Last newsletter

HI,
Our field trip went very well. The children were very well behaved, the owner of the farm made a point to tell me this! I already knew it!
I can’t believe that this will be your last newsletter home! The year has gone by so quickly.
I want to thank you so very much for all of your help and support this year.
It has been a great pleasure to work with both you and your child. Please do not leave graduation without saying good-bye to me.
Mission day was a great success. Thanks so much for everything, the donations, the volunteers, the money that you sent in with your child. This is a wonderful way to teach the children about generosity. We made over $2,000.
Elmer’s Aquarium in Monroeville is offering free hermit crabs if you take your report card to their store!
GRADUATION NOTES
Graduation will be on Monday 6-2 It is held in the cafeteria. We ask that videotaping be confined to your seat only if you have chosen not to order a video. The children should be in the classroom between 6:30 and 6:45. They should wear dress clothes only. NO shorts, or t-shirts, tennis shoes, jeans or sweat clothes. They should be dressed up ! PLEASE REMEMBER THE CAP! PUT IT IN THE CAR OR SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT FORGET IT. You may want to have your child go to the bathroom right before you leave.
The cafeteria does get crowded. Please do not stand on tables or chairs to better see your child. The children have been told to ignore everything. If hats fall off, or shirts are out, or anything happens… please do not come up and fix it. The show will go on. This is really important, the children are nervous, and any parent coming up to tuck in a shirt or fix a hat will throw everyone off. The same goes for calling out their name in the middle of the show, or having a younger sibling run up to them. Siblings are definitely welcome, but please keep them with you. You never thought that there would be so many rules for a kindergarten graduation. Sorry, it is just really hard when the children are watching the audience, as opposed to the audience watching them. Please remind your child that they cannot talk during the graduation. For some of them, this short time will seem like hours. Weather permitting the reception will be outside.
Monday is our last day of school. WE will have a normal school day with a normal dismissal.
One last time… thanks so very much for all of your help and support. You have been great. This is a hard time for some of us… ask my family about cranky. I just can’t believe that the year is over.… But I can’t thank you enough for all that you have done this year. Enjoy your summer. As a parent of adult children, (although I am enjoying this time of their lives), I know just how fast it goes. Enjoy your children. I really can remember Ryan and Colin’s graduation from kindergarten like it was yesterday, and look at them now.
Marti Wiehagen

field trip

Dear Parents,
Just a few last minute reminders for the field trip:
Our field trip is on Wednesday 5-28. We are going to Triple B Farm. Because it is a very long bus ride, please make sure that your child has had breakfast. PLEASE check the weather and dress your child accordingly. If it is warm enough, they are permitted to wear shorts. They do NOT have to be uniform shorts for the field trip. It is the only time that they may wear other shorts. Please no spaghetti straps or tank tops though. If the weather is going to be chilly I would suggest one of these: sweatshirt/sweater/jacket. I would also strongly suggest sun block. I will have some with me, but if you prefer that your child NOT use it as a reapplication, PLEASE let me know in writing on Tuesday. PLEASE put a first coat of sunblock on! This field trip we are outside almost the entire time, and there is limited shade there. While sunglasses and or hats are also nice, this is your decision. Your child must be responsible for these. It is too hard for the chaperones to be watching everyone plus hats and sunglasses. Please mark anything extra: jackets, hats, glasses with your child’s name please.
We will be eating lunch there. We are not allotted a lot of time for lunch, so I would suggest a smaller lunch, and a bigger snack for when we get back to school. This is really important if your child is a slow eater. There is not any refrigeration there either, so pack accordingly. I would put in a frozen drink box if you choose to send a meat sandwich, but make sure that you put it in baggie or foil, or it will put a hole in the bag. NO lunch boxes/ and or freezer packs are permitted as requested by the farm. We throw away the lunches when we are done, so the lunches should be in brown bags. I do have extras if you need one, send me a note on Tuesday.
We are leaving at 8:45 if not a few minutes earlier. PLEASE DO NOT have your child arriving after 8:30. We will leave promptly, and cannot wait for anyone. If your child is sick on Wednesday, please call Rose to let her know. Thanks!
The field trip is a fun filled day with plantings, lessons, outdoor activities and even a gigantic slide.
I hope that I have covered everything. If you have any questions please call or email me. Have a wonderful weekend.
Next week we will be finishing up the Math series, and doing review work in reading. We will be finishing up the bullying lesson, and doing a lesson on teeth.
You will be getting the memory books on Friday. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I enjoy putting them together. There are many happy memories in each of the books, and as I do them I get quite nostalgic. Take a moment or two with your child and look through it with them. The children are usually so excited about seeing them when we start to do the last few pages, and they are looking forward to sharing them with you.
Have a great week, and Happy Memorial Day!
Marti Wiehagen

