First Monday

Wow, we had a lot of fun on this first Monday of Kindergarten! The children got to start off the morning coloring a picture of a dog we read about on Friday. We are working on the sight word 'see" so we drew eyes about the word "see". If your child did not finish coloring and wants to finish at home that's great. I gave them a star stamp as long as they had made the eyes and could point to the word "see". Many of them read the whole sentence to me. We are off to a great start! After that, we began the Reading Series and practiced writing the letters A and a. But we didn't get to the lower case one because it was time for P.E. At the end of the day many children thought P.E. was the best part of the day. Other liked the big book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" Most still say centers or recess, but playing is what this aged student usually enjoys the most.

Before lunch we practiced our dismissal procedures as it is a huge task to get 3 classes of 24 students each to buses, daycare, and individual pick up by family or friends. We will do our best to keep it safe and orderly, so please keep us posted if anything changes during the day as to who will be picking up your child.

We had a Math story about sorting and picking up called "Inside Messy Monkey's Room" and took turns doing math problems about positions words. Tomorrow we will continue with more math vocabulary and Wednesday introduce left and right.

Our amazing words this week are first, second, third, fourth, and fifth so tomorrow we get a wonderful story called "The Little School Bus". We will be retelling the story remembering who got on first, second, third, etc.

We look forward to seeing you at Open House on Thursday night. Mr. Croff starts out talking to all parents at 6:30 and then parents can visit the classrooms of their children either from 7:00 - 7:25 or from 7:30 - 7:55. We will say the same thing at both sessions and also answer questions you might have about our schedule, procedures and curriculum plans for the year.

That's all for now, I am sure enjoying this new class and the days seem to fly by, as they do when you are having fun!

Sincerely, Carol Clapper

First Week of School

The first few days of school have come and gone and both Mrs. Clapper I enjoyed your children immensely. We are thankful for each one of them. The students did a lot of different things today. They worked on coloring and cutting rockets, writing their names and reading (and maybe trying to write out) the word "red". We were able to work and play at centers today and read together as a class. The routines are coming and we had a chance to even practice how to do a fire drill as a class. The class played a game all together to help each student recognize their own name. Each child had a turn. One of the new things that the class experienced today was Music with Mrs. Blakeslee. They did really well and seemed to really enjoy it. Next week Mrs. Clapper and I will begin our new schedule. Mrs. Clapper will be teaching Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning and I will be Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday. All in all, what a great beginning to the school year! Thank you for all the love and encouragement that you give to your child everyday! ~Mrs. Abigail Hansen

Wonderful Second Day of School!

What a wonderful second day of school we had! There was so much that we did as a class that I will share a few things that we got to do today. The class has been working, and succeeding, at remembering the procedures for school. They did very well at our first assembly with Mr. Croff. He talked a lot about the respect and manners that we focus on as an entire school. The students made their own visors today and they really seemed to enjoy getting to know the names of the other children in class. We also had a time for each student to learn to use the Meadowlark laptops. The students explored how to care for a computer and how to use it appropriately in class, (for example how to carry the computer, not to have water or food nearby, etc.) As a class we explored how to use Starfall. The students then had a great time figuring out the site. There really is a lot to do. It was a HOT, HOT day. The students were treated to a popsicle as it was too hot to do much running around outside. We sent home the homework that should have went home yesterday. Please help your child when they need it. Mrs. Clapper and I sure do love having your kids in class! Thank you for all the love and encouragement you give to your child.

~Mrs. Abigail Hansen

Follow up to first letter home

We were having such a good first day that we forgot to send home the 'homework' we mentioned in the p.s. of their first day letter to parents.  We will send them home on Thursday for sure!  Or at least I hope it's a 'for sure'!  We have such a nice class this year, and are excited to get to know each child and their special characteristics.  We hope your child had good things to share about our day.  It went so fast that we didn't even get to play centers in the afternoon and no one cried about that because they were having fun looking at books with their new friends.

First Day of School Letter Home

Dear Parents,

Starting a new school year in Kindergarten is an exciting time and we are thrilled to be teaching together at Meadowlark this year. We have so much fun learning and exploring the wonderful world of school with this new group of students! We are looking forward to a great year and are excited to have your child in our class. We are sure many of you have some questions and I will try to answer the beginning of the year ones in this first letter.

The first bell will ring 8:25 and all Kindergartens will line up outside the Commons on the east side of the school. Please do not bring your child to school before 8:15 because we are not outside until that time. To ensure the safety of every child, students need to stay in the walking. For the first week or two all of the Kindergarten teachers will be helping the children learn our routine. Then the teachers take turns doing morning duty while others prepare for the day. The other teachers that your child will be supervised by are Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Rappaport, and Mrs. Cook.

Class dismisses at 2:30. We will bring the students out the north door by the playground. If your child is not picked up in a timely manner, we take them to the office to wait for their ride home. For awhile each child will be holding a small bear. He/she is expected to give us the bear and show us who is picking them up before we say good-bye for the day.

