WELCOME BACK to a NEW SCHOOL YEAR....and WELCOME to 1st!!
I enjoyed meeting parents, students, and siblings at Meet and Greet! I look forward to working with each of you!
This blog serves as a part of our weekly communication. Please take a few minutes to read it weekly so that you will become aware of what's going on both in and out of the classroom.
The daily Take Home Folder is another link between home and school. Please check the folder daily and return it with your child the following day.
Your child is learning many important skills this year. Start the year off on the right track by trying these ideas at home:
- Set aside time each day to go over the work your child brings home from school.Let your child tell you what was taught that day. Let them tell you what they like best or what was easy or hard that day.
- Read and enjoy books with your child. Children benefit from being read to even if they can read on their own. Reading to your child will help expand vocabulary and foster a love for reading.
- Establish a place where your child puts all items that must be taken to school. This will help to elminate chaos in the mornings.
Math: This week we will be focusing on numbers to 30. We will make a number book that represents numbers in 3 ways: number, number word, and symbol. You can reinforce this at home by counting items around the house (i.e. how many peas did you each eat for dinner? :). We will also play various math games to reinforce concepts that were taught in Kindergarten.
Reading: I will be spending time during our reading block assessing your child one-on-one so that I know where to begin Guided Reading instruction. This assessment was given to your child at the end of Kindergarten, but their level may have changed depending on how much or little you read at home this summer.
Writing: We will begin our Narrative Writing unit this week. Narrative Writing includes "writing about something I know or have done".
Our school-wide theme for 2011-2012 will be “Nicholson Stars make a difference each day…changing the world along the way.”
This year, as a school, we will look at how “bucket filling” can influence productivity, health and happiness. (taken from How Full is Your Bucket by Tom Rath and Donald Clifton) The children’s book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today by Carol McCloud talks about each of us having an invisible bucket and making a choice to fill our buckets and others’ buckets by making good choices, offering random acts of kindness and making our school a better place. This supports our school emphasis on creating a positive culture and Nicholson Stars making appropriate choices about their learning and behavior.
Throughout the year, we will focus on our theme and provide our students with positive, ongoing examples of what it means to make a difference. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have potential to change the world in which we live. As a staff, we will conduct class meetings to emphasize the power of kindness, empower students and teach them effective ways to deal with difficult situations. In addition, we will focus on increasing our student’s sense of responsibility, cooperation, problem solving skills, accountability, self-discipline and mutual respect for one another. All of these things will work in conjunction with our ultimate goal of increasing student achievement. Students will be encouraged throughout the year to exemplify the characteristics of a true Nicholson Star!
Please read the information in the Cobb County folder that was sent home today. Return any needed paperwork signed. This will help maintain accurate records on each child. THANKS!!
August at Nicholson:
August 25 OPEN HOUSE 5:30-6:10 Session 1
6:15-6:55 PTA Meeting
7:00-7:45 Session 2 (choose which session best suits your schedule...attend only one!)
August 26 SPIRIT DAY/ Chick-fil-a biscuits on sale for $3
PLEASE remember that your child's safety is my biggest priority and getting them home in the afternoon safe and where they are suppose to be is my greatest concern, SO, please remember IF you should have any transportation changes that a note is sent into school with your child noting the date and how they are to get home that day....ASP, car rider, bus, or walker....thank you!
