I realized last night that because of all the things I have been doing both in the classroom and outside in my non-teacher life, I have not been as diligent as I’d like to be on reporting all the LEARNING that has been happening in our classroom. And there is some serious LEARNING happening!
We are truly becoming readers and writers as we move into the last part of Kindergarten! I am very proud of the work I see your children accomplishing. Last week, we began to learn about digraphs – ch, sh, th, wh, and ck. This is a very difficult concept, and one that was not taught in Kindergarten formally just a few years ago. However, the kiddos are really latching on to it and many are becoming Digraph Detectives as we read books and poems together. We also noticed on our morning schedule there are several digraphs we have read all year – lunch, math, snack, and choice.
Journal writing at the beginning of the year was a labored activity, and now I see many children using learned strategies to independently write in their journals. They are picking up sight words, sounding out words and remembering spaces between their words. We will continue to practice our lowercase handwriting.
I have been meeting in small groups with children to practice some guided reading skills like one-one correspondence, patterns in text and fluency. These are all things you can support at home through daily reading with your child.
We are still working on our transitions as a group from one activity to another and working on using kind words with friends. Please reinforce good habits with your child by modeling positive problem solving, giving enough time to move from one activity to another and preparing your children from when there is a a change in scheduling.
I just got back from DC yesterday, visiting my alma mater, GW, for the weekend. No POTUS sightings, but It was beautiful weather and seeing all the cherry blossoms in bloom made for some serious Spring-itis! We will definitely be spending time outside as the weather continues to get nicer! Please make sure that your child comes in Kindergarten-friendly sneakers every day (i.e. no flip flops or party shoes) because they love to climb and run when we are outside.
And just a reminder, our Teddy Bear Float Parade is this Thursday, April 17 at 1:15 p.m. Hope to see you there and I can’t wait to see the floats!
