ABC's Handbook

Below is this year’s handbook with important classroom information. Please take the time to read over the handbook and discipline procedures and then discuss them with your child.

Most of all, thank you for sharing your child with me this year!  It’s going to be a great adventure, and I am SO looking forward to it!

                                                                                                            Ms. H :)

A- Attendance

Your child’s regular and prompt attendance at school is a MUST! Being at school every day is crucial to his/her learning success. I understand that illnesses do happen and please keep your child at home if they are sick so the rest of us don’t get sick. Just please notify me if your child is going to be absent. If your child is late, please have him/her stop by the office first to pick up a tardy slip. 

Arrival

Kindergarten children are allowed in the building/classroom no earlier than 8:35am. All students must be in classrooms by 9:05am. Children who arrive after 9:05 will be marked tardy and will have missed their opportunity to eat breakfast. 

Allergies
Please let us (me and our nurse) know ASAP if your child has any allergies we need to be aware of.

B- Birthdays 

To celebrate birthdays In the class, we sing “Happy Birthday” in the morning and each student will receive a book made by the class. They also get to be the line leader, wear a crown and/or cape, and sit in the dentist chair for the day. Unhealthy, special food treats brought from home are NO LONGER allowed according to the new federal policy (see here for more information http://carrolltones.blogspot.com/2014/08/new-fda-regulations-for-healthy-foods.html.) Healthy, special cupcakes can be bought from the cafeteria. See Mrs. Hill, our cafeteria manager, for more information.

Blog

In order to keep you informed of what is happening with your child’s learning, I have a class blog that I update weekly. It can be found here: http://kindergartenhanblog.blogspot.com/

Boxtops

CAES participates in the Box Tops for Education program. For each box top that is collected, our school receives 10 cents. It may not seem like much, but it can add up! There are contests 2 times a year for classes to bring in the most-please participate!

C- Communication

I am a firm believer that the best way your child will be successful this year is if YOU are an active participant in his/her education. I am working WITH you for the benefit of your child and will do everything that I can to promote good communication between home and school.

Throughout the year, I will communicate with you through notes in the agenda*, the homework (red) folder, a blog http://kindergartenhanblog.blogspot.com/, telephone calls, emails, letters, and conferences as needed.

I also encourage you to communicate with me by writing a note in your child’s agenda, emailing me at hhanson@iwcs.k12.va.us, or by telephone at the school (357-8850). Please provide your email address on the back to school forms. It’s a great way and my primary way for us to keep in touch.

* An agenda will be provided for each student and it will be a very important tool for communication between home and school.  Your child will need to bring it and their red homework folder with them daily.  I may write notes or attach important reminders to the agenda so please initial it nightly.  I will check the agendas each morning if you would like to send a short note. (If you are writing a note about an early pick-up, bus change, or absence excuse please write it on a separate sheet of paper and attach it to the agenda since it will need to be given to the office.) Please be sure to review the school policies within the agenda as well as the student handbook.  

D- Dismissal 

YMCA and pickup children are dismissed at 3:40pm from the K hallway to a secure holding area. Your child will only be released to the people you designate on the dismissal sheet or emergency card. They will need to provide identification. Buses are released around 3:50-4:00 pm (they will be late for the first few days until routes are learned).

Please send a note or call the office each day that your child has a change in his/her dismissal procedure. For example, if your child is a regular bus rider, but one day he/she is going to be a pick-up and there is no note or the office not called, the child will be put on the bus.

Dressing for School

Please dress your child in comfortable clothing for school.  It is best to dress children in “play” clothes instead of “dress” clothes since some activities require children to paint, sit on the floor, play in sand, or play outside. In cold or hot weather, please dress your child accordingly since we will go outside to play or for a short walk on the school grounds.  Layers are always best!!!

Because we do many physical activities during the day, it is recommended that children do not wear clogs, or sandals to school. Please review the student handbook for specific student dress code (ie. flip-flops are not allowed, but sandals with back straps are). Children must wear tennis shoes to school on scheduled P.E. days.

E- E-mail

E-mail (hhanson@iwcs.k12.va.us) is the BEST way to contact me! I will check it for sure at least 2 times a day (morning before school and afternoon during resource).

F- Fun

Yes! I love to have fun! I also want to make sure that your child has fun learning. School is a fun and exciting place, especially if you come ready to do so and continue to make good choices throughout the day.

G- Grades

There are times that I will be monitoring classroom work that is more practice based. In that case, I will grade those papers with a smiley face, straight face, or frown face.

