Gotta Go, Gotta Go, Gotta Go to Mexico!

We set a butterfly free today on our kindergarten hill. She was reluctant to take off...surprising since she escaped from the net in our classroom...while we were at centers!

Half Day Friday!

Friday will be a half day. Dismissal will be at noon...just a reminder!

Picture Day!

This is the link for Life Touch, the company that will be doing school pictures on Oct. 7th! It is "green Day" but we will celebrate the color green on Thursday due to pictures...we know that there will be special outfits for kindergarten picture day! A flyer is coming home today so that you will have time to make your selections.

http://schoolportraits.lifetouch.com/picturedate/Detail.aspx?lid=50122&pgm=1

B games and fun!

This week is Bb week...click on the letter B in the previous post to go to a B site for B games and practice! We love the letter people...this is Mr. B! Have your child think of words that begin with the letter B, find objects about the house that begin with the B sound...put them in a B box, sort buttons...there are so many things to do!

(The post is called B crazy week...click on the letter B!)

Coming out...

The butterflies have been coming out of the chrysalis' and we have been watching. This morning we had a new butterfly come out. The wings were all folded and crumpled up... but in a matter of minutes they were completely unfolded and it was hanging to dry it's wings.

We hope to release all the tagged butterflies tomorrow!

Welcome Mr. Little!

It was an exciting day in kindergarten. Mr. Jack Little came and talked to us about the Monarch butterflies (He is the man who donated the caterpillars). He showed us how he tags the Monarchs and releases them. He tagged the butterflies from the kindergarten classes and answered our questions. We used the Elmo and we could see him put on the little tags...that looked like little stickers, on the wings of the butterflies. He kept track of the numbers on the tags, if it was a boy or a girl and also our release location. Locals in Mexico collect the tags and are paid 5 pecos per tag. We can't wait to see if any of our butterflies make it to Mexico!
Thank you Mr. Little!

Important Butterfly News!

Below is a copied portion from Mr. Little's website...it sounds as if there was a change in plans for the releasing of the butterflies. We too have decided to wait. we will offer sugar water on a sponge and release our butterfly early next week when the weather is warmer and a frost isn't planned! He seems to still be warming up and is not very active yet...so we will wait as well! :-(

(Below information was copied from Mr. Little's blog)

Butterflies in Ithaca
About raising butterflies in Ithaca, NY
Thursday, September 24, 2009

Butterfly Release
The monarch larvae seem to be developing quite slowly due to the cool evenings... I am afraid that they are not going to be ready for a Saturday, September 26 tagging/release. Watch for a posting Saturday AM if this changes. It will be rescheduled if we aren't able to release this weekend, probably for Sunday, October 4th.We WILL be conducting a tag/release at the Cayuga Nature Center butterfly house on SUNDAY September 27th at 2:00 PM. Check out their website for details... http://www.cayuganaturecenter.org/.

We have a butterfly!

We were excited to arrive and find a butterfly hanging from an empty chrysalis...it will be an exciting day in kindergarten! More info coming! This weekend is the "release party" at Jack Little's green house! http://www.littlesgreenhouse.com/butterflies and he will be coming to do a presentation for us next week!

B Crazy next week!

geee we love B!

Big News!

We have a chrysalis that is beginning to darken and change color...we will keep you informed. Next week we will have a visitor who will be coming to tell us about his work with monarch caterpillars....butterflies and we may even get to see him tag some for release! His name is Jack Little and he is working with monarchs and will be having a "release party" at his green house this Sat. See his blog for more information!http://www.littlesgreenhouse.com/butterflies

Yellow here, yellow there, sorry, but yellow everywhere!

This little guy decided that he could put his blanket away when I gave the direction "kids who are wearing the color Y-E-L-L-O-W put your blankets away"! Yes...paint on your shirt counted!

(We try to keep them clean and use only washable paints...I remind them to tell mom's and dad's to pre-treat too!)

Kindergarten Open House

Thank you to those who made it to Open House last night. It is a busy night and difficult for some to make it in the evenings I know. The kids were all well behaved considering the excitement level in the building. I received a few neat books (thank you!) and even started a chapter book today for our books and blanket time. We are working on imagining the pictures in our heads!

It was nice to meet many of you...some for the first time!

I will keep you up to date with Friday News letters...otherwise feel free to contact me via my e mail or voice mail.

Line up! Come one come all! Open House...

Kindergarten Open House will be this Wednesday (9/23/09) night from 6:30 to 7:30. Vist the classroom 6:30-7 and then visit Encore7-7:30. The book fair will also be open for your viewing pleasure! :-) Come enjoy a night of fun!

*Oh and I think PTSO usually has a little cookie treat to eat!

Survival of the fittest!

