The Fallons: November 2012

Halloween is long over and yet Batman is still here.

He comes with me to Starbucks.

He goes shopping and has snacks.

"Batman is ready to go Mom!"

"I've got my cape, my rain boots and my pajamas on!"

Batman even came with me to vote!

When Thatcher is dressed like this his persona matches. He finds things to leap off, runs fast and is pretty much hard to control all the while people around us are saying, "oh that is so sweet, oh look at him." Um yeah, pretty sweet...

Batman likes Trader Joe's

He is scoping out which cereal he wants

while enjoying a coffee. Just kidding, it's the creamer for the coffee!

And lucky Grandma, Batman was dressed and ready when she came to pick him up for their zoo date!

Talk about getting your money's worth for a Halloween costume!

It is hard to believe that Samantha went from crying every day at school to now crying when she misses a day (or two or three....). Five days a week of school is hard for Mommy to get to ;) We will take it more seriously when she gets to kindergarten, I promise!

Samantha is very proud of her writing (we are too!)

Her latest drawing, "Leaves, Roots, Stem".

Practicing her numbers to 100.

Once a week I volunteer during Language Arts Rotations. The kids say the funniest things. One girl noticed that I normally wear my glasses when I drop Sam off to school so when I wasn't wearing my glasses in class (I had contacts in) she very seriously asked, "Mrs. Fallon, how do you know who I am when you have been blind today?"

Another funny happening was when my job for the day was to lead the kids in a game of "Shape Memory". Apparently my knowledge of shapes needs a refresher course because I got schooled by a bunch of 4 and 5 year-olds on what a trapezoid and a rhombus was. I was so glad some of the kids could identify what those particular shapes were because if they had answered that they didn't know, I would have had to consult the teacher, or worse, the principal that happened to be sitting right behind me observing the classroom for the day. Phew!

It is interesting helping in the classroom. The skill levels are all over the place which for me has made leading projects more difficult than I thought it would be. There are kids that are already reading on their own, which shocked me and I had to remind myself not to compare (although, just tonight I turned a movie on for the kids and Samantha saw the title on the screen and said, "is it called BIG?" It was! Seriously, that was awesome!) and on the opposite end of the spectrum, there are children that are English learners and I am pretty sure they are not understanding everything I am saying. My hat goes off to teachers, such a difficult job! I am sure as the year goes on it will get easier for me as I get to know the students and as I study up on my shapes!

Things I am learning (basically things I am learning by watching Ms. Trainor):

1. Saying "all eyes on me" commands the groups attention every time. On a side note, this doesn't work for 2 year-olds, Thatcher looked at me like I was nuts when I tried it with him at home.

2. Stick to the task at hand and avoid asking questions that do not have to do with the task such as, "are you enjoying music class?" To which the entire group burst into a medley of Sound of Music songs. Yes, that happened. And kindly the aide, Ms. Williams, came over and got my group under control and reminded them that singing is for recess or music class. Point taken.

3. Likewise, don't answer their questions unless it is about the task. "Mrs. Fallon, why are you blind?" takes a long time to answer and soon Ms. Trainor rings the bell to switch groups and my group hasn't even written their name on their paper.

4. Bathe in hand sanitizer. Pink eye. Enough said!

And something new this month, Samantha is eating in the cafeteria! She kept asking and asking to try it and after I figured out how to put money into her online student account and find the lunch menu, we agreed to let her try it. Her school is "sugar-free and junk-free" and they stick to this. In fact, we can't even bring cupcakes on birthdays which I think is a bit of a bummer but I guess for TK since all the birthdays are between September and November, that could get pretty intense.

Samantha is quick to tell me when someone gets something thrown away by the teacher at lunch because it is on the "junk" list which includes candy, cookies, donuts, soda, sugar drinks, Gatorade, hot Cheetos (that one on the list makes me laugh) and Lunchables. Apparently a lot of stuff gets thrown thrown away! And on the OK list for birthday snacks are fruit, muffins, crackers, 100% juice or trail mix. Okay, I am all for healthy and trust me, I think hot Cheetos and Lunchables are some of the worst offenders but trail mix for a birthday treat?! yawn....

