CASA Kindergarten

CASA Kindergarten

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

November Happenings

Just wanted to send out some updates and offer some thanks as we approach this Thanksgiving season!

First off- thank you so much to Leigh Anne Travis and Tracy Brown in the planning of our Harvest Hoedown! Thank you also to all of you who sent in items and came and volunteered your time to help make it so special for the kids.  A fun day was had by all!

The kids may have told you, but our sweet Brooke, moved to another school. We miss her lots!

We finished up our unit on Fall last week.  The kids had fun as we took a leaf nature walk, graphed our fall leaves, worked on counting, sorting, patterning, estimating and graphing through Fall M&M math.  We read all sorts of Fall stories and some fun Halloween ones too!  We have begun learning about the difference in fiction and non-fiction books and have been reading some of both.  We continue to work on recognizing our letters and the sounds that each of them make and well as writing with inventive spelling.  If your child is trying to spell at home, rather than telling them exactly how to spell something, encourage them "stretch out the word" and listen for the sounds that they hear.

As Veteran's Day approaches this Friday, we have been focusing on Patriotism this week.  We have learned about our American flag, what the stars and stripes mean as well as what the colors stand for.  Ask your child if they remember.  We painted flags today.  We have also been learning about the presidents and read about George Washington today.

Reminders~
  • No school this Friday
  • I will begin parent/teacher conferences next week.  I will be sending home a note about that tomorrow.
  • Next Friday, November 18, is our mission field trip to The Lovelady Center.  I will need students at school by 8:50 on this day.  We will be leaving at 9:00.  There is not a limit to the number of chaperones for this trip.  We'll be doing a Thanksgiving craft with the children who live there.
Thanks for your continued support and for sharing your children with me each day! They are a blessing to me!


















Friday, October 21, 2011

Happy Harvest

We have had such a full and busy past couple of weeks! We finished up our Fairy Tale Unit last week with stories of Goldilocks and The Three Bears, Dusty Locks and The Three Bears, Cinderella, and Cinderella Penguin.  The kids did a great job making comparisons between the different versions.  Bear day was also tons of fun last Friday as we shared our bears.  We compared the similarities and differences in our bears and our friend's bears.
Our field trip to Old Baker Farm was a blast! Many parents joined us and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.  The kids loved the hay ride, choosing a pumpkin, the hay maze, picking cotton, petting different farm animals, and eating lunch in the barn loft! A fun day for all was had! I will post pictures soon of our day.  Thank you to Ari Obregon who took some beautiful ones that I will share as well!
This week has been fun-filled too! I enjoyed seeing so many of you on Tuesday for our Open House and Spaghetti Supper.  The children did a great job singing.  I hope that you all enjoyed the dinner and a chance to look around our classroom at all of the work they have been doing!
We began our unit on Fall this week.  We've been discussing the seasons and the differences in our seasons.  We have worked on several different fall/harvest crafts.  One super fun math activity that we did this week was Candy Corn Math.  We sorted, patterned, and counted sweet corn and Indian corn.
Thank you for sharing your sweet children with me each and every day.  They never fail to put a smile on my face.  I hope that you all have a blessed weekend!
**Reminder** Our Harvest Hoedown is not next Friday.  It has been moved to Monday the 31st.  More details to come soon. Thanks!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

