elc kindergarten: 2012-09-02

Week 4 Update September 3, 2012

I can hardly believe that we’ve completed 4 weeks of school already! Things are going great. We are settling into our routines now that we have added all of our weekly specials. (Library, Music, Chapel and Computer Lab)

One of the highlights of our week was our “Vowel Show and Tell” on Friday (see photos posted below). Most of the students were able to keep their item a secret and provided us with 3 clues to help us guess their items. Some of the items were “accidentally” spotted coming out of the book bags and some of the students had a hard time keeping a secret! (So cute and not necessarily a bad thing!) None the less, everyone had a great time and did a great job! We will try it again this week with consonants this time. It may be helpful to put the item in a bag and then in the book bag to help them keep it a secret. This time, one clue should be the consonant it starts with.

This week in Handwriting, we are hoping that our new materials will arrive from Handwriting without Tears. The main difference you will notice is the lining of the paper. The top line is treated the same as the dashed “fence” line on the traditional paper with some letters dipping below and some rising above the middle space. The capital letters all begin above the line. I expect the simplicity of the lines and their smaller width will help any of the students who are struggling and confused a bit with the dotted lines and the different colors of the lines. Of course in a perfect world, every worksheet and paper we write on would have the same type of lines, but in the end, they will all learn to write on a wide variety of lines and spaces. The important thing, is correct letter formation so that handwriting is legible and speedy. One of the main focus points with this method is starting all letters and strokes from the top. Research has shown that quick strokes are easier to make, neater and more uniform when started at the top and pulled down vs. starting at the bottom and pushing up. You will also see gray block paper come home. Its purpose is to help with formation of capital letters.