Mrs.

Howards
Kindergarten Class Handbook

Thomas Edison Elementary 2012-2013

Table of Contents
Welcome Letter.3 Get to Know Mrs. Howard..4 A Message for Kindergarten Parents5 Supply List..6 Parent-Teacher Relationship..7 Money...............7 Lunch.7 Snacks..8 Transportation8 Attendance8 Volunteers..9 Field Trips.9 Birthdays10 Clothing10 Homework..10 Grading Policy..11 Book-It.11 Media Center/Library..12 Scholastic Book Clubs.12 Daily Folder13 Class Website..13 Weekly Newsletter13 Discipline.14 Final Words.......15

September 4, 2012 Dear Parents. This week your child will complete one of the most important milestones in his/her life the first day of school! I understand that you and your child may have met this day with excitement or apprehension (or a little of both). I want to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child to Thomas Edison Elementary and to my classroom. Each new school year is exciting and challenging for me and I am looking forward to getting to know you and your child. The beginning of a school year is an exciting time in the lives of children, especially Kindergarten students. I have prepared this booklet of information to answer many questions you may have concerning procedures in our classroom and in our school. Please keep this booklet and refer to it when appropriate. Please let me know if you have any questions. This year will be a very exciting time in the life of your child. Kindergarten will be a time when we build your childs educational foundation. I am very happy to partner with you on this journey we are beginning. Dont blink this year will go by fast!!!

Sincerely, Mrs. Howard

Get to Know Mrs. Howard

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Michelle Howard. I am beginning my 10th year as a teacher. This will be my 3rd year at Thomas Edison Elementary. I graduated from Saginaw Valley State University, with a degree in Elementary Education in 2002. I obtained my Masters degree in Instructional Education from Central Michigan University in 2009. I love spending time with my family. I have four children: Kelsey 13, Gibson 10, Gavin 6, Lincoln 4. I also enjoy attending church and teaching Sunday School, going to my childrens sporting events and scrapbooking . I am looking forward to an amazing year with your child.

A Message for Kindergarten Parents

K I N D E R G A R T E N

Kindle excitement about Kindergarten. Visit your school and meet your childs teacher

Invite new school friends home to play and help your child build strong friendships

Never forget safety. Teach your child safety rules-whether walking or taking the bus.

Discuss what your child will be learning in school colors, shapes, numbers, letters, etc.

Explore your neighborhood together. Talk about the world you live in.

Review the good behavior expected of your child, such as following rules and taking turns.

Get involved at your childs school. Join the PTA. Volunteer in the classroom.

Answer your childs questions about school. Reassure your child that school is fun.

Read to your child daily. Visit the library together.

Turn every day into a learning experience. Let your child help you with everyday chores.

Encourage your child to eat well, get enough sleep, bathe daily and brush teeth 2X a day.

Notice new things your child is learning to do. Reinforce your childs progress with praise. 5

1 package of #2 pencils 3 folders (2 pockets) with 3 holes punched 1 bottle of WHITE school glue (4 oz.) 1 pair of scissors (Fiskars) 2 boxes of 24 crayons 1 plastic school box (5X8 in size no handles) 1-2 bottles of hand soap 1-2 box of tissues 1 large Book Bag Several glue sticks

Other helpful items that we could use, if you can and would like to send: 1-2 canisters of Clorox wipes 1 box of zip lock baggies (Girls bring one box of snack or quart size and boys bring one box of sandwich or gallon size) 1 package of dry erase markers 1 box of washable markers (please leave markers in box) 1-2 bottles of hand sanitizer 1-2 reams of white copy paper Play-Doh

**While school supplies are on sale, it would be a good idea to go ahead and stock up on supplies in order to replenish throughout the school year**

Parent/Teacher Relationship
I believe that a good parent-teacher relationship is necessary for maximum school success. Throughout the school year I will communicate with you through notes, telephone calls, weekly newsletters, daily behavior calendar, progress reports, report cards, and parent-teacher conferences. I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. You can call me at school 984-6507, send me a note, or email me at: .mhoward@phasd.us

Money
On occasion it will be necessary for your child to bring money to school. Always send money in a sealed envelope with the following information written on it: ~1. Your childs first and last name ~2. The amount of money ~3. The purpose for the money (lunch, book fair, etc). ~4. My name Mrs. Howard This envelope needs to be placed in the Blue Folder. With around 25 students to keep track of and several reasons to collect money, this is a tremendous help and reduces the likelihood of errors. Also, if the envelope is left on the bus or dropped in the hallway, this information will help the money to be returned to my classroom.

Lunch
The cost of student lunch is $1.35 per day. (*Please follow the money procedures outlined above). You can prepay for your childs lunches by send a check to school and Menus are sent home every month and are available online. Please help your child select his/her choice before coming to school each day. School lunch includes milk or juice. If your child brings his/her lunch from home make sure it is in a lunch box or bag. Milk or juice may be purchased for $.40 or you may send a non-carbonated, low-sugar beverage from home. You are always welcome to join us for lunch, however, PLEASE GIVE US A FEW WEEKS TO ESTABLISH OUR ROUTINE BEFORE VISTING. Adult lunches are $3.00. When you arrive, please sign in at the office and meet us at the entrance to the cafeteria. Our lunch period is 30 minutes long.
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Snacks
In Kindergarten, we eat fairly early in the day. Therefore, we will have snacks during the afternoon. I would ask that you send your snack to school on the 1st Monday of each month. This way we have a variety to choose from and you always know when it is your turn to send snacks. You will need enough for 23 children. If everyone provides a snack once a month, the children will be able to have a snack every day. Snack items can be: animal crackers, fruit snacks, goldfish, pretzels or snack bars. No candy, please !

Transportation
Please remember to NOTIFY ME IN WRITING if there are changes in the way your child will be going home from school. Without written instruction from you, I will send your child home their usual manner (I cannot accept verbal changes from your child or a sibling). PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL TRANSPORTATION CHANGES!!! I cannot guarantee that I will have an opportunity to check my email prior to dismissal. Additionally, substitutes do not have access to my email account. The BEST way to make a transportation change is by sending a note to school in your childs Blue Folder. **I have found that it makes everything go smoother is your child uses the same transportation on the first day of school as (s)he will be using the rest of the school year. If you want to walk your child to our classroom on the first day, I understand. However, I feel it is best for everyone if you allow your child to walk independently after the first day. Independence is an important skill learned in Kindergarten. Dont forget, your child must be in our classroom by 8:45a.m. to avoid tardiness.

Attendance
Your child should be at school every day unless he/she is sick or observing a religious holiday. If your child is sick or misses school for any reason, please send a note so that I can keep it on file so it can be determined if it is an excused or unexcused absence. In accordance with Port Huron Area School System attendance policy, at 5 absences you will receive a letter reminding
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you of the attendance policy. If your child accumulates 10 absences, you receive another letter. You will continue to receive a letter or phone call as the absences continue to accumulate. If your child is not feeling well, has had a fever during the last 24 hours, or is in any way contagious, PLEASE allow him/her to stay home from school as we want your child and the rest of the class and teachers to stay healthy. If you take your child to the doctor, please ask the doctor for a school excuse note. Please try and refrain from taking your child out of school to go on family trips as this is not an excused absence. For more details on the attendance policy refer to your Student Code of Conduct Handbook. For specific questions call the school and ask to speak to the attendance secretary.

Volunteers
The students and I enjoy having our parents come to school to help us learn! Beginning in September, you will be given the opportunity to sign up to volunteer in our class. A calendar will go home prior to the month to sign up for times you would like to help. Additionally, you can sign up to help out as a room parent, photo parent, or scrapbook parent. If you a re interested, please contact me and I will give you information. I have had wonderful parent support in years past and I know I can count on you this year! Your help is GREATLY appreciated!

