Weekly Update 8/9

We persevered through our first week of kindergarten! We are so proud of how hard the scholars are working, and we have a lot of fun getting to know each student. Below are a few summaries of what we accomplished this week. Remember, this blog will be updated every week, so bookmarking it or subscribing will help you to stay in the know. We aim to publish an update on Friday afternoons, but there will be occasional Saturday postings if the week is a little busy. We appreciate your grace and understanding while we partner with you to help your child have a fruitful year in kindergarten.

Important Upcoming Dates:

8/14: Clubs Start

8/14: Meet The Counselor - our school counselor will come to our class to meet the children and talk about the role of the counselor.

8/15: K-2 Curriculum Night - Please come to learn about Kindergarten!

8/20: Picture Day

8/22: 3-5 Curriculum Night

8/30: Treat Friday, August Birthday Book Club

Spalding

This school year, your child will be tasked with memorizing 70 Spalding phonograms. Learning them is not easy, but we'll learn in small chunks each week, making it an obtainable goal. This week, we focused on naming lowercase letters and understanding the sounds for the phonograms; o, c, a, and d. We also worked hard at writing each phonogram correctly. The letters we studied this week are called "clock" letters. See if your scholar can tell you where to start a clock letter (2 on the clock). A set of Spalding flashcards for your home is essential for nightly homework, which begins after curriculum night! Please log on to the parent portal to purchase some if needed. Here is the link to buy phonogram cards (these were a separate purchase from the consumable books, and your family only needs 1 set for as long as they are at Great Hearts)

Literature

We will undertake a story and a poem or idiom each week and spend the week enriched in a deep understanding of the text. This week we read The Three Little Pigs. The scholars discovered the setting of the story as well as the characters. We also read The Very Busy Spider and The Very Hungry Caterpillar storybooks. We will continue to talk about the parts of a book, the setting, characters, problem/solution, and the beginning, middle, and end. These are great things to talk about as you read together at home. They are essential beginning skills for recalling and retelling a story. 

Math

This week in math, we talked about sorting and matching. We looked for things that were exactly the same and even found an object in a group that didn't belong. The scholars could sort by various attributes like color, size, and even function. Their thinking was challenged by asking them to explain how to sort in multiple ways as we encouraged different thinking. We really stretched our minds in math this week and are proud of them!

History

This week we have been learning about globes and maps. The children learned that a globe represents our world and a map is a flat version with more details. We especially enjoyed learning about our place on the map, from big to small. We live on planet Earth, the continent of North America, the country of the United States of America, the state of Arizona, the town of Chandler, and the school of Archway Lincoln. The children enjoyed putting their flip books together. We will continue to learn about maps, including how to follow directions to get from one place to another!

Science:

We started our new unit: Our Five Senses! We discussed the human senses and how they help us experience the world around us. The students were able to identify the body parts that are connected to each of the five senses. We use our ears to hear, nose to smell, mouth/tongue to taste, skin to touch, and eyes to see. We explored deeper into the sense of sight through a memory activity. The students were shown ten items and asked questions about what they saw with their eyes after the items were hidden. We learned the names of the different parts of our eyes and why they are important. We discussed what being blind means and even felt braille writing. 

Reminder: All of the kindergarten classrooms are nut-free! Please be mindful when packing snacks and lunches.