Fall/Autumn Discovery Center

As we are finishing up our unit of learning about apples we are moving onto leaves next week. I am asking that you help your child bring in an item that they discovered outside to bring in for our discovery center. This discovery center will be very hands on so do not send in anything that you would want returned. Some suggestions are leaves, twigs, acorns, Indiana corn, gourds, mini pumpkins, etc. Please talk with your child about what they are bringing in and why it is appropriate for a Fall/Autumn discovery center. Send it in a zip-lock bag with your child's name on it and they will get the opportunity to tell us all about their item before they put it in the discovery center. Tomorrow is the last day to send in change for hymnals.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton

Busy Day of Learning

Whew, what a busy day in room 23! We started our day celebrating Mass with Father Paul. We spoke with him after Mass and made plans to met him next Wednesday after Mass to give him the money for the hymnals. He is very curious why we need to see him. The children are so excited. Then our preschool friends joined us to listen to and watch the children act out the story 10 Red Apples by Pat Hutchins. After lunch we had book buddies and then planted apples trees and made an apple tree treat. Just a friendly reminder to please send in a note or call the office prior to end of the day if your child's dismissal routine is different than their normal routine. Unfortunately,  our email has had some issues lately so these other ways of communication are much more affective. :0 I will be accepting change until Friday of this week for the hymnals for our parish family.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton

Busy day of learning

Faith filled service

Your children are wonderful. As of today they have earned and shared over $65.00. I will be collecting funds until this Friday and we will present Father Paul and Father Chris with the money collected next week. If we bring in $15.00 more dollars we will be able to purchase 4 hymnals! I wish each of you could hear and see the children's faces as they tell us how they earned their money and how good it makes them feel to share it with their parish family. I really appreciate you giving your child the opportunity to earn some change. I would like to thank the anonymous donor of the digital camera. :)
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton

Cooking

Today we made applesauce in room 23. It was such fun and a great learning activity. We learned many vocabulary words such as blender, corer, utensils, ingredients, etc and  did math with measurement in cups, teaspoons, and tablespoons. The children begged for me to let you know how we made it so you can try it at home. I would suggest you ask your child if they could tell you how we made it in class but here are the ingredients and steps in case they forget.
Ingredients: apples (this is why we brought in apples)
                   sugar
                   cinnamon
                   water

Steps: Peel off apple skin
          cut apples in small pieces and place in bowl
          add sugar and cinnamon to taste
          put mixture into a blender and blend
          add water to your desired consistency.

Enjoy!!!
FYI- Teachers must order their individual classroom scholastic book orders. If you have more than one student in different classrooms, please send that child's order  with their payment to their teacher.
We will be cooking again next week too. The children are so excited!
Mrs. Catton
 
        

Faith Filled Friday

On Friday as our service to others we snuck into Miss Hill's room while they were at recess and cleaned their chairs and tables. We thought we were being so sneaky until Mrs. Parsons caught us in the act. She loved that we were using our kind actions to help out others. I would like to do something a little different for our next service to others.  I would like the children to little things around the house to earn some change to help our parish community buy new hymnals. Each hymnal is $20.00 and my goal is to have the children earn that so we can present it to Father Paul and Father Chris to use to buy one hymnal and who knows maybe more. I want the children to make the connection of "service" so allow them to do something to help you out and give them some change with the knowlege that they will bring it into school and when we earn enough as a class we will give it to the parish. There will be an insert at the front that will say "Purchased by Mrs. Catton's Kindergarten Class". Won't they be proud that they could do that for their parish family. Please do not just give them money because I will be asking them what they did to "earn" their money. I will start collecting funds on Wednesday as I am going to be explaining this to the children tomorrow. Thank you to all who donated items for our learning centers. I really appreciate it very much! Also, please help your child choose an apple to bring in by Wednesday. It will need to be in a baggie with their name on it. I am looking for a donation of a digital camera if you have an extra laying around that is not of use to you any more. Mine has disappeared to Xavier University with my daughter :) and everyday your children are doing wonderful things that I would love to document in pictures.
I feel so blessed to be with your children during the week. They are wonderful.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton

Centers for learning

Dear Parents,
I would like to have cooking and science learning centers for the students a few times a month. I am asking that each student bring in their favorite type of apple in a baggie with their name on it by Wednesday of next week. They can start bringing them in tomorrow if you would like. We will be doing a language activity where I will be asking the children why they chose the apple that they did to bring into school. We are working very hard at using complete sentences which is a language standard for kindergarten. We will do some graphing, taste testing, and cooking over the next two weeks with their apples in our learning centers. There are a few items that I need for my learning centers. They are as follows: box of graham crackers, tub of white icing, small bottle of green food coloring,  bag of mini m&ms, small bag of planting soil, dixie cups, bag of plastic works, bag of plastic spoons. Please contact me at my school email or send in a note if you can provide any of the requested items as I need them no later than next Tuesday. I greatly appreciate it! We are just having such fun learning and growing everyday. I am very impressed by this group! Be sure to practice those self help skills (zipping, buttoning, tying shoes), colors, shapes, address, birthday, and phone number. Progress reports will be coming home in Friday folders. Contact me if you have any questions regarding your child's progress report.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton

Colors and shapes

Dear Parents,
    We have been very busy in class learning vocabulary words in our reading stations. Your child will be assessed on their knowledge of the 8 basic colors : red, yellow,blue, green, purple, black, brown, orange and the 6 basic shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle, rhombus (diamond), and oval for the fall report card. Also for the fall report card I will be checking for knowledge of their address, birthday, and phone number as well as their ability to zip, button, and tie their shoes.I wanted you to have this information so you can work with your child by reinforcing these skills at home.  Friday we will have a prayer service as a school community in reverence of the memory of 9/11. Your child is allowed to wear a red, white, and blue shirt as well as blue jeans that school day. This is a solemn occasion. A few reminders: Please send in a snack for your child daily, if you are purchasing a lunch/milk ticket for your child please put it in an envelope with your child's name and what you want to purchase. :) We are into the routine of school and I encourage those of you who are still walking your child into school in the morning to make it a goal to have them come in on their own starting Monday. We have been having problems with our server so homework watcher has been affected. I apologize for any problems you are experiencing.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton