Letter and Word Rings: Every student needs to be able to recognize all the letters and the sounds they make very soon. Most of the children have mastered this already. I am making a “word ring” for each child. As they “pass” each set of 10 words they will receive a homework sheet. Please have your child make the book and return it so they can get their next set of “word ring” words. I will introduce it to the class this week and we will get started on it. It is so exciting!
BAG BOOKS: I am sending home little books in ziplock bags when I feel your child is ready for this challenge. Please read the book several times with your child. Begin by looking at the pictures and have your child tell you what he/she thinks is happening in the story. Then go back and read it to your child. Then go back again and have the child try to read it to you. The children are at different stages in their reading readiness. Help them where they need it and encourage them. Have your child read it several more times over the next couple of days. When you finish with it, please sign the paper inside the bag and return it to school. I will send you a new book. Please keep no more than 3-4 days so someone else can read that book. I will start that activity next week as well.
MITTEN TREE: We have a mitten tree set up in our room. With the cold weather the mittens we donate will very much appreciated. I will keep the tree up for two weeks and then they will be donated to Least of These. Several brought in mittens, gloves and even hats this week. Thank you for your support of the community outreach project.
SNACK: If you have not sent a classroom snack for January, please send sometime this week.
THEME: Snow
I hope your family had a wonderful holiday! We are back and ready to learn more about how letters go together. I am excited about what is happening with the children. They are really linking letters with sounds and blending the sounds to read words and write sentences. It is great to see it all come together.
Thank you,
Mrs. Donna Mountjoy
FROM OUR ROOM MOTHER:
Kindergarten raffle basket items are needed by Tuesday, April 20th. They will on display at the Spring Carnival April 30th. Now is a great time to buy those clearance items. Sports is our theme. Any items would be greatly appreciated. You can bring the sports items to school any time between now and April 20th. I will collect them weekly from Mrs. Mountjoy. If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call. Kecia Roemen 522-8492