We are SAFE!!!!

Hello again!! I hope you are enjoying a relaxing weekend and some Husker football!! We might venture down there later to let Jackson take in the atmosphere, but we will see!!!  

Yesterday at school we finished up our safety unit. In this unit we talked about stranger danger. The kids practiced saying NO and running away. We also talked about who a stranger is and that not all strangers are bad, but we need to be careful!!

We also talked about fire safety and what to do in a fire drill. We practiced leaving school quickly and quietly and listening very carefully to teacher directions. The kids really did a great job!! We also practiced what to do if our clothes caught on fire. We would STOP, DROP and ROLL!!!!! We even have a fun song that your kindergarten kid can sing for you!!!

Then, we talked about what to do if there is an emergency AND what an emergency is (our house being on fire and NOT losing our favorite toy). We practiced calling 911 (on a pretend phone :)) and speaking slowly as we gave our important information.

Yesterday you got a note about practicing your child’s important information (full name, address, and phone number). Please keep this sheet at home and practice, practice, practice!!! We also are practicing at school and the kids are very excited to get their special surprise once they can say it by memory!!

During this unit we also talked about street safety!! We even got to go outside and practice!! We know we need to use the crosswalk, cross quickly, and of course, LOOK BOTH WAYS!!! We also talked about wearing our bicycle helmets to protect our heads!!!

To finish off our safety unit we got to make a SUPER FUN snack. We used graham crackers, frosting, and m&m’s to make a stoplight. We also made a stop light on paper, but I think the snack was their favorite!! We really practiced our stoplight song and I think the kids know it well so make sure they sing it for you!! As we ate our delicious snack we watched Officer Buckle and Gloria to celebrate being super safe kindergarten kids!!

You will get a safety book at conferences that your kindergarten kid worked on each day so they can remember all that we have learned and practiced!!!

Next week we will start to learn about American Symbols!! This is one of my favorite things to teach and we always have a blast!! We also take some pretty awesome pictures!!! Have a great weekend and enjoy our video capturing our safety fun!!!!

Love- Mrs. Schroeder

Library Rocks!!!

As many of you know, we get to go to library every Friday!!! We get to hear stories, check out books, and read. It is SO much fun!!! If your child brings back their book from the week before they get a new book. If they forget they get to read books, but must return a book to check another one out. Please enjoy our video of library day (our 2nd...but I missed last Friday :( I tried to get a picture with each kindergarten kid and the book they picked, but a few friends could not decide on a book so at the end I forgot to get one! I will try to get one and update the video next week!!

Have a SUPER GREAT long weekend! Watch for another video this weekend about our safety unit!!

Love- Mrs. Schroeder

Day 10 Is Coming!!

I hope this Sunday is finding you all healthy!! Jackson is getting over a bad cold this weekend…which is why your kindergarten kid may have said they had a different teacher on Friday. I have been fortunate that for the past 2 years I have NEVER had to be gone from work when he has been sick…but my day finally came on Friday! I know that everyone hung in there and did a great job for the sub!

We are really getting the hang of things now in kindergarten! Monday will mark day 10 of kindergarten and in math that is some very exciting news, because we will be able to finally make a group of 10 on our 120 chart and a group of 10 on our money chart – I just know that the kids will all be super excited for this! During math we will be continuing to explore numbers with our counting mats as well as our own counting books but we will also start practicing how to write the numbers 1 and 2 and comparing things that are the same and different!

In literacy we will be continuing to learn about letters and the sounds they make and will be focusing on letters up to the letter V this week! We are loving the ABC chant and loving the songs we get to sing that practice the letters and sounds! We also will be reviewing the words “I” and “can”. We are becoming readers so FAST!!!! This week we will be reading “Tikki Tikki Tembo” (make sure to ask about this story and the little boys name) and we will also be reading “Teddy’s Week”, “Kindergarteners Can”, and making connections back to our Alphabet in the Park book! We have found out that it is fun to read sentences that have exclamation marks at the end of them!

Speaking of Literacy… please remember Thursday, Sept. 4^th is our Literacy night here in our classroom from 6-7pm. I sure hope you and your kindergartener can make it! We will be talking about what we do in kindergarten and also getting some materials to take home so you can practice! It is sure to be a lot of FUN so I hope you all can come! A flier will be coming home this week about it!

In writer’s workshop we will be getting our very own folders and will learn how to use them to help us become better writers! We will also be looking at the book “Good Dog, Carl” (which is a book with no words) that will help us learn that stories can be told just through pictures – which is where we will start. In kindergarten we start by drawing pictures then we will add beginning letters to our pictures, then labels, and finally start some sentences (we will be focusing on just pictures this week and will slowly get to the rest).

Remember we go to P.E. on Day D – so make sure to mark it on your calendar – this week it is on Wednesday. You can find the day on the lunch calendar!

In unit studies we are continuing to learn about how to stay safe and will finish up our safety books! We will hopefully get to go on a safety walk around the school to practice using the crosswalk and also so we can see the signs that are all around us to help us stay safe. If we are super lucky on Friday we will get to read “Officer Buckle” and watch the video AND make a stoplight snack! But we have a lot to do so I sure hope we work hard all week long and learn how to stay safe at school and at home!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and of course if you have any questions or concerns please let me know! Mrs. Schroeder

All about Me!!

Hello everyone!! I hope you have been enjoying our pictures over the last couple of weeks!! In a couple of weeks we will be starting our “Rock star of the Week”. Your child will each have a week when their pictures will be on display and they will tell us all about themselves!! I love seeing all of the pictures! This week I shared my pictures and favorite book. Therefore, I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you a little about myself. I was born and raised in Syracuse, Nebraska, a small town about 30 minutes East of Lincoln. I graduated high school in 2002 and came up to college at UNL. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher…I even played it every day when I was little!! I know a lot of my kindergarten friends do this as well!! I graduated college in December of 2006 and became a long-term substitute at Holmes Elementary. In May of 2007 I married my high school sweetheart AND we had our first “baby”, a dog, named Basher. He sounds tough, but really he is just a 7- pound fur ball!! In the fall I started my first job at Holmes Elementary teaching kindergarten!! I was SO excited to FINALLY have my own classroom. After 2 years at Holmes I moved to Meadow Lane and taught kindergarten. I have loved this school and all of the staff and am so lucky to get the chance to work here. In March of 2012, my husband Aaron, and I welcomed our first child, Jackson. I have to say being a mom is so rewarding….and tiring!! I have so much respect for stay-at-home moms! The last 2-years I have been working on my masters through UNL and the Primarily Math program. This program was the hardest and most rewarding thing I have ever done!! My husband and I took a dream vacation with my family to Hawaii last winter and I have to say I want to go back every day!! Although, I did miss Jackson! In about 5 weeks (September 29th or earlier!!) we will welcome a second child, a baby girl! I am getting so excited to meet her and I know Jackson and Aaron are as well. Basher may be another story though!! I spend my spare time hanging out with Aaron, Jack, and Basher. We love to go on walks and go swimming at the YMCA. We have also recently been doing some major remodeling on our house which can be a bit stressful with a toddler AND pregnancy!! I want to thank you for letting me have the chance to get to work with your kiddos every single day!! I have attached some pictures of my family!!

Love-Mrs. Schroeder

Basher!!

With my mom and sister-in-law in our tropical weather!!

Jackson with his baby sister picture!!!

Best Friends :)

Vacation to Hawaii!!

Schroeder Family

Home Visits

I have enjoyed my home visits so much this week! Thank you so much for allowing me to come visit your family. I love getting to know you and your kindergarten kid!! As you can already tell I LOVE to take pictures…so always be preparedJ Enjoy the pictures I captured on each of my visits this week!

I enjoyed visiting Emma and seeing all of her beautiful accessories and hanging out with her dogs! I am SO sorry Beans had such a rough month!!

Emma and her family!!

I loved visiting with Kiara (after finally finding her house:)) and meeting her cute dog!! It was so much fun to talk with you and your family about kindergarten!

 

Kiara and her family!!

It was so much fun to meet Lizzie! I loved watching you and your brother play…and of course seeing your awesome back yard with your trampoline!!

