We’ve been working to provide a variety of streams of communication for our parents so that they are fully informed about their Kindergarten children’s progress, classroom and school.

This year our Kindergarten students will receive three formal, written report cards at the end of each term, in addition to the Parent-Teacher Intake Conferences and Student Led Conferences.

However, there is also a great deal of information to be shared about the children’s daily activities in the classroom and important school events and programs.  Last December marked the beginning of an exciting journey for Christy and I as we launched our Kindergarten website and blog, theselfregulatedteacher.com.

Although we write this website and blog for our Ridgeview Kindergarten classroom parents, we’ve been delighted by the warm reception we’ve received from our colleagues and the wider digital education community.

theselfregulatedteacher.com replaces our former weekly paper newsletter, incorporates our Kindergarten Handbook and blog posts.

Blog Posts.  We usually post a new blog twice a week.  Sunday’s blog typically focuses on Kindergarten curriculum and Kindergarten related topics.  Friday’s posts will discuss what we’re doing in class, and include important classroom and school reminders and upcoming events.

About Us.  You can learn About Us, and our full story, “Becoming the Self-Regulated Teacher,” here.

2015-2016 School Year. All relevant information for this current school year, including links directly to the class newsletters, will be posted here.

Kindergarten Handbook.  We’re beginning to write, and collect in one place, important information for parents new to Ridgeview Kindergarten.  Here we give an overview of “how things work,” including school assembly expectations, playground expectations and recess and lunch routines.

Resources.  The foundation of our Kindergarten program is in the teaching and practise of self-regulation.  Under Resources there are links to self-regulation sites, a professional reading list and some of the supporting materials we use in the classroom.

Social.  Parents in our classes can subscribe to Remind to receive the text messages from their Kindergarten teacher.  But you can also follow us on Twitter @selfregteacher to learn when the latest blog has been posted.

Remind.  Remind is an app used by teachers to relay information to students (if they over 13 years of age), or in our case, parents of our students.  We use this app primarily for reminders such as Library Book Exchange or if the children need their runners for PE.  However, we also use Remind to send our parents the link every time we post on our blog.  Parents, if you have not yet subscribed to Remind and wish to receive the text messages for your Division, we sent home an instructions page with each student today.

This Week in Our Room:  September 9-11, 2015

We’ve had a wonderful opportunity to get to know your children in the past three days through the Kindergarten Gradual Entry.  We’ve been able to carefully review the classroom expectations and daily routines, and practise them in a small group format.  The children have benefited from the slower pace as they’ve adjusted to their new teachers, classmates and classroom.

We are looking forward to beginning our regular Kindergarten program on Monday with our whole class.  Our children will need two snacks and lunch each school day, as we usually have a break in the afternoon, in addition to the morning recess.  Please note we begin at 8:50 am, although students are welcome to enter the main building at 8:45 am.

Please also pack an additional change of clothing to leave at school for your child in case of a bathroom accident, rainy day or playground mud.  You may leave it in a small bag to hang on your child’s cloakroom hook.

We spent some time going over the playground rules for Kindergarten.  The children know that although there are some areas of the playground they might be allowed to visit with their parents, as a class we would not be able to due to supervision concerns.  More information about the Ridgeview Kindergarten playground boundaries can be found here.

Reminders:

Today the verification packages were sent home.  You’ll need to complete these forms and return them to school.  Please note that the adults you designate for your emergency pick-ups does not preclude you from informing us if you are not picking up your children on a specific day.  We like to know specifically if you are not meeting your children at the end of the day so that we can ensure their safety by releasing them to the correct adult.

We sent home the September Homework calendar today.  Please consider doing these fun little homework activities, check each one off and bring it back completed for a sticker on October 1!

Parent-Teacher Intake Conferences will be held for Kindergarten students only on Thursday, September 17 and Friday, September 18.  Dismissal will be at 12 pm for both days.  Today we sent home the Developmental Questionnaire for you to complete for your child.  Please bring this questionnaire with you to school for your scheduled conference. The sign-up schedule will be posted outside of our classrooms on Monday.

We begin our interviews at 12:10 pm so please pick-up your child promptly on our conferences days.  If you are not here to pick up by 12:05 pm, please collect your child from the school office.