Week 5 Newsletter

Dear TK Family,

As we welcome the season of Fall, we are greeted by the extra hot weather!  It feels like Summer all over again!

As the seasons change, the children change and grow.  Compared to the first week of school, the TK class has shown so much growth.  They all know where they sit on the rug.  They understand my rules and expectations.  It is amazing how much the kids grow in such a small span of time.  In the spirit of change and growth, I'd like to encourage the children to take on more responsibility.  For example, during morning drop off, please have your child take out their own folder and place into the box.  Also, have your child put his/her tote bag inside their own cubbies.  I have seen a good handful of parents put their child's bags away.  Part of going to school is teaching them about responsibility and these little things amount to big things in the future.

To help with the independence, I will have the Sign In/Out binder on the lunch bench outside our classroom.  I encourage you to have your child walk into the classroom all by him/herself.  You are welcome to come briefly speak with me in the morning if it is necessary.  I ask that you meet me at the far door to prevent traffic at our welcome door.  Thank you for your cooperation. :)

Future Dates:

• Friday, September 30 - TK September Birthday Celebration at snack time
• Monday, October 3 at 8:00am - Fun Run Assembly in the Hall
• Monday, October 10 - Columbus Day - No school
• Wednesday, October 12 - HOPE Food Drive Collection
• Wednesday, October 19 - Friday, October 21 - Parent Teacher Conferences
• Monday, October 24 - Friday, October 28 - Red Ribbon Week
• Friday, October 28 - Trunk or Treat 
• Thursday, November 3 - Fun Run
• Friday, November 4 - No School - Teacher's Inservice

This week's learning goals:

Theme:  Apples/Johnny Appleseed

• Religion - Jesus Welcomes His Children, understand that we are all his children
• Math - Attributes, Counting 0-5, Writing the numbers 2-3
• Reading - Stories about Apples, Letters Jj-Tt
• Science - Parts of an apple
• Social Studies - The life of Johnny Chapman (Appleseed) 

Week 4 Newsletter

Dear TK Family,

As I type this, the clouds are in and it's pretty gloomy outside - a little autumn tease!  I hope you are enjoying the last few days of the summer season!

This week's goals:

Theme: Friendship

• Religion - Jesus' Friends
• Math 
• Calendar (days of the week, months of the year, counting to 30)
• Number: 2 (counting, writing, finding the number two around us)
• Attributes: color, size, shape, quantity, sorting objects
• Reading
• Story: Huggapotamus, The Crayon Box That Talked
• Poem: The Wheels on the Bus
• Vocabulary:
• delight: Great pleasure; joy
• waddling: To walk in short steps; back and forth
• spotted: To notice or catch sight of
• skidded:  Suddenly slide sideways
• sigh: To breathe out a long breath
• What is a character?
• Parts of a Book
• Rhyming words
• Alphabet Recognition - Aa-Ii 
• Science - Primary Colors
• Social Studies - Friendship; building a friendly relationship with our peers; School Rules; Fire Safety

Our Room Parents

Mr. and Mrs. Rozak and Mrs. Hulgreen have stepped up to be the TK Room Parents.  I am excited to bring them on board as this year will be full of fun.  I need as much parental involvement to make it all happen.  

Our Room Parents are collecting e-mails.  I have a clipboard with your child's name next to the Sign In/Out binder.  I do not want to just hand out your e-mails without your permission.  I will go through the list this week, if you haven't filled out your e-mail, I will contact you directly.

Class Photographer
Mrs. Castillo will archive all our TK Photos.  If you have photos taken at school that you'd like her to collect, please e-mail it to her at valeriecastillo@me.com.

Mrs. Castillo is a professional photographer.  She has graciously offered to take photos of the class through the year.  She would like to get permission from you  to photograph your child.  I will send a note in your child's folder.  The photos that she will take will be archived and will be accessible only to the TK parents.

I will e-mail you the link and password to this area.

Birthday Celebration

On Friday, September 30, those with children whose birthday is in the month of September will celebrate their birthday.  I still encourage you to pack a snack for your child with the expectations of your child NOT eating it.  Sometimes the children are not interested in eating the provided snack or are still hungry after the snack, so having a default snack in their bag is helpful.

Emergency Clothes 

If you have not turned in your child's emergency clothes, please do so ASAP.  Place it in a gallon size Zip-loc bag with your child's name on the outside and on the items.

Donation of your time/Talent/Child's clothes

Uniforms are expensive!  I am looking for someone who knows how to sew a simple child's apron/smock to cover their uniform?  I can purchase fabric if you would let me know how much you would need to make about 5 aprons/smocks.  If I can't get anyone to sew (or find time to sew!), do you have any old t-shirts?  I'd like a size small child's t-shirt.  These shirts could be one of your older children's over-used, extra loved shirts.

Make-up Picture Day

If your child was absent or if you did not like how your child's initial photos turned out.  You have another chance!  Picture make-up day is October 26.