Field Trips
Throughout the year, we will schedule trips into the community to enhance our curriculum. Permission slips and cost information will be sent home prior to each trip. You will have the opportunity to volunteer to be a chaperone for a field trip. Due to space requirements, the number of chaperones may be limited for each trip. When the field trip permission slip is distributed, if you are interested in chaperoning please let me know as soon as possible. Chaperones will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis. If we have more volunteers than spaces, I will take out names of parents who have already chaperoned a trip and then draw names. Please understand that I will make every attempt to give each parent the opportunity to go on a field trip that wants to. Chaperones will be responsible for 3-5 children while we are away from school. Since you need to devote all of your attention to our students, siblings are not permitted to accompany you.
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Birthdays
I know how special birthdays are for you and your child. We will recognize birthdays at school in an appropriate manner. Please let me know ahead of time if you wish to send in a special snack for the class on your childs birthday. We will have the treat/snack during our regular snack time, which will be after 2:00p.m. If your child is having a birthday party and you would like to invite children from the class you must send in enough invitations for every child in the class. If there are not enough for everyone then I will have to send them back home to you.

Clothing
Kindergartners are involved in activities that require jumping, running, climbing and the like. Tennis shoes with laces or Velcro closures are required for PE days. Please keep in mind that your child will participate in outdoor activities daily and flip-flops, slip-ons, pumps, clogs, and similar style shoes often pose a danger to your child. Since we try to maximize the time we have.

Homework
As children enter Kindergarten, they are eager and ready to learn. Kindergarten homework lays the foundation for good work habits in later years. Furthermore, positive homework helps establish the home-school connection and involves parents as partners in their childs daily learning experiences. Your child will receive a monthly homework calendar with several activity choices. Please assist your child in completing the activities. Once an activity is completed have your child color in the box to indicate the activity has been completed. You and your child can work on the activities as you wish. If the assignment requires the child to do a paper assignment then have the child put the paper in their Blue Folder and I will check it the following school day. Occasionally, additional homework may be sent home to complete. It will be placed in their Blue Folders. Have your child complete it and return it to school by the assigned date.

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Grading Policy
Smiley face, sticker or stamp

Great Work! OK! Keep Trying! Messy or Redo

Check

___ Check minus

This is the rubric I will use to grade your childs work. At the beginning of the school year, I will ask them to help me grade their work using the rubric so they know what is expected of them. If your child needs to redo his/her work, I will provide another copy and write redo on their original work. Please make sure you work with your child on the skills necessary to correctly complete their work. I will look for things such as doing their best, staying in the lines when coloring, using correct colors to complete their work, cutting things out correctly, gluing their projects together correctly, following directions, etc. I do talk to them about what they can do to improve and I do stamp papers with a smile if they have shown progress. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 984-6507.

Book It Reading Program

Every Monday, your child will bring home 2 books to read to you and you to them. It is a letter book that goes with the letter of the week and a book that goes with the words that we are learning. Each night you and your child need to read them together. When you and your child are reading the books, point to the word as you say it so they will recognize the words when they see them later on. Once you and your child have read the books together several times, please put your signature on the back of the book. On
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Fridays, your child will bring the books back to school and read them to me. If your child reads the books to me without any errors or help, they will receive a Pizza Hut sticker. Once your child has 4 stickers, they will get a coupon to receive a FREE personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut! Your child can only get one free pizza coupon per month. The coupon will expire 30 days from the date issued. This coupon is for your child only. It is not to be given to friends or family members and your child must be present to receive the pizza. I strongly encourage you to keep the books all year long. The books are a great source to use to reread and to review letter sound and recognition. Each child must participate in this program. This is a great program that encourages children to read and has exciting rewards.

Media Center/Library
You will learn that I am a firm believer in children being surrounded by books. Each week your child will visit the school media center/library. He/She will be permitted to check out one book during each visit. Please help your child find a place to keep his/her library book at home. My suggestion would be to keep the book in their backpack unless they are reading it. Then they wont forget to bring it to school when it is due. Your child must return their current book in order to get a different one. If your child does not take care of the library books then they will lose their privilege to check out books.

