Welcome to Kindergarten! Come in and have a seat.

A Little About Me Born and raised in Logan, UT. Attended USU and graduated from BYU-Idaho. Taught for two years in Las Vegas, NV. Moved back to Utah and taught at West Point for two years. I was thrilled to win the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year award in 2006.

My Favorite Things Traveling Nieces and Nephews Being a Teacher My Family

Testing! We have a new testing program. A lot of the questions are 1st grade level This test is used to show the students progress by the end of the year. Parents are not allowed to sit next to the child Don’t make it a big deal, we aren’t going to either! a. Listening b. Speaking c. Participation

Things You Should Know! Attendance The majority of Kindergarten is a hands-on experience. Early Out Please notify daycare of early out days. Please be prompt when picking up your child on early out days. We are so short on time between morning and afternoon sessions. Backpack/Book Bag Please send your child to school with a full size backpack or book bag every day. Food Experience We will have a food experience to reinforce our curriculum. The snack is paid for by the $15 donation from each family. Birthdays If you would like to send in a treat or something for you child's birthday, you MUST contact me a couple days before so I can plan for it. We are a peanut free classroom! Please do not send birthday invites to class unless you are sending one for each child in the class. They will turn in their Star Student poster on or around their birthday. Safety I will not send your child home with anyone that is not on your pick up list. If you child is going home a different way then usual you need to let me know with a note, email, or phone call. I can not send your child home on the bus with a friend without prior arrangements being made. Daily folders These folders need to come back to me at the end of the year. Please do not loose them and treat them very carefully!

Things You Should Know! Playground Rules on in the packet. Please sign and return after you have talked about these rules with your child. Absent If your child is going to be absent, please call the office and have them excused. Check Out If you are checking out your child early, go to the office first to check them out. If your child is late they MUST go to the office. Head Phones Emergency Bags Friday Prep Day PTA Main Event drive and Fundraiser

Car/Bus Safety! The traffic at this school can be scary! Please follow all the pick up and drop up procedures. There is a copy on the Buffalo Point web page. Tickets Car Pool-Kindergarten phone list

Homework The homework for Kindergarten students involves the two main focuses of the Kindergarten curriculum: Reading and Math. I require your child to read with you and participate in some reading and math activities. To help foster literacy development in your child, it is vital that they are exposed to a lot of reading. I encourage you to read with your child every night for at least 5 minutes. However, for the homework, only 4 nights per week are required. You will initial the days as you read with your child on the monthly calendar and turn it in at the end of every month. Math homework will only come home if your child is struggling with a concept or needs some challenge work to keep them learning.

Skill Sets Skill Sets are comprised of 50 skills that every kindergarten student should be able to do before they leave kindergarten. When you receive the skill set, do the activities listed and when your child has mastered the skill sign it and send it back. Either I or a parent volunteer will test them on the skill and pass them off here at school. If your child passes it off then they will receive a new skill set to start working on. This program was designed for the students to work at their own pace. If you would like more than one skill set at a time please write a note and I will send as many as you want at a time. Skill Sets should be really easy for your child to master. All of the skills that are on the skill sets are things that we have taught in school, with the exception of a few things. (Tie shoes, phone number, address, ect.) You should be working on at least 3 or more skill sets a week. If your child is really struggling with the Skill Sets, please let me know so we can get them the help they need.

Skill Set #2 Child’s name________________________________________________ Dear Family, Your child is reviewing the shapes. Please help your child master these skills. Practice drawing the shapes (shapes do not have to be formed correctly to pass it off) (Trapezoid, rhombus, square, circle, rectangle, hexagon, triangle, octagon.) Parents ask your child to tell you the name of each shape. Draw a picture below using the shapes listed above. BONUS: Talk to your student about 3 dimensional shapes and where we find them in our environment. (Sphere, cone, cube, prism, pyramids, cylinders) Child’s Signature________________________________________________________________ Parent’s Signature________________________________________________________________

Reading For All Learners The research reports that approximately 20% of students will experience difficulty learning to read. To ensure that these students do not fail, the Reading for All Learners Program (RALP) is built around a well-tested sequence of 150 little books that takes a non-reader to reading independence at the 3.5 grade level. The books combine decodable text with instruction to ensure that the student can read the text with at least 90% success before moving to the next little book. The decodable text in the little books provides immediate application of the phonemes, word attack, and comprehension skills taught at the beginning of each book. http://www.iseesam.com/

Monthly Calendar A monthly calendar will be sent home at the beginning of each new month with information about what we are doing in the classroom. Some of the information on this calendar will include the letters and words we will be studying for the month, star student, birthdays, and special activities. Behavior Card

Kindergarten Classroom Management Plan I want to make sure that each child has a pleasant, positive learning experience. Every child deserves to learn in an environment that allows learning. If necessary, teacher, parents and child will set up an individual discipline plan to address any challenges that your child is dealing with in the classroom. The first few weeks will be tough. We all have to get use to each other and learn what is acceptable. We might have tears and some anxiety, but I guarantee it will get better as time goes on. Consistent structure and reminding or rules and expectations.

Card System I use a variation of the traditional "color card" system in my room. The traditional system uses green, yellow, and red cards to indicate student behavior. I have a fourth card, purple, in my system for children to work towards. Each day all of my children start on green. If a child is misbehaving, I move his card to yellow or red. I save red for major offenses or repeated offenses. If a child is behaving very well, I change his card to purple. Often if I see a child misbehaving, I look for a child who IS behaving and change that child to purple rather than changing the misbehaving child to yellow. Most children "straighten up" when you change a classmate to purple in hopes that they too can have purple. Purple Card Chart

Parent Volunteers I love having parents in my classroom. Please let me know if you would like to be a room mom. I will not have any parents in the classroom for the first couple of months. Bringing younger siblings

Supplies All of the items listed are supplies that we will use through out the school year. These are just suggested supplies you do not need to purchase them all but it would be greatly appreciated if you could donate to our classroom supplies. Please bring your supplies to school when you come for your kindergarten testing. Glue Sticks (we go through these like crazy) Paper Towels Clorox Wipes 3 ring binder Stickers-large and small

What to expect on the first day It is so important to start the year off right Line up on the Kindergarten playground Pick up in the front of the school Hug, kiss, and go! Please do not come into the classroom Your child will be in good hands

How to get in contact with me We Are A Team How to get in contact with me carthomas@dsdmail.net 402-8400 801-663-6638 Home http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/113/site/default.aspPlease call, email, send notes to let me know about anything you have questions about. I respect your child privacy. If you do not want your child’s picture posted on my blog or web site please let me know.

My Top 5 Ways to Have a GREAT Kinder Experience Have your child here on time EVERY day! Let me be your 1st contact for ANY problems you are having at school. Check your child's backpack DAILY! Participate in classroom activities. Be understanding! I’m only human and I make mistakes!

If your child's name is listed below, please talk to me before you go! Sign up for testing Complete forms or bring them back on testing date Pay the $15 food donation if you haven’t already Treasure Hunt - Check your child’s name to make sure it is spelled correctly. If your child's name is listed below, please talk to me before you go! Tristan Luke Davis Morghan Makayla Morgan Tyson Collin Gwenyth Miah Bohden Leah Cheyenne Parker Caden