Week 30

Dear TK Family and Friends,

This week we will learn the following:

• Jesus has many friends; baptism
• Counting to 27
• Writing numbers 0 to 10
• Recognizing numbers to 27
• Addition Concept
• Letter Ww
• Sight word: she
• The 3 Pigs - vocabulary: bundle, blaze, fortune, huffed
• The 3 Pigs - character and setting
• pigs and wolves

We are busy learning in TK!

Save the Date!

Don't forget that we will be performing The Three Piggy Opera on June 9 at around 10:30 AM.  

Progress Report and How Mrs. Paragas Teaches the Class

I want you all to be aware that I try to teach to all the students.  This age group is very tricky to teach as some children are new to the school environment and are learning the basics of school; while some children have been in a school environment and know their ABCs and 123s...  Despite the wide range of learners in the classroom - I still teach to all.  I teach the basics (which is new to the children who are new to school) and I teach the advanced material to target the children who need more.  For example, when teaching the 3 Little Pigs, I ask the children to identify the letters in the words they see, describe what they see in the pictures, count what they see, what do the given words begin with, what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story and so forth... Meanwhile, I am also asking the children to listen to the story and based on the context of the story, what does the vocabulary word mean, story elements such as describe the character and setting, etc.  

We will also be diving in addition and subtraction in TK.  For some, I will only be teaching how to add and subtract to 5, while other students can do larger numbers.

Because of the wide range of learners in the classroom, Progress Reports will only go home (on Friday) with the children who are continually having difficulty with the material that has been covered up until this week (past letters, sight words, numbers, etc).  If you have questions or have any confusions, please send me an email.

Science Night

Tomorrow is Science Night at 5:30 in the hall.  I hope to see you there!

Volunteers

I would love to have parent volunteers in the classroom.  If you'd like to volunteer and have been fingerprinted and safe environment trained.  Please sign up.  I'd love to have your help :)

Have a great week!

Mrs. Paragas

Science Night Project

Today your child took home his/her Science Night Project if it is incomplete.  Please complete the project this weekend and return the egg carton with the assigned items in each slot.  Remember that the items that go inside the carton must be directly from nature.  As much as everything comes from nature - paper from trees, fruit snacks from fruit - we are looking for items that are in its natural state; meaning, the items did not go through a factory.

We will label the carton in the classroom so you do not need to print the pictures below.  Use the pictures below as your guide.

The picture below shows that the project is due Wednesday, April 13.  I ask that you return the project in by Monday and not Wednesday because Ms. Cuellar and I have to label all the egg cartons.

If you have questions, please email me.

Have a good weekend!

Mrs. Paragas

Book Orders for April

I forgot to mention in yesterday's newsletter that Book Order forms went home for the month of April.  This month they gave me $5 coupons.  Basically spend $10 and get a free book up to a $5 value.  If you do not plan to use the coupon, send the coupon back to school and I will try to use it to purchase books for the class.

Book Orders are due by Friday, April 15.

Week 29 Newsletter

Dear TK Family and Friends,

This week in TK we are learning the following:

• Jesus has risen!/Easter
• Reviewing the following prayers: Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Glory Be.  Students will be tested on their prayers next week.  Please be sure to recite the prayers often.
• Letters Uu and Vv - letter recognition, sound, initial sounds in words, and write the letter
• Number 26 - count up to, write number 26
• Concept of Before and After
• Graphing
• The 3 Little Pigs
• Characteristics of Pigs and Wolves (this will be on ongoing topic as we will have a week on mammals in a few weeks)
• Science Project to be displayed during Science Night

Science Night will be on April 13 at 5:30pm in the Hall.  I hope to see you there!  Your child's science project will be displayed at this event.  In order for your child to complete the science project, he/she will need to bring an egg crate/carton.  If you have extras, please bring them to school in case others forget.  Here is a picture of what the carton looks like.  We will try to find as many of the items needed for this project at school.  Items that are too difficult to find at school will need to be completed at home.  For example, "smooth rock" - I'm not sure how many smooth rocks we will be able to find on campus.  In these cases, I will have your child complete the missing items at home. Should you have any questions, please e-mail me or ask me in person.

Letter of the Week - We skipped "Share" for the letter Uu since it was a short week but we are back on track with Share for the letter Vv.

Yearbook - The Yearbook Committee is looking for TK photos at school events.  if you have some to share, please e-mail photos this week.   

Looking Ahead:

• Field Study - Rather than leaving campus for a field trip, we are bringing a field trip to school!  We have invited Inside the Outdoors to bring all sorts of animals to school.  This is a great opportunity for students to have hands on interactions with live animals.  This "trip" will cost you $0 because we have great support from HSA.  Your participation with HSA activities help bring opportunities like this to our school.  
• The 3 Piggy Opera - This year, TK will be performing a small play called The 3 Piggy Opera based on the story of The Three Little Pigs.  I am giving all of you a little heads up in case you'd like to take time off work to watch the performance.  We are scheduled to do the play on Thursday, June 9 at about 10:30am.  It's a very short performance but we have already been working hard to prepare for it.  We hope you can join us!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Paragas

Just a Friendly Reminder Regarding the Gate

Hi Parents and Guardians,

I've mentioned this before I went on my leave, by wanted to send you a friendly reminder.  When picking up your child early or volunteering in the classroom, I just wanted to remind you that the gates are locked.  I kindly ask that you do not knock on our classroom window.  The loud banging sound can be frightening to the children and is also a distraction during class time or quiet time.