There are also times where I will need to assess a student’s skills on a specific SOL objective more formally. This work will come home graded with the total # correct/total # of problems. For example, if a student missed 4 questions on a 20-problem assessment, I would write 16/20 on the top of his/her paper and either mark √+, √, or √-

These are the grades you will see on your child’s report card:

O = Outstanding-Above grade level  

S = Satisfactory-On grade level

N = Needs Improvement-Slightly below grade level 
U = Unsatisfactory-Below grade level

*** If you see an 'N' on your child's report card, do not be majorly alarmed! An 'N' means that this is an area that you and I are going to monitor and work together so that your child is successful. The same goes for a box that has an 'x' in it.

H- Homework

Homework is an important part of your child’s education. It is designed to be a reinforcement of a lesson or topic we are studying at the time in class. It will greatly impact your child’s learning this year if it’s done nightly, so please make sure that happens!

• Your child will have homework every night. Homework will include reading of small group books, word study work, sight word work, counting, and playing and talking with your child. :)
• Friday’s homework will be to look through and remove the VIP (see V) in the red folder.  
• It should take your child less than 30 minutes to complete homework each evening. It may take longer at the beginning of the year until you get into the routine.
• Please see that all homework is completed and sign your child’s agenda each night as I use this to notify you of your child’s behavior as well. Agendas should be returned daily to school.
• Your child will receive a red homework folder to organize assignments and return work. Red Folders should be returned daily to school.
• More information about homework will be given soon!

I- Independence

Independence is a goal for students because it builds self-esteem and self-confidence.  Kindergarteners are very capable of doing many things on their own and I not only encourage them to do as much as they can for themselves, but I also teach them how to do it in the classroom.  Please work on the following self-help skills at home with your child as well: zipping, tying shoelaces, buttoning shirts, fastening belts, dressing themselves, etc.

J- Joy

My job brings me GREAT joy! I only hope that is becomes contagious with my students as we laugh and learn our way through the year. :) 

Jobs
Each student will have classroom job that needs to be completed daily. The jobs rotate each week. At the end of the day, each child will be "paid" (with fake money) for completing their job. Students can then spend this money weekly at the school store.

K- Kindness

Rule #2 in our room is to be kind with our words and actions. Students are expected to treat all members of our class, school, community, anyone, with kindness and respect. In order for this to happen, it is modeled and taught daily! 

L- Lunch

The children will eat their lunches in the cafeteria.  If your child will be a regular lunch buyer, a monthly menu of hot lunches is available online http://www.iwcs.k12.va.us/departments/child-nutrition/menus-and-meal-prices/.  Your child is assigned a lunch account number (see N) and will move through the cafeteria line. They will be allowed to choose their own lunches from the offered selections. To help children in making this decision, you may want to review the selections with your child in the morning. Milk, ice cream and lunch snacks are available at this time for an extra cost. The easiest option to pay for school lunch is to pre-pay online at https://www.k12paymentcenter.com/Default.aspx or send in a check so that the child doesn’t need to keep up with money each day.  

M- Medications

The school nurse will administer all medications.  Please contact the nurse if your child is to be given any medicine during school hours. If your child has asthma, you may want to consider leaving a spare inhaler with the nurse.  Do not send medicine to school in your child’s school bag. This includes cough drops.

Mistakes

Mistake are vital to learning! We make lots of mistakes in room 107 and it is encouraged because it is a safe place to learn from them. I like to give kids a high five and tell them what a great learning mistake they just made :).

Money Economy
I run a money economy in my classroom. Students primarily earn money for completing their classroom job, but can also earn money for great behavior, or excellent class work. Students save their money (by the way, it’s all fake!) in a coin purse or wallet to be used weekly at the school store. It is the student’s responsibility to not lose their money. 
 

N- Number

Your child will be assigned a student ID number. This number is your child’s lunch account number, AR (computer based reading program) password, online testing in 2^nd and 3^rd grade, and other uses. Because it will be used SO much, it is imperative that your child learn his/her number even if they will be bringing their lunch from home. (Your child will receive a paper “keypad” and his/her lunch # for you to practice at home with the first week of school.)

O- Optimism

I truly believe in our class motto: If you believe you can, you will. This positive, optimistic, confident approach is fundamental for success in learning and making good choices.

P- Parent Teacher Conferences

After 1^st Quarter report cards go home (usually in November), I like to meet with EVERY family to discuss your child’s strengths and weaknesses thus far in Kindergarten. We will continue to meet throughout the school year once PALS is completed (see below).

PALS

PALS is a literacy/reading screening that all kindergarteners at our school take three times a year (beginning, mid year, end of year). For more information about PALS, visit this site:  https://pals.virginia.edu/parents-child.html

I will meet with parents after each PALS testing period to discuss results. 

