Update!

We have had so many new changes to our classroom and the schedule the past few weeks.  I apologize for not updating sooner.  We now have another new student in our classroom, so we are up to 13 students!  I now teach Lower K in the morning until 10:55 and then I teach Kindergarten and First Grade.  We are still adjusting to the changes so I thank you for your patience during this transition.
Thank you so much to all the parents who were able to come to the Parent/Teacher Conferences on Monday.  It was nice to get to speak with you about your child and how well they're doing in the class.  Here is the schedule for the time that I am with your child in the morning.
8:30-9:00 Center Activities (During this time we'll do math and language art games)
9:00-9:10 Snack
9:10-9:30 Calendar Time
9:30-9:50 Math
9:50-10:10  Brain Break (Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and other movement activities)
10:10-10:55 Language Arts
Remember this is just a loose schedule.  In Lower K you have to be flexible and you never know what will come up during the day. 
Here is a link to the song that we sing every day.
https://teacher.ocps.net/janet.cahill/media/10learninglettersounds.mp3
This song helps us learn the letter sounds.  You can do it at home if you like.  We also have a song for the letter of the week which I put on our newsletter.  We do a lot of singing and moving to learn our letters and other key concepts in the classroom.  Will be updating soon with pictures!

Educational Websites

I have been asked to give some websites or apps that can help with our curriculum.  The Internet is a great tool for parents and educators.  A great tool are blogs from teachers and also Pinterest.  If you haven't checked out Pinterest I highly recommend it! Not only are there great education tools, but also recipes, crafts, and tons of other great links.  Here is a great blog that I found with a list of useful websites for kids.  Enjoy!
http://www.myoatmealkisses.com/2012/03/top-educational-websites-for-kids.html

Learning Through Play

We are having lots of fun learning our routines and rules of our classroom.  This is a year of many firsts for many of the students this year.  First time in school, first time coloring, first time using scissors, the list goes on and on.  It is such an exciting time for them and you as a parent.  We are taking the first month learning the basics before diving fully into curriculum.  Each week we focus on a letter.  We work on the sound, ability to identify it, and work on writing it.  To begin with we focus on identifying and as they learn to improve their fine motor skills we will put more focus on writing the letter.  With our 4s we focus on writing from day 1 because they're getting ready for Kindergarten.  We will be doing a lot of activities to gain fine motor skills and our gross motor skills as well.
One thing I love doing is learning while moving.  At this age they have so much energy!  Which helps keep me busy, but have fun.  One of my favorite parts of the day is in the morning when we exercise and work on "heads, shoulders, knees and toes". Play it with your child at home and see how excited they get.  Laughter is the best and happens throughout the day in my classroom.  And the best part is they're learning while having fun!  We will be working on spatial awareness and how we need to stay in our area, at this age it's a hard concept for them, but with practice it's quickly mastered.
I have a few parents left to turn in blog permission slips and then I can post our pictures.  I have them ready to go, so as soon as they are turned in the pictures will go up.
Many of you probably ask your child what they did at school or what did they learn.  At this age they will probably reply with "I like it" "I had fun" "I played" or something of the like. I found this poem and thought it really suited our Lower K classroom.  Ill put it at the bottom of the post. Play is such an important part of learning for children this age and sometimes we forget how much they can learn through play.  I'm excited for a new week.  As always if you need anything or have any questions feel free to email me.  Also please make sure your child eats breakfast before they come to school. We have snack at 10:00 and lunch at 12:25. I hope you had a great weekend. See you tomorrow!
Krystina

Just Playing

When I'm building in the block room, please don't say I'm "Just Playing".
For you see, I'm learning as I play, about balance and shapes.
Who knows, I may be an architect someday.

When I'm getting all dressed up, setting the table, caring for the babies,
Don't get the idea I'm "Just Playing". For, you see, I'm learning as I play;
I may be a mother or a father someday.

When you see me up to my elbows in paint or standing at an easel, or molding
and shaping clay, Please don't let me hear you say, "He is Just Playing".
For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm expressing myself and being creative.
I may be an artist or an inventor someday.

When you see me sitting in a chair "reading" to an imaginary audience,
Please don't laugh and think I'm "Just Playing".
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I may be a teacher someday.

When you see me combing the bushes for bugs, or packing my pockets with choice
things I find, Don't pass it off as "Just Play".
For you see, I'm learning as I play.
I may be a scientist someday.

When you see me engrossed in a puzzle or some "plaything" at my school,
Please don't feel the time is wasted in "Play".
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning to solve problems and concentrate.
I may be in business someday.

