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 Dassel Elementary Kindergarten Round-upHandbook131 William Ave EDassel, MN 55325(320) 286-4100 ext: Dear Parents:We want to personally welcome your child to kindergarten! The first year in school is a great adventure away from home for children, and is very important to later achievement in school. This booklet has been prepared to assist you in helping your child make the happiest and best possible adjustment to kindergarten and the new experiences of school. We feel that the information presented in this booklet can help the home and school become joint partners in better helping your child reach his/her potential.Why Kindergarten?The purpose of kindergarten is to provide a basic foundation for your child’s first step into formal education. Kindergarten is structured to help make the transition from home to school go as smoothly as possible, and to make each child’s first experience with school a successful and happy one.The kindergarten program is designed to help build a good self-concept, providing each child with many experiences of success. Kindergarten children will work both independently and cooperatively with others in a group. The program will provide opportunities for social and emotional development, inspire language development, and expand physical and mental growth.In kindergarten, a child prepares not only for his/her future years in school, but also for the rest of his/her life. Every child is different. All children learn different skills at different times and mature at different rates. If your child doesn’t develop at the same rate as your neighbor’s child or a brother or sister, do not be alarmed. Your child is an individual!Sometimes a child has not matured enough to have a successful educational experience. Past experience has shown that if there is any doubt as to whether or not a child is mature enough, it is best to allow him/her another year of growth before entering kindergarten. You Can Help!In a school family the size of ours, everybody needs help!Become acquainted with the teachers and assistants who will be working with your child.Keep a copy of the school calendar nearby; know which days your child will be in or out of school. Please note: the first and second days of school are set aside for our kindergarten families to have a 15 minute meeting with their teacher! We will send out that information in mid-August with your appointment time. The first day of school for kindergarten is on the Thursday of September after labor day!Review school and bus schedules in advance, so that everything will go as smoothly as possible on the first day of school.Prepare for your parent/teacher conference. Have questions ready; share with your teacher your child’s joys, worries, strengths, and areas of need.Consider becoming a school volunteer. Contact Mary Neu at (320) 286-4100 x1518 for more information.Call your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns.Regular attendance is extremely important. Call the school if your child will be absent. Also, continual tardiness can also impact your child’s education. Please be sure your child arrivese to school on time! School begins at 8:00 am.Keep the teacher informed of childcare arrangements, send a note if a change occurs.Send a note or e-mail if your child will be picked up at school or will go home with another child. If there is no note, your child will be sent home as usual.You are always welcome at Dassel Elementary! Remember to sign in/out at the office and wear a visitor’s badge while you are here. If you are taking your child home prior to the end of the school day, you must sign your child out in the school office.Write your child’s name on all school supplies and backpacks.Practice naming the upper case and lower case letters of the alphabet in random order with your child before the start of school next fall. At the end of kindergarten, they will be assessed on reading nearly 40 words. Encourage them to count as high as they can and also identify numbers in random order up to or past 100 if they can!5229225228628Kindergarten Checklist for Parents:_____ Our child will be 5 years or older by September 1._____ Our child has taken part in Early Childhood Screening in Dassel-Cokato or another district. This is a Minnesota requirement._____ We have returned all required paperwork to the school office prior to the start of school.Our child’s immunization record. The school is required by law to send children home on the first day of school if the immunization paperwork is not in our office.Health and Emergency Information Form (found in health packet)If relevant, authorization form for medication that will be administered at school (found in health packet)If relevant, the transportation emergency form for special needs students (found in health packet) _____ When asked, our child can say his/her first and last names and the names of his/her parents._____ Other adults easily understand his/her speech._____ We have purchased the following school supplies and labeled them with our child’s name.Towel for rest time480060017145024 pack Crayola crayons4 sharpened #2 pencils1 school box1 Fiskar scissors1 eraser4 oz bottle of liquid glue to share w/class2 glue sticks2 low odor Expo Dry Erase markers1 wide lined spiral notebook for journal writing1 large school bag w/zipperHeadphones (no earbuds) for the computer lab in a Ziploc bag with child’s name on it1 box of Kleenex1 box quart or gallon sized Ziploc bags _____ We have discussed how my child is getting to school with our child prior to the start of school._____ Our child can independently use the restroom._____ Our child can dress independently (put on, fasten, take off, zip, and hang up outer clothing)._____ We have noted that Kindergarten students first 2 days of school are appointments with teachers, not full student school days. Kindergarten students start their full days the third day of the school year.Dassel-Cokato TransportationPlease call the Transportation Office at (320) 286-4100 x1005 if your child will not ride the bus. Please note that bus passes will no longer be issued! Students will only be allowed to get on/off the bus at their designated stops as district bus routes are currently at capacity. Students will only be allowed to ride to/from their designated stop.Please be aware that times of pick-up can vary slightly. Drivers can be early if one or more students are not riding the route. Please have your child at his/her stop 5 minutes before the appointed time.Be sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather.If your child should miss the bus, bring him/her to school. Please help your child know the danger of running after the bus.Discipline problems should be reported to the bus driver. If the driver cannot resolve the problem, please call the Transportation Office at (320) 286-4100 x1005 and speak with Nicole Carlen.Please discuss the bus rules with your child before the start of school.Immediately follow the directions of the driver.Sit in your seat facing forward.Talk quietly and use appropriate language,Keep all parts of your body inside the bus.Keep your arms, legs, and belongings to yourself.No fighting, harassment, intimidation, or horseplay.Do not throw any object.No tobacco, drugs, or alcohol are allowed on the bus.Do not bring any weapon or dangerous objects on the bus.Do not damage the school bus.** Please refer to the Back-To-School supplement that you will receive in the mail mid-August for more complete transportation guidelines. Please go over these with your child before the school year begins! Again, if you have any transportation/bussing questions, please contact Nicole Carlen at (320) 286-4100 x1005. Thank you!2457450285750Additional information about kindergarten:5010150342900OBJECTIVES OF KINDERGARTENLanguage Development:to develop ability to talk with othersto become more expressive and to improve vocabularyto use verbal skills to solve problemsto be able to listen to othersto exchange ideas and ask questionsto become familiar with nursery rhymes, stories, and poemsto listen to stories and directions and be able to retell themto improve ability for simple recall/remembering sequenceSocial and Emotional Development:to develop a positive self imageto follow directions willinglyto begin a development of responsibilityto increase self-relianceto develop self-controlto display good mannersto enhance curiosityto explore new concepts and ideasto become both a leader and a followerto share belongings and experiencesto respect others’ rights, to wait for turnsto participate as part of a groupAcademic Growth:Reading Developmentidentify upper and lower case alphabet letters and soundsidentify high frequency wordsactively seek out books for enjoymenttrack print left to right and top to bottomconstruct meaning from picturespredict what will happen next using pictures and content for guidesunderstand letter/sound relationshipsidentify words that rhyme (auditorily/verbally)sequence picture cardsrecognize the association between spoken and written wordsMath Developmentrecognize patterns and duplicate or extend them3638550238125sort and compareunderstand meaning of more, less and equalcommunicate math understandingunderstand and read a simple graphunderstand and solve math story problemsuse problem solving strategiesestimate and measure using non-standard unitsrecognize shapes: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, star, heart, oval, diamondrote count / count objects / count backwardscount by 10’scount by 5’srecognize numberswrite numbersPhysical Growth:to become aware of body partsto develop large muscle coordination (running, skipping, jumping, hopping, bouncing and catching a ball, etc.)to build fine motor skills (cutting, tracing on lines, stringing beads, writing using proper pencil grasp, coloring within an area, etc.)Special activities2628900174336Music activities to encourage children:to appreciate and enjoy musicto release emotions through rhythmic activitiesto develop self-expression3952875182880Physical Education activities encourage children:to enjoy and appreciate group gamesto develop muscular strength and enduranceto release emotions by controlled physical meansto develop a sense of fair play and individual and group