SURVIVAL

GUIDE
FOR PARENTS
Monroe
Elementary
School
Table of Contents
Welcome Letter .......p. 1
Things to Know
Monday Folders .......p.2
Homework Noteooks .p.2
!omm"nications ......p.2
!hild o# the Week ....p.2
$iscipline .....p.2
%pecials ........p.&
%"pply List .......p.&
How !an 'arents Help( ...........p.)
*ol"nteering ........p.+
%pelling %tages .....p.,
Kindergarten Writing %amples p.- . 1/
Kindergarten 0eport !ard .......p.11 . 12
Kindergarten %ight Words ......p.1& . 1)
$ear 'arents1
Welcome to Kindergarten2 We hope yo" and yo"r child are e3cited ao"t the "pcoming year2
We plan to instill a lo4e o# learning and ha4e #"n while doing it. 5s yo"r child6s Kindergarten
teachers1 we ha4e #o"r primary goals #or yo"r child7
1. That yo"r child will ha4e positi4e sel# esteem and lo4e o"r school en4ironment.
2. That yo"r child will ac8"ire the necessary social skills to e s"ccess#"l with
classmates1 classroom ro"tines1 and e3pectations.
&. That yo"r child will progress at their own indi4id"al de4elopmental le4els.
). That yo"r child will meet or e3ceed the !olorado %tate %tandards #or academic
achie4ement.
9d"cating a child is a team e##ort etween the school and home. :ood comm"nication is
essential1 and we6re in hopes that this packet will help yo" to e in#ormed ao"t what to e3pect
this year. 'lease #eel #ree to contact "s at any point thro"gho"t the year regarding yo"r child6s
progress.
0espect#"lly yo"rs1
K;N$90:50T9N T95!H90%
p. 1
Things to Know
Monday Folders
Monday Folders pro4ide a comm"nication link etween school and home. The #olders will come
home on Mondays o# each #"ll week o# school and are to e ret"rned on Friday. %chool
in#ormation will e inside1 as well as1 any work yo"r child has completed in class. 'lease take
time to look at e4erything that comes home. ;t will help yo" get a etter sense o# what yo" child
is doing at school.
Homework Notebooks
<o"r child will recei4e a homework noteook starting in %eptemer. The noteook will contain
a homework calendar. 'lease complete the assigned task on the night it is d"e. Then send the
noteook ack to school the #ollowing day. Homework noteooks are ecoming part o# a school
wide homework policy. ;# there is not homework assigned yo"r child can always read and
practice sight words. ;t is 4ery important to make homework gets done when it is assigned.
Together we will de4elop li#elong st"dy skills and responsiility.
Communication
5 calendar and a letter are sent home each month in#orming yo" o# weekly topics. The calendar
will incl"de ook orders1 d"e dates1 4ol"nteer sched"les1 and any other special dates. 'lease
keep yo"r calendar handy #or that month so yo" will know what is occ"rring in kindergarten.
Child of the Week
9ach week we will ha4e the opport"nity to learn more ao"t an indi4id"al st"dent in o"r class.
!hildren will ring home a letter gi4ing more in#ormation when it is their t"rn to share ao"t
themsel4es.
Discipline
'ositi4e =eha4ior ;nter4ention %"pport >'=i%? is the school@wide model that Monroe "ses to
promote positi4e eha4ior at school. This model helps to pro4ide "s with a #ramework that
promotes school spirit and recogniAes positi4e eha4ior. %t"dents are ta"ght that Mighty
M"stangs make the choices to7
e !afe " e #espectful " e #esponsible p. 2
$% We Keep &ursel'es !afe%
(% We Keep )ach &ther !afe%
*% We Keep &ur Things !afe%
These are three r"les that help "ild a sa#e classroom en4ironment and pre4ent most instances o#
miseha4ior. 'lease take the time to disc"ss these r"les with yo"r children. ;n o"r classes1 when
miseha4ior occ"rs1 we "se these r"les to help the st"dents make etter choices regarding their
eha4ior.
Bccasionally1 a child6s eha4ior will e serio"s eno"gh to warrant a CMinorD and a copy
wo"ld e sent home #or yo"r signat"re. 5#ter three Minors1 parents are called in #or a meeting
with the principal. 94ery attempt is made to #oc"s on the positi4e eha4ior rather than negati4e
in the classroom.
!pecials
Lirary
!omp"ter
'.9.
5rt
M"sic
<o" will e pro4ided with a specials sched"le. We ha4e one ho"r o# each special each week.
!upply +ist
1 set wide tip1 water sol"le markers
1 s"pply o3
& reams o# copy paper
E gl"e sticks
1 pair children6s scissors >plastic with metal edges?
1 o3 o# 2) crayons
12 pencils F2 >sharpened?
& o3es o# snacks >gold#ish1 pretAels1 crackers1 che3 mi31 teddy grahams1
no indi4id"al packages?
