Seeing Stars

Today was the first Friday of the year that we had S.O.A.R time which is based on the behavior plan-I mentioned my behavior plan in a post last week, which we started this week. If the students can stay on green or above on my clip chart for at least 3 days, they get to participate in S.O.A.R time at the end of the week. This week was a bit of trial and error, because it takes over a month for kindergarten students to fully understand and follow the rules at school. We have been doing an amazing job, though, and students who were moving clips down at the beginning of the week have gained an understanding of the consequences. Everyone is improving!! 
During our classroom meeting on Friday we talked about working as a team and celebrating our classmates success. You would be amazed how well your children do with this. When someone in our class moves their clip up, they all congratulate them. When they notice that someone needs to work a little harder, they encourage them to try their best. It's so great to see. I was honestly almost in tears the other day during recess when my leader of the day came up to me and let me know that they told one of their classmates how proud they were that  their classmate got to move their clip up. 
They're really starting to gain a sense of ownership of their classroom and the people in it. We're starting to feel like a family-making friends, encouraging each other, and working as a team. Because of all of that, I didn't really stick with the "you can only participate in S.O.A.R time if you don't have to move your clip down for at least 3 days" thing. Everyone was able to watch The Magic School Bus Sees Stars. I was amazed at how many students hadn't seen any Magic School Bus movies! They loved it! 


Have a good long weekend with your kindergartener! Ask your child to show you how to track their name, cheer their name, and count the syllables in their name. The cheering is the cutest thing you'll ever see :) We've also been counting and looking for numbers in our environment (as you know from their homework). Continue to practice these things. ALSO (as a side note) please, please, please do not do your child's homework for them! I know some of you may feel like I won't be able to tell what their paper says or what their picture is, BUT we had a huge discussion about whose responsibility it is to do their homework. I did not grade their math on their drawing ability. They simply got a sticker if they turned it in. I was sad to see that when we discussed the homework in class, some of them couldn't even tell me what their pictures were of because they didn't draw them. Your child will feel more proud of their work if you allow them to do it themselves. Yes, it is ok to help them. I want you to work with them on their homework. It is important for you to show them that you care about what they are doing in school. I just want them to do the drawing (when their homework calls for it) even if you don't think I won't be able to tell what it is. They will remember and gain more information when they do the work themselves. Thank you!