Your child needs to bring a back pack every day so papers and notes home won’t get lost. Thursday folders are a school wide communication tool. Please read the contents and return the folder on Friday so that we know you have received your mail and their papers. We will have library on Wednesdays so once they start checking out books, please help your child remember his/her book because they can only check out a new one if they return their checked out one! P.E. will be on Mondays and the children need to have tennis shoes for safety.

After the children and teachers get used to each other and we get into a routine, we would love to have Parent Volunteers to help with art projects or educational games. This is a large class with 24 students so far. We love having volunteers to provide more one on one attention for each child. A note will be sent home later in September to coordinate volunteers and set up times that work with our class schedule and parent availability.

The principal asks that we share our class discipline policy with you. We have two main rules: Be Nice and Be Safe. The children will explore how all other rules such as: Keep your hands and feet to yourself or Raise your hand when you want to speak fit into these two rules. Later we will make an “I Can” book. They illustrate “I can be nice.” And “ I can be safe.” We are firm believers in praising their positive behavior. As a class we will earn compliments and special treats throughout the year. We will start counting compliments toward the end of September. If a child is having trouble being nice or safe, we limit their center time, or recess time or give them some time away from the group to help them want to follow our rules and get back to having fun learning with their friends.

If we did not cover an immediate concern of yours, please feel free to call the direct number to our room ( 281-6864) between 7:30 and 8:15 or 2:45 – 3:45. Or leave a message at the office 281-6213. For those of you who prefer email, our school emails are clapperc@billingsschools.org and hansena@billingsschools.org. . Remember when the children are there from 8:25-2:30, We devote all our attention to them. This year we are starting a Blog to keep you informed of our classroom news. The address is:

http://learninginkindergarten.blogspot.com/

Mrs. Hansen has laminated some cards with the address on it so you can connect often and share in our classroom news!

During the next couple days, we will be recording who can pick up each child. We keep a list for guest teachers, also. If the pick up person changes after you have dropped your child off for the day, please call the school and specify that we need the message before 2:15 so we get it before the children leave for the day..

Sincerely,

Mrs. Hansen and Mrs. Clapper

p.s. We forgot to ask you to fill out the following paper with your child and paste a picture at the top. Then on the mostly blank page have them draw themselves and write their name in the blank. (You may do this if they need some help) These two papers help us get to know each child and we post them around the room next week so they feel more at home in their new classroom! Please return these ASAP, but by September 1^st so we can have them up in time for our Open House. It is from 6:30 – 7:30 on Thursday, September 2^nd. Thanks again for reading all this and helping us get your child off to a great start!

The Day Before School Starts!

Hi Parents,

It was very exciting for Mrs. Hansen and I to meet so many of our students at the Open House! Thank you for taking time to come to school so we could meet your child and take care of a majority of the supplies so we'll have more time Wednesday morning to get to know our new friends at school! It's going to be a fun week! It is also going to be a hot week, so help your child get plenty of liquids each day and as much sleep as possible each night!

See you tomorrow behind the school (east side) where the Kindergarten classes line up!

We can' wait to get started!

Sincerely, Mrs. Clapper

Welcome Letter

Hello soon to be Parents of Meadowlark Kindergarteners,

It is exciting to be planning ahead for the 2010- 2011 school year and this year we have a unique opportunity to job share a Kindergarten class at Meadowlark. Since your child will be in our class, we would like to introduce ourselves. My name is Abigail Hansen I have lived in Billings my whole life and am thankful that my husband Paul and I can raise our daughter Zoë in such a wonderful city. I have previously taught 4th grade at Meadowlark and am very enthusiastic about returning to teach at the Kindergarten level. My passion in life is teaching and traveling. I count it a huge privilege to teach your child and to help each of them grow as a student and citizen.

I, Carol Clapper, have lived in Billings almost all of my life. My husband and I have 3 grown children, two of whom are married. We are looking forward to becoming grandparents for the first time in September! Ten years ago, I decided to go back to teaching young students. I taught first grade before having children and then preschool when my youngest son went to preschool. So I know where kindergartners are coming from and what they need for first grade. I also believe that each child is very unique. I enjoy celebrating their special qualities and helping them learn to get along with each other and make new friends.

We are sure many of you will have some questions about this very important year and we want to be available to answer any questions you might have. We believe that communication between school and home directly affects the quality of education your child will receive. One of the tools we will be implementing is our class blog, (click here) , this will help us keep close communication between home and school. We will have fun learning and feel that our most important task is to help them LOVE school because that sets the stage for many educational successes throughout their lifetime.

We are both very excited to share a classroom, ideas and time with your children as they begin their school careers. We are already working on the logistics of this coming fall and will both be teaching the first week to make the transition a smooth one for the students. Feel free to approach Mr. Croff if you need anything else clarified for you as a parent. We look forward to seeing you next fall!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Hansen and Mrs. Clapper