Please write your Kindergartener’s name on a post-it and place the post-it in the school house below. Are you ready for some sad statistics? Nevada was the lowest-ranking state in the nation in 2010 with a graduation rate of 47.3%. Scared yet? Clark County's graduation rate is even lower at 46.8%. 63% of students pass their high school proficiency. Only 40% of graduates will go on to college.

Here are some things you can do to start and keep your child on the right academic track: 1.Be involved. Come to school events like Open House, Parent- Teacher Conferences, and Family Nights, and participate in family projects. 2.Have a positive attitude toward school and show it. 3. Have a set time to work on homework every day together. 4.Talk to your child’s teacher often with questions, concerns, and compliments! 5.Read to your child EVERY night.

I want your child to succeed too!  Please make sure your child can do the following by his/herself as I will not do these for your child; 1.Wash hands 2.Tie shoes 3.Wipe own nose/face 4.Wipe self after toileting  Our curriculum is set in stone by the State of Nevada through the Common Core State Standards. Before we teach a skill we check for the standard that it meets. This way we know we have covered all skills necessary for your student to master Kindergarten and move on to the first grade.  You can view these standards on CCSD.net  Two of the programs we use at Mendoza Elementary are Trophies (Reading) and enVisions (Math). For Science, Social Studies, and Art I create or use my own materials.

Reading  The foundation for learning to read is learning the letters and the sounds they make. We will be studying each letter and it’s sound during the first trimester this year.  Kindergarten is not JUST about learning the ABC’s. We do begin to sound out words and read in Kindergarten. Putting sounds together to make a word is a very important skill that students will continue to use for the rest of their school careers.  Students are also expected to learn 100 of the most common words in the English Language. These are called “sight words”, and students will be expected to read all 100 on sight by the end of Kindergarten.

Writing Spelling in kindergarten should be phonetic. This means your child should be sounding out words and using the sounds to write the letters they hear. For example, a Kindergartener would spell the word “special” like ”speshl”. This is how we want them to write! Telling your child the conventional way of spelling words will not reinforce the phonics they learn in class. By the end of Kindergarten, each student should be writing 2-3 complete sentences about one thing. This includes a capital in the beginning, proper spacing, and a period at the end.

Math  Kindergarten math deals a lot with patterns. Color patterns, shape patterns, even the patterns formed by numbers.  We will learn the names of 2D and 3D shapes, and identify them in the environment.  We will learn position words (i.e. top, bottom, around, inside, etc.) and ordinal positions (first, second, third, etc.).  By the end of Kindergarten, students should be able to count from and recognize and write the numerals.

Behavior  Each student has their own parrot. Every student begins the day with four feathers in their parrot (red, orange, yellow, and green).  Throughout the day, each student has the opportunity to earn a blue feather for positive behavior, or lose the other feathers for negative behavior.  The student records his/her feather color for the day on his/her monthly citizenship calendar, which goes home with the student every day, and must be signed at the end of the month.  The citizenship chart is where Mrs. Kountapanya gets the student's citizenship grade. If a student has any reds, oranges, or more than 5 yellows a month, the student's citizenship grade will be lowered from satisfactory to needs improvement.  If your child loses his/her calendar, you must print another from our class website PirateKindergarten.blogspot.com. *Children are encouraged to use the restroom during centers and recess only. If they need to use the restroom at another time, they will pull a feather.

Homework  Homework is important because it gives the student a chance to practice the skills they are gaining in class.  Homework packets are given on the first day of the week (usually Monday) and are due the last day of the same week (usually Friday).  The packet begins with a cover page explaining what should be done each day.  There will be times where there is not a worksheet, but something that the student must do with another person (Ex. Sing the ABC’s) who must initial on the cover page that it was completed.  Homework is collected, however it is not graded and not returned. Homework is pass or fail, and will be checked off if turned in complete. Complete includes the book log, signatures, and all worksheets. If not turned in or complete, student will lose recess for that day.

Please note… We collect Box Tops for Education. Each one you clip and send in provides our classroom with 10¢ to spend! Please visit PirateKindergarten.blogspot.com for more info.