January Letter to Parents

January 26, 2009

Dear Parents, Although we are still working on letter recognition and sounds, we are at the time of the school year now where the children should know most of the letters and the sounds associated with them. As you can see by the increase in the number of sight words and word families, in the second half of the year we will spend a lot of time teaching the children how to connect the sounds to sound out words. This skill is necessary to be successful in first grade. Most of you attended the Kindergarten parent meeting. By now you may be seeing what I was talking about when I said that Kindergarten is not what it used to be (reading, geometric solids, fractions) whew!!! :-) I just love teaching this age because everything is new and they get so excited when they can "do it"! Whether it is learning the sound of a letter, reading a word, writing a number or their whole name, their eyes just light up! It is great!

Every child learns at a different pace. If your child already knows his or her letters, I would suggest making flash cards with the sight words and word families. Practice these with your child. Make a game of it by turning them over and having them pick one and say it or put them different places in the house and have your child find them. Practice does not have to be tedious and should be fun! Pick a few each day so they don’t get burned out. If your child does not know all their letters and sounds yet, concentrate on these. Learning the sounds and letters is a basic skill that all other Reading depends upon. Children who don’t know their letters and sounds will have a considerable struggle in first grade. Children are expected to go to first grade knowing all of the letters, the sounds they make, and some sight words. They also must know all the numbers 0 - 20. The beginning chapters in the first grade math book are about addition and subtraction. If they don’t know the numbers, they won’t be able to add and subtract. As I said before, when you practice with your child make it fun. If you need any ideas or just want to touch base with me to see how your child is progressing toward first grade, please email me or call the school and set up an appointment. The guidance counselor Mrs Emily Iem is the one you should talk to in order to set up an appointment. I can meet on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Thursdays at 3:00. If that time is not convenient for you we will work something out. Kindergarten is the basis for your child’s entire school career. I want to make sure we give him or her every opportunity to "fly".

Sincerely, Karen Adams

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