TK Parent Conferences

Dear TK Parents,

I have closed the Parent-Teacher Conference scheduling on Sycamore.  TK does not participate in the SLE Portfolio Conferences.  Instead, if I feel there is a need to schedule a Parent Conference, I will contact you directly.  

Thank you,
Mrs. Paragas

Week 32 Newsletter

I posted this on the Shutterfly Site but forgot to share it here:

Dear TK Families,

Welcome back!  I hope you enjoyed the Easter holiday.  I was able to spend Easter with my family and my daughter was able to actually be a part of the Easter celebration.  During the season of Easter, let us remember the loving sacrifice that Jesus did for all of us.  I remind the students to always keep Jesus in our hearts especially when we have to make tough choices. 

This week we are learning the following:

*Religion - Easter season, Jesus has risen

*Math - graphing and reviewing of previous math skills

*Reading/Language - alphabet review, writing letters Mm, Nn, Oo; sight words review

*Science - Planet Earth

*Social Studies - Earth Day

Upcoming:

*Celebrate April birthdays - Friday, April 28 at snack time

* The 3 Piggy Opera - Friday, May 12 at 10:30

Have a super week!

Mrs. Paragas

Week 31 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

This week is Holy Week.  The TK kids have been working hard to understand the meaning of Lent and Jesus' sacrifice for us.  As an in home extension, I encourage you to discuss Lent with your child.  

This week's learning goals are as follows:

Religion - Holy Week; Palm Sunday and Last Supper

Reading - Letter Review, Bible readings

Math - Graphing; addition and subtraction review

Sight Words- go, at

On Thursday, we will reenact Jesus walking into Jerusalem with the donkeys (Palm Sunday) and the Last Supper.  

HOPE COLLECTION will be tomorrow.  We forgot to send home the bag today (some daycare children received their bag).  Please donate what you can as there is a shortage of food at the moment.  We hope you can help our community!  

Just a reminder, the Three Piggy Opera will be on Friday, May 12!  We have been practicing our songs!  We can't wait to perform it in front of you.

On Good Friday, we will have no school as our Easter Break begins.  School will resume on April 24.

Have a good week!

Mrs. Paragas

Week 30 Newsletter

Dear TK Parents,

April is here!  The last part of the school year will go by really fast.  I sent home the song sheets for your child's role in the TK Play, The Three Piggy Opera.  Please use this to help them memorize their parts.  Our TK play will be on May 12 during our class time.  We hope you can join us!

Last week we focused on Living and Non-living things.  We are taking it one step further to discuss plant life.  We will be growing our very own seed!  Eventually we will discuss various types of animals such as mammals, reptiles, and marine animals.

Please continue to help your child with writing and making strokes from top to bottom.  We have focused on writing letters Aa to Jj.  This week's letter writing focus will be Kk and Ll.

We are focusing on sight words.  Please be sure that your child is familiar with some of the words, and if possible, all of the 20 words on the TK Must Know Sight Words List.  You can find that list on the back of your child's folder.

In Math, we are focusing on addition and subtraction.  We use vocabulary words like "in all", "take away", "minus", "plus", "all together", "number sentence". "difference".  Also, this week, we will be graphing and working with pictographs to compare quantities.

We have been focusing on Lent in religion, but we will also begin to discuss the Last Supper and Holy Week.  In addition, we are going to begin to work on memorizing the Hail Mary.

We are busy learning in TK!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Paragas

Week 28 Newsletter

Dear TK Parents,

Your child's Student Learning Assessment will be going home tomorrow.  I have to say that as I was working on their assessments, I saw all kinds of growth in your children - socially, academically and spiritually.  Thank you for your hard work with your child's success!

The focus in the third trimester will be on writing.  I want all TK students to enter Kindergarten knowing to how to write ALL letters and numbers correctly.  We will continue to review sounds, however my goal is for all to learn to write and read (appropriate to each student's ability/age). 

We will be practicing a play called The Three Piggy Opera which we will perform for you on May 12.  Please reserve that morning for us!

This week:

*Religion - What does "repent" mean?

*Math - Number 20, subtraction concept/vocabulary

*ELA - The 3 Piggy Opera, Sight words (look/have), writing letter b vs. d; Ii and Jj

*Science - Living/Non-Living Things

Have a great week!

Mrs. Paragas 

Week 27 Newsletter

Dear TK Families,

Last Friday was the last day of the 2nd Trimester.  Can you believe it? We are in the last leg of TK.  During the last trimester, I will be focusing on the following concepts: reading for comprehension, writing letters and numbers correctly, beginning and ending sounds, addition and subtraction, graphing, and measurement.  Many of what we are doing in the last trimester is more like Kindergarten work rather than preschool.  However, will still be doing a lot of review work on letter recognition and sounds as well as counting and matching quantity to numerals.

This week is a review week.  Our theme is St. Patrick's Day.  We will be working on the following:

*Religion - Lenten Theme/St. Patrick

*Math - Review of concepts: numbers, counting

*English/Language Arts - Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato, comprehension and vocabulary, sight words, and letter sound/recognition review

I have been assessing your children since last week for the end of the trimester.  I have to admit, I am super proud.  There are so many things that your children did not know at the beginning of the year that I can now say, "YES! We've finally got this!"  Most students know all their letters and sounds.  Many know their sight words.  We all know how to read a ten frame for math!  Can you tell?  I'm so proud of your kids!

We forgot to send home the HOPE bags for the food collection.  If you have any nonperishable food that you would like to donate, please send it to school.  Those receiving HOPE assistance will be grateful.

Don't forget, we do not have school on Friday.  I hope your child enjoys their extra day off...  an extra bonus if you can enjoy that day off with your child.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Paragas

Week 26 Newsletter

Dear TK Families,

We began Lent last week with Ash Wednesday.  On Ash Wednesday, Fr. Rudy came by our classroom and distributed ashed.  The children were receptive of the ashes, but some were surprisingly afraid.  Our class religion focus for the next few weeks will be Lent and family. Please talk with your child about Lent - prayer, fasting, and alms-giving.

The Second Trimester is coming to a close this Friday.  I will be assessing your children this week and next week and will provide more feedback on the SLAs.  Overall, I am very proud of your children.  Almost all the students know all 52 letter characters and numbers 0-10.  I will ask your child to orally recite the following prayers: Sign of the Cross (and make the sign), Glory Be, and the Our Father.  

My goal for the Third Trimester is to focus on writing letters, numbers, beginning and ending sounds, and reading (sight words).  I will also be continuing the addition concept but also introduce subtraction.  

This week's Goals:

Theme - Plants

Religion: Lenten Season Lesson

Math: Number 18, counting to 30 and to 100; ten frames, addition

English/Language: Letter Gg and Hh; Storys about Plants

Science: Plant Life

Looking Ahead:

In case you want to look through your pantry for donations over the weekend, next Wednesday is the HOPE food drive. 

Have a great week!

Mrs. Paragas