May 8th

Dear parents,
Just a reminder that the concert is tonight. The children should be there by 6:30, please do not let them run around the school prior to that time. They should wear their shirts and jeans. The concert should last about one hour.
Friday, as I am sure that you know is the Kennywood picnic, and we do not have school.
If you have not returned the field trip permission slip and the money(7.75), please return it next week by Friday. Thanks so much! The field trip is on WEDNESDAY 5-28, not Tuesday as I said last week, sorry about that! The children are permitted to wear nice dress down clothes. They do not have to wear their uniform shorts on the field trip. They do have to wear their uniform shorts for any other dress down day in May including Mission Day.
Thanks again for all of your generous donations for Mission Day! It is such a wonderful day and a real learning experience for the children. We are still in
In reading we are finishing up the last unit for the reading series. Please continue to review flashcards and reading and writing. Thanks so much.
In math we are going to be working on subtraction. Remind your child is it ok to use their fingers. We also use blocks and popsicle sticks, but the fingers are often what they are most comfortable with.
We are almost finished with the Religion series also. We will do one last unit and then have a review unit in that also.
In social studies, science and health we will be doing a unit on respect for one need of several things: pop, volunteers and items for the flea market… kids items!another. This class is usually so careful about that, but it is a unit that we do every year!
I can’t believe that we are moving along so quickly. Thanks again for everything that you do! I would like to wish all of the mothers a very happy and pleasant mother’s day! The children know that it is your very special day! All that you have to do is sit around and be pampered. Remind them of this! Have a great day!

May1, 2008

Dear Parents,

Just a few reminders:
The spring concert will be Thursday 5/8 at the Plum Senior High School. The children must be there by 6:30, Please do not drop them off before that time. There will not be any one there to watch them .If you would arrive earlier than that, please keep your children with you until the teachers arrive. They are not permitted anywhere in the school without a parent or teacher with them. Please do not let them run around the auditorium or the school.
There will not be any school on Friday 5/09. This is the Kennywood picnic. Tickets will be sold 5/6. Please put the money(NO CHECKS) in a sealed envelope, marked with your name, the amount of money and the number of tickets that you would like to have. YOU MUST SEND THIS TO SCHOOL ON MONDAY UNLESS YOU HAVE AN OLDER CHILD THAT IS ABLE TO PURCHASE THEM ON TUESDAY. They will come home taped to their folder on TUESDAY.
The children will be bringing home their graduation caps. Please do not let them play with them. They are not made for a lot of use.

Please continue to practice the speeches for graduation. I really appreciate this. Emphasize talking very slowly. This seems to be coming along nicely with many of the children knowing their speeches very well. PS: The speeches are for graduation, not the spring concert. If for your child’s speech did not come home last week, please let me know right away.
Graduation is our last day of school, we do have school on that day , and we finish up that night. It is Monday June2nd.

In math we will be continuing to work on addition and starting subtraction. We are also working on geometric figures.. Please remind your child to use their fingers if they have a problem. We are counting to 100 by 5’s and to 30 by 2’s and we are now counting to 120.
In reading we are finishing up the letter j, and starting some new words: the words are: he and ut family. but, cut, nut, hut, We will be reviewing the letters: w, h, d and n. We will be finishing our reading series very soon. The children have done so well with it. We will be finishing out the year with a lot of supplemental materials.
Next Thursday, there will be a May Crowning in the afternoon. We will be attending the May Crowning. This is on Thursday also. We will be working on May as the month for Mary.

