September 4 & 5, 2019

September 4 & 5, 2019
Welcome to the wonderful world of Kindergarten! Get ready for an INCREDIBLE year of discovery and learning so here we go...your child's educational journey begins and I am THRILLED to be a part of it! Each day I plan to highlight the main activities for you to follow throughout the year so you can talk with your child about specific things that go on during their day. I will also let you know of upcoming events and reminders so it will be important to read my blog each day!

 
The children will have PhyEd with Mr. Ronnenberg to learn about morning movers. To watch the route they walk on, click here.

The children are learning about the routine/procedures/expectations involved during breakfast/lunch. Ask them about what a Lunch Monster does and what a Lunch Friend does.

  Pete the Cat will get us ready for the tour we will take around our school to see all the 'cool' places we will learn from!
Touch & Feel...Guess What's in the Bag?  
How will crayons help us learn? How do we use them? How do we take care of them? We are learning about *All-Star* Coloring:
~Color in the lines.
~Fill in the white spaces.
~Colors that make sense.

~Please return the scrapbook page as soon as possible so it can be assembled into a class book.
~Return a spare set of clothes/undergarments to store in your child's locker. A bath towel for Rest Time is needed as well.
~ If you didn't choose the snack cart option, please send a shoebox-size, plastic bin w/lid filled with individual snacks for your child. 
~The book order is due Wednesday, September 11.

~We are learning a lot about being in school and showing Irish Pride!

~Late start is Tuesday, September 10. School begins at 10:15 and breakfast will not be served.

August 17: Welcome Kinders! 2019-2020

Welcome kinderfriends! We will become like family and I want you to know a little bit about me before school starts. Click Meet Mrs. Tongen to see a video all about me! 😀

Tuesday, June 4

June 4

Our kindergarten journey ends today!

~As I write the final update, I know in my heart I have given all that I could to help your child grow. They helped me grow in so many ways too! We became a 'kinderfamily' that will forever remain in my heart. More importantly, they have given all they could to be such great learners! I want to thank all of you again for making our partnership be what it was for the benefit of your child. I would hope someday they would all say:

All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten!

~To view our year in kindergarten, click here.

Again, make the summer packet to be given to you at graduation a top priority the ENTIRE summer. The activities are simple, quick, and organized by day of the week. Be sure to read all summer as too many skills can be lost...the benefits FAR outweigh the duty!

THEY WILL ALWAYS BE “YOUR STUDENT"

There is an unwritten rule about teaching. Once you have a child enter your classroom, and they are on your role and entrusted to your care, they are forever referred to everyone as “our student.” Age has no hold because a student of yours will forever be Your Student. They are OURS. They belong to us! I know they are really on loan from their parents for about 7 hours a day, for 170+ days. But that totally counts. When I take my class to music or PE or any other room, I remind them to “make me proud.” When I pick them up and sometimes get a not so pleasant report, I take it personally. I have to watch my tongue to not defend MY STUDENT. When I see another teacher correct one of MY STUDENTS sometimes I want to defend my student. I feel a sense of protection over them. I instead remind my student of the high expectations I hold for them. When my students reach their goals, I have an unreasonable sense of PRIDE over their accomplishment. I love when a student of mine is in a higher grade and still visits me to share what is going on in their lives.  When students graduate from their grade, we cry WITH them. They are our students. We will miss them. We will miss talking to them, laughing with them, sharing funny stories with them. Then we see them in the world. Sometimes we see them working at one of their jobs, working to make money. Our minds instantly revert that student BACK to their 5-year-old self, who struggles to complete an activity with a partner. Yet NOW they have mastered that skill. Sometimes we see them eating out. Our minds instantly revert them back to the lunch room, struggling to open that milk carton or spilling syrup all over themselves. We laugh and hope they are a less messy eater now… and that they remember to take the cupcake wrapper OFF the cupcake before eating it. Your students will forever and always be your students...Size, age, and maturity do not matter. Once you are my kindergartener… forever, my kindergartener, shall you be.

Happy trails to you, until we meet again...

Monday, June 3

Monday, June 3
Game Day! 
Looks like we have fun things in store for today!
Asher- Skip-Bo
Mason- Rummy card game
Olivia-Crazy 8's card game
Kendyl- Cupcake Party Game
Lily- Addition Flashcards/Surprise Slides Game
Hailey- Hedbanz
Lucas-Sequence for Kids
Eli- Monopoly Jr.
Bentley- Hedbanz
Tristen- Sorry!
Jeremiah- Counting Campers
Nathaniel- Hungry Hungry Hippos
Carlene- Blockade

PhyEd Today

~Tomorrow's Lunch (Only 3 Options): Beef Nachos or Chicken Patty or Yogurt Pak