Summer Activities

Summer Activities

Summer is an important time for students to get rejuvenated for the next school year.  However, it is important for students to keep those skills sharp.  What can I do to help my child and still make it fun?  It's important to use as many hands-on activities as possible.  Try not to use paper and pencil.  The first place I would head is to the local library.  They usually have a great program for students in the summer.  Students get to see children their own age, have fun, and work on their reading skills.  They don't even realize they are working because it is so much fun.  Some schools offer enrichment programs that are very interesting and skill specific for students.  Students may be able to work on their computer, art, or acting skills!  Go see a movie with your child.  There are often movie theaters that offer free showings of old releases during summer break.  However, they fill-up fast so go early.  This is a great opportunity to talk to your child about what they saw, what they liked, who their favorite character was, and why.  Perfect for working on those comprehension skills.  The best thing to do is research your community or surrounding communities to find activities that your child would enjoy.  Don't think free babysitter; think would my student benefit from this.  You will be surprised at the opportunities you might find!

Spring Field Trips

Spring Field Trips

Spring is the time of year where everyone wants to get outside.  I have listed a group of possible places you can take your Kindergartner this spring.  It can be a family outing or with a class.  

1.  Train Station - Visit a working train station that will allow students to take a short train ride.  This is such a fun and unique experience for students.

2. State Park - Take your child to a state park to see nature at its finest.  Students will be able to see trees budding, flowers blooming, and birds chirping.  Think of all the wonderful science skills you could tackle in one short visit.

3. Greenhouse - Visit a green house and let students see the process of getting those beautiful spring flowers.

4. Pizza Trip - Take your group to the local pizza restaurant for an opportunity to see how to make a pizza.  You could cover many math and health skills in this trip!

5. Fire Station - Students could visit the local fire station to learn about all of the important tools they use and to learn how they help the community you live in.

6. Post Office - Students would get a behind the scenes tour of how the mail gets from the Post Office to their mailbox.

7. Public Library - Take students to learn about the summer opportunities available at the Public Library in your community.

8. Neighborhood Walk - Create a list of items you would like to find in your neighborhood before going on your walk.  Then mark the items off the list as you walk through the neighborhood.  It is like you are creating your own scavenger hunt!

Easter

Easter

This year I have found a ton of fun Easter activities to complete with my students. My students are going to fill out an application to be the Easter Bunny.  It has fun things listed on the application.  Why do you want to be the Easter Bunny?  Draw yourself as the Easter Bunny.  They decorate an egg, pick their favorite month, and pick the way they move most often.  I, also, found at Wal-Mart eggs covered in chalkboard paint.  If they make a mistake or change their mind, they can easily erase the chalk and start over.

We will be completing a Peeps experiment.  Students will submerge one Peep in water, soda, juice, and vinegar.  The students will create a hypothesis.  We will check the hypothesis the next day.  

I am looking forward to completing these activities with my students!!!!  

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day Activities

One of the funnest days of the year and one of the most memorable for Kindergarten students is, surprisingly, St. Patrick's Day!  How much fun is it for a Kindergarten student to try and catch a leprechaun?  Every year the leprechauns have visited my classroom.  They don't leave their pot of gold, but they leave a mess of chairs turned over, center toys scattered, and papers everywhere.  This year the leprechauns even talked to the students on the intercom asking if they had found the pot of gold.  My students interviewed office staff to see if they had seen the little guys, but of course, they were too clever to be seen.  Hopefully, next year we will catch a leprechaun and the gold:)

10 Ways to Have Fun on a Snow Day

You may wonder what are some activities you can do with your Kindergarten student on a snow day.  I have listed some ideas below.

1. After playing outside make some hot coco.  Have your child help you count out the number of marshmallows to place in each cup.

2. Bake cookies!  Have your child help read the recipe and measure the ingredients.

3. Play Board Games.  Use a game that is fun and keeps those Kindergarten skills fresh!  A board game like Chutes and Ladders is great!

4. Have a reading or movie watching marathon.  Spend the day reading their favorite stories and watching their favorite movies.  Better yet, read the story and then watch the movie.  A great example is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

5. Indoor Snowball Fight.  Use socks rolled up to be the snowball.  You can stack pillows to create a wall.  Have your child tally the number of times they get hit by a "snowball."  Best part is you get to stay warm by being inside!!!!

6. Make a Fun Craft.  Find something that looks interesting to your child on Pinterest.

7. Go Sledding!  Measure how far each person traveled.  Then determine a way to go faster and farther.

8.  Measure the Snow.  Have your child make a guess at how much snow you have received.  Then measure it.  If it is snowing all day, have your child measure the snowfall a couple of times during the day.

9. Help a Neighbor.  Have your child help you shovel a neighbors sidewalk or driveway.  What  a great way to model kindness!

10. Melting Snow.  Collect  a snowball size amount and place it in a bucket.  Place the bucket in your garage, house, porch, etc to see where the snowball will melt the quickest. 

Kindergarten Expectations

Many parents fear sending their child to Kindergarten because of the new demands you hear about from neighbors, friends, and media.  Kindergarten is not what it use to be twenty years ago.  What will they have to master by the time the school year ends?  How can I prepare them for the transition?  It can be especially overwhelming to new parents.  Below is a list of year end goals we want a child to achieve by the time the school year ends.

Language Arts

• Recognize all upper and lowercase letters.
• Name all letter sounds.
• Be able to isolate the beginning, middle, and ending sound in words.
• Spell consonant-vowel-consonant words (CVC words)
• Provide words that rhyme.
• Be able to read emergent level text independently.  (A book with approximately 80 words.)  

Writing

• Write a sentence beginning with a capital letter, uses finger spaces, and uses correct punctuation.
• Form letters of the alphabet correctly.

Math

• Recognize and order numbers from 0 - 30.
• Count to 100 by ones.
• Understand terms greater than, less than, and equal.
• Complete single digit addition and subtraction independently.  
• Compare sets of objects and shapes.

The attached link, also, provides some wonderful information.  I encourage you to read this short article!
http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Falling_Love_with_School_What/