Lizzie with mom!!

It was great to visit Jackson! Thanks for being so excited and playing that fun dice game with me:) I am so glad you finally helped me win!! I can’t wait to see how you work with numbers!!

Jackson and dad

It was great to meet Kaden. You couldn’t stop smiling…and I am sure you will talk more when kindergarten starts. I am SO happy that you agree that John Deere green is the best!!

Kaden with mom and dad!!

It was so much fun hanging out with Kalai! Thanks for letting me cuddle with Echo…he is one cute dog! (My dog Basher was a bit jealous when I got home!) I know you are going to love kindergarten!!

Kalai with mom and dad!!

I had so much fun going to Mya’s house again (I got to visit when big sister Ava was in kindergarten)!! I know that you are going to ROCK at gymnastics…you are already great at it!! 

Mya and family!!

I enjoyed visiting Rudra at his house!! I enjoyed skyping with your dad and the yummy juice AND snack you gave me!! It was so great to meet you and your family!!!

Rudra with mom (dad Skyped in:))

I loved visiting with Alycia and her mom and brother!! I enjoyed seeing your Barbie show!! It was so great to hang out with your family. Thanks so much for letting me come over!!

Alycia with mom and brother!!

 I had such a great time visiting with everyone and I am VERY excited for a FUN and WONDERFUL year!!!!

Love- Mrs. Schroeder

First Week!!!

Hello everyone!!! I have made a short video highlighting some of our big things the first few days of school!!

We learned lots of routines and procedures and had a TON of fun!!

We learned all about kissing hands and Chester Raccoon. We even went on a hunt to look for Chester!!!

I have enjoyed getting to know your family and kindergarten kid and I am super excited to let you in on our great year through the blog!!

P.S. I have already had a lot of kids say "WOW you really do like to take pictures!!!"...it is the truth I do :)

Check out our video!!!

 

We are ready to learn!!!

Hello everyone!! I am so excited to share a video with you about our first week of school, but I need to get a few more census forms back.

Well……we really DID survive the first week of school. There weren’t to many “ I am so hungry” or “When can we go home?” comments!! The week was spent learning a lot of Meadow Lanes routines and procedures. We DID have so much fun and already started learning how to become better readers, writers, and mathematicians!!! We have a busy week coming up and we EVEN get to stay in school an hour longer so we can get so smart!!

In literacy we are going to continue learning about letters in the alphabet! We will learn about the letters E, F, G, H, & I!!! We always practice finger writing the letters and then listen to a fun song about each letter. They really are silly songs, but I have learned that we LOVE to sing AND dance!!!

We will also continue to learn about the sight word “I” and will even learn ANOTHER new word, “can”. We have been practicing using the words in sentences. We then can point and read the sentence to our friends! We really are so smart!! An example sentence would be “I can jump.”

Of course, we are always reading stories and making connections in the stories. This week will be rereading “Animals in the Park” and we will also read “The Ugly Duckling” and “ The Three Sisters.” As we read we love to look for letters of the alphabet and look for capital letters and punctuation marks!!

We are really going to start becoming authors this week!! We will start the week off by oral storytelling. Each kid gets to sit in the rocking chair and then share a story from his or her life. We practice using a lot of detail and I LOVE hearing all of the wonderful stories!! We will also be discussing the rules and procedures of writer’s workshop. We practice how to sit, how to write, and how to put our things away. We even get to make a fun chart using our pictures to show the writing expectations!! We are also going to get our writer’s workshop folders! We will store our writing in them AND be able to use some of the charts to help us spell better! I have learned that we LOVE to talk in our classroom so I know they will love getting introduced to talking buddies. They will have a buddy that they are paired up with. This is the friend they will practice orally telling their stories to before they write. I just know they are going to LOVE this! On Friday each child will get to show me how good of writer’s they already are! Please be assured this usually consists of a beautiful picture, but very few words or letters.

