Yes, please!

Social skills and manners are a big part of going to kindergarten. In the past we've modeled our instruction after The Essential 55. This article has many of these ideals. What are your beliefs on social expectations for your child?

Tuesday Tip - Home Visits

In order to make your child feel more comfortable on the first day of school, the kindergarten teachers would love to spend some special time with your child in your home. If you would like your child's teacher to come to your house and visit your child, please sign up (on the sheet) during Meet the Teacher Night. The sign up sheet will offer appointment times for the following Friday and/or Saturday.

Please remember that this is OPTIONAL!

This will be a VERY quick visit (only ten minutes) and a time for your child to show off something special (i.e. his/her room, a painting, etc.). Please remember this is a time for your child to get to know his/her teacher and help the first day and saying good-bye go more smoothly. If you personally have questions about school or our routines, please email your child's teacher and she will reply as soon as possible!

Snack Time

Each kindergarten class will have snack time in the afternoon. We eat lunch early in the day, so the children are very hungry by the afternoon! Some of the teachers have community snack time (meaning parents donate the snacks in bulk and the teachers will pass it out among the children) and other teachers ask students to bring their own from home. Your child's teacher will notify you of which she prefers when school begins. Either way, you are welcome to pack and send a singular snack for your child each day.

If your child's teacher has a community-style snack time, your child’s teacher will let you know (via email or newsletter) when the snack supply is low and you can send in your donation with your child in the morning. Please be mindful of the snacks you donate. Cookies, chips and small desserts do not sustain the brain power needed to finish an afternoon at school. Your child’s teacher will elaborate on this when school begins, but in the meantime, think about sending snacks such as healthy crackers, popcorn, cheese sticks (we have a small refrigerator in the classroom), pretzels or cereal. Also, keep in mind that items involving a great deal of prep-work or foods that require cutlery are not conducive to nourishing a large group in a small amount of time.

If you’d like, you are welcome to bring a box of snacks to Meet the Teacher Night or the First Day of School so your child’s class will have something for snack time on the very first day. Please steer clear of foods that contain nuts (or are prepped in kitchens that use nut products) until food allergies among your child’s class are known. Thank you!

Thematic Days and Celebrations

We have a fews days during the school year we reserve for special celebrations; supporting a school program or dressing up as a culminating activity for a unit of study. Each of these are meant to be fun and should not involve purchasing costumes - it’s time to get creative and use what you have around your home!

Here are a few examples:

Nursery Rhyme Day

Scarecrow Day

Red Ribbon Week

Thanksgiving Feast

101 Dalmatians

(Please keep in mind that these are subject to change due to student needs and calendar changes. Your child's teacher will keep you well informed and always read the weekly newsletter for the most up-to-date information).

Tuesday Tip - Yum! Yum! Kindergarten Lunch!

Kindergarten students can choose either to buy a school lunch or bring a lunch from home. We strongly suggest a lunch from home in the first few months because the children have more time to eat if they are not standing in the line buying. However, a hot meal is available each day and the monthly menu can be found on the CISD Portal. A vegetarian option is always available, too!

Your child will be given an account in the cafeteria. On the days he/she buys a lunch, the amount will be subtracted from the account. You may send checks to school in your child's red Lakeside folder, personally take a check to the cafeteria before school or pay on-line. Make checks payable to: Lakeside Nutrition.

Parents, after the first three weeks of school, you are welcome to come eat lunch with your child if you think he/she can handle an extra goodbye in the day. We have a separate family table set up for you and your child to use. We ask that younger siblings be left in the care of a loved one while you eat lunch with your kindergartner.

Go! GO NOW!

If you haven't ordered your child's school supplies yet, GO NOW to the Lakeside PTO site and start shopping! Remember, ordering school supplies on-line helps you (no need to run all over town), your child (everything is packaged and delivered to the classroom) and your teacher! Sale ends on July 31st.

(Here's the link: http://www.lakesidepto.com/shop.aspx?Store=2)

Summer Top 5

As the warm days of summer are upon us, we want to enjoy the season with our children and engage them in activities that bring family members together and stimulate the mind. Check out our Top 5 Pick’s for the summer!

Book: ‘The Read-Aloud Handbook’ by Jim Trelease is a parent and teacher must-read! It offers insight on the process of learning to read, developing language skills, and strategies for helping your child foster a life-long love of reading. The second half of the book contains a priceless collection of book and poetry recommendations. It includes different genres, age suggestions and a synopsis of each book. Buy your own copy or borrow it from your local library!

Game: After an energetic day at the pool, you crave a game that can bring the entire family together; one that stimulates the mind while relaxing your sun-kissed and tired bodies. Try a game of dominoes! (Make sure you purchase double-nine dominoes.) This classic tile game gives children the opportunity to practice cooperation, good sportsmanship and matching quantities. Most important, when children play with these dot formations, number values become engrained in the mind. Children begin to recognize the patterns in our numeric system. (The 5 is simply 4 with 1 in the middle!) Ask family members to verbalize each domino they play and differentiate for the ages of your children. A toddler will say the colors he is matching, while a pre-schooler will say the number quantity of each side of a domino (nine and two). A school-age child can make a domino into an addition sentence (nine and two makes eleven), while an upper-elementary child will create a multiplication sentence (the nine is three rows of three).

Car Game: Mind Reader is a game modeled after ‘20 questions’, but challenges your child’s scientific thinking and language-building skills. A parent will say “I’m thinking of something that starts with mmmmmmm”. (Always say the beginning letter sound, instead of the letter name. This aids in the phonological development needed for learning to read.) Children will ask questions that can only be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Teach your child to begin with bigger questions (“Is the thing you’re thinking of living?” “Is it found in a house?” “Does it breathe underwater?”), then move on to guessing specifics. Most likely you will need to model this line of thinking for the first few games, but this thinking process (big ideas to small, asking questions to illuminate possibilities and matching guesses to the beginning sound) is exactly what your child needs to become successful in the areas of science, reading and creative problem-solving!

Website: StorylineOnline.net has a collection of books read by actors from The Screen Actor’s Guild. Hollywood’s Finest bring the stories to life and viewers can read along or just listen. You’ll see an excitement percolate when your children see the same books in the library and want to read the stories again and again!

Conversation: Your children have great ideas waiting to be unearthed and depend on you to stimulate their thinking and communication skills. During your summertime adventures, ask your children open-ended questions about your surroundings. This gives you insight into their thinking, which can drive further questioning and reasoning. Start with “What do you notice?” Take note of their observations and focus their attention to details that create new learning opportunities. Afterwards, ask “What does it make you think of/remind you of?” This elevates your child’s thinking to a higher-level and allows the brain to make connections with prior knowledge.

Wherever your summer plans take your family, powerful and practical activities are always at your fingertips!