Happy Halloween!

We are really in a groove in kindergarten now. The project presentations went very well for every child. I was amazed at how much information each child had learned about 'their' animal.

Now we have moved into learning about the habitats in San Diego County. The children have been sharing stories of close encounters with local native animals. Last Monday we visited Mission Trails Regional Park, where our friend Ranger Heidi taught us how to look for signs of wild animals around us. Later in November we will visit the San Diego Natural History Museum for a workshop about how the Kumayay utilized the native habitat. I will need five drivers/helpers on that trip.

I am sticking a reminder here about signing up to work in the classroom during centers (8:30 to 10). If every family does two mornings a month, we will be able to offer more challenging academics to the children. If you can, please sign up. If you are hesitating, please talk to me about how I can make it easier for you. You’ll be glad you did!

Halloween was fantastic. Thanks to all of the many parents who were able to help with the carnival. I thought the middle-schoolers did a great job of setting up fun activities for the younger children. And I was proud of how our class adapted to having our cubbies taken over by a haunted house. They did better than I did!

I am very excited about our next holiday observance. Tuesday is Dia de los Muertos, a holiday of remembrance of loved ones who have passed. Ariadne’s Mother Marina has offered to help us learn how this holiday is celebrated in Mexico. We will have a small ofrenda and the children will be bringing home paper skeletons to decorate and return to school. If you like, you can send a picture of a departed loved one (even a pet) for us to include on the ofrenda. Here is a description of the holiday: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_dead

I hope everyone who is Trick or Treating has fun and stays safe. See you tomorrow.

Love,

Ms Morgan

Mission Trails

The weather was very cooperative - it stopped raining just as we got there and stayed nice and cool for the hike.

Pumpkin Patch, 2010

Excellent field trip! The weather was great, the children were delightful, and we had the place to ourselves most of the time. Thanks to all of the parents who made this such an easy field trip for me. Everyone else: Look at these faces to see how much fun we had!

Birch Aquarium

We had a great time.
Many things were touched and explored.


A wonder-full time was had by all.

White Sparkle Horses News Sept. 18, 2010

I was delighted with the turnout for our class meeting. I hope those of you who attended felt it was a good use of your time. It’s always a balancing act – to give enough information without overwhelming you with tangents and histories. One thing I forgot to tell you was to take a good look at your fellow kindergarten parents. Our experience tells us that these people will be with you in the child-raising journey for a long time to come.

This week brings our first field trip. On Wednesday we will visit the Birch Aquarium, view the exhibits, and participate in a hands on workshop about tide pool animals. Please send your children in comfortable shoes and sunscreen them. Most of the exhibits are inside, but we will eat our snack, our lunches, and have a bit of running around time on the patio. We may return as early as 2pm, but I indicated 3pm to be on the safe side.

On Tuesday our school recognizes International Peace Day with a whole school assembly. The classes each perform or lead a song or poem to celebrate peace. The kindergarteners will sing, “Make New Friends.” You are welcome to join us. Expect to be crowded, and to stand. It’s quite a trick getting all of the classes into the auditorium at the same.

I now have a camera, so I am able to share with you the first in a series of photos of White Sparkle Horses enjoying kindergarten.

-Morgan

Our First Week

I think the first week of school went exceptionally well. The children are adjusting quickly to our class routines, forming friendships and exploring the classroom. They seemed to especially enjoy “Book Buddies.” We will be reading with our fifth grade book buddies every Thursday. Your child is welcome to bring a special book to school to have their buddy read to them on that day. Sometimes the fifth graders will bring a book to share and that’s fun too.

I hope you all have checked out the sign up for our class parent meeting on Thursday at 6pm. I am inviting you to bring a snack or beverage to share if you like. This is a meeting for parents so if you need childcare, please sign up on the parent bulletin board. Childcare will be offered in Jacob’s classroom next door.

Our agenda for the meeting will cover class curriculum, field trips, more about volunteering, school events, and any thing else you would like to have me talk about. One important item will be how you can help your child thrive in kindergarten.

On Friday we had ‘Found Art’ as our art center activity. The children use tape and scissors to assemble creations from a box of recycled items. I like to offer this activity every Friday and I need your help by donating the recycled things for the children to use. Suggested items include:

Ribbon

Small boxes

Cardboard tubes

Small packing Styrofoam shapes

Wrapping paper

Buttons

Small toys

Odd plastic bits

Feathers

Plastic or paper flowers

Etc – You get the idea. The found art box is on the parent work counter near the cubbies.

Over the next two weeks I am planning to do individual assessments of academic skills with each of the children. This means I will need to have periods of time, preferably in the morning when I can focus on one child at a time. The data I gather will be especially helpful during our goal setting meetings in the first week of October.

Thank you all for your support this week. You are a very conscientious group of parents and I appreciate it. Here’s to continuing adventures in learning.

Sincerely,

Ms Morgan

Kindergarten Eve

I had such a great time with you all on Thursday! It was so good to spend a few minutes each with most (not all) of my students. I feel like I have a pretty good head start on tomorrow. And I enjoyed hearing from many of you that your child is looking forward to kindergarten with a little less anxiety.

