Monica Ros School

Dear Kindergarten Parents,

The Kindergarten students have been invited to perform with their “Big Buddies” at the Monica Ros Graduation Program. The Kindergarten families can come and enjoy the graduation ceremony on Wednesday June 9th at 6:00-7:00 p.m. Directly following the graduation each class will perform a traditional dance. The Kindergarten class will join their 2nd Grade buddies in a traditional Mexican folklorico. Throughout this school year, the kids have developed an endearing relationship with their 2nd grade buddies and they are looking forward to dancing with them at the graduation-they’ve already been practicing. The evening is culminated with refreshments and an honorary send off for our 3rd grade students! Hope to see you there!

Mrs. Fiore and Mrs. Krout

Kindergarten News
May 2010
It’s hard to believe the school year is quickly coming to an end with only 6 weeks left. The children in this class have become great friends and have learned to work and play together. The last weeks of school are a favorite time for all of us. As in the past, we greatly enjoyed the Storytelling Festival and want to thank all the parents that drove.

WARNING! WARNING! CATCHY TUNES COMING YOUR WAY! We’re practicing for our annual Kindergarten Opera. This year, we will be performing The Little Red Hen, a musical for children. Save the date: June 4th @11:00. More information will follow soon regarding this fun event!

In language arts the kindergarten children will become experts on butterflies and moths. As we read about the life cycle of these lepidopteron, we’ll document our newly acquired knowledge in our butterfly book. While we anxiously wait for our butterflies to emerge from their cocoons, we will learn about the stages and life cycle of “Painted Ladies,” a genus of butterfly abundant in numbers locally and present throughout much of the world.

In math we are spending our days reviewing topics learned throughout the year, emphasizing number families, also known as addition and subtraction! We will revisit graphing as we become butterfly experts taking note of sightings both at home and at school. Graphing is a skill we begin to develop in preschool and continue to hone throughout the Monica Ros curriculum as a bridge between the concrete numeration of objects and abstract representational understanding.

The math opportunities were endless during the recent construction of our rain forest habitats and the children were able to really secure their ability to manipulate number families (that adding and subtracting, again!). Thank you to everyone who came to see our Grand Opening.

Now that we’ve closely studied the rain forest, we will be going to visit the Santa Barbara Zoo to visit all of our “Rainforest Friends” on May 14th. Please see below.

Reminders:
May 17- Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
May 14th – Field trip to Santa Barbara Zoo
May 31st – School holiday-Memorial Day
June 1st – Field Day at The Thacher school
June 4th – 11:00a.m. The Little Red Hen performance, followed by cast party pot luck lunch.
June 9th – Last day of school-noon dismissal and no day care.

Alice & Rychelle

Santa Barbara Zoo Field Trip Permission Slip
We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you
You can come too, too, too
We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

When: Friday May 14th
Please bring a sack lunch!
If you have an annual membership to the zoo, you and your child will need to enter the zoo through the main gate.

In February we will be leaving Antarctica and penguins behind as we return to America for a month long look at famous presidents and the beginning of our county.  This month is traditionally a time when we celebrate the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, but we will also take this opportunity to learn about the important roles they played in history.  We will enjoy learning songs about our country in Music with Mrs._ Zonic.  This unit will culminate with an all school Assembly in which we will sing Songs of America on February 25^th at 10:30 a.m. all parents are invited to attend. 

 Language Arts:  We will be discussing and learning about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington with related writing and art projects. Children were valued members of the community in Colonial America and we’ll be learning what their daily life was like.  We will be playing old fashion games and be using old fashion toys.   We’ll be learning the story and history of the flag and its bright stars.  Laws and rules are important to kindergartners and they can begin to understand the importance of laws, so we will be looking at some of the ways government connects to their lives. 

 Math:  We will be introducing all of the coins along with the presidents on each of them.  Whenever you have spare change, try asking your child to identify the coin and then the amount for practice.  We will begin using the coins as a tool to skip count by five’s, ten’s and twenty-five’s. We are looking forward to our 100^th day celebration on Wednesday February 10^th.  Please have you’re children turn in their projects by Tuesday February 9^th. We know that the children have been working hard on their projects.  Please take the opportunity to come by Kindergarten on Wednesday to check out our 100 day Museum.  The projects will be up until lunch time on Wednesday.

Valentines Celebration:  Our Valentines celebration will be on Friday February 12^th at snack time 10:00.  Please have your children bring in their Valentines as soon as possible so that they can mail them in their friends bags.