Our nightly routine is to check the school lunch menu and decide if she is going to "bring" or "buy". I have to admit, I love when she buys. It saves me time in the morning and it is so cheap, just $2.50. I think I pay over $3 bucks for the 4-pack of apple sauces from Trader Joe's, so a whole meal for $2.50 sounds good to me. They all seem to be generally healthy meals and includes a trip to the salad bar with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The above meal was herb roasted chicken with rice plus salad bar (salad, carrots, pears). I picked Samantha up early that day because I had a hair appointment (because my roots getting covered were more important than school, no really they were and you would agree if you saw me) so Sam brought her lunch home and ate it. I snuck a bite or two and seriously this is not the food we had in our cafeteria when we were younger! Way better!

And the final news, I am the Room Parent! Mostly by default because I think I was the only one who stepped up when crickets were chirping when the request was made. Of course I don't mind being the Room Parent but the crickets chirping is a good indication of the parent involvement going on. There are a handful of us helping but a TK or Kindergarten classroom needs a lot of hands.

And finally, here is Ms. Trainor's November newsletter:

Dear Parents,

I am so proud of our TKers. They have been working so hard and are all making progress. Each day we go over all of the letters and sounds, but are focusing in on one letter per week. This week we worked on recognizing, writing, and knowing the sound of the letter Hh. The students also learned the vowels in the alphabet and some of the students are now beginning to sound out and write consonant-vowel-consonant (C-V-C) words. Each week the students are building their sight word vocabulary. So far, the students have learned sight words: I, see, like, my, to, go, and the. Many of the students are still learning these words, so practicing them at home would greatly benefit your child. In addition to practicing sight words, please continue to work with your child on their letters and sounds until they have mastered them all. Many of you have been doing this and it shows, so thank you! Once your child knows all of the letters and sounds, you can begin to have them try and sound out the words when you are reading with them (BOB books are great beginning reader books). Please try to read to/with your child each night. Another way to support your child at home is help them to build sentences with sight words and C-V-C words.

This week in math we counted and wrote our numbers 1-100, we worked on simple addition and subtraction concepts, and have continued to work with patterns and shapes. Please work with your child on counting at home. Some of the students are confusing their teen numbers and are skipping around when it comes to counting 1-20. Please make sure that your child is counting in order and saying each number correctly. Last week I introduced the concepts of greater than, less than, and equal to. This is a new concept to all students and we have been practicing by playing a game called monster squeeze. I also introduced addition and subtraction problems through number sentences. Addition comes easier to the students than subtraction, so I have been using real life examples to help them wrap their heads around the concept. In addition to counting with your child, you can also use flashcards to help them with their number recognition. If you need flashcards, please let me know, I can supply you with some. If your child already recognizes numbers 1-20, please work with them on identifying 1-50. Eventually, I would like all of our students to recognize numbers 1-100.

We have been doing a lot of work with seasons and what happens during all of the seasons. We have read many books about seasons and fall. The students are currently writing about what they do in the fall. In science with Mr. Martin, students were each given a flower and learned all of the parts of a flower. They drew a picture of their flower and labeled the parts. We have been going over parts of plants in class as we talk about trees, leaves, and fall time.

Thank you for your ongoing support and help. I have a quick note about pick-up from the PTA. When you are picking up your child, please stay in your car and let me put your child in the car as a way to keep traffic moving along. There have been some complaints about a hold up at pick up time, due to parents getting out of their cars and buckling in their child. If your child does not know how to buckle themselves in, I can do it for them.

I look forward to next week as we focus in on the letter Ii and continue to build phonemic awareness through C-V-C words and building sentences, in addition to working with our sight words. In math, we will continue to work on the concepts that I have previously mentioned through use of manipulatives, games, and songs.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks again for all that you do for TK.

Fondly,

Ms. Trainor