Who doesn’t love math?? I know I do and I LOVE to watch kids explore numbers!! This week they will be introduced to our math mats. These are mats that we use to show a number and display objects of that many number. We learn to talk about our display with our class and listen to our friends as they share WONDERFUL ideas!! This is really a work in progress so we will spend a lot of time watching Mrs. Schroeder and doing it along with her! Last week we read Anno’s Counting Book. This week each child gets their own counting book! We will be drawing scenes of numbers in our books and discussing them with our class! I can’t wait to see all of the colorful drawings!!

We will continue to go to specials and we all love that. Here is the schedule for this week:

Monday: Art

Tuesday: Computer

Wednesday: Music

Thursday: P.E. (please send your kids to school wearing their tennis shoes if you can... it is really hard to get everyone changed before class and it takes up a lot of our learning time.)

Friday: Art & we will go to the library for the very first time!!!

In unit studies we will be learning about safety! This week we will talk about stranger safety, fire safety, and our important emergency information. I will be sending a note home in Wednesday folders about this. On this note I want you to write the primary address and phone number you want your kindergarten child to learn in case of an emergency.The kids are going to be making their very own safety book so they can stay SUPER safe!!

On Wednesday I will be sending home a conference reminder note and some forms to fill out for conferences. I know we JUST started school, but with baby Schroeder coming our conferences are quickly approaching. I will also be sending home our first book order. You can order online, using our class code or send a check to school with your order form. There will be an attached note with more information. These will be due back by Friday, September 12^th.

WOW, that is a lot of information!!!! I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend and your kindergarten kid is ready to start their first FULL week of school. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail me!!

Thanks for all you do!

Mrs. Schroeder

Happy Birthday Devesh & Dillon!!

In our crazy first week of school we celebrated TWO birthdays!!! That is a record for me:)

We celebrated Devesh's birthday on the first day of school. He brought us the MOST delicious cupcakes I have ever tasted and Hershey's chocolate bars!!

The birthday elf even came to visit and was watching us all very closely!! He was hanging out in the window with his orange birthday streamers! The kids were all disappointed when he disappeared on Wednesday!!

Here are some pictures of us celebrating!!!!

The birthday elf and our picture for Devesh!!!

Devesh on his birthday and FIRST day of kindergarten!!

Today we celebrated ANOTHER birthday! We had fun hearing about Dillon's special birthday donuts he had for breakfast. The kids were SO happy that our birthday elf came back to visit as well!! They spotted him RIGHT away!!!!! He was hiding out on a shelf with his birthday streamers:)  The kids all used adjectives to describe Dillon so we could make him his birthday gift!

Here are some pictures!!!

Dillon with is birthday hat and gift!!

Birthday elf hanging out on the shelf!!

First Days!!

Hello!
We have survived the first couple days of kindergarten.....yay!! Yesterday we spent a lot of time going over routines in our classroom....while trying to have some fun:) We also made you a kissing hand after we read "The Kissing Hand" story! Today we got to go on a hunt around the building looking for Chester..and he even left us some yummy treats!!

We have been busy reading stories, learning about the alphabet, practicing staying safe, and lots of bathroom breaks!! I have MANY wonderful picture to share with you. I am waiting for a couple more permission forms to post pictures on my blog. After that, I will put up a video highlighting all of the fun things about our first day!!

If you have any questions please, please ask! I am here to help both you and your child.

Love-
Mrs. Schroeder

KIndergarten Here We Come!!!!

Ready or not, KINDERGARTEN starts tomorrow. For some kids that means coming to a new school and for others it may mean leaving mom and dad for the first time. Last Thursday night was open house, and it went great! I am so glad that almost all of my new friends got to come in and check out our classroom before the school year starts! Thank you all for coming!

Tuesday, August 12^th is the first day of Kindergarten and I know that probably both you and your child are feeling all sorts of different emotions – excited, anxious, nervous, scared.. and when you tuck your child into bed tonight you know in the morning that they will be going off to school and it will seem surreal! It is so crazy how fast kids grow up and how time flies but please know that when your child walks into my classroom at 8:55 that I will do my very best to help your child feel comfortable and safe at school. Please know that I absolutely love my job and I am doing to do whatever it takes to make both you and your kindergarten kid feel relaxed and comfortable about school.