All About Our Community

Hello All! We have had a busy couple of weeks as we've been learning all about Community Helpers!  We have talked all about the different workers in our community.  We have read some great books such as Library Lion, Down By The Station, All Aboard Firetrucks, Officer Buckle and Gloria, I'm Your Bus and many more.  We have been talking about the author and illustrator of our books as well as learning about the parts of the book such as the title, the front cover, and the back cover. 
As we have been learning all about communities, we have transformed our own classroom into a community.  Our writing center is the post office, our home living is Moe's, our building center is Home Depot, our Book Nook is the public library, and our Math center is the school.  They have loved pretending during centers each day!! And if you've been receiving some interesting papers or pictures in the folder- the post office has been mighty busy!! :)
We focused on the letter P last week and are onto the letter N this week.  We do a practice handwriting sheet each week, which I am sure you have seen in the folders.  I am also going to start sending home an additional "Homework Letter practice page."  This is not mandatory, but is just good extra practice, especially for the fine motor skills. If they do complete it and bring it back, I will let them get a prize from the treasure box.
In Math we have been practicing counting to 20, focusing on shapes, graphing, and have also worked a couple of math solving problems in our Math journals.
One of our favorite activities from last week was making edible firetrucks.  Thank you to everyone who sent in food items for those.
Reminders:
* Field trip tomorrow to Ridgeview Nursing Home.  Please have your child wear their CASA t-shirts.  If you are going with us, we will be leaving at 10:30.  You can just meet us in the front parking lot at about 10:25.  Ridgeview is in Meadowbrook, located behind Joe's Crab Shack.
* We will be going to Old Baker Farm next Friday, October 7.  I will need all children and chaperones at school that day at 8:45.  We have to be there by 9:30 and it is in Harpersville.  I will send permission slips for that trip home later this week.  There is a $7 fee for each child as well as for each chaperone.  If you write a check, just make it out to CASA.  I will have them cut us a check for the entire amount to give to the farm on the day of our trip.
*** Change of Date: On the October calendar that I sent home, the Harvest Hoedown is listed for Friday, the 28th.  It has now been changed, due to a conflict with the 4 year old teachers.  It will now be on Monday, the 31st.  Please make a note of that.
Thanks for your continuing support.  As always, let me know if you have questions or concerns. Thanks!!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Great First Week

Hello All! I just wanted to let everyone know that we had a fabulous first week at CASA! I know it's still early in the year, but I have to say, I think we are going to have a really great year.  This is a great group of kids who have really all meshed well together! We even got to celebrate TWO birthdays- Brooke and Riley! Cupcakes on Wednesday and doughnuts on Friday- lots of sugar! :)

Just a few things to remember... Next Monday, September 19 is our Parent Night at 6:00.  I ask that parents only come to this meeting.  I will be going over a good bit of information for the upcoming school year.  We will not go past 7:00- as I know that everyone is busy and I appreciate you taking time out of your schedules to be there.

I will have sign up lists for chaperones for our field trips this year at Parent Night, but I just wanted to give you a heads up that our first field trip will be on Friday, October 7 to Old Baker Farm.  They will allow up to one parent per child for this trip, so we would love to have you join us if you can. It's a great time if you've never been.  The kids will pick pumpkins, take a hay ride, pet farm animals, and lots more! There is a charge for children and adults for this trip.  I want to say that it's between $5-$7 per person.  I will have the exact amount when I send home the permission slip.
We spent a lot of time last week getting to know one another, reviewing our classroom procedures and rules, and settling into our routine.  This week we will be focusing on our "All About Me" unit.  We'll be reading some great books, writing in our daily journals, graphing the letters in our names, and many other fun activities. It should be a great week!







Thursday, September 1, 2011

























Welcome!

I'm looking forward to a great year with a new group of super kids this year! I had so much fun meeting everyone today at meet the teacher. I always love seeing the excitement on each child's face as they take in our classroom and a new group of kids, with whom they will soon be great friends! I know that we are going to have a fantastic year! We have lots to look forward to and much learning to be done.
Next week we will spend time getting to know one another as well as familiarizing ourselves with the routines of our classroom and our days at CASA.
I would like to stress the importance of doing your best to have your child to CASA on time each day. Carpool starts at 9:30 and ends around 9:50. This is a Kindergarten class, which involves a good bit of academic time. I hate for your child to miss anything important! If you are late, you must walk your child in and sign them in at the CASA office. From there, an office staff member will either walk them down to the room, or notify me that they are walking down.
I also wanted to mention, that our class does go until 2:00. If you have another child (or children) in the program, they will be taken to aftercare at no extra charge to you. However, you must come in and pick them up in the aftercare room before 2:00. I will bring the class out at 2:00 for carpool. You will line up as normal and I will load them.
If you ever have any questions or concerns, please let me know! My email address is jcameron6877@gmail.com
Thanks!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Summer is coming!