2 large o3es o# Kleene3
1 ack pack
p. &
How can parents help,
+etter Houses and Cards-
The year egins with a daily introd"ction o# the letters and so"nds with the "se o# the Letter
!ards. 5 Letter Ho"se is created at school with the letter 5 card on the #irst day. 9ach day1 a
new Letter !ard is added. Bnce we ha4e added all 2, letters the letter ho"se will come home.
When it does please make s"re yo" child practice the letter names and so"nds. When all o# the
letters ha4e een introd"ced1 we will celerate y ha4ing an 5lphaet Festi4al.
+ap #eading-
9ach month1 yo"r child will ring home a monthly Lap 0eading %heet #or yo" to log the ooks
that yo" read to yo"r child d"ring that month. The kids ret"rn the Lap 0eading %heets to school
at the end o# the month #or a priAe. 0esearch shows that reading alo"d to children on a reg"lar
asis is critical at this age in order to help them de4elop into good readers.
!tar Words and Mini"ooks-
5#ter the letter introd"ction1 we will e starting a program that will help yo"r child learn to read
and write simple words that appear #re8"ently in ooks. They are listed in the ack o# this
s"r4i4al g"ide. Learning to read these words y sight is an important strategy yo"r child can "se
to ecome a strong1 independent reader. ;n o"r Kindergarten1 we re#er to these words as %tar
Words. 9ach week we6ll send home a new %tar Word as well as a Mini@=ook. 'lease ha4e yo"r
child practice reading these Mini@=ooks. Together we can inspire yo"r child to lo4e ooks.
p. )
.olunteering
There are many 4al"ale ways to help o"t in yo"r child6s kindergarten class. We ha4e #o"nd
parent help in the past to e in4al"ale2 ;# yo" co"ld #ind any time in any o# the #ollowing ways1
we wo"ld e most appreciati4e2
Name7 GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
'hone7 GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
!hild6s Name7 GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
; can help in the #ollowing way>s?7
1. /arent 'olunteer in the classroom once a week ><o" can also 4ol"nteer e4ery other
week i# that #its yo"r sched"le etter. Make note o# that please.?
're#erred $ay GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
54ailale Time GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
2. Field Trip Helper% We go on one #ield trip per school year.
*% #oom Mother or Father 0heads up the classroom .alentine1s Day /arty2
). 3lphabet Festi'al helper . Bctoer
+. !end 'arious materials from home >we will e cooking and needing certain
ingredients?
,. Work at home preparing a 4ariety o# materials >c"tting1 tracing1 etc.?
-. &ther7 GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
'lease send this #orm ack with yo"r child. <o"r participation and help can make a di##erence
#or yo"r child and #or many others. Most new parent 4ol"nteers will not act"ally start "ntil
Bctoer d"e to the district registration policy. 4f you are not a registered 'olunteer and you
would like to help please go to thompsonschools%org and follow the registration process
located under the 5uick +inks section of the website% Bnce yo"r registration has een
processed and yo" are cleared to 4ol"nteer yo" will recei4e a phone call #rom Mrs. Kingston.
Thank yo" so m"ch #or yo"r help and cooperation2
p. +
!pelling !tages
<o"r child will e learning to do what ; call CKindergarten WritingD this year. CKindergarten
WritingD helps children "ild their "nderstanding o# phonics y spelling the words according to the
so"nds they hear. 'lease take a moment to #amiliariAe yo"rsel# with the spelling stages in order to
"nderstand yo"r child6s de4elopmental progression. B"r minim"m goal is to ha4e e4ery child at
le4el & y year6s end.
1. /#)C&MM6N4C3T4.) !/)++4N7 is the aling stage o# spelling. !hildren "se
letters #or writing words "t the letters are str"ng together randomly. The letters in
precomm"nicati4e spelling do not correspond to so"nds. 93amples7 B'%'% H eagleI
0T5T H eighty.
2. !)M4/H&N)T4C !/)++)#! know that letters represent so"nds. They percei4e and
relialy represent so"nds with letters in a type o# telegraphic writing. %pellings are o#ten
are4iated representing initial andJor #inal so"nds. 93amples7 9 H eagleI 5 H eighty.
&. /H&N4C !/)++)#! spell words like they so"nd. The speller percei4es and represents
all o# the phonemes in a word1 tho"gh spellings may e "ncon4entional. 93amples7 9:L
H eagleI 5T9 H eighty.
). T#3N!4T4&N3+ !/)++)#! think ao"t how words appear 4is"allyI a 4is"al memory
o# spelling patterns is apparent. %pellings e3hiit con4entions o# 9nglish orthography
like 4owels in e4ery syllale1 e@marker and 4owel digraph patterns1 correctly spelled
in#lectional endings1 and #re8"ent 9nglish letter se8"ences. 93amples7 9:KL H eagleI
9;:HT99 H eighty.
+. C&##)CT !/)++)#! de4elop o4er years o# word st"dy and writing. !orrect spelling
can e categoriAed y instr"ction le4els. For e3ample1 correct spelling #or a corp"s o#
words that can e spelled y the a4erage #o"rth grader wo"ld e #o"rth grade le4el
correct spelling. 'lace the word in this category i# it is spelled correctly.
p. ,