This first week we will be going over A LOT of routines and the kids will probably not like me very much because I have learned that it is much better to go slow and learn things well than to go too fast and have to reteach everything (yes I learned this the hard way). It is very common that in the first hour I hear the two questions, “Is it almost time to go home?” or “I’m hungry, is it lunch yet?” Although I do hear these questions please know that while learning our routines we are having a TON of fun!!

We will learn our line order – this is how we will line up everyday all the time – for example when we get to school, when we go to lunch and specials and how we line up after recess is over and at the end of the day. Right now my line order is in alphabetical order but will probably change once we get into the swing of things!

We will also learn our three school rules – Be Respectful – Be Responsible – Be Safe – we will be going over one rule very well each day and on Wednesday you will be getting a behavior contract that I would like you to read over and discuss with your child and return to school. If it is returned your child will receive a special “key to success” necklace! Attached to the behavior contract will be the homework helper sheet – the homework I send home your child should be able to complete independently but it is a great routine to start to love at a young age and hopefully it will be fun for your child. I do keep track of the homework returned so please make a point of returning it when it is completed! You probably think it is crazy but my kindergarten friends usually LOVE doing homework and ask for it everyday! It will probably be sent home 1-3 times a week.

Everyday this week your child will get a nametag to wear and we will be working on getting to know each other better. We will get to roll a dice and answer a question about ourselves.

We will be reading a lot of books that have to do with starting school and especially kindergarten. Mrs. Schroeder loves Chester the Raccoon and we will read quite a few of his books as well this week – I am sure you will hear all about it!

We will take a tour of the school and find out where the office is, the lunch room, all of our specials (computer, pe, music, and art) classrooms are, we will also find the library and the courtyards. And we will be meeting some important people along the way!  Please make sure to ask your child about this on Wednesday night!

We will practice a fire drill twice – once with just our classroom and the other one with the entire school. When we hear the bells we will line up quietly and go out the door toward the fence by the playground. I will also talk to my friends about what would happen if they were not in my classroom when they hear the fire alarms. We will even get to read some awesome fire safety books!!

In Math we will be learning how numbers are all around us, we will be reading Anno’s Counting Book (which actually has no words just scenes so we will get to make up the words), we will also be learning about our Daily Math Routines which we will do everyday and I will explain in greater detail at a later time!

In Literacy we will again be learning the routines but also be focusing on letters A-E and learning the word “I” – yep we will be reading before you know it! We will read a different poem everyday and we will also be talking a lot about books and authors and illustrators and what it takes to be a good reader and writer! We will read “Library Mouse” and discuss storytelling and then everyone will get to sit on the rocking chair and tell a story that has really happened to them!

In Unit Studies we will be focusing on staying safe when we are at school and learning the school rules!

Lunch time will be a big learning time as well – I promise there are many adults that will help your child not only go through the line to make sure they get milk, and fruits and vegetables, but that they get silverware and get to the table with all their food still on their plate. We will learn how to open our milk and hopefully eat without getting too distracted and finally how to dump our trays and line up for recess! Your child does not need to know their snap number until later on in the year – I just wanted you to have it in case you would like to put money in your child’s account on-line! They will have lunch cards that they will give the lunch ladies!

JEEZ!!! We will be doing a lot this week and I know I have forgot a lot! Oh one important thing I left off was is that NO I do not approve of bribing kids all the time but I will admit this first week during dismissal time that is what I plan on doing. I will be honest and say that dismissal time is a little crazy and that I want to make sure that all of my friends get with the correct person so I am planning on bribing them everyday with a little snack. So PLEASE be patient as dismissal time will take a little bit longer this first week! When your child sees you they will need to say to me “there is my mom/dad/sister (whomever it is that is picking up your child) and then I will try and make eye contact with you and give your child a treat for telling me and I will give them either a high five or a hug and I will send them off to you! I promise the treats are only for the first week and until I become familiar with who is picking up your child!

Please know that I am so very excited and looking forward to this new school year and working will all of my new friends and watching them grow as learners! If you have any questions or concerns please know that my door is always open!

I am SUPER excited for tomorrow and getting ready to take my first day of school picture with Jackson :)

Love- Mrs. Schroeder