At/Work/and/At/Play:

A guide for helping at school and at home

Kindergarten is a time for your child to expand their

love
for learning, their knowledge, their ability to get
along with others, and their interest in the world.
In addition to reading, writing, math and science, our
kindergarten curriculum includes recess, play, snack,
and individual & group activities. Developmentally
appropriate kindergarten classrooms encourage the
growth of childrens self-esteem, cultural identity,
independence, and individuality. Kindergartners will
begin to develop responsibility for their own behavior
with loving guidance and support. Kindergartners are
eager to learn and innately curious.
It is our goal to provide all your childs needs to grow
physically, emotionally, and intellectually.
Reading: Read-alouds help students develop deep
comprehension skills, vocabulary, and a positive
understanding of what reading can be.Through each mini-
lesson we introduce a variety of skills. We may include one
or more of the following strategies to build knowledge and
activate learning:
* accuracy
* fluency
* comprehension
* predicting
* retell and sequencing
* asking and answering
questions
These strategies are practiced during independent reading,
partner reading, reading groups and during one-on-one
conferring. We encourage you to incorporate these into
your family reading time at home.
Proper letter formation:

/Aa/Bb/Cc/Dd/Ee/Ff/
Gg/Hh/Ii/Jj/Kk/Ll/Mm/
Nn/Oo/Pp/Qq/Rr/Ss/Tt
/Uu/Vv/Ww/Xx/Yy/Zz/
(For additional information, go to the kindergarten website where you will find information
about letters and sounds, sight words and Common Core Standards for reading)
Writing: In the same way that we
encourage our children as they are
learning to talk, we should also
encourage a childs first attempt to
read and write. Our goal is for students
to enjoy writing and to understand the
writing process. During writers
workshop, students begin by drawing
pictures and soon apply their knowledge
of letter-sound relationships as they
label and begin writing stories.

Students will learn and practice three kinds of writing:

opinion, informative, and narrative. All three will likely start
with children listening to books read aloud and responding to
what theyve learned. In an opinion piece, your child tells the
reader his opinion or preference about a topic, such as a
book, animal, activity, etc. In an informative piece, your child
names what hes writing about and gives some information
or details about it. Writing a narrative is like writing a story.
Your kindergartner will describe an event or a few
loosely linked events putting the events in the order they
happen and reacting to what happened.

(For additional information, go to the Findley website where you will find information about
Common Core standards for writing)
Math: Students learning will grow their number sense,
representing quantities and through problem solving. This
may include counting objects in a set; representing numbers
in many ways; comparing sets or numerals; and modeling
simple joining and separating situations with sets of objects,
or eventually with equations such as
5 + 2 = 7 and 7 2 = 5.
Students will describe their physical
world using geometric ideas (e.g., shape,
orientation, spatial relations) and
vocabulary. They will identify, name, and
describe basic two-dimensional shapes,
as well as three-dimensional shapes.

Kindergarteners enjoy building on these

math concepts and applying
mathematical practices through hands-
on experiences using manipulatives.

Proper number formation:

/0/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/
(For additional information, go to the Findley website where you will find information about
Common Core Standards for math)
Science: Through inquiry, children are engaged in
activities that help them actively pose questions,
investigate, solve problems, and draw conclusions about the
world around them. Students will make observations about
our natural world, explore living and
non-living things, look for
relationships between the needs of
plants and animals, examine the way
things move, look closely at patterns
to notice their influence on making
decisions, and use tools to design and build structures.
(For additional information, go to the Findley website where you will find information about
Common Core Standards for science)

PYP: PYP is not a time in our schedule, but rather a

philosophy where children are taught
an integrated curriculum in an inquiry
based environment. Children are
encouraged to look for answers to
problems or questions in a natural,
intrinsic and authentic way through
several different models of learning
and character development.
As teachers work with students through this program of
guided inquiry, they also help students understand what
their relationship and responsibility is towards what they
are learning. In the PYP, character building shares a
prominent place alongside learning.
(For additional information, go to the PYP website where you will find information about PYP at Findley)
Nuts and Bolts:
Arrival: The first bell is 8:20.
Students need to be in their
classroom and ready to learn
no later than 8:30 am.
Backpack: Full-sized and large enough to hold your childs
Friday folder and lunch.
Snack: Quick to eat, healthy, independent, not messy. Please
pack in a separate container. Check with your childs
teacher about allergies specific to their classroom.
Birthdays: Celebrated in the classroom with a certificate,
pencil and a song. Invitations must be mailed or hand-
delivered outside of school.
Dismissal: School is out at 3:00. Any changes to your childs
going home routine must be given in writing. Wednesday
early release at 1:30.
Absence: If your child is going to be absent, please call the
attendance line as soon as possible. (503) 259-6940
Homework: The expectation is that you read with your child
15-20 minutes every night. There will be
additional assignments throughout the year.
Communication: e-mail is a great way to stay in
touch with your childs teacher. Your teacher
may also communicate with news updates and
photos on the SeeSaw app. Findley sends out a monthly
school newsletter. Important papers will come home in your
childs Friday folder each week.
Label: Please put your childs name on their lunch box,
jacket, backpack, extra clothing, etc.
Change of clothes: Please label and keep a spare change of
clothes in a Ziploc bag that stays in your childs backpack.