When you see me cooking or tasting foods,
Please don't think that because I enjoy it, it is "Just Play".
I'm learning to follow direction and see differences.
I may be a cook someday.

When you see me learning to skip, hop, run and move my body,
please don't say I'm "Just Playing".
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning how my body works.
I may be a doctor, nurse or athlete someday. 

When you ask me what I've done at school today, and I say, "I Just Played",
Please don't misunderstand me. For you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning to enjoy and be successful in my work. I'm preparing for tomorrow.
Today, I am a child and my work is play.

Another great week!

  Thank you so much to the parents that were able to come to our Open House. I enjoyed talking with each of you and hope that you enjoyed visiting. I will be updating with pictures soon, I have a few parents left to return the permission slips and then I'll post up what we've been doing through our first 11 days in Lower K.
  We will continue to focus this week on the letter A. With many of this years students experiencing school for the first time this year we will be doing a lot of basic skills the first few weeks of school. Working on fine motor skills will be a big goal for us in the beginning.  From there we can move into our curriculum.  There are many activities you can do at home to help work on these skills.  A simple one is coloring.  We try to color and use crayons and markers in the classroom to help the students get acquainted with proper gripping and in a relaxed environment.  From there they can work on letter formation.
     I am compiling a list of websites and apps that are educational to help use at home to reinforce our curriculum for the year.  I hope to have it posted on Friday.  If your child is one who likes television and you want educational videos I recommend the Preschool Prep series and the Leap Frog series.  I will rarely show videos and if I do it's on Fridays and always educational.  I am excited to get to show you what we've been doing intake classroom.  I hope to have all permission slips turned in this week so that I can post our pictures.
   Please remember we start at 8:30.  I start my instruction right at 8:45 with calendar time and continue into Language Arts and Math.  My instruction ends at 10:00, when we have snack and then Arabic begins.  As always feel free to email me if you have any questions. Looking forward to another exciting week!

Here we go!

Another year has started and it's off to a great start.  I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend.  I did not get to upload the pictures from our first week because I was visiting family in St. Louis.  I will be doing that today as soon as I get home.  So be sure to check back later to see how our first week went!
I hope everyone is enjoying their time in my class.  We have lots of new faces this year.  As of today we have 11 students in our class.  I am so happy you are all here.  I have lots of fun activities planned as we get started with our journey to learn.
Parents please make sure to check your child's F. R. O. G. binder every day.  It is my main way to communicate with you as well as you with me.  I check it in the morning as the students arrive into the classroom.  Next week we will be doing morning work when the students arrive.  This is where they can practice their letter from the previous week, work on writing their name, and other fun learning activities while we wait for all our friends to arrive.  We start learning at 8:30 so please make sure your child arrives on time. I wouldn't want them to miss out on any fun activities we are doing in the morning.  Also my time with the students to teach language arts in first thing in the morning, so if they are late they may miss out.
Also starting next week we will be sending home a daily homework sheet.  They will have one sheet Monday-Thursday.  This shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes to do, with it being longer if they wish to color the page.  These are given to help work with your child on the topics for the week.  If you wish for more work to be given, simply practice writing the letter each week, counting with your child, or writing their name.  I don't like to send more than one page of homework due to their age, but there are always ways that you can work on the material at home with your child.
I will update again after school today, so be sure to check back.  As always if you need anything or have any questions, feel free to email me.  Have a wonderful day!

Krystina

Here's to a new school year!

I am so happy the school year has begun.  The first few weeks we always take the time to get to know each other. I have such a great time getting to know all my new students. This first week was filled with all new faces. We read The Kissing Hand and did activities to learn about ourselves.
I would like for each child to create a poster telling the class about them. We call it an All About Me poster.  It can include pictures of your child and the family, favorite things, etc.  You are free to do the poster as you please. It will be something fun for your child to share with the class. We will start sharing next week when all of the students will be here.
I sent home forms for you to fill out on Friday to give permission for your child's picture and name to be used on the blog.  Please return these asap so that we can start posting all the fun activities we do each week. I look forward to updating you through this blog about all the fun things we do each week!  As always if you need anything or have any questions please feel free to email me!

Back to School

Tomorrow will bring about a new year in the Lower K classroom.  I am so excited to see my students from last year, and get to see all the new faces.  I have been working hard all summer to create a new and exciting curriculum for my students.  We have so many fun things planned and I can't wait to get started.  This week will be a week full of getting to know each other and the routines of our class.  Next week starts the hard work =)  I am so excited for the big first day of school tomorrow!  To my new parents, welcome to our website, and to the returning parents, I am so happy to have you back!  I hope you all had a wonderful summer and I can't wait to hear about it!  See you tomorrow!!