Kindergarten Class Handbook

7/31/2019 Kindergarten Class Handbook

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Kindergarten Class Handbook

Thomas Edison Elementary

2012-2013
http://edit%286937%29/


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Welcome Letter.3

Get to Know Mrs. Howard..4A Message for Kindergarten Parents5

Supply List..6

Parent-Teacher Relationship..7

Money...............7

Lunch.7

Snacks..8

Transportation8

Attendance8

Volunteers..9

Field Trips.9

Birthdays10

Clothing10

Homework..10

Grading Policy..11

Book-It.11

Media Center/Library..12

Scholastic Book Clubs.12

Daily Folder13

Class Website..13

Weekly Newsletter13

Discipline.14

Final Words.......15


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September 4, 2012

Dear Parents.

This week your child will complete one of the most important milestones in his/her

lifethe first day of school! I understand that you and your child may have met this day

with excitement or apprehension (or a little of both).

I want to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child to Thomas Edison

Elementary and to my classroom. Each new school year is exciting and challenging for me

and I am looking forward to getting to know you and your child.

The beginning of a school year is an exciting time in the lives of children, especially

Kindergarten students. I have prepared this booklet of information to answer many

questions you may have concerning procedures in our classroom and in our school. Please

keep this booklet and refer to it when appropriate. Please let me know if you have any

questions.

This year will be a very exciting time in the life of your child. Kindergarten will be a

time when we build your childs educational foundation. I am very happy to partner with you

on this journey we are beginning. Dont blink this year will go by fast!!!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Howard
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Get to Know Mrs.

HowardI would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Michelle Howard. I am

beginning my 10th year as a teacher. This will be my 3rd year at Thomas Edison Elementary. I

graduated from Saginaw Valley State University, with a degree in Elementary Education in

2002. I obtained my Masters degree in Instructional Education from Central Michigan

University in 2009. I love spending time with my family. I have four children: Kelsey 13, Gibson

10, Gavin 6, Lincoln 4. I also enjoy attending church and teaching Sunday School, going to my

childrens sporting events and scrapbooking . I am looking forward to an amazing year with your

child.


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K Kindle excitement about Kindergarten. Visit your school and meet your childs teacher

I Invite new school friends home to play and help your child build strong friendships

N Never forget safety. Teach your child safety rules-whether walking or taking the bus.

D Discuss what your child will be learning in school colors, shapes, numbers, letters, etc.

E Explore your neighborhood together. Talk about the world you live in.

R Review the good behavior expected of your child, such as following rules and taking turns.

G Get involved at your childs school. Join the PTA. Volunteer in the classroom.

A Answer your childs questions about school. Reassure your child that school is fun.

R Read to your child daily. Visit the library together.

T Turn every day into a learning experience. Let your child help you with everyday chores.

E Encourage your child to eat well, get enough sleep, bathe daily and brush teeth 2X a day.

N Notice new things your child is learning to do. Reinforce your childs progress with praise.


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1 package of #2 pencils 3 folders (2 pockets) with 3 holes punched 1 bottle of WHITE school glue (4 oz.) 1 pair of scissors (Fiskars) 2 boxes of 24 crayons 1 plastic school box (5X8 in size no handles) 1-2 bottles of hand soap 1-2 box of tissues 1 large Book Bag Several glue sticks

Other helpful items that we could use, if you can and would like to send:

1-2 canisters of Clorox wipes 1 box of zip lock baggies (Girls bring one box of snack or quart size and boys bring one

box of sandwich or gallon size) 1 package of dry erase markers 1 box of washable markers (please leave markers in box) 1-2 bottles of hand sanitizer 1-2 reams of white copy paper Play-Doh

**While school supplies are on sale, it would be a good idea to go ahead and stock up on supplies

in order to replenish throughout the school year**
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Parent/Teacher Relationship

I believe that a good parent-teacher relationship is necessary for maximum school

success. Throughout the school year I will communicate with you through notes,

telephone calls, weekly newsletters, daily behavior calendar, progress reports, report

cards, and parent-teacher conferences. I encourage you to contact me if you have

any questions or concerns. You can call me at school 984-6507, send me a note, or e-mail me at:[email protected]

Money

On occasion it will be necessary for your child to bring money to school. Always send money in a

sealed envelope with the following information written on it:

~1. Your childs first and last name

~2. The amount of money

~3. The purpose for the money (lunch, book fair, etc).

