Morning Routine

The Bethany school doors open at 7:00 am each morning.  Breakfast is available for purchase before school. At 7:25, the bell rings and students walk to their grade level. Upon arrival to the room, students will unpack by putting away their lunchboxes, snacks, water bottles, and take-home folders. Students will then begin morning work.

Lunch

Kindergarten lunchtime is from 11:00-11:30am.  Students may bring their lunch or buy a lunch from the cafeteria. Each student will have a lunch code (student ID #). We encourage parents to put money in their children's lunch account instead of sending cash to pay for school lunches. Parents are welcome to come and eat lunch in the PTA room most days. 

Recess

During the school day, kindergarten students will have a 30-minute block of time for recess. This will usually be outside from 10:00-10:30am. If the "feels like" temperature is above 95 degrees or below 32 degrees, we will remain inside. Unfortunately, if the air quality is orange or red, we will also have to remain inside.

Snack

Each afternoon, kindergarten students eat a snack.

Your child's snack should be:

• A simple, healthy, DRY snack that is packaged separately from their lunch.
• It should be one they can open easily and manage independently. 
• If there are peanut allergies in your child's class, that might limit the snack choices to non-peanut options. That will be handled on a year-to-year basis. 
• We recommend that your child brings a water bottle to class daily. Please mark the water bottle clearly with your child's name to prevent bottles from getting mixed up between students. NO GLASS and please use a refillable, small-mouthed/straw lid bottle to help prevent big spills. 

Field Trips

There are no field trips scheduled at this time. We try to arrange on campus visits from local community helpers, as well as having a special visit from the Holifield Learning Center.

Birthdays/"Star Student"

If your child is celebrating his or her birthday, their teacher will recognize his or her special day. If you wish to bring a treat to share with the class for your child's birthday, it will be shared at the end of the day. The treat must be prepackaged with a list of ingredients attached. If your child has dietary restrictions, you may send in a special treat that the teacher can have on hand if your child can't have the treat provided for a birthday celebration. Please arrange birthday celebrations with your child’s teacher previous to the day of the celebration.

Through experience, we have found that children strive to meet our expectations. At Bethany Elementary, we have high expectations for your children both academically and behaviorally. Our goal is to teach the students to be: • Respectful • Responsible and • Ready to Learn. 

In Kindergarten, we establish and model behavior expectations for the classroom, the restroom, the hallways, cafeteria, playground and even in the neighborhood. 

 

Each day your child will bring home a folder. Some days it will contain finished work. This is our way of transporting information from school to home and home to school, so please place any papers from home in this folder also. The students will bring their folder to an assigned place in the room and then at the end of the day place it back in their backpack. At home you may want to have an assigned place to keep this folder each night or after looking at it you may want your child to keep it in his/her backpack. This process will prepare them for their planner in first grade.  Each child is encouraged to read or be read to for 20 minutes daily.

 

Computer Station - This station has computer programs to develop math, reading, writing, science and social study skills. Literacy Stations - These stations have activities that develop and extend literacy skills learned in the classroom. Math Station - This station has manipulatives and math games that extend math concepts. Teacher Station/Guided Reading Table - Area of room where the teacher will work with small groups.

In Kindergarten we have a large area where students work on sharing and verbal communication skills. This area is made up of several small areas each set up to help foster social and academic growth. These areas include: • Manipulatives • Computers • Puppets • Library/Writing/Puzzles • Art • Home and Family Center • Sand Table • Math Blocks • Dramatic Play

In kindergarten, students benefit by accessing books in a variety of ways.  The following are three ways that your child will enjoy books this year.

• Modeled Reading - The teacher selects good literature to read to students.
• Shared Reading - The teacher and students read stories together in a small group or individually to build reading skills.
• Independent Reading - Students read books independently.

To help students become strong readers, we do a lot of work with words.  Students will learn how to put words together, take words apart, blend sounds, change word beginnings and endings and the concept of rhyming words. We anticipate that all students will be able to read, write, and locate in sentences 31 "Star Words" (see link below) by the time they complete kindergarten. 

Star Words fo Kindergarten

Calendar teaches days, weeks, months, and years - number order, counting, odd and even patterns, sequence, ordinal numbers, graphs, place value, weather, and position words. Whole group instruction - Daily block of time to teach grade level appropriate math skills and extend mathematical thinking. Small group instructions – Groups are formed based on skill level and the teacher models her lesson based on each group’s instructional level. CGI math (Cognitively Guided Instruction) - Time used to solve story problems and work out math concepts with individual counters. Math Workshop - Area in room where independent math activities take place. Students are also able to revisit other math games and manipulatives.

Writer's Workshop – Each day, students use pictures and words to express their thoughts. As we move through the year, students write more and draw less. Modeled Writing - The teacher writes in front of students demonstrating writing mini-lessons. This is also a time to show correct penmanship. Shared Writing - Students share personal experiences with the class. Some writing is done by the teacher and some by the student. Guided Writing - The teacher does mini lessons to teach new writing skills or reteaches skills that may need more work. This is done with the whole class, a small group, or with an individual. Handwriting - Our kindergarten uses the modern handwriting program that introduces correct letter formation and finger grip.