Kindie Korner Adventures

Today we read a story called Chrysanthemum.  It’s a sweet story about a little girl named Chrysanthemum who loves her name, until she gets to school and some unkind words are spoken about her name.  As I read the story, the children listened for times when Chrysanthemum’s heart or feelings would have been hurt by something being done or said to her.  Whenever the children noticed something unkind happening, they wrinkled the paper heart they were holding.  By the end of the story the hearts were very wrinkled and what we realized is, that once unkind words are said, even saying sorry doesn’t take away the wrinkles.  We tried really hard to flatten the wrinkles away, but nothing worked.  We talked about how powerful our words are, and how we should choose to be kind and help everyone’s heart be happy.  These paper hearts are coming home today and I thought you might like some context about why they are wrinkled.  Perhaps this would be a good conversation starter tonight with your child!

“Before you speak, think and be smart. It’s hard to fix a wrinkled heart!”

Last week as my new kindergarten friends were coloring and drawing, I noticed some of them holding their pencils and crayons with an awkward grasp.  As we have begun this week to work on learning phonograms and forming them correctly, we have also been working on holding our writing tools correctly.  Just like a builder holds a hammer correctly in order to his or her job, we also need to hold our pencils correctly in order to do our printing and coloring jobs.

I found this video that shows a technique I often use to help children who are struggling to hold their pencil correctly and I thought some of you might find it helpful as well as you watch your children work at home.  If you notice them holding their pencil awkwardly, give this a try!  Also, coming home today is a clock page.  We were practicing printing the phonogram “o.”  We start at the 2 and our crayon travelled on the tracks around the clock counterclockwise.  Ask your child to show you how they do it if you would like a peek at how they are holding their crayons.

https://www.facebook.com/thesunvideo/videos/961646343944995/UzpfSTE0MTY4MTYxOTIyOTQ0NzoyMDAzMzQxNTk5NzMwMDk3/

Here are some important dates for the month of September  for you to write down on your calendar:

Sept 17- professional development day (no school for students)

Sept 18- Parent Night in the gym 6:30-7:15 pm visit with teachers, 7:15- 8 pm announcements from administration (there is no childcare for this evening)

Sept 26- Knight Day – students can wear their Knight shirts and casual bottoms.  Forms for Hot Dog lunch will come home for pre-orders