Playdate for Lilly and field trip for Shawn

Lilly had a playdate with Bill, Shelley, and Abby today. They played at a park and wore her out so much that she was falling asleep in the wagon on their way home! She ended up taking an hour and a half (or so) nap... with Bill... LOL
While Lilly was busy, I accompanied Shawn on the first kindergarten field trip. We went to Norton Farm, a local farm that's only a couple miles away from school.  The kids learned about gourds, corn, and pumpkins. We went through an easy version of a corn maze and bawked at some chickens.  The students each got to select a mini ear of decorative corn, mini gourd, and a mini pumpkin. Once they use them in class tomorrow for some activities, they'll be able to bring them home to keep. The popular favorite at the farm was the play area, in which the kids ran loose for a few minutes in lieu of recess. While we waited for the bus to eventually retrieve us, Ms. Johnsen led her class in singing "Tony Chestnut" and "Wheels on the Bus." (They added some very creative verses: the teenagers on the bus keep te-e-xting...)

Kindergarten Alphabet book pages

Gymnast not; head knot (and some karate)

Lilly fell off the bathroom step stool this morning & got a black & blue knot on her forehead. (She's been climbing onto lots things lately and this morning she tested out some dance moves when she got to the top of the step stool. That didn't work too well for her.)  I gave her a soft ice pack to help the swelling and to distract her (she loves holding ice packs).  When she started playing peek-a-boo through the ice pack, I took it as a clear sign that she was okay. A few hours later, most of the swelling was gone, but she does still have a light bruise on her forehead. Poor baby!

It's amazing to see the difference in how her body responds to injuries versus Shawn's dermatagraphia hyper-sensitivity response. He would've had a huge goose-egg protruding from his forehead had he fallen the same way. Yet after the initial welt formed, he probably would've recovered much like her with hardly anything noticable this evening.

Once Lilly's tears were wiped away and her icepack was luke warm, we went to a meeting at Ferson Creek for AVIC (Art Volunteers In the Classroom).  Once a month, parent volunteers come into each classroom for an hour art lesson - separate from the weekly art class in the art room. While parents lead the class with a presentation, a project, and perhaps books and other activities as needed, the classroom teachers meet for grade level collaboration and mini-professional development opportunities. Since there legally has to be a teacher present, not just an adult, a substitute floats between the classrooms to assist and supervise. The AVIC coordinator provides volunteers with a packet that includes research about the featured artist / piece of art and suggested projects. We're also supposed to bring a corresponding picture that's hanging somewhere in the school's hallways into the class as part of the demonstration. I'm signed up with a partner (who I don't know yet) to be Ms. Johnsen's AVIC volunteers. We'll probably take turns being the lead / assistant for the activities. One of our neighbors signed up for her sons' classes, so we're going to swap babysitting for the younger siblings. I'm excited to see what these lessons are like! (And to be in a teaching position without some of the painstaking parts about being a teacher!)

Shawn tested for his first stripe for his purple belt today!

They are also practicing for the next tournament on November 8. They did a lot of work on the round kick - it's a pretty tricky move that I think would knock me off balance! Shawn still has a lot of work to do before the tournament, but it's impressive what a difference a few weeks makes.

Saturday at Ikea

Oh, what a feeling! We all woke without alarms (at least no electronic alarms). It was still 8:00 am, but the extra hour was great. It was an easy & relaxing morning. Ahhhh!

We spent the afternoon at Ikea. It was Shawn's first visit to SmalLand - hard to believe, I know! While he played for an hour, Raj showed me a desk that he had picked out for Shawn's room. We actually found a corner unit with a hutch of the same line (Micke). It was a lot of desk to fit in a small space - Ikea's specialty!  We also picked out a blue desk chair and a mirror to go over his dresser. Before we retrieved Shawn from SmalLand, we also picked out pieces & parts for me to make a desk in the craft/guest room - I'm excited! Then we got Shawn, had lunch (we all got Swedish meatballs), found our things in the warehouse level, and checked out. A successful trip (especially considering that our last visit ended up with SmalLand under construction and the cafe closed as we approached it)!

Both kids fell asleep on the way home, so Raj and I left them in the car to snooze while we brought the boxes into the house. (It's incredible how heavy small boxes can be!) Then, Raj was ready for a break and catch his breath from a cold/allergies... And the Bears / Packers game was on. I was motivated to get our new stuff put together!!

Before:

I managed to get Shawn's desk completely put together (with some supervision from Lilly and occasional help from Shawn, who was actually super helpful at just the right times).

