Schumacher Kindergarten

October 31, 2011

What a great conference week.  I enjoyed sharing your child’s successes with you.  Thank you for all your support and input.

It is hard to believe that it is almost November.  In just three short weeks we will have our Thanksgiving week off. 

Our phonics letter this week is “C.”  Pictures for the alphabet dictionary are due by Thursday.  Feel free to send them in early.

Our language arts theme is “Day and Night” and will include both the differences and similarities of day and night and the various animals associated with each.  This concept is one of our science objectives.

In math we will take a closer look at different shapes, both plane shapes and solid shapes.

Pizza Hut Reading Logs are due this week.  A completed reading log merits a coupon for a personal pan pizza!!

Due to a variety of scheduling conflicts we are going to move our library day to Thursdays between now and Thanksgiving. 

Remember that the children do not have school on Tuesday, November 8^th.  Exercise your right to vote.

Our Friends and Family Thanksgiving lunch for Kindergarten is scheduled for Wednesday, November 9^th.  We will probably have a different lunch time that day.  Be on the look-out for a schedule in the near future. 

The Baker coupon book fund raiser has ended.  Please return the book, sell it, or buy it.  Thank you all for your support of the school.

Thanks for checking the blog.  The bonus B.U.G.S. ticket word is “bat.”

October 24, 2011

 The Language Arts theme is “Pumpkins.”   We will read about pumpkins and make a jack-o lantern picture.

The phonics letter of the week is “N.”  Pictures for the alphabet dictionaries are due by Thursday.  Feel free to send them in early so you don’t forget. 

In math we will continue our look at numbers to 10.  We are really trying to foster an understanding of quantity.

We have a lot of news and information to share this week.

Remember that this is conference week.  Children will be dismissed from school 2 hours early every day this week.  The after school program is available early at no extra cost, so it is a child care option.

During the week of October 24-30, Baker will celebrate National Red Ribbon Week. The following theme days will be observed during Red Ribbon Week:

 Monday- “Sock it to Drugs!” Wear crazy or mismatched socks.

Tuesday- “Team Up Against Drugs” Wear your favorite team or college apparel.

Wednesday- “When you are Drug Free, You can Dream Big” Dress for success as your dream career.

Thursday- “Being Drug Free is No Sweat” Wear sweats to school

Friday- "Your Future is so Bright" Wear sunglasses and/or Baker spirit wear.

The character word for the month of October is Responsibility.  The focus of the week is Cheerfulness/Positive Attitude.

Tuesday evening is Baker Night at Chick Fil-A on Chastain Road.

Picture retakes will be taken on Thursday, October 27^th.  Anyone who was absent on the original date will have his/her yearbook picture taken that day also.  If you want to return your originals for another attempt at a glamour shot, please be sure to have your child bring back the originals.  It would be helpful if you would let me know that you intend to do so before Thursday.  That information will help with logistics.

It is sooo exciting.  Spooky Bingo is Friday evening, October 28^th.  Dinner orders have to be in by Wednesday.  This is always a fun event.

Reading logs are due by November 1^st. 

Friends and Family Thanksgiving lunches will be November 9 and 10.  Further information regarding specific dates and times for each grade level and class will be forthcoming.

The media center is sponsoring a Scholastic Book fair November 9^th through 14^th.   It will be open during Friends and Family lunches!!  Get some holiday shopping done early.

I look forward to meeting with you all during conference week.

Thanks again for checking the blog.  The bonus B.U.G.S. ticket word is “pumpkin.”

October 17, 2011

Wow!!!  The Jump Rope for Heart fund raiser brought in over $12,000!!  That's some great jumping, to be sure,  And there’s more:

Children brought home Square One Art projects last Thursday.  Yes, these designs were created by the children.  We do have an awesome art teacher.

The children also brought home Sally Foster fund raiser coupon books.  These sales will benefit our school directly.  Please note that if you do not want the coupon book, you should return it intact.

And if that’s not enough excitement – Spooky Bingo will be here before you know it!  Mark your calendars for Friday night, October 28^th.  Notices will come home on Monday for dinner reservations.  Be on the lookout for this informational flyer.  This is a very fun event.

Our PTSA is sponsoring a food drive for the holiday season.  A notice regarding this program came home last Thursday. 

Testing week(s) are over.  We are back on our regular schedule for one week.  Then our schedule changes again with conference week.  We will have specials from 10:00 - 10:30 and lunch at 10:58 - 11:28.  We will be working fast and furiously in our rooms in between these times.

We are continuing our Fall theme this week.  We will read books about scarecrows and even make a scarecrow. 

