Notes

Dear Parents,
Thank you for taking the time to jot me a note about your experience reading the book I sent home with your child on Friday. I read each one during carpet time and the children were so proud to hear what you had to say about their reading.  Today we did a predictable chart where the children had to tell me one thing they learned in kindergarten and almost all of the children said "read."
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton

Mother's Day

I would like to extend a Happy Mother's Day to each of my student's mothers and I would like to thank you for allowing me the honor of teaching your child and spending time with them. Each child is unique and so special. They have prepared somethings for you for Mother's Day so be sure to check their Friday folder and ask about each item inside in case they forget.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton

The Hungry Little Catepillars

Hopefully your child came home and told you about the four living caterpillars we have  in our classroom.  We will be observing them and discussing the changes and if all goes as planned,  by the last week of kindergarten we will have butterflies. This week our shared reading is I'm a Caterpillar by Jean Marzallo. As you may have heard also, one of our hermit crabs died over the weekend. While it was sad, it lead to a nice discussion about the cycle of life. I heard that many of the children remembered Hermie in their nightly prayers. Today I had the honor of writing with the children a letter to St. Elizabeth / Coleman telling them that the kindergartners had earned over $348.00 in the Kindergarten Challenge. We had alot of fun estimating how many diapers and how much formula that would buy for the babies. We have been observing the classroom garden we planted and are writing about the changes that are occuring. We are checking on the chickens as we move about the school and on our way out to recess. They seem right at home here at Holy Spirit.
Hard to believe that we are into the last month of kindergarten. We will be visiting one of the first grade classrooms soon  and them we will be discussing similarities and differences between the two grades.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton

Spring

Wow. Spring is such a fun time in kindergarten. We planted a garden with peas and green beans ten days ago and we will be observing, discussing, and recording the changes in our garden. We have discussed  the differences in living and non-living things and will have a great opportunity over the next few weeks to take this discussion further. I am sure your child will come home and tell you all about it on Monday. If not, be sure to ask. Monday is our field trip to Survive Alive to learn fire safety. I did a questionsing activity to find out how much prior knowledge the children had about fire and home safety and they had some interesting answers so this will be a good fieldtrip experieince for them . They will hear again  why knowing their address is so important  We are practicing counting to 100 at school as that is our new goal for the last report card so please reinforce at home. Remember a sack lunch and drink on Monday. Our Early Childhood team had a great conference on Friday. Got alot of new ideas to use in reading as well as reinforcement that we are doing what is good for kids. Huge Thank you to Miss Hurst, Mrs. Emmert, and the children for doing their Personal Best while I was gone.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton

Thank you

I want to thank each of you who came to spring conferences. I love spring conferences as it gives me the opportunity to speak with you about the growth your child has made as well as my goals for them the remainder of the school year and what you can do at home to help your child reach those goals. Please sign and return your child's report card in their Friday folder tomorrow. We will be learning about Jesus' journey to the Cross during Holy Week. Father Chris came to talk with us about Lenten symbols the week before Spring Break.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton

Weather

This week we are learning about weather.  Our shared reading is the book What's the Weather Like Today.I love doing a   unit on weather during the month of March because we will experience all types of weather this month. Today I did a Circle Map with the children to check their prior knowledge of weather and where they have learned about weather. I was very pleased with how well they did answering my questions. Today we made a tornado in science. Please ask your child to tell you about it! Our guest readers last Friday were Joe Fought and Emily Shea and today Aiden O'Brien read. I would love to have everyone in the class be a guest reader by the end of the school year. Practice a book at home and have them bring it in and I will read with them. When I feel they are ready to read in front of the class they will be a guest reader. PLEASE send in a snack for your child daily.
Mrs. Catton

Dr. Suess' Birthday

What a great day to be in kindergarten at Holy Spirit School! Today we celebrated Dr. Suess' birthday with Miss Hill's class and Mrs. Flynn's Preschool Class. Each teacher chose their Dr. Seuss book and planned an activity. We divided the three classes up and put them in three groups to visit the rooms. Ask your child what Dr. Seuss story they heard in each classroom and to describe the activity in each room. Also, ask your child to describe what the author and illustrator of Dr. Seuss books really looks like and what his real name is. Hint- Theodore Seuss Geisel. We had a great time enjoying these wonderful children books together with all of the "Early Childhood" teachers and students. 
Respectfully,
Mrs. Catton