~4. My name Mrs. Howard

This envelope needs to be placed in the Blue Folder. With around 25 students to keep track of

and several reasons to collect money, this is a tremendous help and reduces the likelihood of

errors. Also, if the envelope is left on the bus or dropped in the hallway, this information will

help the money to be returned to my classroom.

Lunch

The cost of student lunch is $1.35 per day. (*Please follow the money

procedures outlined above). You can prepay for your childs lunches by send a

check to school and Menus are sent home every month and are available online.

Please help your child select his/her choice before coming to school each day.

School lunch includes milk or juice. If your child brings his/her lunch from home

make sure it is in a lunch box or bag. Milk or juice may be purchased for $.40 or

you may send a non-carbonated, low-sugar beverage from home. You are always welcome to join

us for lunch, however, PLEASE GIVE US A FEW WEEKS TO ESTABLISH OUR ROUTINE

BEFORE VISTING. Adult lunches are $3.00. When you arrive, please sign in at the office and

meet us at the entrance to the cafeteria. Our lunch period is 30 minutes long.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Snacks

In Kindergarten, we eat fairly early in the day. Therefore, we will have snacks

during the afternoon. I would ask that you send your snack to school on the 1st

Monday of each month. This way we have a variety to choose from and youalways know when it is your turn to send snacks. You will need enough for 23

children. If everyone provides a snack once a month, the children will be able tohave a snack every day. Snack items can be: animal crackers, fruit snacks,

goldfish, pretzels or snack bars. No candy, please !

Transportation

Please remember to NOTIFY ME IN WRITING if there are changes in the way

your child will be going home from school. Without written instruction from you,I will send your child home their usual manner (I cannot accept verbal changes

from your child or a sibling). PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL TRANSPORTATION

CHANGES!!! I cannot guarantee that I will have an opportunity to check my

email prior to dismissal. Additionally, substitutes do not have access to my email account. The

BESTway to make a transportation change is by sending a note to school in your childs Blue

Folder. **I have found that it makes everything go smoother is your child uses the same

transportation on the first day of school as (s)he will be using the rest of the school year. If

you want to walk your child to our classroom on the first day, Iunderstand. However, I feel it is best for everyone if you allow your

child to walk independently after the first day. Independence is an

important skill learned in Kindergarten. Dont forget, your child must be

in our classroom by 8:45a.m. to avoid tardiness.

Attendance

Your child should be at school every day unless he/she is sick or observing a

religious holiday. If your child is sick or misses school for any reason, please

send a note so that I can keep it on file so it can be determined if it is an

excused or unexcused absence. In accordance with Port Huron Area School

System attendance policy, at 5 absences you will receive a letter reminding


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you of the attendance policy. If your child accumulates 10 absences, you receive another letter.

You will continue to receive a letter or phone call as the absences continue to accumulate. If

your child is not feeling well, has had a fever during the last 24 hours, or is in any way

contagious, PLEASE allow him/her to stay home from school as we want your child and the rest

of the class and teachers to stay healthy. If you take your child to the doctor, please ask the

doctor for a school excuse note. Please try and refrain from taking your child out of school to

go on family trips as this is not an excused absence. For more details on the attendance policy

refer to your Student Code of Conduct Handbook. For specific questions call the school and ask

to speak to the attendance secretary.

Volunteers

The students and I enjoy having our parents come to school to help us learn!

Beginning in September, you will be given the opportunity to sign up tovolunteer in our class. A calendar will go home prior to the month to sign up for

times you would like to help. Additionally, you can sign up to help out as a room

parent, photo parent, or scrapbook parent. If you are interested, pleasecontact me and I will give you information. I have had wonderful parent support

in years past and I know I can count on you this year! Your help is GREATLY

appreciated!

Field Trips

Throughout the year, we will schedule trips into the community to

enhance our curriculum. Permission slips and cost information will be sent

home prior to each trip. You will have the opportunity to volunteer to be a

chaperone for a field trip. Due to space requirements, the number of

chaperones may be limited for each trip. When the field trip permission slip is distributed, if

you are interested in chaperoning please let me know as soon as possible. Chaperones will be

assigned on a first come, first serve basis. If we have more volunteers than spaces, I will take

out names of parents who have already chaperoned a trip and then draw names. Please

understand that I will make every attempt to give each parent the opportunity to go on a field

trip that wants to. Chaperones will be responsible for 3-5 children while we are away from

school. Since you need to devote all of your attention to our students, siblings are not

permitted to accompany you.


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Birthdays

I know how special birthdays are for you and your child. We will recognize

birthdays at school in an appropriate manner. Please let me know ahead of time

if you wish to send in a special snack for the class on your childs birthday. We

will have the treat/snack during our regular snack time, which will be after

2:00p.m. If your child is having a birthday party and you would like to invitechildren from the class you must send in enough invitations for every child in the class. If there

are not enough for everyone then I will have to send them back home to you.

Clothing

Kindergartners are involved in activities that require jumping, running, climbing and the

like. Tennis shoes with laces or Velcro closures are required for PE days. Please keep inmind that your child will participate in outdoor activities daily and flip-flops, slip-ons,

pumps, clogs, and similar style shoes often pose a danger to your child. Since we try to

maximize the time we have.

Homework

As children enter Kindergarten, they are eager and ready to learn. Kindergarten homework lays

the foundation for good work habits in later years. Furthermore, positive homework helps

establish the home-school connection and involves parents as partners in their childs daily

learning experiences. Your child will receive a monthly homework calendar with several activity

choices. Please assist your child in completing the activities. Once an activity is completed have

your child color in the box to indicate the activity has been completed. You and your child can

work on the activities as you wish. If the assignment requires the child to do a paper assignment

then have the child put the paper in their Blue Folder and I will check it the following school

day. Occasionally, additional homework may be sent home to complete. It will be placed in their

Blue Folders. Have your child complete it and return it to school by the assigned date.


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Grading Policy

This is the rubric I will use to grade your childs work. At the beginning of the school year, I wil

ask them to help me grade their work using the rubric so they know what is expected of them.

If your child needs to redo his/her work, I will provide another copy and write redo on their

original work. Please make sure you work with your child on the skills necessary to correctly

complete their work. I will look for things such as doing their best, staying in the lines whencoloring, using correct colors to complete their work, cutting things out correctly, gluing their

projects together correctly, following directions, etc. I do talk to them about what they can do

to improve and I do stamp papers with a smile if they have shown progress. If you have any

questions, please feel free to contact me at 984-6507.

Book It Reading Program

Every Monday, your child will bring home 2 books to read to you and you to them. It is a letter

book that goes with the letter of the week and a book that goes with the words that

we are learning. Each night you and your child need to read them together. When you

and your child are reading the books, point to the word as you say it so they will

recognize the words when they see them later on. Once you and your child have read

the books together several times, please put your signature on the back of the book. On

Smiley face, sticker or stamp

Great Work!

Check OK!Keep Trying!

___ Check minusMessy or Redo


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Fridays, your child will bring the books back to school and read them to me. If your child reads

the books to me without any errors or help, they will receive a Pizza Hut sticker. Once your

child has 4 stickers, they will get a coupon to receive a FREE personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut!

Your child can only get one free pizza coupon per month. The coupon will expire 30 days from

the date issued. This coupon is for your child only. It is not to be given to friends or family

members and your child must be present to receive the pizza. I strongly encourage you to keep

the books all year long. The books are a great source to use to reread and to review letter

sound and recognition. Each child must participate in this program. This is a great program that

encourages children to read and has exciting rewards.

Media Center/Library

You will learn that I am a firm believer in children being surrounded by books. Each week your

child will visit the school media center/library. He/She will be permitted to checkout one book during each visit. Please help your child find a place to keep his/her

library book at home. My suggestion would be to keep the book in their backpack

unless they are reading it. Then they wont forget to bring it to school when it is

due. Your child must return their current book in order to get a different one. If your child

does not take care of the library books then they will lose their privilege to check out books.

