St. Joan of Arc School

This past week in Religion we have been talking about God’s love for us and how he has given us one another as gifts to one another. We have been also practicing our songs for the 31^st.  More information about Donuts for Dad’s is coming home in the Wednesday envelopes.

In math, we are finishing up the first unit on patterning, sorting , and logical reasoning. Some of us have had an opportunity to begin a simple introduction to addition with the song Frogs on a Log.  Soon we will all have had an introduction and will also begin the song Bunny Rabbit Hopping During Math Time. This song will help us use a numberline to add numbers. After we complete this unit, we begin our unit on just numbers.

During computers this past week, we were introduced to a variety of number interactives. These are leveled for more appropriate instruction for children at various levels of ability. Some of us also had a chance to use some sign language interactives to further explore and celebrate our month of diversity. Again, a big thank you to all of our computer volunteers!

In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to experience some new song/poems to help us with our letter sounds. I also sent an email to some parents to let  them  know how many letter sounds and vocabulary words with which your child may still be having difficulty. The three new song/poems sent home can be used to help with the sounds. Each song/poem covers all the alphabet sounds, but you can just sing the stanza for the sounds your child needs to practice. Just be sure you write down on paper or flashcards the corresponding letters. Show them the correct letter when singing that stanza or your child may not make the connection between the letter and the sound it makes. We had lots of fun with these this week. Some of the children had a hard time stopping the singing. I would find them suddenly bursting into a quiet song at almost any time during the day. I must admit, I had fun with the songs too!

Because almost all the children now know the sounds of almost all the letters, we will work mostly on E/e, X/x, Q/q and U/u this week.  Our vocabulary words for this week are she, they and for. Next week we will have three more words. The children will be assessed on all twenty words for the first quarter.  Seven of our children already know all twenty words. Another four of our children knew eighteen or nineteen of the words. Go, kindergarten!!!! We read these several times daily in the afternoon. We also use them in several other activities throughout the day – both morning and afternoon. You have the lists at home. You can also read these several times in the evening along with random flashcards practice. For children still having difficulty with a particular word or words, you can try a few things. Take the word and have your child study it for a minute. Then cut the letters in the word apart. Ask your child what word he/she was just studying. Then have him/her  try to put the letters in order.  Write the word in chocolate syrup on a plate. If your child can tell you what the word is, they can have a lick of the syrup from the plate. Make up a song singing the letters in the word to spell the word. Make up a game board together. Use your flashcards  as game cards. Many children do not need these elaborate methods. They simply need to review more often and/or longer each evening.

This week in my Bible class on Saturday, we learned about the power of Jesus’ name. I was amazed to hear the true stories of how simply calling on Jesus’ name brought amazing results in people’s lives. Begin your prayers with the Sign of the Cross and end your prayers with the Sign of the Cross. Ask for help always with the words, “In the name of Jesus Christ”. Remember to pray! God loves you! He wants to hear from you often.