Q- Questions and/or Concerns

If you have any questions and/or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask!!! It is very important that we all work together so that your child will be a successful learner. Teamwork makes the dream work!

R- Resource

Resource is what we call our special classes like guidance, physical education, library, music, art, and computer lab. Our schedule will be posted on the blog.

S- Snack

Students can have a small, DRY healthy snack while we work in the morning, every day.  Please only send energy food (finger fruit, granola, trail mix, vegetables, pretzels, etc.) that can be opened easily by your child. Please DO NOT send in wet foods, candy, junk/snack food, chips, cookies, sweets, or things that can be eaten with a spoon! In order to avoid confusing snacks with lunches, please send the snack in a separate bag or lunch box clearly labeled “snack”. Sometimes they get confused and eat their lunch for snack! :)

Scholastic

Almost once a month, you will see Scholastic Book orders. I feel this is a GREAT and inexpensive way to build your home library. Sometimes, there will be several order forms sent home at one time. If you do choose to order, I ask that you send in the forms as soon as possible and write separate checks for each order. You can also order online (our class code is H87NH) and we earn $ to spend on books for the classroom. Plus, this year, for each online order, parents will receive a $5 free book pick. Cash is accepted but change cannot be made. Thanks in advance!

School Store
Students will earn a daily wage for completing their assigned classroom job. Their money is kept in a safe place (wallet or coin purse) to be saved until school store is opened. When school store is open, there are a variety of items to purchase starting at 1 cent. If you would like to contribute to the school store, it would be greatly appreciated! School store items could be dollar store items or even things in your house you are trying to get rid of. ;) 

T- Transportation

If your child will be a regular bus rider for the duration of the school year, please have him/her ride the bus the first day. This will acclimate them to the process and the bus driver will be more familiar with your child as well. (You can always follow the bus to school in your car.) Please notify me of your child’s bus # ASAP! The same goes if your child will be going to the YMCA’s before and after school care OR is a pick up. (Bus routes will be posted in the local news, on the county website, or posted at open house near the office.) 

U- Unique

Your child is unique and learns in various ways! This is what makes him/her special. I have always loved the quote: “All students can learn and succeed, but not on the same day in the same way.” William G. Spady

V- VIP (Very Important Papers)

Your child will bring home VIP every Friday in the red homework folder. Inside you will find assessments of the SOL that have been taught.  These are the quiz and test papers that reflect your child’s mastery of the SOL and the scores that will help determine their score on the report card.  Please take the time to look over the assessments and go over them with your child. Please return the folder on Monday empty.

Volunteers 

Since I have such a strong belief in parents and teachers working together for optimal student success, you are more than welcome to come visit and/or work in our classroom anytime. I can always use an extra pair of hands and another smiling face when I am working with your children. We will also be having a variety of special classroom activities and celebrations and strongly encourage your attendance. If you’d like to volunteer, please email me or write a note in your child’s agenda and specify if you’d prefer working with the kids OR doing more teacher stuff like cutting, creating etc. (I will also have a sign up sheet at Open House.)

W- Water

I will allow the students to keep a water bottle (only filled with water) on their desks to drink from throughout the day.  Students need to be responsible and see that it doesn’t spill. If it does, they will lose their privileges for a week. (I’ve even lost mine for a week!!!)

Wallets
Please have your child bring in a small wallet or coin purse to use throughout the school year. They will keep their daily earnings in here to be used weekly at school store.

X- eXcuse My Typos

I try my best to proofread all emails and letters before sending them, but occasionally I may make a mistake. Please be forgiving of these unintentional errors.

Y- You and Your Family

Please remember that you are your child’s first and most important teacher. You can help to make your child feel successful this year by doing some of the following: 1) Reading to your child is the single most important thing you can do. It encourages them to become good readers. 2) Another important way to help your child is to discuss the school day with them. Ask questions like, “What did you learn today?”; “What did you work the hardest on?”; or “What are you getting better at?”. These questions cause children to reflect on their learning which in turn helps them remember new information. Don’t let them tell you “nothing.”3) It is also very important that you work with your child on the homework that is assigned each week. 4) Encourage your child to ask questions about school. Informed children are confident
 children. 5) Talk positively about school. The way your child perceives your feelings about his/her school and teachers will have a direct effect on how he/she feels about them.

Z- ZZZZZZZZZZ’S

Make sure your child gets plenty of (ZZZZZZZZZZZ’S) sleep. A kindergarten room is a busy place and you will probably find your child exhausted at the end of the day with all that he/she is learning. I maybe have been known to fall asleep when putting my girl to bed. If I am that tired, I know your babies are as well!