Raj was shocked when he came upstairs at the end of the game! I was almost done! He thought I'd be working on my own desk, but I feel like that project is a bit more involved, and I wanted to get something totally done. While Shawn and I finished the desk, Raj and Lilly went to Best Buy to get a wireless converter for his new computer and they checked out an alpaca farm just a few miles away from our house. When they got back, the desk was done! Mission complete!

After:

Raj hung the curtain rod and we decided not to hang the mirror until Shawn gets a little taller.  (Tomorrow I'll assemble his desk chair.)

Sept 29

Update:

Shawn couldn't wait to do serious work at his new desk after school!(Not homework yet, but he has that to do, too.)
Tonight we discovered that the shiny portion of the white board at the back of his desk is actually a magnetic white board! We dug out the alphabet magnets that we can't use on our stainless steal fridge and gave them a new home on Shawn's desk.  I also found some dry erase markers in my old teaching supplies. I gave him a desk lamp, a hand held pencil sharpener, some glue, and kid scissors that he often needs for his homework. Tomorrow, we'll find something to corral his pencils, etc.

Eventually he did use his desk to do his homework.

Kindergarten news

Kindergarten news

Hi Everyone

We are really getting into a routine!  The past few weeks have been very busy. We are still working on being good listeners all the time. Please continue to help with this at home!

In Literacy: We can now read to ourselves for 15 minutes. This gives Miss Meeks and me a chance to listen to individual students read or tell us the story from the pictures. We can reinforce the use of good reading strategies of pointing to the words, using picture clues, checking the text and making sure it makes sense. Some of the children are text readers, some are using picture clues and beginning letter sounds to figure words out and others are telling the story from the picture.  With the picture readers Miss Meeks and I are pointing and reading a page and then the student will point and read after us (Echo Reading). These are all normal ranges of reading ability in a kindergarten classroom.

On Mondays just before lunch or at the end of the day Mrs. Kerr or Mrs. Schaaf’s 5th grade students read or write with the kindergartners. The children love having 5th grade reading buddies!

We are working on letter recognition, letter sounds and letter formation on a daily basis. Some of the children are able to stretch words and write independently while others need support for this. Many of them use the resources around the room for support.

In math we are counting to 100 by 10’s, to 20 by 1’s, writing numbers, learning the terms greater than, less than, equal to, some simple addition and subtraction of one more or one less. A lot of the math concepts are taught through our calendar time.

We are also learning how to sort things by different attributes. We play a mystery sort game. I have a group of students stand in the middle of our carpet and the other students have to figure out what is alike about all of them. It could be they all have Velcro shoes or they all have blonde hair. This is leading into having them sort objects or people also by different attributes and to explain their sort. We will be doing this for math as well as for literacy.

I hope you all enjoyed the 1st 12 days of Kindergarten book and our body Alphabet Book. The Bus Ride story is coming home next week.  Please use these books at home as a practice reader. (I'm hoping to get electronic versions of these class made books - stay tuned!)

We started to bring home our baggy books this week. The children may keep their book for more than 1 day or exchange it daily, but they should at least trade out for a new one once a week. Please have them read the book several times before returning it. Rereading familiar books increases a child’s fluency and comprehension skills.

I hope you are all enjoying the treasure book activity. This will give you some idea of how to support your child’s emerging reading skills. I know the children get very excited when I bring out the treasure chest and pull out our new book.  This week's book The Enormous Watermelon encourages the children to work together to accomplish a tough job.

Last week we discussed the importance of Constitution Day. We discussed all the wonderful things about living in America and about all the people that help and protect us. We discussed how we are all helpers when someone needs help or support. I hope you saw the booklets the children brought home about the Constitution. We connected the writing of the Constitution to the rules we have for our school and classroom. These two subjects are difficult for young children to comprehend but I feel they did a good job getting the ideas presented.

In Science we are working on the five senses. We went on a super duper looking hunt. The children then had to draw and write 4 things they saw on their hunt. Each week we will focus on a different sense.

Please read with your child at least 15 minutes a day!

Thank you for sending only healthy snacks for our morning snack time. The fruits and veggies have been great! Please remember no cookies or chips as a snack. Having a water bottle is also a good thing!

**Important up coming date!**

Our first field trip will be to Norton Farm on Thursday Oct. 2nd from 12:45-2:30.  I drew names from a hat from all those that volunteered and I will be emailing you individually. (I got picked!)

Wednesday, Oct. 8th we are having a family reading night from 6:30-7:30. The children are invited to come in their Pajamas so they can head to bed as soon as you return home.

Have a great weekend!