Thursday would not have worked nearly so well for me if not for Ruby Kocher, Summer’s mom, who worked along side my daughter and me getting everything in order for the children. Special thanks to Tanner, Summer’s brother and my former student, who organized the Legos.

Here are some notes to help you navigate tomorrow:

When you come in, there will be a place for lunches over the cubbies. The children will choose where to put their cubbie in the shelves. They will also be asked to make a nametag. If they arrive early, they may play outside, but not in the classroom. I don’t want them to get started in play and be interrupted when it’s time to come to group. As close to 8:30 as possible, I will welcome the children to the circle, where we will have a group time focused on learning some basic things about our class. After that, I will release them to the centers: art, math and language arts.

You are welcome to stay for as much of the morning as you think will help your child feel comfortable and will support their growing independence. You should let your child know the plan before you come to school, (i.e., “I am going to stay until you go to centers,” or “until you sit down for group.”) Make sure you tell them exactly when and where they will see you again, and how fun it will be for you to hear how their day went. If you need to leave and are having trouble with separating, please let me know. If you stay, I will likely put you to work.

If you would like an update as to how your child is doing, you may call the office and Joan will come and check in with me and let you know.

Please email me with any questions about tomorrow. Beginnings are so important, and I am looking forward to a great one!

Morgan

Back to school night, you said...

Oh, yes. The date for Back to school night is Thursday, August 26th, from 6 to 7:30pm. Hope to see you then.

Now I'm really excited

It was so great meeting all of your children today. I have so many little faces to think of now when I'm making plans for our year. All of you parents were lovely, too. Thank you for all your offers of help - I accept.

As I told some of you, I plan to be in the classroom on Tuesday and Wednesday after noon until about 3 or 4, cleaning and getting organized. Any of you who have a spare hour or more, come on by. You may bring the children if you think they will be fine playing independently - it's up to you. This time counts towards you volunteer hours.

I also hope most of you heard me announce the Back To School Night for our class. You and the students are invited to come and see our room all fixed up. I will also have the volunteer calendar and the class job sign ups available.

I meant to take a few photos today, but it just didn't get to the top of the priority list, so I found a few of my former students: Torrey's brother, Jeremy's brother, Sofia's sister, Anya's sister, Summer's brother, and Sam's Brother.

I'm Back

Spending time in a natural environment is very important to me. I'm one of those people who needs to re connect with nature in order to feel recharged and refreshed. I recently returned from a trip with my family to the Sierras, an area called Mineral King Canyon. We hiked and star gazed, laughed and sang and enjoyed a campfire. And now I'm excited to be back and delighted that school is just around the corner.

Natural science is a key part of my kindergarten curriculum. I believe that young children have a fascination for the natural world that motivates them to ponder, hypothesize, and discuss. We begin the year learning about the ocean habitat and the animals that inhabit it. We go on field trips, read books, draw pictures and begin to write to share our ideas and questions about creatures of the sea. We will do research and share our discoveries with our classmates. As the year goes on, we will explore local habitats, earth science and weather, rainforest and polar habitats, and space. I love these branches of science and I find most young children do too.

Next weekend is our get together. I'm going to send out an evite to help me coordinate food and so on. Remember, the picnic will be your first opportunity to volunteer for class jobs and sign up for participation. Bring your calendars!

I really appreciate all the emails I have received from you, especially those that have helped me to begin to know your child. This week, I will email you each a questionnaire that will ask you to share some basic information about your child's life and interests. The collaboration begins!

See you soon,

Ms Morgan

Class Supplies

Some of you have asked if there are things our class will need from these ‘Back To School’ sales going on right now, so I have very considerately made a list:

Class Supplies:

3oz paper cups
liquid hand soap
sponges
environmentally friendly spray cleaner
band aids
sunscreen
plastic spoons

We are good for tissues and paper towels right now.

Art Supplies:

Mr sketch scented markers
Crayola colored markers
Black sharpie markers
White construction paper
9”x14” construction paper – any color
colored masking tape
beads
potters’ clay
playdoh
large easel paper
glitter, stickers, bits and bobs for collage

Academic Supplies:

Large kindergarten-sized pencils
Dry erase markers
Rubber bands (for math)
Plain white 3x5 index cards
White, non-glossy pocket folders- like these: (http://www.staples.com/Staples-Twin-Pocket-Portfolios-White/product_905671?cmArea=SEARCH)
Glue sticks

Things we just need one of:

Broom
Gallon of tempra paint in primary colors

Each child will have a cubbie for his/her personal items. They will each need a change of clothes for spills and accidents. They will each have storage for their lunch box and a place to hang a jacket or sweater. Please, MARK EVERYTHING WITH THEIR NAME. Make sure they can open & close all the containers in their lunch box. We don’t have a microwave because I like to spend lunch chatting with the children. Thermos containers work very well for warm foods. I will share more information about school and food in a later post.

