What an honor to be your children’s teachers this year!  They are dear to us and we are so proud of their hard work and it’s been so much fun to see how they’ve grown!  Luckily, we know most of them will be close next year and we will be able to see their adorable faces now and then–so this isn’t really good-bye!

Thank you, parents, for all your amazing support this year: helping your child read and practice other skills at home, help on field trips and in the classroom or helping from home.  We truly appreciate the kind, generous, thoughtful gifts and notes.Thanks for all your donations for field trips and classroom supplies!  We can’t thank you enough, and especially for sharing your kiddos with us.  We will miss them, but excited for all the growth and learning that lies ahead!  🙂

With Love,
Ms. Lisa and Ms. Olya

*(All photos are available in the google drive folder we’ve sent to you. Please let me know if you need the link again!)

Your child has worked SO hard this year and deserves to maintain or even increase his/her skills over the summer!  Here are some ideas for keeping your child learning over the summer:

#1: READ!  

No other skill is more important to maintain over the summer months.  Children who read regularly are shown to have higher intelligence and general knowledge, better fluency, improved analytical thinking, broader vocabulary, better memory and increased writing skills. Please use every opportunity (long car rides, waits at the dentist/doctor, before bedtime, etc.) to have your child read to you and you read to them.

• The following can be used until no longer available:
  • Stories in Seesaw (clever.com).  Go to “Activities” and choose “To Do” or “Done”)
  • iReady Reading (clever.com)
• Reading for All Learners iPad app (there is a cost)
• 2024 Summer Reading Programs (click for a digital flyer)
• Visit the public library.  Your public library has excellent resources for choosing appropriate books for your child.  Or check out some great online resources, such as:
  • https://www.ala.org/alsc/publications-resources/book-lists (check out their summer reading list!)
  • https://www.greatschools.org/gk/book-lists/favorite-books-for-kindergartners/ (Kinder)
  • https://www.greatschools.org/gk/book-lists/favorite-books-for-first-graders/ (First)
  • http://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/book-lists-and-recommendations/ages-6-7

 #2: Write!

Writing is “backwards reading” and not only improves your child’s writing skills, but also improves his/her reading skills as well.  Encourage your child to use best handwriting and to sound out words phonetically, and assist your child in creating complete sentences that include proper use of upper and lower-case letters, and to include proper punctuation.

• Encourage your child to keep a journal of happenings or discoveries over the summer months.

#3: Math!

It is important that your child practices their math skills so that he/she can build on them in 1st grade!  Review counting to 100 by 1’s and by 10’s, writing numbers to 20, recognizing written numbers up to 100 quickly, count up to 20+ objects, and adding and subtracting within 10 (especially using real life problems).

• iReady math (clever.com) can be used until it’s no longer available.

• Find online games and resources for sharpening math skills, including:
  • Math at Home Resources: https://hub.lexile.com/math-at-home
  • Turtle Diary: https://www.turtlediary.com/games/kindergarten.html (Kinder) https://www.turtlediary.com/games/first-grade.html (First)
  • Education.com: https://www.education.com/games/kindergarten/math/ (Kinder) https://www.education.com/games/first-grade/math/ (First)

We had a great visit with the 1st grade teachers at Quest today! They read a book, taught the students a funny song, and performed a magic trick. They sent us away with a fun straw and an awesome First Grade Skills Packet. This is a valuable resource to know what you can practice over the summer with your child. Watch for it in your child’s take home folder Wednesday (making sure it doesn’t get thrown away).

Final Kindergarten Report Cards, SEP’s, Math diagnostic scores, and other reports/information is also coming home on Wednesday.

Please make sure students bring their backpacks on Wednesday (and remember to bring their water bottle for field day).

Final grades and citizenship are also available in Aspire. You can view the overall subject grade under “Unofficial Report Card”. For detailed scores by individual standards go to “Complete Progress Report”.  For Citizenship go to “Citizenship Log”.  (Make sure you have selected Term 4). We hope you have a chance to celebrate the progress and growth they’ve made!

(For more detailed instructions on using Aspire follow this link)

• May 20: 1st grade class visit (we will briefly meet the 1st grade teachers)
• May 20: Practice eating lunch at school. Our class will have the opportunity to eat lunch in the lunchroom to prepare for 1st grade! We will be introduced to the lunchroom procedures, practice going through the lunch line (if choosing school lunch), eat at the tables, and clean up. (Indicate lunch choice and sign up to volunteer here).
• May 21: Field Trip to the Children’s Treehouse Museum (*NOTE Class Time Change: School will be held from 11-2 that day–for our class only)
  • School: 11:00-2:00; Museum: 12-1:30
  • Please have your child wear their red “Quest Academy Kindergarten” class T-shirt. Thank you!
• May 22: Field day
• May 23: K-2 talent show and yearbook signing (*Note: yearbook signing day changed from Friday to Thursday)
• May 24: Last day of school
  • We invite your child to wear their red “Quest Academy Kindergarten” class T-shirt.

Looking Ahead:

• May 17: Ms. Lisa’s Kindergarten Completion Celebration 11:00-11:30 am in the library (parents are invited)
• May 20: 1st grade class visit (we will briefly meet the 1st grade teachers)
• May 20: Practice eating lunch at school. Our class will have the opportunity to eat lunch in the lunchroom to prepare for 1st grade! We will be introduced to the lunchroom procedures, practice going through the lunch line (if choosing school lunch), eat at the tables, and clean up. (Indicate lunch choice and sign up to volunteer here).
• May 21: Field Trip to the Children’s Treehouse Museum (*NOTE Class Time Change: School will be held from 11-2 that day–for our class only)
  • School: 11:00-2:00; Museum: 12-1:30
• May 22: Field day
• May 23: K-2 talent show and yearbook signing
• May 24: Last day of school

Here’s a quick overview of new things we learned this week:

Comprehension strategy/skill: “Reread” and “Topic and Details”. We read several different texts to go along with our theme: “Protect Our Earth: What ideas can you suggest to protect the environment?”

High Frequency Words (Power Words): Review #31-40

Sound and spelling review: reviewed long /a/ and long /i/ (spelled a_e and i_e)

Vocabulary: environment, protect, encourage, recycle, wisely

Science: This week our class observed an interesting experiment that uses the heat of the sun. We discovered that a car in the sun gets hot enough to melt marshmallows and chocolate to make a sticky treat called a s’more!

We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for the incredibly kind, generous, and thoughtful gifts and notes that your children brought to us this week. Each day brought delightful surprises and we’ve felt so loved! And the matching classroom shirts today! What?!! We’re still giddy and on cloud nine from that surprise and loved seeing them all wearing them together!

It has been an absolute pleasure and honor to have had the opportunity to teach your children this year. Thank you for entrusting them to us and for your continued support!!

-Ms. Lisa and Ms. Olya

Sending this as a reminder (only half our class has taken advantage of these free books so far)! 🙂

Our class will have the opportunity to eat lunch in the lunchroom to prepare for 1st grade on Monday, May 20. We will be introduced to the lunchroom procedures, practice going through the lunch line (if choosing school lunch), eat at the tables, and clean up. Please indicate lunch choice and sign up to volunteer here.

Thank You!