Another week has flown by, and we are fast approaching the end of term 1. Just a reminder that parent interviews are this week – the interviews will be conducted in your child’s classroom. The teachers are looking forward to showing and discussing all the wonderful things kindergarten have learnt.
Phonics
The children are really enjoying the Jolly Phonics program. They are quickly grasping new sounds and most are starting to recognise and use them in their writing. Well done Kindergarten!
By the end of this week, your child:
MUST: Revise previous sounds and continue to learn new sounds (O and U). An easy way to help your child learn the sounds is to make little flashcards with each sound written on one. When you have a minute to spare (I know this is a rarity for most mums and dads) you or your child can quickly flip through them. If they are still having difficulty then reduce the amount of letters by focusing on just 3 or 4 at a time. Doing this just two times a day will greatly improve their recall and knowledge of letter sounds, especially when it comes time for more independent writing.
SHOULD: Recognise and immediately recall all letter sounds learnt so far. Play simple sound games with your child, such as:
· Saying lots of simple words and the child states what sound it started with. Eg; horse, snake, ink, turtle, etc
· Eye-spy using beginning sounds
· As you are driving, look for words in the environment that start with letters the children know. Eg: signs on buildings, road signs, car number plates, etc
COULD: Say some simple 3 letter words aloud and have your child write down the letters they can hear. Encourage them to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the word out by saying it very slowly, then write down each letter as they hear it. First and last sounds are usually the easiest to hear. Encourage and help your child to hear the middle sound. Some easy 3 letter words to use would be cat, man, ten, pin, den, gap, him, rock, sap.
Sight Words
The new sight words for this week are:
Look the baby
Make sure you get the little word cards included in your child’s homework. Add these to your collection at home and use them to make simple sentences. Eg: Look at the baby, The baby is little. I can see a baby, etc.
An easy way to help your child remember these words is to immerse them into your home environment. Have them displayed at all times. Get the children to make them on the fridge using magnetic letters. Type them on the computer and change the font, etc to make them pretty. Have a word hunt! Hide some words around the house and tell your child to go and find specific words, one at a time. Eg: Go and find the word “baby”.
Easter Activities
Scone Public will not be holding any “official” Easter events this year, due to Easter being at the end of the upcoming school holidays. However, the Kindergarten classes will be participating in and creating some delightful Easter crafts next week. We are also hoping the Easter bunny will visit us a little bit early this year. He has never let us down before!
Birthdays this Week
Happy birthday to the following Kindergarten children!
KC: Jessica and Bree
***Please add comments to our blog and let us know what is working and even the things that aren’t working. The teachers and other families who are logging on may be able to help you out!