Hello all! I guess this may be the last update for a while considering we only have 8 more days left of school (but who's counting!) It is honestly quite hard to believe that the year has flown by as quickly as it has! As spring has sprung- so have our energy levels:) Don't get me wrong though- we've been having lots of fun- and hopefully still learning a little on the way!

This month has brought yet another wonderful mission trip to the Lovelady Center. Although it was a quick trip, the children, ours and those there, had a wonderful time. We helped the boys and girls there to make handprint flowers for their moms for Mother's Day- much like the ones you received from your little ones. In our own classroom, we also enjoyed working on a few Mother's Day crafts of our own. We have also finished up our unit on the Farm. We discussed all of the different farm animals and the ways in which each one can be helpful. We learned about the jobs of a farmer and we also compared the ways in which our homes and farms are similar and different.

I am beginning to send home work, folders, etc. as we are beginning to clear out for the end of the year. April/May journals came home on Friday. We will be doing something different during journal time for the last few days. I also sent home the children's reading folders. If you still have books out, please turn those back in for the year.

Of course I once again have to say how much I appreciate all that you did for me for Teacher Appreciation Week! You guys are incredible and I am so thankful to have a classroom full of such supportive and thoughtful parents!

Don't forget that this Friday is our Pre-K Five graduation!! You won't want to miss it. You should have received your invitations in your child's folder last Wednesday. Carolyn needs an RSVP from each family in the next day or two if possible. You can just call the CASA office at 995-1038 or email myself- jcameron6877@gmail.com, or Carolyn- cealy@asburyonline.org Parents and your child in my class are free, however any extra adults are $6 and extra children are $3. We need a headcount though for food preparation and for table set up.
The program will begin at 11:00 in the sanctuary, followed by lunch in the Christian Life Center.
If you would like to help in table setup and decoration, you may contact Stephanie Hoff at stephhoff12@hotmail.com She and I will be setting up on Friday morning before CASA.

Our end of the year party will be on Tuesday, May 24 with a beach theme. We will begin around 10:30 and weather permitting, we will be out on the soccer fields. Kids may wear bathing suits with t-shirts for boys and cover-ups for girls. They may also bring a beach towel. You will be receiving more information about the party from Libba Smith.

We will have game day on Monday, May 23. Your child may bring a favorite board game and/or puzzle from home to share with friends.

We will have class show and tell on Wednesday, May 25- the last day. They may bring a favorite toy from home that fits in their backpack to share with the class.

It's so hard to believe that we are winding down! Thank you for sharing your children with me this year! They have been a joy to teach!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

April Events

Hello All! Got my blogging issues figured out, so I thought it was time for an update! Last week was a busy but fun week! Thank you to all of the moms who came out for Muffins for Moms. The kids did a great job singing and loved having you there! We also had a fabulous time on our field trip to Bud's Best Cookies on Tuesday! The factory tour was so much fun and the best part by far was the free cookies!! Thanks to the parents/grandparents who went and also to those who met us afterwards at the park. We especially appreciate the pizza lunch! Lots of fun!! This week we will be starting our Farm unit that will last for the next few weeks. We of course will also be doing a few Easter activities and crafts as well. ** Just a reminder that we will have a class Easter Egg hunt on Thursday at 1:00.** Please send your child with their basket on Thursday. Also if you don't mind, please send the basket completely empty (no grass). If you would like to come and watch the kids hunt for their eggs, you are more than welcome to. We will be down on the soccer field. Also don't forget that we have no school on Friday. I hope that everyone has a blessed Easter weekend!! I will be doing end of the year conferences the first week of May. I will send home a conference time form for you to return this week. At this point in the year, each week is super busy with lots of extra activities it seems. We are doing lots of reviewing of skills we have learned. We continue with our reading and did begin working on a little story writing last week. We will continue that throughout the rest of the year as well. As always, please let me know if you have questions or concerns. It's hard to believe that this year is winding down! Have a great week!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

February Fun!

