Hi Everyone, check out the calendar, I am beginning to add some events and reminders! More to come yeah! » read more...

Weekly News:March 15-19 Dear Parents, Happy Spring, I can't believe the weather we are having today, so beautiful. We had a great week, it was very busy and filled with so many activities. In Language Arts this week we did a lot of review; as we are getting down to the end of our letter sounds, I am focusing in on the letters we learned months ago. I am proud to report that the children are doing well and they have retained so much of the information. We are also reviewing our site words; words like, said, for, have, here etc. and they are also doing well with these words. In Math we continue with our exploration of subtraction, this week I introduced a twist. I showed the children that 8+2=10 and that 10-2=8. The point being that we can use the same set of numbers for addition/subtraction to come up with similar math sentences. On Monday the children went to their first lower division Stations of the Cross in the church. The students did very well and as a follow up in Religion we are discovering each station and trying to understand it as best as we can. It's hard even for me to understand, so for the children I think they are doing very well. We also celebrated St. Patrick's Day and we got a visit from a leprechaun who left the children a pot of chocolate gold to share. Thank you to the Moms and Dads who supplied all the wonderful goodies, a special thanks to Sherrie Grundgeiger who came on Wednesday to put a fun party on for the children, they really enjoyed themselves. On Thursday, Jen Cordero organized an art project for the Kinders, adorable bumble bees. Thank you Jen, I can't wait to see the finished project. Thanks also to the moms who came in to help, Mrs. Shlyapin, Mrs. Cordero, Mrs. Biaggi, Mrs. Baldwin, Mrs. Duffield and Mrs. Rowland. Next Monday, I will begin to screen for next years Kinders, Mrs. Marino will be my substitute for Mon, Tues and Wed. I will be here on campus and I will be checking my emails if you have any concerns or if you'd like to tell me about any special deed your child did for our Lenten heart. But, if you have any change in pick-up or absences planned please contact the office. Mrs. Marino will not have Kinder email access and I want to make sure your message is received and that it gets to the right person. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for sharing your children with me. Helen Dear Parents, This was a busy week....this week we continued to explore the books written by Eric Carle and from his books we did two art projects; a "grouchy ladybug" and a beautiful butterfly. Our classroom is ready for Spring, it's colorful and bright..come check it out at drop off, if you can. In Language Arts, we learned the sound of a new alpha-friend Zelda Zebra and we learned how to read a new word, have. In Math, we continued with our chapter on subtraction. I am so proud of how quickly the Kinders have adapted to this new Math concept. In Religion, I began explaining the Stations of the Cross. Next Monday, our Kinders will be attending their first Stations of the Cross for lower division. Please continue to send good deeds for recognition. For those of you who have, thank you, the Kinders love to be recognized for the love they are spreading. Also, I love seeing their faces when I share what they have been doing outside of the classroom. I can tell they are really proud of themselves. In Science we have been caring for the Sunflowers, I am proud to announce all of the plants are beginning to grow, yeah. Parents, I am desperate for parent volunteers for Tuesday's centers, one of my volunteers recently got a full-time job where she will no longer be able to come in on Tuesday's. Please look at your schedules and see if you are available to come in on Tuesday's at 1:45-2:20. Thank you for checking your schedules. Thank you for sharing your children with me. Have a wonderful weekend, Helen March 1-March5 Dear Parents, What a wonderful week we had...You should see all the fabulous Math we did! Wow! I introduced subtraction this week and the students took to it so well. Of course we have a lot more practice ahead but terrific progress in just 5 days! In Language Arts, we met a new alpha-friend Dudley Duck, letter Dd. and we now are becoming strong on 13 letters, First grade here they come. We continue to blend short letter i words and we practiced reading and using the word for. In Science we continue with the life-cycle of our Sunflower plants and a few of the seeds are already popping up. Fingers crossed they all will be by the end of next week. We are studying the Author, Eric Carle, and we are reading many of his books. We have already done a few fun art projects that extend from his books. ie, we're writing the Hungry Kindergartener and we made cute Sunflower pictures from the "Tiny Seed". In Religion we continue to study the season of Lent and I am still asking for the "good deeds" your children are doing at home. Please let me know, I'd love to celebrate these accomplishments in the classroom. We have also begun to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, rumor is there's a leprechaun at school. Parents, please let me know any changes in your child's pick up before 2:00 PM (if you can). Sometimes that is the last chance I get to check my emails before pick-up. If it's after that time, please contact the office. Thank you. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for sharing your children with me. Helen Hi Parents, Happy, wet Friday to all of you. We had another wonderful, busy week of Kindergarten. In Language Arts this week we met a new alpha-friend, Queenie Queen, for the letter Qu. This is a difficult sounding letter, please help me by pointing out things that begin with the letter Q when you see them. I know there's hardly any common words but when you can, please point them out. We continue with our study of the short sounding Ii, this week we have been working with the word family ending in it. In Math we have been adding numbers up to the quantity of 10. I am so proud of how quickly the children have understood this concept. We are also beginning to recognize land count larger numbers, 20 and above! In Religion we have planted our Lenten garden. As these beautiful flowers bloom and turn into seedlings, the children will also begin to grow and change in their hearts. Thanks to Mrs. Cordero, Mrs. Shlyapin, and Mrs. Duffield for supplying all of the goodies we needed for this project. And, thank you to Mrs. Biaggi for helping us with this project. Our classroom garden is beautiful and the children will bring these plants home at Easter. In Science we are studying the life-cycle of a plant; our planting is a perfect cross-curricular lesson. The children will learn so much from this experience. In Social Science, something new...We're beginning our Student of the Week program. This is when two students per week will be highlighted and we will begin to learn even more about the classmates in our community here at St. Francis. Each weekly student(s) will be randomly chosen. Talk to your Kinder they know all the details and I promise everyone will have a turn to have a special week. Tomorrow's the auction, thank you to our Art Docents who have worked so hard to complete a beautiful piece of Art. It's gorgeous and thanks again. I'll see you there tomorrow if you are attending. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for sharing your children with me. Helen Prohoroff » read more...