Dear K-Kid Families,

We have had a wonderful learning filled nine weeks. Your K-Kids have learned so much and I am excited to share it with you. If you have not signed up for a conference please do so.  Don't forget that we can arrange a time when we come back if this is what best meets your schedule.  Have a terrific three week break with your K-Kid.  Read a lot, play a lot, and enjoy each other.

                                                          Ms. Mary

Still more information:

Good Information.  J                                                      

This is a miscellaneous list of “have to knows” from several former K-Kid parents.  Some of this information is in the Handbook, but they said they wish they had written it in bold and put on their refrigerators!  Some of this information was given at the time of the interview, but “there was so much”.  So to make your life easier we have provided this extra list!

Parking and Drop-off

Drop-off happens at the side door.  Your K-Kid can go into the cafeteria with supervised care starting at 7:30 in the morning.  The cafeteria is open for breakfast, too! 

Your K-Kid can come into the classroom at 7:50 a.m.

Pick-up is at 2:30 in the parking lot drive around.  K-Kids
MAY NOT walk into the parking lot on their own. 

ALL students must be picked up by 2:45.  Those students who are not picked up by this time will go to After School Care.

You will need to go to the Public Safety Building to obtain a parking pass or you will be ticketed.  You can identify yourself as a University School parent and receive a pass for one week at a time.  It allows you to park in any space that is not a Fire Zone or Handicap

Late or Absent?

If you know that you will be late or absent call the office (439-4271).  When you arrive you must first go to the office for an admit slip.  When your child has been out sick you need to write an absence excuse.

Appropriate Shoes and clothes for gym and play

For safety reasons shoes should have a back strap (so no flip flops) and rubber soles.  Also for modesty reasons – girls should wear shorts under their dresses.  Please check the Handbook for the Dress Code…it does apply to K-Kids too.

Allergy/Medical Conditions

Make sure that you notify the teacher of any allergies or medical conditions that your child may have.  All medications must be cleared through the office.  Children may not bring medications to the classroom without special permission (this includes over the counter simple things like chapstick which K’s looovve to share!)

Sick K-Kids

If your child becomes ill during school you will be called to come and pick them up…therefore always be sure that we have your latest phone number where you can be reached anytime during the day.

VERY IMPORTANT – keep your child home until they are fever free for 24 hours WITHOUT medication.  Please don’t bring them to school if they have thrown up during the night or run a fever during the night.  Your child will feel better and the other parents will appreciate it!

Lunch Routine

K-Kids eat in their room.  They may pack their lunch or buy a hot lunch from the cafeteria.  The cost this year for a student lunch is $1.65 and 35 cents for milk if purchased separately.  Your can send the money each day or give send a check for a month or even longer.  It is made out to University School.  The lunch menu is announced the day before and the day of. 

Snack Routine

Since lunch is at 10:30 K-Kids get pretty hungry and thirsty by 1:30 or so.  We have asked parents (and myself) to send in a snack, cups and a drink once a month. If we don’t have the items we will not have snack that day.  Snacks can be as simple as a box of plain crackers and a frozen can of juice.  It is just a “pick-me-up” not a “fill-me-up”.

K-Kids do not have to have a backpack but it helps for transporting things.  Check this backpack each day for notes or papers that need to be returned.

Keep a full change of clothes in the backpack – accidents happen to the best of us. 

Keep a copy of the school schedule on your refrigerator.

Snow days and unusual school closures. 

We follow the Johnson City School System for days being called off because of snow.  If Johnson City Schools are closed for a snow day we are too.  You will not hear our school name separately unless Johnson City has a regularly scheduled day off and is not taking a snow day.  Very, very rarely ETSU will close the campus due to weather…we then are also off.  If the weather is that bad, Johnson City will be out too!

Early school closure due to weather can happen as well.  Listen to the TV, radio or go to our web site for information on early closure.  Do this anytime the weather is “iffy”.  If we are closing early due to weather it is VERY

important that you come right away to pick up your child because public safety may insist that everyone leave the campus. Also you may live a mile from campus, but the teacher who is with your child may live many miles away.

Library books

K-Kids do not start off checking out books, but parents thought that you might want to have this info in writing too.  Your child will check out a library book once a week as part of their Library Class.  They will come home in a folder, with their Library Book Journal.  This is a weekly homework assignment.  Your K-Kid is to have an adult read the book with them and then write a response in their journal (most often in Kindergarten the response is a drawing).  The adult then signs the page and all is sent back by the next Library Day.  If the book is not returned then your K-Kid does not check-out another until the book is returned.

Stay involved

Spend as much time as possible involved with activities at school.  Volunteer in the classroom.  Work with your child at home – read to them – count with them – explore with them –help them find answers their questions.

Get to Know Each Other

Things your K-Kid will learn:

Reading and Writing

The student will:

• Expand oral language through vocabulary instruction and experiences
• Speak clearly, properly, and politely
• Begin to use rules for conversation (e.g., raise hands, take turns, and focus attention on speaker)
• Participate in group discussion.
• Ask and respond to questions from teacher and other group members.
• Listen attentively to speaker for specific information
• Use appropriate listening skills (e.g., do not interrupt, face speaker, and ask questions)
• Follow simple, two step oral directions.
• Recognize a purpose for listening.
• Make predictions about a story.
• Identify the front and back cover of a book.
• Recite familiar poem
• Ask questions about the text
• Use complete and coherent simple sentences when speaking
• Use local words and appropriate word order to complete sentences or to respond to questions
• Use correct grammatical constructions in own speech
• Participate in discussions
• Share storybooks, poems, and environmental print.
• Identify labels around the room
• Understand that print has meaning
• Read and explain own writings and drawings
• Use illustrations to preview a story or poem
• Connect life experiences to a story or poem
• Predict what will happen next as the story is shared
• Draw conclusions based on the evidence in the story
• Use common illustrations to gain meaning from text
• Explore a variety of types of books and literary materials
• Share orally completed work
• Write to acquire and exhibit knowledge
• Represent spoken language with illustrations
• Participate in shared writing about curriculum topics.
• Visit the library and check out books regularly.
• Use repetitive text to reenact or retell stories.
• Recognize a variety of print sources.
• Retell a story in own words.
• Use a pictionary to determine word meaning.
• Put in time order the events in a story.
• Distinguish letters from words.
• Understand that a phoneme is one distinct sound.
• Recognize and produce rhyming words
• Understand words are made up of one or more syllables.
• Recognize and name all upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet
• Use illustrations to preview the text.
• Connect to life experience the information events in tests.
• Use pictures to discuss main idea.
• Create a drawing, picture, sign or other graphic symbols to respond to literature.
• Illustrate and/or write in journals.
• Read some words by sight.
• Trace and reproduce letters  and words correctly.
• Read to gain information, for enjoyment and to expand vocabulary.

Math

• Count how many objects are in a set
• Use the language of ordinal numbers
• Sort objects by color, size shape, and kind
• Combine two dimensional shapes to make pictures
• Identify and extend patterns
• Identify simple and 3-D shapes and their attributes
• Beginning to tell time by the hour
• Using graphs
• Use words to describe temperature
• Represent and compare data using pictures, concrete objects and simple graphs.
• Use words, actions, pictures or concrete objects to solve a problem

There are also many curriculum standards in social studies, physical development, personal and social development, scientific thinking and the arts that we have and will be covering.  :)