This morning many of the children ran to see if we had any butterflies...the answer was NO. but they were mystified that we had 12...yes 12 chrysalis' hanging in the container and two hanging in the suspended net!. They noticed that one had not been able to get it's skin off when it changed, earlier we saw one of the chrysalis' fall to the ground. We think it had not attatched itself strong enough. It fell to the ground while in a J just as it was ready to change. We watched it and later saw that it had continued to change for a little bit then stopped and must have died. It was a dilemma as to what to do. We thought about trying to reattach it but decided not to intervene. We talked about the survival of the fittest...and we may get to see first hand how many survive!

Pinwheels for Peace!

This morning when we arrived at school we out our pinwheels right out right on the lawn in front of the school for the "pinwheels for Peace" project. We talked about having peace in the world... and decorated our pinwheels with dot art to celebrate peace in the world. It was very beautiful! Nice job RC Buckley!

Wiggle, wiggle...little caterpillar!

This afternnon we came in from the playground to see the caterpillar (which was in a "J" shape) turn into a chrysalis! Right before our eyes it started wiggling and wiggling and before we knew it it was wiggling its skin right off. It split up the middle and the skin shrunk right up to the top. The little guy began to swing and wiggle and soon the shriveled up skin fell off! It was amazing...as you can see from their faces! We are all enjoying the caterpillars and are beginning to learn about the incredible journey ahead of them...ask your child where the butterflies are going?

Our Monarchs!

The kindergarten grade level was fortunate enough to be given a large number of monarch caterpillars on Friday. We nestled them away in our tank...with a load of milkweed!

When I arrived this morning one had already formed a chrysalis and another was on it's way to the top!

We'll be learning about the monarch butterfly/caterpillar all week and will do our best to keep you informed.

We can't wait for butterflies!

Cooperative Play!

This morning we introduced the writing center and blocks to playtime. The kids were so excited that we took some pictures. I was so impressed with their cooperative play that I had to post! A big part about kindergarten is learning to get along with others and the kids in the classroom are doing a wonderful job. We have introduced "courtesy kids" and have made a list about being kind, polite and helpful to others. If they get "caught" being kind they get their name put on the heart chart. We have had a few days with everyone on the chart! Yeah!

Centers are under way!

This was our first day of running three centers. The kids did a great job! We practiced the letters in our names with magnetic letters, drew a picture of ourselves (and wrote our name) and at the green team we used the parquetry blocks. The kids were busy and enjoyed all the activities so I think we are golden!

Day ONE was so much FUN!

You will learn that kindergarten is a world unto itself...and each day filled with things that only a kindergartner would say! As we were lining up the the end of the day...a lot of weary faces and tired eyes were about. While standing in line waiting for the bus...in our new "bus order" I commented on how tired everyone must be and one child responded with a "yeah, I think we out-funnned our self!" I could not have said it better myself! Another child commented on the fact that it was "the best day of her life"! This is why I will quite literally die in kindergarten...every day is an adventure. Sadly enough though, I will not have time to "blog" about each and every day but rather I will use this space (no names shared) to share with you the happy, sad and "just give you goose bumps" comments we hear during our day. This blog will hopefully help you enjoy your child's kindergarten from a far while letting them grow and enjoy their new experience as a new little person all on their own.

Today we enjoyed our first birthday, made a birthday book and drew a picture of ourselves on our first day of kindergarten! I was most impressed when making a "list" of rules for the playground when a few kids mentioned "treat kids the way you want to be treated" (I guess the golden rule does still exist?!) and another child said "always be respectful and nice to your friends". This of course prompted the introduction of the "heart chart" where your name gets put when you get caught being kind. I am sure you will hear about the heart chart.

Too many wonderful things about today to get down in the blog. Please forgive me in advance of my errors (grammatically, punctuation, typos etc...)I am an expressive writer but this extra "bonus blog" as well as Friday News' must frequently be dashed off in a hurry in order to do the other important aspects of running a classroom...but whoever thought...a classroom blog? Wow...technology!

**Ask your child if they remember what NBD stands for or what our first graph was (does a crab apple have a seed in it?)

PS: I spell checked it and out-funned is now a word!

Orientation Day!

The kids all lined up with ease and followed the teacher's and their helpers out the door on their new adventure. Once in the classroom the kids saw what their kindergarten class would be like and were very excited! We read the book..."The Night Before Kindergarten" by Natasha Wing and talked about how it was just like them...backpacks loaded and ready by doors, school supplies (THANK YOU!), new outfits etc...the kids even giggled at the fact that in the story it was the parents who cried when they had to say good bye. Not the kids :-)

After the story we went to try out our chairs at the tables. Each child found a random spot where their name had been placed. We talked about what it would be like at "centers" and their "teams". Each child found their "cubbie where they would soon hang their backpacks and coats...but before we knew it it was time to return back to the cafeteria to find their mom's and dads!

Children enjoyed bus rides, stories and a fun day was had by all.