Classroom Volunteers
I will put a calendar out for parents to volunteer throughout the year.  I will put October's calendar out.  Please only reserve a spot once you have been cleared to volunteer with Mrs. Maxon.  Volunteers are to help supervise the children, prepare class materials, and work with small groups in and outside the classroom.

I am also looking for a volunteer to come every Tuesday (or split this with one or two other parents) to help with the Atrium of the Good shepherd.  I'd like to keep some type of consistency on Tuesdays.  Let  me know if you are interested.

All help is appreciated. :)

Have a great week!

Mrs. Paragas

Week 3 Newsletter

Dear TK Family,

We are in Week 3 of TK!  I am slowly seeing the difference between the first week and today.  I am proud of our achievement thus far.  The last 2 weeks was about establishing routine.  This week, we want to continue practicing routine, but also infuse more of the academic portion.

Ms. Cuellar will be out every Monday and Tuesday, starting today for the next 7 weeks.  Ms. Cuellar is in the last portion of her teaching credential program.  Please keep her in your prayers.  Meanwhile, I am fortunate that Mrs. Stella Lares will assist me on Monday and Tuesday.  Ms. Stella, as the children call her, jumped into TK today.  She did very well with learning your child's name and working with them.

Our goals for the week:

• Religion - Jesus' Apostles; We are His friends; How are we friends with each other?
• Reading - Letter Recognition Aa-Ee; Alphabet song; words vs. letters; Rhyming; Poems
• Math - Attributes such as color, size, type, sorting; Number 1
• Social Studies - Patriotism; our flag
• Science - Colors
• Safety - We will practice fire drills and earthquake drills (please remind them that as much as they are a drill, we need to take it seriously). 

Don't forget - 

• Picture Day is Wednesday.  If you plan to order pictures, be sure to have your order forms with money by Wednesday morning.
• HOPE Food Drive - Once a month, students will take home a tote bag.  Families are asked to bring in non-perishable food donation.  You are welcome to bring more than what can fit in their HOPE bags.
• Parent Volunteers - If you are fingerprinted and Safe-Environment trained, please let me know by email so that I can "clear" your name with Mrs. Maxon.  Once I hear from her, I will create my "master list" of parents that can be on campus to help me.   
• Newsletter - I will try to update this website at least once a week.  For the most part, I will have our newsletter ready sometime on Tuesday (evening at the latest).  Sometimes I do forget what day it is (especially when there is no school on Monday).  Please be patient in an event I do forget.
• Scholastic Book Order - If you plan to order books, please be sure to have orders completed by Friday at noon.

Have a great week!

God's Blessings,

Mrs. Paragas

Book Order / Picture Day

I sent home a few book order catalogs from Scholastic Book Clubs.  If you plan to order books, please place your order by Friday, September 16.

Picture Day forms were sent home today. Picture Day is on September 14.

I update the TK website on Tuesdays.  Please be sure to read the updates every Tuesday afternoon. Other updates throughout the week will be sent via email OR a small slip of paper will be sent home to notify you of the updates on the website.

Thank you!

Week 2 Newsletter

Dear TK Families,

I hope you enjoyed your Labor Day holiday.  Long weekends for me seem to never be long enough, I'm sure most will agree?  However, I am excited to be back with your children.  I am thrilled to do more exciting things this week.

Our goals for the week:

• Religion - Jesus has special friends
• Math - calendar skills, writing number 0 and 1
• Reading/Language - Story: Rainbow Fish;  characters; Alphabet Introduction
• Social Studies - Sharing
• Science - Colors

Emergency Clothes

A gallon size zip-loc bag was sent home last week without a note attached.  Please fill the bag with play clothes such as a T-shirt, shorts/pants, underwear, and socks.  This will be returned before Christmas break and will be asked to replenish when they return in January.

Emergency Pack

All St. I Students need an emergency pack in an event of an emergency.  The Emergency Pack may be purchased for $15 from the school office OR you may create your own.  If you create your own, you must include the following items:

• 16 oz. of water (if possible packed into 4 oz pouches)
• 1200 calorie emergency bar
• 1 - 12 hour light stick
• 1 Emergency Blanket
• 1 Activity book

TK Questionnaire

In your Back To School Night Packet, I have a couple papers that need to be filled out.  If you have not turned it in, please do so this week.

Book Order
I will send home a couple Scholastic Book Order catalogs tomorrow.  The link below will help you order online:

http://mrsparagas.blogspot.com/p/scholastic-book-order.html

If you choose to order by check or money order, make your checks out to Scholastic Book Club.  

If you need assistance, let me know.

Password Protected Section

I have a password protected section on the website.  Please e-mail me at lparagas@stischoolcypress.org and I will send you the password via e-mail.  Make sure the e-mail you use is the e-mail you'd like me to correspond with regularly as I will save that e-mail to correspond with you.

Drop off / Pick-up

I am starting to slowly getting familiar with face of those who pick up your child.  Please be patient as I go through this process.  Picking up will be much easier as the year goes... promise!

God's Blessings,

Mrs. Paragas