Kindergarten News

January 2010

Dear Kindergarten Parents,

Our best wishes for a very Happy New Year. We are pleased to welcome your children back to the classroom. We have missed them! January plans to be an interesting and invigorating month for the children. Our winter classroom theme is Penguins! We will investigate the life cycles and habitats of many penguin species as we explore and discover how they survive the harshness of their environment. Some of the books we will be reading are The Penguins, by the Cousteau Society, Antarctica, by Helen Cowcher, and The Emperor’s Egg, by Martin Jenkins. As we bundle up to keep warm in the cool morning air of Ojai, we can’t even imagine how penguins withstand their freezing environment in the icy Antarctic and sub-Antarctic. Through play, we will learn firsthand how adaptations allow penguins to endure their wintry world. We will eat like penguins, waddle like penguins and play penguin games. We will play in ice water to learn how their feathers, air and fat insulate them. On Founder’s Day, Jan 29, you’ll have an opportunity to hear us sing our penguin song outlining much of what we’ve learned. Don’t miss it! We will begin reading our chapter book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. We are looking forward to the “grand finale” of this endearing book when we celebrate with our “Charlie Party.” Arts Month We return to our school wide theme “Renaissance,” for Arts Month. This is a wonderful tradition at our school and we are excited to have the opportunity to participate. Kindergarten and Gradeschool students are broken into multi-age groups which meet twice per week to engage in 4 specific art experiences during the course of 4 weeks. The culmination of these experiences will be on display in Meyer Hall from Wednesday, January 27, through Friday, January 29, Founder’s Day, from 8 until 4:30. Founder’s Day, when we celebrate Mrs. Ros’ birthday, is a wonderful opportunity to see the whole school in action as each class offers a performance in honor of our founder. A Day in the Life of a Kindergartner January 12, 2010 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Parents are invited to experience “a day in the life” of their child’s class. Parents become peers during this charming event as children lead parents through a day in the life at Monica Ros. The first half hour is spent in your child’s class. For the second half hour, you matriculate to 1st Grade where current 1st Graders will treat you with a little taste of next year. Meanwhile, your child and his or her classmates will host current preschool parents in the Kindergarten classroom. Be sure to wear your thinking cap! Looking Ahead: No School ( Monday) January 18th Martin Luther King Jr. Day We will be singing at Libbey Bowl in honor of Dr. King at 12:00. A Day in the Life of a Kindergartner January 12 see above Founder’s Day January 29th Whole school performance and art exhibit. Details to follow.

Warmly, Mrs. Fiore and Mrs. Krout

Kindergarten News
December 2009

We welcomed the children back from a week of giving thanks to begin a look at warm holiday traditions.  We will be reading many versions of a beloved holiday tale, The Gingerbread Man.  As we read the story we’ll be baking, graphing, comparing, enacting and incorporating the science of our taste and smell into this curriculum.  We will culminate the festivities at our annual Holiday Program on December 18th at 10:30 am.   The kids have been practicing the songs in anticipation of the performance.

Language Arts:  In addition to all the “merry making” we will forge ahead with reading and writing.  We will be reading seasonal literature, including Caldecott Medal Winner, The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg.  We will also read The Legend of the Poinsettia, a Mexican legend retold by Tommie de Paola.   The warmth, tradition and magic of these stories are fitting for this season.

Math:  We will continue working on our numeral formation and counting.  We will be making a class number line using decorated Christmas trees to reinforce the skill of counting by 1’s and 10’s.  The kids will enjoy making their very own “Monster Squeeze” and “Spin a Number” game, both of which work on number recognition two great games to enjoy over the holiday break.

Notes and Reminders:

Things seem to be going great on our Adopt-a-Family project.  The last day to contribute is Wednesday December 9th.

Holiday Program will be Friday, December 18th @10:30 a.m. (Early dismissal-no day care following performance)

We would like to extend warm wishes to each of your families.  We are very pleased and proud of each of our students.  They truly bring joy to our days and delight to our hearts. We wish the best of the holidays to you all.

 Alice and Rychelle

Kindergarten News
November 2009

The crisp, cool fall mornings are a gentle reminder that it is time to celebrate the warm traditions of the changing season. We have so many exciting things happening over the next few weeks. Our theme for the month of November will be fall harvest and the history of Thanksgiving. This month we remember how our nation’s forefathers, the Pilgrims, and the native American Indians joined together in thanks for the harvest and the Pilgrim’s survival of their first year in America. Our Kindergarten/Gradeschool Thanksgiving Feast will be on Friday, November 20th @12:00. We will bill each student $5.00 to offset the cost of food etc. You do not need to send a lunch to school on that day.

We’ve are looking forward to talking to each of you during our conferences this week. It’s a great opportunity for us to gain further insight into these wonderful children.

Reminder: No hot lunch this week…early dismissal 11:55.

