Dear Parents:

This packet contains information that I hope will be helpful for you during the year. It explains the aspects of our daily routine in detail. All items are in alphabetical order. If you have questions, please check the information below and I might have already answered them.

This is a time for students to be involved in “play” activities such as, housekeeping center, blocks, different math manipulatives, drawing and art activities, etc. This is an important time in their growth in social skills.

If your child would like to bring a book from home for me to read to the class about something we are studying, be sure your child's name is in each book.

We will only be listening to tapes brought from home at rest time. We will also listen to classical and other relaxing music. If your child would like to bring a tape, be sure it is compatible with rest.

I will be sending you forms for book orders periodically. You may choose to purchase the books or not. I stress to the children that they will not always be able to buy books so I hope that it does not become an issue. I will normally give you a week's time in which to return the order forms and checks (individual checks to each separate company). We usually receive the books within 2-3 week of ordering. I would appreciate if someone would volunteer to take on this task.

There will be a calendar and/or newsletter with Kindergarten activities sent to you to keep you up to date on events and areas of study.

We will be going to the computer lab once every week for the first part of the year and hopefully twice a week the second half. We also have a computer in the room that will be available to the students.

We will be setting up conferences the first grading period to inform you of our reporting procedures. This conference will take the place of the report card for the first grading period. The report cards will begin the next grading period.

We will be having various cooking activities throughout the year to go along with our studies. You will be surprised at some of the foods they'll try. Please let me know if there are any food allergies your child may have as soon as possible. I need a volunteer to help the class with this activity.

If there is important correspondence or money that needs to be sent to school, please send it in an envelope or zip lock bag with the child's name, my name, and the purpose written on the front. Please put it in the Daily or the Wednesday folder. Remind your child to put any special notes or money on my rocking chair.

On occasion, special notes will be sent in the daily folder. Check your child's daily folder each day, sign or initial it and be sure to send it back.

Your children and I will be discussing appropriate behavior and consequences. The students will decide the basic classroom rules, with some "guidance" by me. We will send the rules home once they are agreed upon. I will go over the rules with the students often and send home notes concerning your child's behavior, if the behavior does not improve. Please sign or initial these notes and return promptly. If a rule is broken the child goes to time out for five minutes. I believe that the students are at an age where they can remember what caused their time out. Time out time during the afternoon centers occurs if there has not been improvement. I want you to feel free to call me when you need to talk to me. I will also be in contact with you by phone, if the need arises. I believe good communication between teacher and parents is an important aspect of your child's education. I constantly reward good behavior throughout the day verbally and often allow the students to receive tickets that can later be turn in for items out of the treasure chest.

We work with many manipulatives. Your child's work will be sent home in their folders. There will be days when your child does not bring home papers. Please check for any work brought home. It would be wonderful if you could take a short time each day to go through the papers or have your child tell you what was done in class. Please return the folder.

Every child will be Knight of the week. There will be different honors during the week, including a booklet involving drawings and dictation from each child in the class. There will also be a poster in the room with information about that week's Knight. I would like to put photographs of the child beside the poster. Please send the pictures on Monday, I will take care of them and return them. Your child will be asked to send 24 snacks to be shared each day for the week, also. You are welcome to send a special snack for one of these days. The Knight of the week will be listed on the monthly calendar and/or newsletter. I will need someone to take dictation once a week for this activity and then to bind the booklets together.

The weekly newsletter will keep you posted as to homework or activities that you may help your child with.

We will be going to the library periodically. The students will be able to check out a book after the first few visits, but will not be able to bring the books home until later in the fall. I will be sending a note home at that time to inform you and get written acknowledgment. After students begin bringing books
home, they can return the book as often as they like and get a new book. Please help your child find a safe place to keep his/her library book.

You are always welcome to join your child for lunch. Check our class schedule for the time. If you are going to bring your child a special lunch, please try to be prompt so your child does not worry and the teacher on duty doesn't send them through the line.

Our class mascot is Cutie. Cutie will be coming home to visit each child this year. Included with Cutie is a journal for you to write down your adventures. Please use a new page each time with their name at the top, as I will be sending the pages home with each child at the end of the year. If you would like to take pictures, attach them to the page. Simply label the page with "Save - pictures coming" if you want us to add the pictures later. Cutie, also, has a backpack that your child may donate a small toy, blanket, clothes, etc. to be placed in it. Please be sure that all items come back.

Our math curriculum relies heavily on manipulatives and you will see few paper tasks. We do have some items that I will periodically send that you may work with your child on. In the Spring, I will send Monday
Math Homework which will be due back by Friday. If you ever have any questions about this or anything else, please contact me and I’ll be happy to discuss them with you. (If your child comes home with manipulatives and/or small toys, please have them returned the next day.)