In science, our butterflies have hatched. This has been a great unit, and the children have really enjoyed it.
If you have not sent in your Mission dollar for the all day ticket( do we sound like Kennywood?) Please send it in next week. If you have any donations for prizes, pop (Pepsi or coke products only in cans), candy, or volunteers, please send them in soon! We are always in need of volunteers, so if you are able to help, it is a fun day.Remember that is 5/23.
We will be visiting first grade at the end of the month. This is a nice way to let them meet the first grade teachers, although they try to stop in frequently, and to see the rooms etc.
JUST A REMINDER: IF YOU HAVE NOT RETURNED THE TUITION FORMS, PLEASE , PLEASE DO SO BY MONDAY. THANKS SO MUCH.
FIELD TRIP INFORMATION:: 528(TUESDAY) Please have your child here by 8:25 if your child is a car rider. This is a dress down day, but I would suggest watching the weather carefully as whether shorts are appropriate or not. KINDERGARTEN does not have to wear uniform shorts on the field trip. Please no tank tops or midriff tops. Sleeveless are fine, but not the tiny straps that some of the girl’s shirts have now. THE CHILDREN SHOULD WEAR TENNIS SHOES. Sandals are not in the dress code, and especially not on this field trip, where it could be a safety factor in the fields to have bare feet. If it is going to be chilly, please have your child wear sweaters or a sweatshirt… please dress warmly if it is going to be cold. Each child must bring a lunch in a paper bag. NO DRINKS are provided, so please pack a drink. I would prefer no soda.. it can get messy. Please put the drink in a baggie or wrap it in aluminum foil and put it in their brown bag. Please mark your child’s name on the bag. We will not have time in the am to do this, so please try to have it done before they arrive in school. PLEASE do not have your child arriving late on this day…it is a long trip, and we will be leaving at 8:45 if not a few minutes earlier if the bus can get there earlier.

Thanks so much for all of your help. I really appreciate it. I will see you at the concert.


Marti Wiehagen

April 23rd

Dear Parents,
I have enclosed their speeches for the Graduation. The speeches will need to be memorized. Although we practice frequently at school, I will really need your help with this. Thanks so much. When your child practices, encourage them to speak slowly and clearly. This is really important, and you must emphasize slowly with them, because they often get up in front of everyone, and just race through it. Everyone has a speech, and this is not a choice. If your child shows some hesitation, please do not make a big deal about it. Just keep moving ahead and practicing, and let me know, and I will let them know that I am a step away from them when they do their speeches. Please begin practicing right away.
Thursday 5-1 is the first day to wear shorts. Navy or khaki uniform shorts are the only shorts that can be worn. They may wear tennis shoes only with the shorts or on gym day. Tennis shoes may not be worn with long pants or the uniform dress except on gym day. Please remember that all socks must cover the ankle. Just a note: boys in 2-8th grades are to wear belts, this policy does NOT include kindergarten and first grade boys. The shorts must be a few inches above the knee… please no short shorts! They must be uniform shorts which means only the traditional pockets! NO CARGO shorts or pants. We will be attending Liturgy on Thursday. It is Ascension Thursday. They may wear shorts on Thursday .
Our field trip is on Wednesday 5-28th.. Please return the permission slip and $7.75 to cover the field trip. .Checks are great… make out to SJBS. Please return the slip and the money together by Friday 5/16,Thanks! We are going to Triple B Farms. This is a fantastic field trip! I will be sending home more detailed information as we get closer to the date.
Kennywood information:
For those of you not familiar with Kennywood, this is a school picnic day, but the children only attend with their families. At times, families new to the area think that we go as a school, but this is a family event, if you would like to attend.
The cost of an all day ticket is: $ 19. Tickets are being sold on Tuesday 5/6. Cash only will be accepted.
It is extremely important that this money be in an envelope marked with your child’s name, room number and the number of tickets that are being purchased. This is very important. PLEASE do not send cash that is not in an envelope, and they will not accept checks. I will send the tickets back to you taped to their folder. Please let your child know that they have Kennywood money.
Thanks so much for the responses for Mission Day. It is very much appreciated. We will continue to need donations of pop, volunteers, and money for prizes. We especially need volunteers if you are available.
In math we are working on addition. We will continue this, and then start on subtraction.
We will be counting to 12 as of May 1st. , counting by 5’s to 100, by 2’s to 50 and by 100 to 1,000.
In reading we will be working on the letters j and u . We will be working on are: , jug, mug, tug, rug, bug,