Some time has passed since my last post... we've been extra busy I suppose! We had a great two weeks learning all about Dinosaurs! The kids had a blast as we read lots of nonfiction books about the different kinds of dinosaurs, meat eaters and plant eaters, as well as writing about what we would do if we had our own dinosaur. We started the unit off with a KWL chart, listing things we "know" and "want to know" about dinosaurs and then at the end of the unit, came back and listed things we learned.
We have continued our letter practice with the letters O, K, and E. The kids also continue to do a great job with their sight words. I encourage them daily to use at least one or two sight words when they are writing in their journal.
You also may have noticed some number practice pages coming home lately. This has been helping a lot on forming our numbers correctly when writing them as well as matching numbers and number words. Several are still having confusion on writing numbers on into the teens and knowing which number comes first on the double digits. Any extra practice at home would be great with that!
I have been doing February assessments and am finishing up this week. Look for progress reports to come home in their folders this coming Friday. If you feel the need for a conference to discuss your child's progress, please let me know and I am happy to schedule one!
Among all of the learning that we've been doing, we've had lots of extra fun activities going on as well. Our trip to Children's Theater a couple of weeks ago was great! The kids had so much fun and we all really enjoyed the performance of Hansel and Gretal!
Of course Valentine's Day was wonderful as well. They had so much fun exchanging cards and candy and doing their Valentine day craft. Many thanks to the planning hands behind our little party! I couldn't do it without the help of you guys!
And I am sure you heard all about the 100th day of school!!! The excitement just never stops:)
We did all kinds of activities on that day. One of my favorites was graphing what our favorite part of school has been in the first 100 days. Playing on the playground won- hands down-Ha! They also loved making their 100 day trail mix. 10 each of 10 yummy snacks= a bag of 100 delicious treats! Thanks to you all for sending in the items for that!
This coming week we will be finishing up our unit on Patriotism and beginning our Nutrition unit. ***If anyone has any old magazines that would have pictures of food in them that you would like to donate, please send them in!*** We will cutting out food pictures for one of our projects during our Nutrition unit.
Next Friday, March 4, we will be taking a second trip to Ridgeview Nursing Home. There is no limit on the number of chaperones for that trip- the more the merrier-and siblings are welcome too! The folks there LOVE seeing children of all ages!
As always- please let me know if you have concerns or questions! Thank you all for your continuing support!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

A Joyous January
























































































Hello All! What fun we've had this week- especially today, as you can see! The kids did a fantastic job at Donuts for Dad, and I have to say, I think the Dad's were quite entertained by the kid's rendition of Mosquito Burrito:) They also enjoyed some fellowship and tasty donuts! Thanks Dads for taking the time and coming. I know that your children enjoyed having you there so much!

In other news... we have been learning all about Winter for the past couple of weeks. We have talked about winter weather and the kinds of things we see and do during the winter. The kids have written about what they like to do in the snow. We read about Eskimos and the arctic and made our own Eskimo people. We made snowmen last week and did a mitten sequencing the numbers 1-15- which was found to be quite time consuming- but great practice nonetheless!

The kids are doing a fantastic job on their reading!! I am so very proud of them and I know you are too! They are reading and returning their books faster than I can keep up some days. It is really starting to click and it makes it so much fun and exciting when they are starting to read on their own. We have been practicing alot with word families this week as well. They are learning to recognize the patterns and are learning how to blend the beginning sound with the ending to read the words. Sight word recognition is coming along great too. I can tell that they have been practicing those at home. Keep up the good work!

We have loved having Gavin as our Star Student this week and have learned so much about him. Thanks for the pizza lunch on Tuesday as well- delicious!

Thank you for sending in your field trip money for the Children's Theater next week. We will be departing from the church at 10:00 on Friday the 4th. Please be on time- we don't want anyone getting left behind! I apologize to the moms who have asked to go and cannot. The theater has strict rules on the number of chaperones we can bring along. I wish you all could go with us! There is a chance that now we will be able to use the church van, however, plan on leaving a booster for your child just in case.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Oh- and if you didn't catch it on the calendar- I have a new email address that I am slowly switching over to, once I transfer all of my contacts. It is jcameron6877@gmail.com I am still able to check the charter account, but feel free to change my contact information in your address books. Thanks!