The children will not need a backpack and we really don’t have space for them, so unless your child is going to Gramas and needs extra stuff, please don’t send a backpack. I hope I don’t sound grumpy about this, but you will understand when you see how quickly our class can get cluttered. This may be a good opportunity to talk a little about the classroom.

I see my class as my teaching partner. I try to organize things in a way that facilitates some of my goals for the children, such as:

- Being able to be independent in locating and replacing materials
- Playing without unnecessary conflict over play things
- Being responsible for ones own items
- Being responsible for keeping our classroom tidy
- Fostering curiosity and aesthetic enjoyment
- Learning to conserve and recycle resources
- Having the opportunity to explore and enjoy nature

I work to keep the classroom a place that is pleasant for both children and adults to spend time in. Ideas and help in this area are appreciated.

Children's Kindergarten Concerns

A couple of the parents who responded to my email have reported that their almost kindergartener is behaving a little ‘off.’ I’m sharing my response because I’m guessing that they aren’t the only ones.

I believe that most children are made a little nervous by beginning kindergarten. Our whole culture makes kindergarten a big deal. It is a time when developmentally, children are beginning to understand that they will have a life separate from their families. Even if they have been to preschool, kindergarten is just different.

I suggest you be patient with your child’s regressions a little bit. They may just need to be reassured that they are still young enough to be taken care of. A little extra cuddling and ‘babying’ may be reassuring. Also, look for an opportunity to ask some questions, such as, "What are some things you are wondering about kindergarten?" and "What do you think it will be like there?" If your child has apprehensions, discuss them seriously; "What will you do if that happens?" "How can we find out if that will be true?" Be sure and let them know that Ms Morgan is looking forward to taking care of them and helping them enjoy kindergarten.

My experience has shown me that there are three big fears common to beginning kindergarteners: “Will I be the only one who can’t read?” “What if no one wants to play with me?” and “What if I need to use the bathroom?” These questions are usually answered the first week, though the ‘friends’ one is often ongoing – one of the things kindergarten is for is learning to negotiate play and social interaction.

As a parent myself I found it did no good to try and talk my daughter out of her fears. I think she felt that I just wasn’t taking her feelings seriously. I was a lot more reassuring to let her know I understood her feelings, that I believed she was smart and capable of figuring things out, but that I would be there to help her with whatever came up. Come to think of it, I am still doing this as she becomes an independent adult.

Please remember to use me as a resource for any questions you may have about your child’s’ adjustment to kindergarten. This is a part of my job I really enjoy.

Welcome, New Friends!

Hello! I am Ms Morgan. I will be your kindergarten teacher for the 2010 - 2011 school year. Although I have been teaching for upwards of 28 years, I still get excited every September. That's because teaching for me is about the relationships I form with the children and parents. Each new school year is an opportunity for me to meet new friends.

I am one of the founders of SCDDS. We began work on this school in 1999, while I was at the Unitarian Cooperative Preschool. Our goal, then as now, was to collaborate with families in providing a learning environment where curiosity and creativity were valued and where each member, child or adult, was respected and given a place to grow. Since that time, our community has blossomed with new ideas and opportunities. My hope is that each of you will find a way to connect and blossom too.

Prior to teaching at the Unitarian, I taught at both public and private schools here in San Diego. I was a Montessori teacher for 3 years and have also taken classes at the Waldorf college in Fair Oaks California. I believe that no one method meets the needs of all children. I use a 'smorgasbord' approach, where I start by getting to know each child and using whatever methods will be a good fit. I will talk more about my teaching style and goals when we meet in person.

I was born and grew up near Los Angeles, and went to college in Northern California. I moved to San Diego in 1977. I began teaching in 1980. I have taught many grade levels, but I love kindergarten best. I love the opportunity to help children fall in love with school, to consider it the place they can be their best selves. I also received my Masters in Educational Leadership from USC in the spring of 2008.

My children are Molly, who is eighteen and in college (she graduated from SDCCS in 2006) and John, my partners' son, who was a member of our first kindergarten and is beginning eighth grade this year. Bill, my partner for 11 years, works for the city of San Diego. Our family likes to watch movies, go to museums, read, practice karate (kids) and yoga (me). We LOVE to travel. We have 2 dogs (one lives with John at his Moms' house), and 1 cat, plus the pets in our classroom.

I hope this blog will serve as the start of a conversation between me and all of you parents. In the next few weeks, you will be on the receiving end of a lot of information about SDCCS and our class in particular. I hope you will use me as a resource for answering any questions that may come up. Last year, the parents and I found it useful to have a yahoo group to facilitate day to day communication. At our first meeting we can discuss whether or not you would like to adopt that practice.

To begin: We will be having a get together on Saturday, August 28th at 10 am in our kindergarden playground. This is mainly an opportunity for the children to meet each other and get a look at me and our playground. We won't be spending time in the classroom until I have a chance to get it ready for the school year during the following week (volunteers welcome.) We adults can chat and sign up for class jobs. I will bring lemonade and cups. If any of you would like to bring a snack to share, I will supply plates and napkins. Please RSVP at my school email: morgan@sdccs.org.

See you soon - Ms Morgan