Dear Parents and Guardians,

We would like to tell you of an opportunity that can help your child get ready for kindergarten: the Waterford UPSTART program, a resource designed to support your child is prepared for school success.

Current Eligible Students: If your child is enrolled in preschool or not, and they are attending kindergarten in 2025 with a birthday between September 2, 2019, and September 1, 2020, they qualify for this program. Registration is still open for the current year and can still provide several months of resources. Deadline for this year is February 28, 2025.

2025-2026 Eligible Students: Registration has begun for those who are preschool age during the 2025-2026 school year.  Students with a birthday between September 2, 2020 and September 1, 2021 qualify for this registration year. 

Kindergarten readiness sets a strong foundation for your child’s future learning. With Waterford UPSTART, your child will have access to the curriculum, a personal virtual coach, and may be eligible to receive a computer and a WiFi hotspot to support their learning.

Looking Ahead:

• Friday, February 28: Dollar Dress Down Day
• Friday, March 7: Daddy/Daughter Dance 6:00-8:00pm
• Friday, March 14: Mother/Son Dance 6:00-8:00pm
• Friday, March 14: End Term 3
• Friday, March 21: Dollar Dress Down Day
• Friday, March 28: Spring Picture Day and FREE Dress Down Day
• March 31-April 4: Spring Break NO SCHOOL

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

Comprehension strategy/skill: “Reread”/”Fact & Opinion” . We read different stories to go along with our theme “How are some animals alike and how are they different?”

2 New High Frequency Words (Power Words): “for” and “have“

New sound, spelling and handwriting: /u/ Uu

Vocabulary: appearance, behavior, exercise, plenty, wander

Math: Lesson 18: “Compose and Decompose 6 and 7”. We’ve also been working on one of our standards to fluently add and subtract within 5 (numbers in the problem and answers are 5 or less). You can help us achieve this goal by practicing these math facts with us. Click here for flashcards you can print at home: Adding/Subtracting Flashcards. To be considered fluent, students need to answer 25 problems within a minute. (Flashcards include adding and subtracting within 10, which is also a standard, but we first practice for fluency within 5).

Science: We practiced identifying the relationships of the needs of animals and the places in which they live. After a review of the animals we’ve observed throughout the unit, students used observations of three new places to determine which of those places best meet the needs of each animal.

We are now beginning Unit 7 in Language Arts. Here are the sight words, oral vocabulary words, letters, and sounds we will be mastering during the next 3 weeks. In addition, we continue to read decodable books and passages. You can listen to us read on SeeSaw and encourage us to read the passages we bring home each week. We are also working on writing sentences. We ask ourselves…Does it have a capital? Does it have a space? Does it have punctation in its place? Don’t forget the rest are lowercase!

We had a great day of giving and celebrating our friendships. Thanks so much for all the thoughtful Valentine’s! What a sweet class we have! -Ms. Lisa and Ms. Becky

Looking Ahead:

• Monday, February 17: No School- President’s Day
• Friday, February 28: Dollar Dress Down Day
• Friday, March 7: Daddy/Daughter Dance 6:00-8:00pm
• Friday, March 14: Mother/Son Dance 6:00-8:00pm

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

Comprehension strategy/skill: “Visualize”/”Events: Sequence”. We read different stories to go along with our theme “How can you stay safe in bad weather?”

Review High Frequency Words: “my”, “are”, “he”, “with”, “is”, “little”, “she”, and “was”

Review sound/spelling of the vowels: a, e, i, o and /k/ Cc, Kk, and _ck (spelling for /k/ at the end of words).

Vocabulary: safe, prepare, celebration, notice, enough

Math: Finished Lesson 15 “Number Partners for 10” and started Lesson 18 “Compose and Decompose 6 and 7”. We’ve also been working on one of our standards to fluently add and subtract within 5 (numbers in the problem and answers are 5 or less). You can help us achieve this goal by practicing these math facts with us. Click here for flashcards you can print at home: Adding/Subtracting Flashcards. To be considered fluent, students need to answer 25 problems within a minute. (Flashcards include adding and subtracting within 10, which is also a standard, but we first practice for fluency within 5).

Valentine Friend-Grams–This is an opportunity for students to surprise someone in the school with a fun token of friendship. Students may purchase cute Valentine cards that will be attached to a small treat and delivered to the classes on Valentine’s Day (Friday, February 14) Please see below for additional details:

• $.25 each
• February 10-12 (Monday-Wednesday)
• 8:00-8:25 am and 3:10-3:45 pm 
• Q1 Lobby

Looking Ahead:

• Friday, February 14: Valentine’s Day Party
• Monday, February 17: No School- President’s Day
• Friday, February 28: Dollar Dress Down Day

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

Comprehension strategy/skill: “Visualize”/”Events:Sequence”. We read different stories to go along with our theme “What happens in different kinds of weather?”

2 New High Frequency Words: “she” and “was”

New sound/spelling and handwriting: /k/ Kk and _ck (spelling for /k/ at the end of words)

*To reinforce high frequency words, phonics and fluent reading, please keep reading decodable stories that are sent home. Thank you!

Vocabulary: predict, temperature, clever, storm, drought

Math: Lesson 15 “Find number partners for 10”. We’ve also been working on one of our standards to fluently add and subtract within 5 (numbers in the problem and answers are 5 or less). You can help us achieve this goal by practicing these math facts with us. Click here for flashcards you can print at home: Adding/Subtracting Flashcards. To be considered fluent, students need to answer 25 problems within a minute. (Flashcards include adding and subtracting within 10, which is also a standard, but we first practice for fluency within 5).

Science: In our Read-Along lesson, a young girl notices all the holes in the trees around her house and sets out to discover how they got there, and why they matter. We explored how animals change their environments.

We will be celebrating the 100th Day of School on Friday, February 7.  We will be counting out 100 Froot Loops and making a necklace. Also, each child is welcome to bring a collection of 100 items that day to school if they would like (100 buttons, 100 signatures, 100 pom poms…) It’s fun to see what 100 of something looks like!  Just a couple guidelines:  

* Please let your child only bring in a collection that they can carry and manage by themselves 

*Have fun thinking of a creative or unique collection you want to bring 🙂

Thank you for attending Parent Teacher Conferences! Your support is amazing and I’m so impressed with all you do to help your children be successful in school!

Looking Ahead:

• Friday, February 7: Kindergarten celebrates 100 Days of School
  • (Valentines/100 Days permission)
• Friday, February 14: Valentine’s Day Party
• Monday, February 17: No School- President’s Day

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

Comprehension strategy/skill: “Visualize”/”Events: Sequence”. We read different stories to go along with our theme “How are the seasons different?”

2 New High Frequency Words: “is” and “llittle“

New sound/spellings/handwriting: /b/ Bb and /l/ Ll

*To reinforce high frequency words, phonics and fluent reading, please keep reading decodable stories that are sent home. Thank you!

Vocabulary: weather, seasons, migrate, active, spot (as in: notice or find something)

Math: Lesson 8: “2D Shapes”. We’ve also been working on one of our standards to fluently add and subtract within 5 (numbers in the problem and answers are 5 or less). You can help us achieve this goal by practicing these math facts with us. Click here for flashcards you can print at home: Adding/Subtracting Flashcards. To be considered fluent, students need to answer 25 problems within a minute. (Flashcards include adding and subtracting within 10, which is also a standard, but we first practice for fluency within 5).