This is a time every morning where your child will be given an opportunity to do projects involving reading skills, math skills and projects having to do with our area of unit study. This is also a time when I work with small groups and individuals in many different skills. Mondays will be used for introducing the new unit for the week. Some of these projects and activities will be required of all the students and must be completed. The number of required activities will be small at the beginning of the year, but will increase to 4 or 5 by the end of the year. Anytime a project is not completed in a reasonable amount of time, it will have to be finished before your child can go to afternoon centers. Students who complete their required work early can go to morning centers. Fridays are often used for special activities such as cooking, etc.

A newsletter will go out the first part of the week. The newsletter will let you know what we will be studying, homework assignments, upcoming Knights and other classroom news. Please save this for reference!

There will be two parties during the year. One will be the last week before our Winter Break and the other at Valentine's. If you would like to help, please contact me. There are NO birthday parties held; however, each child will be especially honored in the classroom. Birthday invitations are not to be handed out in the classroom unless all children are included. You may send cupcakes, etc. for snack on your child's birthday, large cakes are not as manageable.

There will be a daily rest time. I will be sending the towels home monthly to be washed, but you may also ask your child to bring it home more often if you wish. I prefer that towels be sent for rest as the larger mats are harder to get in and out of the lockers. They may bring a small stuffed animal to sleep with, but it will be sent home if there is too much playing. I tend to keep my room cold and your child may wish to have another towel or small blanket to cover with. Keep in mind that these items will be
stored in their lockers along with their backpack and coats.

Rewards will be given for good behavior -- compliance with rules, good behavior at rest time, etc. Stickers, etc. are given for good behavior, compliance with rules and showing care and concern for
others. These are given on a random basis in order to promote these behaviors at all times.

We follow the same general schedule on the majority of days.

A time will be set aside for show and tell on most Fridays starting in September. To keep this time from becoming a “toy” time, I am asking that only items that go along with our unit of study, our letters of the week or our color of the week be sent. We will begin the third week of school. Please encourage your child to participate. Feeling comfortable speaking in front of a group is an important part of a child's growth in social skills. Something as small as bringing something to show and tell can help the students with this, at times, scary experience. I ask that your child to tell two things about the object or why it was important to share it.

We have snacks between 9:00 - 9:30 A.M. I will be asking each parent to send 24 snacks for the week
when your child is Knight of the Week. No candy or messy food, please! The children enjoy vegetables
with dip, crackers, pretzels, fruit, cookies, popcorn, peanut butter sandwiches, or other healthy snacks.

Leander ISD has an excellent volunteer program that helps the teachers and students immensely. You will need to fill out an application form and attend a training session in order to be a volunteer. We depend on volunteers for many projects. Any time you can give will be greatly appreciated. If you are interested in being our room representative and/or volunteering for our classroom just let me know. I would appreciate any help you would like to give. It may be you can help daily or weekly. There is also a brown bag program that is very helpful, which is for parents with young children, or who work outside the home who may not be able to come up to school, but would like to do some projects for teachers at home. I need someone who can come every Wednesday to stuff folders and a back-up volunteer who can cover this area when necessary. I need help on Fridays with cooking and taking dictation and binding the booklets for our Knight of the Week. These three positions are weekly for the full year. I also need a volunteer to help with dictation on different projects. It is helpful to have a parent volunteer to assist with computer skills or our class web page and/or small group work. If you are interested in any of the above please fill out a volunteer application form, if you haven't already done so. If you have a skill or hobby that you think would go along with any of our unit studies and would like to come speak to the class, please contact me. I think it is a wonderful experience when parents are able to be a resource for
us. Please consider filling out the volunteer application, if only, to allow you to go on a neighborhood walk or field trips.

The class will have a WEB page under the Naumann Home Page. If you would like to help in this area, please let me know! The Naumann Home Page is located at
naumann.leanderisd.org

On Wednesdays, I will be sending home a folder that will contain communication from the office and notes from the kindergarten team and me personally. Please return the folder Thursday morning.

I have tried to answer any questions you might have, but I am sure there will be others. Please feel free to call me at school (434-7250 ext. 33542 10:55 - 11:45 or after 3:00). I'm often in meetings, etc. and not available to answer the phone during my conference/planning time but do leave a message and phone number on my voice mail where I can reach you. I try to check my messages before the day is over and will return your call by the next day at the latest. My voice mail extension is for non- emergency situations as I sometimes do not get a chance to check my voice mail until after school. If you have to change your child's mode of transportation for that day, call the office before 2:00 P.M.

Thank you for your patience in reading this. I know we will have a fantastic year!

Learning Together,

Sharon Duhon

Read to your child and work with your child on their letter recognition and sounds!