Happy Holidays!!!

We had a fantastic last day together and are now enjoying the first day of our three week vacation. Our Stone Soup turned out super yummy, thanks to all the great veggies our class brought in. We made some great cards for the troops, which we hope will lift their spirits this Christmas while they are so far from home. We also worked on some fun Christmas activities and passed out some gifts. I have really enjoyed returning to work and getting to know my students these past few weeks. Enjoy your vacation everyone, because we still have a lot to learn in 2012 when we get ourselves ready for 1st Grade!! So Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, or other holiday your family may be celebrating this Winter! Have lots of fun with friends and family! Stay warm, happy, and healthy! And I will see you all again on January 9th!!!

Stone Soup Friday!!

To finish our unit on food, our Kindergarten class will recreate a beloved food story by making Stone Soup! I will supply the cooking pot, stone, water, chicken, and seasoning. Your child is welcome to provide their favorite vegetable, diced and labeled in a baggy. We will mix it up in the morning, let it stew for a few hours, then enjoy it around 11 am with the other AM Kinder class. Looking forward to a fun and tasty end to our thematic unit!!

Also, if your family was considering a Christmas gift, may I request gifts for the classroom? We could use more glue sticks, colored copy paper, or donations in the office to purchase more laminate. As you know, our state has been severely cutting funds from education and more supplies will go a long way in helping us provide exciting and enriching lessons for your children. Thank you for all your support and enjoy the long holiday with your family!!

We made it through our first week together...

...and I think the students are okay with me as their teacher (lol).  I am sure that many of them miss Ms. Dawson, but they all welcomed me and have been working hard adjusting to some of the changes I have made upon my return.  We chose new seating groups, adjusted our Carpet Time and Centers routines, and have even made some modifications to the Snack Rule (to name a few).  More changes will be on the way as I slowly return my classroom to the way I like to run it.

I would like to take a second to go over the new snack rule.  Ms. Dawson used to make snack mandatory.  That was her personal decision, and not the view of the collective whole.  My colleagues and I were finding too many snacks simply being thrown out because students weren't hungry (but told they needed a snack).  The new rule for my class is as follows:

         1) Students are responsible for their own snack, if they don't bring one, they do not get one (unless their
              parents make arrangements with me in advance).
         2) Students should only bring 1 small, healthy snack with them to eat (no candy, sweets, etc.)
         3) Students are not to bring drinks (a small water bottle is acceptable).

Please remember that a snack is simply intended to hold them over until the next full meal.  Your children should eat a full breakfast before coming to school, then a full lunch after school.  Most children that eat full meals find they do not even need a snack.  Check in with your son or daughter and see if they need to continue bringing a snack or not. Thank you and I hope this clears up and confusion you may have had on the matter.

I have greatly enjoyed getting back into the classroom, and feel blessed to work with your children.  It has only been a week, but I have already found them to be delightful, intelligent, and hard working.  I have high expectations for this class and see no reason that all of them can't become great readers and writers by the end of Kindergarten.

-Mr. Linnet

P.S. If you are taking the time to read this, please leave a comment.  I am interested to know which families find this blog useful. Thanks!!