Its hard to believe that the 100th day of school has passed. On February 1st the Kindergarten students had a fun day participating in the 100th day of school. The students had an opportunity to visit all the Kindergarten classrooms and complete a variety of activities. Thank you to all the students and families that completed the 100th day projects.

In Language Arts please continue to work on your high frequency words. Here is a list of the high frequency words we have learned so far. ( I, a, my, the, go, to, he, like, come, here, this, me, for, where, do, you, look, one, see, two, what)

In Terc Investigations we are starting a new unit focusing on 2-D and 3-D shapes. This is a favorite unit for many students as we investigate many fun math activities.

We will be going on a field trip in March so be on the lookout for further details. Please check your child’s bookbag for the permission slip and information.

As the school year progresses the expectation for your child’s learning increases. We are continually learning new skills and building on what we have already learned. We are working not only at mastering the information presented in Kindergarten but learning to apply it.

 Listed below are some areas of focus for the fourth marking period:

• Capital and Lowercase Letters: Mm, Ss, Rr, Tt, Nn, Pp, Cc, Aa, Dd, Ii, Gg, Ff, Bb, Kk, Oo, Ll, Hh, Ww, Xx, Ee, Vv, Jj
• Hearing, producing, and identifying the sounds for the letters: m, s, r, t, n, p, c, a, d, I, g, f, b, k, o, l, h, w, x, e, v, j
• Independently reading the high frequency words: I, a, my, the, go, to, like, he, come, here, this, me, for, where, do, you, look, one, see, what, two, up, down, we, want, out, who, are, they
• Using the high frequency words above to write simple sentences.
• Writing first and last names with capital letter for the first letter followed by lowercase letters
• Comparing quantities (ex. more/less/same) and recording accurately.
• Recognizing #’s 0-20 in random order

5^th – Super Bowl weekend, represent your favorite football team

11^th  – Be My Valentine Day

19^th – National Wear Red Day for Heart Health

26^th – Wish for warmer weather, Hawaiian Luau Day

Welcome back! January has been a busy, busy month for kindergarten. We have been measuring all sorts of different objects using fun things like popsicle sticks in our math unit and learning all about different types of weather in our reading unit.

Also, we have been reviewing our letters, sounds, high frequency words, and numbers since the marking period is over on January 22^nd.  Don’t forget that there will be half days on January 27^th, 28^th, and 29^th  due to parent teacher conferences and be on the lookout for report cards to be sent home on January 29^th.  School is also closed on Monday, January 18^th for the MLK holiday.

Since it is chilly, please make sure that your child is dressed for the cold winter weather. If the weather or roads look bad outside, feel free to check the colonial website for school closing updates and cancellations at www.colonial.k12.de.us.

Mr. Holmes will be having a rock concert on January 22^nd. It is going to be a great time and we are saving up our 30 chess pieces.  We are very excited to see it!  Stay tuned for next month to hear about our 100^th  day fun in kindergarten.

8^th- “Bling” in the New Year, wear your favorite jewelry               

 15^th – NFL Team Spirit Day                             

22^nd – Rock Concert Day, represent your favorite musical group (or just dress like a rocker!)                                              

29^th – Crazy Hair Day

SMART Kids Day was held here at Castle Hills on November 24th.  The kindergarten students got to pay a visit to all six kindergarten classes on SMART Kids Day.  During the course of the day students worked on a variety of science and math-related activities featuring themes of magnetism, logical thinking/math strategy, fabric exploration/senses, color mixing, sound exploration, and barge construction.  The students enjoyed having the opportunity to visit all six kindergarten classes and definitely learned a lot on SMART Kids Day! 

Our next PBS celebration will be held on January 22, 2010.  This marking period’s celebration will be a rock concert perfomed by our very own Mr. Holmes and his band!  We are so fortunate to have such a talented musician as one of our own here at Castle Hills.    Please remind your students to save their green CHESS pieces for this event.  30 CHESS pieces are needed to gain entry into the concert. 

Winter Break is quickly approaching!   The last day of school  before Winter Break 2009/2010 is Friday, December 18th, 2009.  Students will return to school on Monday, January 4th, 2010.    Enjoy the Winter Break and please help your children complete their Winter Break homework packet. 

As the weather continues to get colder, please help your kindergarten students dress appropriately for the weather.  Layers work best as the temperatures in various parts of the school building vary greatly.  Please also make sure your child wears a hat and gloves.  Thank you for your continued support!  

12/4 – College Day – represent your favorite college

12/11 – Warm Up for Winter – wear your favorite work out gear

12/18 – Winter Spirit Day

Marking Period 3 Expectations

As the school year progresses the expectation for your child’s learning increases. We are continually learning new skills and building on what we have already learned. We are working not only at mastering the information presented in Kindergarten but learning to apply it.

 Listed below are some areas of focus for the third marking period:

• Capital and Lowercase Letters: Mm, Ss, Rr, Tt, Nn, Pp, Cc, Aa, Dd, Ii, Gg, Ff, Bb, Kk, Oo, Ll, Hh
• Hearing, producing, and identifying the sounds for the letters: m, s, r, t, n, p, c, a, d, I, g, f, b, k, o, l, h
• Independently reading the high frequency words: I, a, my, the, go, to, like, he, come, here, this, me, for, where, do, you, look, one, see
• Can sound out, or decode, some three letter words without help.
• Writing first names with capital letter for the first letter followed by lowercase letters
• When writing about a topic, can write the beginning sounds for most words with some ending sounds
• Recognizes #’s 0-15 in random order

What a field trip we had!  On Friday, November 6 the Kindergarten team took a trip to Milburn Orchard.  At the orchard, the students learned many things about the apple tree and how apples get from the tree to the store.  Students and our many chaperones enjoyed a wonderful windy hayride along with a chance to see many farm animals.  The students really enjoyed the picnic lunch and a new and exciting playground!

            The Second Marking Period ends on Friday November 13.  Remember that we are having half days of school from Tuesday November 17 through Friday November 20 due to Parent/Teacher conferences.  All of the Kindergarten teachers look forward to meeting all of our parents.        

Please do not forget that the weather is getting much colder.  We will still be having outside recess, so please make sure your child is dressed appropriately

November 6^th – Red/White/Blue for Veteran’s Day

                              Or Philadelphia Phillies (you choose)

November 13^th – Football spirit day

November 20^th – Castle Hills Spirit Day

November 24^th – S.M.A.R.T. Kids Day – wear your thinking cap!  (Hat Day)