In Language Arts the children have been working in their Get Ready for the Code books and taking great pride and pleasure doing activities in them. We’re enjoying reading pre-decodable books and the children delight in recognizing many of the high frequency words. Each day we play fun games, read stories and do activities to help the children hear the sounds in words. Each time we read in class, we are working toward these goals and behavior strategies:

Activate prior knowledge
Make connections
Apply picture clues
Visualize images
Ask questions
Predict what might happen
Think about how the story makes you feel
Sum up the story

In Math we are beginning to work on numbers and number formations. We will play with “clean” finger paints, rub over sand paper numerals, and write in the air and on our backs. We’ve had fun singing math songs by Dr. Jean Feldman, “Macarena Math” and the “Numeral Song”. We are excited to be publishing our classroom telephone books. The children will each make a page with their self portrait and write their phone number. You can look forward to receiving your copy soon!

Notes and Reminders:
No school Wednesday, November 11th — Veterans Day
Thanksgiving holiday week begins November 23rd.

The Kindergarten Team
Mrs. Krout & Mrs. Fiore

The children are adjusting well to their kindergarten environment and enjoying new experiences, friends and teachers. We were all so excited to begin our all school theme week. The children arrived at school this week only to find the skyline of a Renaissance castle with a draw bridge and mote complete with a crocodile. Our campus was full of Renaissance surprises and fun experiences. You could visit Leonardo’s workshop and write top secret notes in invisible ink. A favorite was the ship; it was transformed into The Victoria the only ship to make it back to Spain even our chickens were aboard. You could find the children swabbing the deck or cooking in the galley. Experiences that will last a lifetime! The fun has just begun and we have many more great times ahead.

Math: In math we have been working on recognizing attributes and sorting everything imaginable. We are spending considerable time patterning which is said to be the foundation of all mathematics. We will closely examine patterns all around us: in our classroom; in print; and even on our clothing. We will be playing many math games which increase conceptual understanding since children learn best through everyday, playful activities.

Language Arts: One of our primary concerns in the Kindergarten program is reading readiness. The children learn that letters work together in a systematic way to connect spoken language to written words. This understanding is the foundation for reading. We have been working on letter recognition, letter formation and introducing sounds. We will write letters in many different ways, on chalk boards, in salt trays, and on magic slates. The children are happily signing songs, learning rhymes, playing fun alphabet games and illustrating their journals.

Research in Action
Phonemic awareness is the ability to think about the sounds of words as distinct from their meanings. Because sensitivity to rhyme comes quite easily to most children, rhyme play is an excellent first step toward capturing children’s interest in the similarities and differences in the sounds of individual words. (Marilyn Jager Adams, author, Open Court reading)

We’ve enjoyed reading a favorite children’s chapter book, Charlotte’s Web during the afternoons.

We will begin working on “First-step” stories. First Step stories are simple little books the children make. We want the children to understand that words and pictures go together in books and stories. This experience provides children with meaningful “reading” experiences before they are actually reading on their own while increasing print awareness. Illustrating, narrating and sharing their own stories with friends and family will give the children a sense of pride and allow them to practice the skills and behaviors of accomplished readers and writers.
Thank You: We are so fortunate to have great parent support in our kindergarten. Our gratitude goes out to the parents who accompanied us on our field trip to the Sea Center and Longboard grill in Santa Barbara. We hope you enjoyed yourself!

Many thanks to helpful book making parents Aly_Grigsby and Rachelle_Giuliani for making our take home reading books!
Reminders:

Shoes- We have P.E. on Monday and Friday afternoon please send your child in tennis shoes on that day. In consideration of their safety they will not be able to participate in P.E. games and activities unless they have appropriate foot wear. Water bottles are also a great idea everyday, especially on P.E. Fridays!
Library- We will be going on Wednesday October 14th. The children will have a chance to choose a book in our Library and it will need to be returned any time before the end of the month.
Communication- Please contact us any time, our school number is 646-8184 for Alice ext.203 and Rychelle ext.210. We may also both be contacted by e-mail at afiore@monicaros.org.

Halloween- We will be having our annual Halloween parade and party on Thursday October 30th. Please send your child to school in costume on that day. The children will change into their play clothes following the parade so please make sure that they come to school with a change of clothes. Parents are welcome to join us for the parade we will begin at 8:45.

Pet Hen is our Kindergarten mascot. She is excited to visit with each child in our class and get to know them. Pet Hen has a journal and her stay with you can be documented. The sky is the limit…..photos, stories, food, use your imagination and have fun with our friend. Randomly, a child will get to take her home on Monday for the week and she needs to come back to share her adventure with the class on the following Monday morning! Have fun!

Important Dates to Remember:

October 5th -No school: Staff in-service
October 6th -Theme week begins
October 12th -Picture Day
October 30th -Halloween party and parade Parade 8:45) Kindergarten Teachers, Alice_Fiore and Rychelle_Krout