• If you are picking up your child early, you will need to check them out from the office and fill out a slip.  Remind the office staff that you will be picking up in TK so that they can call us in the classroom to open the gate for you.  
• If you are volunteering in the classroom, you will need to sign in the office and grab a volunteer sticker.  While signing in, inform the office staff that you are on your way to volunteer in the classroom.  Kindly remind them to call our classroom so that we can open the gate.
• If you are picking up your child during daycare between the hours of 11:45 and 2:20, the gates will be locked.  You do not need to sign your child out from the office, however, the classroom needs to be called to unlock the gate.  In some instances, Mrs. Gigi is the only one in the classroom during daycare.  By letting the office know that you are picking up, she can inform them that she needs a staff member to help unlock the gate for her.

All of this is for the safety of your child.  Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Paragas

Week 28

Dear TK Family and Friends,

This week in TK we are learning the following:

• Religion - Lent, Holy Week, Easter
• Letter Uu (identification, sound, words, and writing)
• Sight word: she
• Math - collecting data, making a graph, reading a graph
• Number 25

Our school will be having a Science Night which will be opened to grades TK to 3.  It will be a great night for hands-on learning.  I hope to see you there!  For more information, please click on the link.  Here is the link for the flier.

TK will be working on a science project that will be displayed during Science Night.  I ask all students to bring in an empty 1 dozen egg crate that looks similar to this:

Please put your child's name on the bottom. 

This week is Holy Week, we have been talking about how we can prepare for Easter.   Since Lent is a time to repent, please talk with your children about saying sorry and forgiving people when they make mistakes.

We will not be having Share this week since it's a short and busy week.  However, if your child has a "U" item to share, you are welcome to have your child bring it tomorrow or Thursday.

Have a good rest of the week,

Mrs. Paragas

Week 27

Dear TK Families and Friends,

This week TK will be learning the following:

• The Season of Lent
• Alike and Different/Graphing
• Sign Language for What is your name?;  My name is...; old; new; alike; different
• St. Patrick's Day
• Colors of the Rainbow
• Letter Tt - write, sound, and identify words that begin with  Tt
• Number 24 - write, count, and identify
• Clouds and Rainbows

Last week I introduced the Glory Be.  Please help your child with this prayer by reciting it regularly. 

Glory be to the Father,

and to the Son, 

and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning,

is now and ever shall be

world without end.

Amen.

Last week I sent home a uniform reminder.  This went home will all the children as a reminder to you of the uniform policy.  The uniform concerns are mostly related to the following:

• Nail polish - nail polish is not allowed.
• Hair accessories must be in the following colors:  red, white or navy blue only
  (no plastic headbands – cloth only).
• Jewelry - Wrist watches may be worn. Girls only may wear one pair of stud earrings. Standard medical or ID bracelets are acceptable. Necklaces or chains are not allowed because they create a safety hazard. However, we respect religious traditions of wearing a scapular, cross, or religious medal.  If these are worn, they must be simple chains and crosses/medals (not ropes or nuggets), and must be kept inside the shirt or blouse or they will be confiscated and returned at the end of the day.
• Socks and leggings -  Traditional tennis shoes only, solid white, black, red, or navy blue with matching laces or velcro closure.
  SOCKS: Red, white, or navy blue crew socks or knee socks are to be worn. Girls may wear red, white, or navy blue tights on cold days. Socks must cover the ankle and be VISIBLE at all times.
• Undershirt - White T-shirt/turtleneck under the uniform shirt/blouse for cold weather at parental discretion
• Gr TK-8: St. I’s red T-shirt or Eagle T-shirt may be worn on Fridays and other days designated by administration.

Please review the uniform policy in the Parent/Student Handbook that can be found under the "TK Families" link or visit the school's website to download the handbook.  If you need more clarification, please come see me.

I know the school year is two-thirds over and we start to relax a bit.  I just wanted to remind you that TK class begins at 7:55am.  I know life happens and we do run late, but let's try not to make it a habit.  The children begin the morning with a morning review at the table.  If you are running late, the assignment will be sent home at the end of the week for your child to do at his or her leisure.

Please remind your children that playing with imaginary weapons are not allowed at school because that is not how Jesus wants us to treat each other even if it's for pretend.  Thank you for your support on this matter.

On Wednesday, SLAs will go home with your child.  If you have questions regarding your child's performance, please set up a conference and we can go over your questions or concerns.  This past trimester, Mrs. Collins sent home progress reports to all the students in TK.  During the third trimester, only students that have areas to improve on will receive a progress report.  If your child does not receive a progress report, that means they are meeting TK expectations.  I will remind you of this as soon as progress reports will be handed out.

Tomorrow, HOPE bags will be going home.  Just a reminder, please return the bags even if you do not have any food donations.  Thank you!

Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day kind of week!

Mrs. Paragas