SEPTEMBER SORTING AND CLASSIFYING: Children learn to put items into various categories. For example, they learn that robins and sparrows are classified as “birds”. They also sort by color and shape. YOU CAN HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN THIS CONCEPT: *Have your child sort the wash by color. *When traveling in the car or walking, ask your child to sort cars by color or style; sort signs by shape or color; or classify animals into categories.

OCTOBER PATTERNS & MOVEMENT: Children learn how patterns occur in life. They may see 2 circles, 2 squares, 2 circles and predict the pattern in the series of objects. Children are encouraged to see patterns in their everyday environment. YOU CAN HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN THIS CONCEPT: *Make necklaces that contain a certain pattern of beads. *Point out patterns in your home such as tile floors or wallpaper designs. *Play a “fill in the next object game” where you draw items in a pattern and ask your child to fill in the appropriate object.

NOVEMBER MATCHING AND COUNTING: Students will be able to count each object shown. This is called one to one correspondence. They will also learn to match the word name with the number such as TWO==2. YOU CAN HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN THIS CONCEPT. *Help your child practice counting in all aspects of daily life. *When driving or shopping, ask your child what number is represented by the number word and vice versa.

DECEMBER & JANUARY NUMBERS 0-10: Children will understand what each number represents. If shown a picture of 6 clowns, your child will be able to count each clown using one to one correspondence. YOU CAN HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN THIS CONCEPT. *Give them as much practice as possible with counting objects at home and when doing daily errands. For example, they can count items you use in cooking. They can set the table. They can count cars or objects they see when riding in the car. *Help your child with math homework sheets.

FEBRUARY NUMBERS 10-30, GEOMETRY, EQUAL PARTS: Children will continue understanding numbers from 10 to 30. They will begin recognizing fractions such as one-half. Children will understand that items can be divided into equal parts. Additionally, children will be able to recognize basic shapes. YOU CAN HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN THIS CONCEPT. *When cooking, talk about halving items such as fruits and vegetables. *Daily you can ask your child to name the shapes of items he/she Sees. *Help your child complete homework assignments for this concept.

MARCH MONEY: Your child will learn the value of a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter. Students will begin to learn how to count money. YOU CAN HELP YOUR CHILD WITH THIS CONCEPT. *Practice money identification with your child. *Have your child count change or you can say “I need 50 cents. What coins could I use to make 50 cents?”

APRIL BEGINNING ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION: Your child will learn the basics of addition and subtraction. YOU CAN HELP YOUR CHILD WITH THIS CONCEPT. *Help your child practice adding and subtracting in daily activities. For example, when food shopping you could say “I have 2 potatoes. I need 4 potatoes. How many more potatoes do I need to make 4?”

MAY & JUNE TIME AND MEASUREMENT: Students will learn to tell time using an analog clock. Telling time to the hour will be part of the curriculum. Students will also learn terms such as short, tall, heavier, lighter, holds more, and holds less. YOU CAN HELP YOUR CHILD WITH THIS CONCEPT. *Have analog along with digital clocks in your house. *Practice telling time with your child. *Practice using the measurement terms listed above in daily life experiences.

LANGUAGE ARTS covers reading and writing concepts. In August and September, children are introduced to reading through various books and poems. From October through May, children work with one letter of the alphabet per week. They discuss and read stories that focus on the letter of the week. The class also learns about the sounds and words the letter makes. WORD WALL: Teachers often have the alphabet displayed on the wall. As children learn words that begin with a letter, that word is placed on the “word wall”. KID WRITING: Starting around December children begin writing and illustrating stories. To start the story, children first draw a picture. Then with teacher and adult volunteer help, students write a story focusing on their picture.

D.I.B.E.L.S. DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. In September, January, and May students will receive the DIBELS assessment. Kindergarten students will be assessed in the following areas: *Initial Sound Fluency-Children will view a picture and be asked to make the sound of the letter for which the word begins. *Letter Naming Fluency-The child will name as many letters as he/she can in one minute. Both capital and lower case letters are tested. *Phoneme Segmentation Fluency. A child will see a word such as “duck”. The child must sound out all of the sounds that he/she hears such as “d/u/k”.

D.I.B.E.L.S (continued) *Nonsense Word Fluency-Children are shown words that have no meaning. They must pronounce these words using accepted grammar format. Word Usage Fluency-The child will be given a word such as “rabbit”. She/he must use that word in a sentence that is in the proper context.

YOU CAN HELP YOUR CHILD WITH LANGUAGE ARTS SKILLS BY DOING THE FOLLOWING: *Read to and with your child as often as possible. Make use of the library. *Talk with your child to build listening skills. *Read signs as you are traveling in the car with your child. *Make a point to know the letter your child’s class is working on during the week. Point out words that begin with that letter. *Encourage your child to draw pictures and then write stories about activities you do at home. For example, if you view a movie, ask your child to draw and write a story about what he or she saw.

ACTIVITIES FOR LANGUAGE ARTS (continued) *For tips on helping your child with reading, go to the HPSD website and click on the Elementarywww.hpsd.k12.pa.us Guidance Video. At the end of the video, Mrs. Becker, our reading specialist, gives tips for parents to help their child with reading skills. *Give your child many experiences—children have an easier time learning to read if they have had many different experiences.

Through the year students also have the following classes: *Art *Music *Physical Education *Computer Lab *Library *Guidance *Math Coach