In religion we will be working on the Mass. We will talk a lot about behavior in church and how they are able and ready to participate in the Mass by standing, kneeling and sitting. We usually encourage at this time of the year if they are still bringing toys to stop, and unless there is a younger child in the family, that they are sitting in the Church, and no longer in the cry room.
In health we have been working on an exercise and nutrition unit. We have begun walking each day in the afternoon weather permitting, and we will be doing this through the remainder of the year. We will be doing other activities to encourage good eating habits, and exercise.
In science and social studies we are working on a butterfly unit. We are watching the growth of caterpillars to butterflies. We are also finishing up our earth week activities.
Thanks for all of your help! I can’t believe that we are into May already!
Phew, I told you that we were into our busy time. Thanks so much for all of your help
Reminders Spring Concert: 5/08 no school Friday 5/09 Kennywood picnic
Field trip:Wednesday: 5/28 Mission day: Friday: 5/23

April 16th, 2008

Dear Parents,

Just a reminder that there will not be school on Tuesday 4-22. It is election day.

I have included book orders, this will be the last book order for the year. Please remember if you are ordering books to please send in checks made out to the book company only. Thanks so much. The orders are due: Monday 4/28.

In Religion we are talking next week about Prayer, and how it is a way a sharing our love for God. The children now should know the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and the prayer before meals, our own version of the morning prayer, and our sorry prayer at the end of the day. We also have been talking about the Pope and his visit to the United States.
In reading we are working on reviewing y and w sounds and the words from the unit: she play wet pet set yet get vet pen hen ten men den. Thanks for practicing the words. The children are all doing very well with reading sentences and sounding out words. Thanks so much. I hope that you have heard about our new buddy that we have in our room: Jake that is visiting each student’s house one by one. The children are each getting a turn taking him home with them. They each will write 2-3 sentences about Jake. Please have your child write the sentences including spelling independently. You may help them by reminding them to 1. Count the number of words in the sentences 2. Write the words by leaving a finger space between each word. 3. Sounding out each word. Please feel free to help them to sound the words out, and correct them if they do not have the words in the sentence that they told you they wanted to write(did they leave out words?). I appreciate this. They do not need to do any other homework on the night of the buddy visit. If it is the little reader night, I do ask that you have them read it the next night, and turn it in then. Thanks so much. This is a good learning experience for writing and reading, because they will read it to the class on the next day.
In math we will be continuing to work on addition. We are now counting up to 110, counting by 2’s to 30, 5’s to 100, and by 100’s to 1,000.
Some of the children are starting to tie their shoes more and more. Thanks so much.
In science we will be talking about Earth Week, and there is so much to do with that we will continue to work on it through the end of this month.
Important Dates:
Thursday 5/8: spring concert at Plum High. Did you return your order for the T-shirts?
Friday 5/9: Kennywood Picnic: NO SCHOOL Kennywood will be at St. Johns one day to sell their tickets. More information will come home when we get it.
Wednesday: 5/28: Our field trip to Triple B Farm
Monday: 6/2: Graduation at 7 pm in the cafeteria: dress clothes only

Thanks again for all that you do, you make my job so easy, and such a joy…… by the way that is the value for this month!
Have a great weekend.
Marti Wiehagen

April 9, 2008

Dear Parents,
I really enjoyed meeting with everyone at conferences. Thanks so much for all of your help and support throughout this year. I really appreciate it so much.
The field trip to Giant Eagle was great! The children had a lot of fun!
In Religion we will be working on We belong to the church. We will be talking about Baptism. Our value for this month is joy.
In reading we will be working on the letter Yy and our new words for the new week will be: she and the en family: pen hen ten Ken Ben men . Please make flash cards and practice those too. We will be having a flashcard test at the end of next week.
In math we will be working on telling time on the hour and the half hour.
In science we will be working on earth week activities, and talking about conservation and protecting the earth.

There will be a free dress down day on Monday for those participating in the bounce a thon, if your child is not participating there is a .50 cent dress down day if they would like to participate in that.

Some important dates to remember:
Tuesday: 4/22 NO SCHOOL: Election Day
Thursday 5/8: May Crowning and Spring Concert: the concert is held at Plum High school at 7pm. Friday 5/9: Kennywood Picnic: no school
Friday 5/23: Mission Day
Wednesday 5/28: Field Trip to Triple B Farm
Monday 6/2: Graduation and last day of school for kindergarten: The children wear dress clothes. We have caps, but NO GOWNS

Thanks so much for all of your help. I really appreciate it.
Have a great weekend!
Marti Wiehagen