Silverman’s Farm!!
Dear Kindergarten parents:
The warm days of October have left us and the chilly days of November are upon us. As the temperatures dip please make sure your child brings a warm jacket as well as a hat and gloves or mittens. Keeping an extra hat and pair of gloves at school is also a good idea. A very clever parent once bought 5 or 6 pair of the $1.99 stretchy one-size-fits-all gloves in the same color and by Winter’s end actually had a pair left. Please mark your child’s name on all items brought to school. You may check for missing items in the Lower School Lost and Found basket. It is located directly inside the doorway to the main building and is often brought to dismissal. The lost and found basket is cleaned out periodically and unclaimed items are donated to charity. Items with children’s names clearly marked will be returned before the contents are donated. If you find you are missing a specific item you may drop me a line with a description or feel free to come and browse the lost and found basket yourself.
We had a wonderful time at the Middle School sponsored Halloween Carnival. I do hope you got a chance to come and enjoy the costumes and merriment. Thank you to all the parents who helped with clothing changes and make up application. What fun! If you have extra copies of photos from the festivities we would love to have some for our class photo album. Digital photos can be e-mailed to us directly and I will print them here at school. Thanks!
A great time was had by all at our field trip to Silverman’s Farm. Highlights were feeding the animals, choosing the perfect pumpkin, and of course the hair-raising tractor ride through the apple orchards! Thank you to all the parent’s who volunteered their time to drive us. Again, if you have copies of photos or digital photos we would love to have copies for our classroom.
Parent conferences are this Thursday and Friday. Please arrive on time and knock on the door if the previous conference is still in session at your scheduled time. We will wrap up quickly and hopefully keep everyone on time! Please remember that you also may call or e-mail me at school at any time if you have any concerns.
Using our pumpkins from the farm for some pumpkin math will lead us into some fun measuring activities in the classroom. We are learning that not everything has to be measured by inches and feet, nonstandard measurements are important for children to learn as well. Be sure to try some of this fun measurement at home . . . . how many pennies long is your place mat? . . . How many pencils long is your bookshelf? . . . etc. etc. Use some of the rich mathematical vocabulary at home too - circumference, greater and less than, equals, etc. Above all, have fun!
In November we will move into the study of Thanksgiving. We will talk about the Pilgrims and why they came to the new world. Why did they stay? How did they survive the first Winter? How did the Native American’s help? We continue to study seasonal changes and will soon start our discussions of animals in winter. How do they prepare for winter and survive a long, cold season?
This month we will also discuss elections and the voting procedure. We will vote in our classroom for favorites such as “favorite animal” and “favorite snack.”
Family Math night will be Thursday, November 12 at 5:00 p.m. This is an evening designed for parents and children to come together to learn hands on math games. More information will be coming home about this fun night. Also in November the entire GFA community helps those in need with a Thanksgiving Food Drive. This is a special way to count our own blessings and show support for others. Please let me know if you did not receive a bag with a list of what each grade is collecting.
Reminders:
November 4 – Heritage Dinner
November 10 – photo make up day
November 11 – Scholastic Book/Software orders due
November 12 – K-2 Parent Connection Meeting
November 12 - Family Math Night
November 19 – Parent's Association meeting
November 20 – NUT day
November 25 - 29 No School; Thanksgiving
Parent Readers:
November 2 – Morgan
November 4 – MacInnes
November 9 – Lior
November 11 – Kessler
November 16 – Dolan
November 18 – Agah
November 23 – Acevedo
November 30 - Zeitlin