responsibilitiesArt activities to encourage children:to develop a greater awareness of the beauty of his/her surroundingsto develop self-expression3629025190500to explore and experiment with different art mediasto release emotionsto strengthen eye-hand coordinationSpeech and LanguageIn kindergarten, great emphasis is placed on listening activities and language development. The first part of the year is devoted to helping the children recognize sounds in the environment. Beginning with discrimination of vastly different sounds, the program then works with the sounds of animals and human voices, and finally, to the discrimination of speech sounds.The development of speech is a continual process. Speech sounds are acquired slowly and perfection in speech develops gradually.sounds most four year olds can make are: p, b, n, h, w, m, k, g and fsounds most five year olds can make are: v, t, d, ng and ysounds most six year olds can make are: j, sh, ch and lChildren are able to understand language before they can speak. Then they first learn to communicate with a single word or idea and, through increased experience, they learn to communicate at more complex levels. Through language, children learn to try out their own ideas, express their concerns, their social attitudes and to communicate with both adults and their peers. The way others respond to a child will either reinforce his/her language development or frustrate it.In kindergarten, language skills include:story orientation which involves both listening to and recalling stories, as well as creating original storiesorganization, which includes categorizing objects and learning to sequence eventspicture orientation which involves determining the main subject of the story and to note the details about the storypicture-word relationships which illustrate the concept that words are descriptions of picturesChild Growth and DevelopmentChildren are alike in many ways. Each goes through the same stages of growth, yet each is different from all others. In most instances, kindergarten children start school on the basis of their age. However, all five year old children have not reached the same level of development. Each child is as “old as his/her behavior”, and everything a child does is caused by something or someone.You cannot make a child learn, but you can help him/her to be able to learn and to want to learn. The attitude a child develops may help or hinder the ability to learn. In kindergarten, a child prepares not only for his/her future years in school, but also for the rest of his/her life. Sometimes, a child has not matured enough to have a successful educational experience. Past experience has shown that if there is any doubt as to whether or not a child is mature enough, it is best to allow him/her another year of growth before entering kindergarten.Some children may not progress sufficiently in kindergarten to allow him/her a chance for success in first grade. In these cases, the teacher and principal may suggest that a child will benefit from additional or extended kindergarten experiences. The question, “what is best for this child?” should always be the primary concern.Cooperation between the home and schoolCooperation between parents and teachers is very important during your child’s first year at school. Both the parents and the school are joint partners in the total education of the child. Any concerns that may arise should be brought to the teacher’s attention. If your child develops or already has a particular fear or dislike it may be overcome more easily if both the parents and the school are informed and work together cooperatively.If there is a change in routine at home or in the method of transportation, please send a note to the teacher to prevent confusion for both the child and the teacher. If your child does not ride to school on the bus, please note that supervision on the playground begins at 7:45am with the bell ringing at 8:00am.2124075123825MORE TIPS ON HOW YOU CAN HELP:let your child share in home responsibilities, conversations, and activitiesgive your child duties around the house to develop self-confidence and responsibility (putting away toys, taking out the trash, setting the table, etc.)establish a regular pattern for sleep (10 hours), meals, and playteach your child to get dressed independentlybe sure your child listens to others and follows directions and check to see that the directions are carried outteach your child to help othershave your child go to different activities or events independent from you (this can help with separation difficulties prior to kindergarten)supervise viewing of TV programstalk to your child as a friend, as well as a parentdiscourage “baby talk”discuss experiences your child has had and places he/she has been (zoo, fire station, farm, etc.)provide opportunities to play and share with other children and to make friendsteach your child his/her full name and parents’ namesteach your child to be independent about appropriate toilet habitsencourage your child to look forward to kindergarten as a happy, friendly place! ................
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