We are finishing up the year just like we started - working hard! We are ready for Kindergarten!
Thank you to all the parents who came in to be Mystery Readers for our class! We loved having you join us to start our day!
Last week, we celebrated our last community time with our school families! We have had such a great year being together and making new friends!
Some ideas for summer "work":
- Review letter names and sounds. Letters are all around us! Encourage your child to sound out words when you see them.
- Practice counting, naming numbers, and showing quantities.
- Have your child practice writing his/her name.
- Read to your child every day! Let them hear your silly voices. Let them tell you the best parts of the story and predict how the story will end. Have your child read to you if they can!
- Work with your child to begin to learn to tie his/her shoes. Some children may be ready, others may not quite be there yet - and that's okay! It's all about introducing your child to the concept and encouraging them to do their best and not give up.
- Limit screen time. iPads and tablets are wonderful tools, but they do not need to be used all the time. Encourage your child to play (both inside and outside) and use his/her imagination! As parents, we must look up from our screens and look at our children. They are growing so incredibly fast and we don't want to miss it. We could spend this summer looking at someone else's reality by scrolling through their posts or pictures, or we could be chasing our reality through the sprinkler with our children in our own backyard. Play with your child. They will love every second, no matter what you do, just because you are with them.
- Encourage kindness. Find someone or several people that your child can do something simple for (deliver cookies, make a card, clean up around the house, etc.) just to bring a smile.
- Sit at the table and eat together. Talk about your day with your child and ask your child to tell you his/her top 3 things about his/her day.
- Keep bedtime in the routine. It may be a little later, and there will be nights when there are special events; but overall, if we keep our bodies in a routine with sleep, September won't hit quite so hard.
- Don't rush to the rescue. Our children need us, but they need us to let them learn to problem solve. If your child is in a situation that is frustrating, but not harmful (ex.: can't put together a new toy, can't open a snack, can't get dressed, etc.), let them work it out! It saves time (and our nerves) to just do it, but in the long run, it's crippling our children of the basic and necessary skills to problem solve and think through an issue for themselves. Hang back...just a bit. They will be okay!
- Rest. Be okay with not constantly going somewhere. Our children have worked hard and they need to rest. Squeeze in the fun, but allow the time to rest. "Boredom" gives way to creativity. Rest renews our bodies and minds for all the next school year has in store.
(adapted from Betsy Eggart)
"We give you back your children, the same children you entrusted to our care last fall. We give them back pounds heavier, inches taller, months wiser, more responsible, and more mature than they were then. Although they would have attained this growth in spite of us, it has been our pleasure and privilege to watch their personalities unfold day by day. We give them back reluctantly, for having spent nine months together in the narrow confines of a crowded classroom, we have grown close, have become part of each other, and we shall always retain a little part of each other. We have lived, loved, laughed, played, studied, learned, and enriched our lives together this year. We wish it could go on indefinitely, but give them back we must. Take care of them, for they are precious and one of a kind. Remember that we shall always be interested in your children and their destinies, wherever they go, whatever they do, whoever they become. Their joys and sorrows we'll always be happy to share."
-Author Unknown