Im sure you all can relate to the excitement we all experience when we crack open the spine of a new book. That excitement is amplified for our new readers! Each month, I will send home a catalog from Scholastic Book Clubs. This program provides an inexpensive way to add books to your childrens home libraries while benefiting our class. With each purchase, our class earns Bonus Points, which can be exchanged for books for our classroom. Take a quick tour of our classroom library and you will see for yourself how beneficial this program has been for our classroom over the years. Please keep in mind that you are under no obligation to purchase materials from Scholastic Book Clubs. There are two ways to order: you can send the order form and money into me in the specified money handling way listed above OR you can order online using our class code HB4NC.
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Blue Folder Daily Folder

Your child will have the responsibility of bringing this folder to and from school daily. This folder will be used as a means of communication. This folder helps students to establish good organizational skills as well as teach responsibility. Your childs work will be sent home in the folder each week. Please take time to look at your childs work and go over it with them. Your child will be proud of their work and will want to share it with you. Remember: Remove all work from your childs folder for a record of his/her progress throughout the year. I will also send any notes from me or the school in the folder, so please look for these. Your immediate response may be requested.

Class Website
I have a classroom website that I maintain to keep you informed on what is going on in our classroom. There will be many answers to your questions. There is also a page that has many resources for my students. They can go to the page and go to many really good websites to help reinforce what we are learning in school. There is also a class picture album on my website where I will post pictures and keep you updated on all the fun things we are doing at school. This will allow you to feel more a part of your childs learning experience. Our website address is: http://www.protopage.com/mrshoward

Weekly Newsletter
Each Monday I will send home a weekly newsletter that will highlight some things that have happened in class that week. There will also be lots of announcements and dates to keep you informed. It is very important that you read the newsletter each week. Attached to the bottom of the newsletter will be a weekly progress report that I will fill out on your child. The way I rate your child will reflect the kind of week that they had. If they are rated lower one week than another then that means they did not have as good of a week. If you ever have any questions please feel free to ask.
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Discipline Daily Behavior Plan

Your child deserves the most positive educational climate possible for academic growth. A good learning atmosphere is one in which a child is free to learn without distraction and a high level of noise. To help reach this goal, a discipline plan has been developed.

CLASSROOM RUL ES 1. Follow directions the first time. 2. Use all materials correctly. 3. Keep hands, feet, objects, and unkind words to yourself. ***These are general rules that cover all areas. They will be discussed at length with your child during school. POSITIVE REWARDS FOR FOLLOWING THE RUL ES 1. Verbal Praise 2. Rewards various daily and weekly rewards such as stickers, stamps, treats, etc. 3. Class-wide rewards such as extra playtime, snacks, popcorn party, movie, etc.

CONSEQUENCES FOR NOT FOLLOWING THE RUL ES 1. Warning 2. Remove child from situation (Example: move child from rug to his/her seat when they misbehave) and change star color, which will be indicated on folder behavior chart. 3. Lose some or all playtime, note sent home to parents that must be signed and returned to school. They change their star color on behavior board, which will be indicated on folder. 4. Referred to principal, call to parents, and change star on behavior board.

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* * *SEVERE CLAUSE* * * In case of severe misbehavior, such as hitting, pushing, willful destruction of property, profanity, willful disobedience or dangerous behavior, STEPS 1-4 will be forgone and referral to principal. The child may be suspended.

Finally
Encourage your child to discuss school activities with you. Talk positively about school. The way your child perceives your feelings about his/her school and teachers will have a direct effect on how (s)he feels about them. I am delighted to have your child in my class and I look forward to working with you to make sure your child starts school on a positive note. I GREATLY appreciate your support and anticipate a fun and successful school year!

Thank you for reviewing the handbook. Please cut out and return the bottom portion to school in your childs Blue Folder. -----------------------------------------------------------------I have reviewed the contents of the Kindergarten Handbook. Parent Signature ____________________________________ Childs Name ________________________________________ Date _____________________________________________ Email Address _______________________________________ (Please provide an address you check regularly and please print clearly) Moms Cell phone # ___________________________________ Dads Cell phone # ____________________________________ *cell phone information will only be used in case of emergency!

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