Im sure you all can relate to the excitement we all experience when we crack open the spine of

a new book. That excitement is amplified for our new readers! Each month, I will send home a

catalog from Scholastic Book Clubs. This program provides an inexpensive way to add books to

your childrens home libraries while benefiting our class. With each purchase, our class earns

Bonus Points, which can be exchanged for books for our classroom. Take a quick tour of our

classroom library and you will see for yourself how beneficial this program has been for our

classroom over the years. Please keep in mind that you are under no obligation to purchase

materials from Scholastic Book Clubs. There are two ways to order: you can send the order

form and money into me in the specified money handling way listed above OR you can order

online using our class code HB4NC.
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Your child will have the responsibility of bringing this folder to and

from school daily. This folder will be used as a means of

communication. This folder helps students to establish good

organizational skills as well as teach responsibility. Your childs work

will be sent home in the folder each week. Please take time to look

at your childs work and go over it with them. Your child will be

proud of their work and will want to share it with you. Remember:

Remove all work from your childs folder for a record of his/her

progress throughout the year. I will also send any notes from me or

the school in the folder, so please look for these. Your immediate

response may be requested.

Class Website

I have a classroom website that I maintain to keep you informed on what is going

on in our classroom. There will be many answers to your questions. There is also a

page that has many resources for my students. They can go to the page and go to

many really good websites to help reinforce what we are learning in school. There

is also a class picture album on my website where I will post pictures and keep you

updated on all the fun things we are doing at school. This will allow you to feel more a part of

your childs learning experience. Our website address is:http://www.protopage.com/mrshoward

Weekly Newsletter

Each Monday I will send home a weekly newsletter that will highlight some things

that have happened in class that week. There will also be lots of announcements anddates to keep you informed. It is very important that you read the newsletter each

week. Attached to the bottom of the newsletter will be a weekly progress report

that I will fill out on your child. The way I rate your child will reflect the kind of

week that they had. If they are rated lower one week than another then that means

they did not have as good of a week. If you ever have any questions please feel free to ask.
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Discipline Daily Behavior Plan

Your child deserves the most positive educational climate possible for academic growth. A good

learning atmosphere is one in which a child is free to learn without distraction and a high level

of noise. To help reach this goal, a discipline plan has been developed.

1. Follow directions the first time.

2. Use all materials correctly.

3. Keep hands, feet, objects, and unkind words to yourself.

***These are general rules that cover all areas. They will be discussed at length with your child

during school.

1. Verbal Praise

2. Rewards various daily and weekly rewards such as stickers, stamps, treats, etc.

3. Class-wide rewards such as extra playtime, snacks, popcorn party, movie, etc.

1. Warning

2. Remove child from situation (Example: move child from rug to his/her seat when they

misbehave) and change star color, which will be indicated on folder behavior chart.

3. Lose some or all playtime, note sent home to parents that must be signed and returned to

school. They change their star color on behavior board, which will be indicated on folder.

4. Referred to principal, call to parents, and change star on behavior board.


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* * *SEVERE CLAUSE* * *

In case of severe misbehavior, such as hitting, pushing, willful destruction of property,

profanity, willful disobedience or dangerous behavior, STEPS 1-4 will be forgone and referral to

principal. The child may be suspended.

Encourage your child to discuss school activities with you. Talk positively about school. The way

your child perceives your feelings about his/her school and teachers will have a direct effect on

how (s)he feels about them. I am delighted to have your child in my class and I look forward to

working with you to make sure your child starts school on a positive note. I GREATLY appreciate

your support and anticipate a fun and successful school year!

Thank you for reviewing the handbook. Please cut out and return the bottom portion to school in

your childs Blue Folder. ------------------------------------------------------------------

I have reviewed the contents of the Kindergarten Handbook.

Parent Signature ____________________________________

Childs Name ________________________________________

Date _____________________________________________

Email Address _______________________________________

(Please provide an address you check regularly and please print clearly)

Moms Cell phone # ___________________________________

Dads Cell phone # ____________________________________

*cell phone information will only be used in case of emergency!

Documents

Kindergarten Class Handbook