The letter of the week is “D.”  Pictures for the alphabet dictionary are due by Thursday.

Thank you for returning the conference letters so quickly.  I appreciate your cooperation and I look forward to meeting with all of you soon.

Please note that the children are dismissed from school two hours early every day the week of October 24^th, conference week.  The After School Program will be available early with no additional charge.

We had so much fun at the fund raiser pep rally that we forgot to put our apple poem into our notebooks.  Never fear, we will take care of it on Monday, but we will not send the notebooks home until next Friday, with two new poems for your reading pleasure.

In recognition of and participation in Red Ribbon Week, October 24-28, (drug awareness) we are promoting the following:

Monday- “Sock it to Drugs!” Wear crazy or mismatched socks

Tuesday- “Team Up Against Drugs” Wear your favorite team or college apparel

Wednesday- “When you are Drug Free, You can Dream Big” Dress for success as your dream career

Thursday- “Being Drug Free is No Sweat” Wear sweats to school

Friday- “Your Future is so Bright” Wear sunglasses and/or Baker spirit wear

Thanks for taking the time to check the blog.  The bonus B.U.G.S. ticket word is "duck."

October 10, 2011

Thank you for all the apple product donations last week.  The children had fun tasting all the different products.  Then they graphed their favorite version of apple food.  We had so many contributions that we even had left-overs at lunch on Thursday.

We are continuing the Fall theme in Language Arts with a special focus on Farm Harvest and Farm Animals.  We are also integrating “Animals and their Babies” which is a science objective for this quarter.

The letter of the week is “A.”  Pictures for the alphabet dictionaries are due by Thursday this week.  Thank you for your continued support with this homework,

Your child brought home a reading log last Monday.  This is the reading log for the Pizza Hut Book-It program.  Simply write down any books your child reads and/or any books you read to your child.  Return the list by the due date and your child will receive a coupon good for a personal pan pizza. 

The official date for conference letters to be sent home is this Monday, October 10^th.  I think some teachers may have sent theirs early to afford more time for turn-around, but that did cause a little confusion.  At any rate, your child’s conference letter will be in the folder on Monday afternoon, October 10^th.   Please return these as soon as possible so that I can make changes as needed in a timely fashion.

Remember that we go to the library every Wednesday so that children can get different books more frequently.  Be sure to have your child bring his/her book back to school by Wednesday each week.

 The Baker Elementary PE department is sponsoring Jump Rope for Heart project.  Your children have probably mentioned it to you.  Coach Cool has information on this program at his website.  I have copied it for you:

“Many students have asked me if I could include the link for Jump Rope For Heart on my blog so they could complete their fundraising/donating online.  Here you go: www.heart.org/jump

School Goals & Incentives 

*School raises $7,500 - Mr. Cool dresses up as Hannah Montana  : )

*Classroom that collectively receives the largest donation - Big Pie In The Sky pizza party

*Classroom that has the highest percentage of participants - Popsicle party

*Individuals receive thank you gifts depending on donations raised...

DON'T FORGET, THE DEADLINE DATE FOR JRFH IS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14^th”

http://baker.typepad.com/cool

 

Thanks for taking the time to check the blog.  The bonus B.U.G.S. ticket word is “apple.”

October 3, 2011

This beautiful weekend ushers in the month of October, another month full of opportunities and possibilities.

Our Language Arts fall theme this week is “Apples.”  Thanks so much for all the donations for our apple tasting activity on Wednesday.  It is amazing that we didn’t have any duplication in the donation choice.  Sometimes things just work out.  I thank you for your generosity.

The letter this week is “M.”  Pictures for the alphabet dictionaries are due by Thursday.  I only had to do homework for two children last week.  Good job, parents, for demonstrating the importance of doing school homework.

In math we have technically finished the chapter on patterning but we will revisit the concept and practice making patterns periodically throughout the year.  We have started looking at numbers and number sense along with the terms equal, more, and fewer.

We are in the process of creating conference schedules.  Thanks to those of you who let me know preferences.  It is so much easier to schedule with this information early than to reschedule around all the other appointments when I get this information later.   We will work around unforeseen and unexpected scheduling glitches.

The following is a list of upcoming events:

1. October 14- PTSA Fundraiser Kick-off
2. October 20- Monster Golf/ Relay for Life fundraiser
3. October 24-28- Conference Week
4. October 25- PTSA Chick fil a Night
5. October 28- Spooky Bingo

More information on all these activities will be forthcoming but mark your calendars now.

Thanks for checking the blog.  The bonus B.U.G.S. ticket word is "monster."