Ms. Karen Johnsen and Miss Meeks

Karen.Johnsen@d303.org

PJs and compliments in Kindergarten

Lilly helped me set out the flag this morning. The morning DJs on the radio were doing a lot of remembrance and dedications.There was an eerie feeling in the air. I wonder when (if) that will ever go away.

Shawn's kindergarten class has been working on their goal of 50 compliments. For each compliment they earned as a class, they received a link in a paper chain. When the chain reached the floor, they met their goal. They voted as a class for a pajama and stuffed animal day.

Wednesday, the class met their goal! Shawn was so excited that he pulled out just the right pajamas to wear to school as soon as he got home. He had no trouble getting dressed this morning and was very excited about their reward.

About 15 minutes *after* Shawn's bus left on Thursday morning, I got an email blast from Mrs. Johnsen announcing the reward the class earned. For tomorrow. Friday. Ooops!

Since I hadn't heard anything official from school about pajama day until then, I had packed regular clothes in Shawn's backpack just in case (though he didn't end up changing). Today would have been a perfect pajama day, if you ask me. It was 48°F at the bus stop this morning! (I highly doubt we ever reached the forecast high of 61°F!)

From Ms. Johnsen:

Hi Everyone
Great News! The compliment Chain hit the floor this week!  The children votes to have a pajama day and bring-a-stuffed-animal-to-school day.!
So tomorrow, Friday, the children will be allowed to wear pajamas and bring ONE stuffed animal that will fit into their back pack. It will be a fun day of learning, teaching our favorite animals all about kindergarten. If the girls are used to wearing night gowns please have them wear shorts or slacks under it.  If your child prefers not to wear pajamas it is a choice! They can just bring their stuffed animal.
They are all very excited that they earned this reward!  We have already started earning new chains towards our next reward day!
Have a good day.
Karen Johnsen

Lilly and I went to Gymboree for Level 4 Play & Learn. The equipment was set up for the theme "Rocking & Rolling." Lilly's favorite activity was rolling/throwing whiffle balls down a ramp. Of course, she also likes the routine of bubbles, parachute, and "Gymbo the Clown Goes Up and Down" song.

Then, we picked up a gift at Babies R Us and visited my friend Melissa, with whom I used to teach. She had her second little boy 3 months ago, and I had yet to meet him. With her maternity leave ending this week, we made a point to set a date to see each other, otherwise we'd run the risk of not doing it until next summer! Lilly fell asleep on our way there, but it was more of a mom-playdate than a kid one anyway. Baby Alexander was very sweet, and I even got to cuddle with him for a little while :) Most of all, it was great to catch up with Melissa. Lilly and I said goodbye in time to pick Shawn up from the bus stop.

Instead of being disappointed or embarrassed that today wasn't actually pajama day, Shawn was thrilled that he gets to do it again tomorrow! He'll bring a small stuffed animal, too. The trouble is... which one? Decisions, decisions!

A view from the other side--First PTO meeting

I went to my first PTO meeting today. I held back from signing up for every committee or open position, for now. I am hoping to see how things run in the school before diving in headfirst. I did share a few ideas from Jennifer's experience at her PTO and I got to know our current president, also named Shannon! She was very curious about the composting program that Sparks has. The VP wants to start a butterfly garden to help repopulate the dwindling butterflies in Illinois. (She seems to have a very green interests, from what I could tell today.)  I said a composting partnership could be a great way to support the local farms and benefit the butterfly garden project in return.

One thing I like already about Ferson Creek is the fact that they don't do the typical (dreaded) door-to-door sales for fundraising; however, they just come right out and ask families to please write them a check for whatever amount we're comfortable with! At the meeting, I expressed my gratitude for the lack of sales pushed on our students. I also suggested that families may be more willing to support specific projects when they know how money is being spent. I would be much more willing to write a larger check to help with the butterfly garden, for example, than to  give money for an unknown purpose. I think that got the president's attention as well.

Jennifer sent me pages of PTO related information for me to share with our group. Maybe I am getting involved already! LOL

Instead of taking her semi-usual nap around 11:00 this morning, Lilly did not go down until 2 PM! Then, she slept until almost 6! I never know what to expect from her these days. It was nice to have one-on-one time with Shawn when he came home from school though. We went through the papers in his backpack, had a snack, played lots of games inside and out - until we were getting eaten by mosquitoes, which I'm sure were infected by the West Nile virus that has now been detected in our county. Ugh.

When Raj got home, I left to have dinner with one of my Gymboree Playgroup friends. Now that school has started and our kids are all in kindergarten, we don't see each other on a weekly basis anymore. I think the moms in our old playgroup are missing our times together more than the kids are!