Welcome to Kindergarten Room 101 at Pine Glen!

Welcome to Kindergarten Room 101 at Pine Glen! We cannot wait to meet all of our incoming students and families. Letters were just mailed out to our students and families. Please read all the information in this envelope. There is a LOT of information! Below is a summary of the mailed information.

- Tuesday, September 4th is our Kindergarten orientation. Please see the first letter in the envelope from Mr. Lyons. Your child's orientation time will be listed on the bottom of this letter. 

**This is an important day for both parents and students as we will have lots of information to share and will hopefully answer many of the questions that you may have. (Be sure to bring contact information for cell phones, emergency contacts and medical/dental information as there will be forms to complete.)** 

- The second letter is a note for your child from me. In this note I asked your child to complete their first homework assignment, an All About Me worksheet. Please assist your child with completing this homework. My All About Me paper is a post on the blog- All About Mrs. Parnell for you to have an example to show your child. We will be sharing these All About Me papers and we will use them to get to know each other better. Please bring this paper with you to our Kindergarten orientation on September 4th. (The All About Me page is the third note in the envelope)

- The fifth note (blue paper) is and informational note about myself and my classroom. 

- The last packet (orange top sheet) is about our Listening Conferences and guiding questions. I hope I get the opportunity to talk with all of you soon. I am looking forward to learning more about your child and your family. 

- There are many ways to learn more about and be in touch with Room 101-

Class blog:  www.pineglenroom101.blogspot.com

Class twitter account: @MrsParnellsKSs

Mrs. Parnell’s email: parnell@bpsk12.org

Class telephone number: 781-221-7788

I will also have a class Remind app for communication. I will have sign up information at our K orientation on Tuesday, September 4th!

All About Mrs. Parnell

Hello new 101 friends! I cannot wait to officially meet you. Here is a picture of my All About Me paper that I will share with all of you soon!  Please fill out yours and bring it to our orientation on September 4th. 

We Are Listening

Listening Conference - Pine Glen Room 101

A listening conference gives you, the parent an opportunity to connect with and tell us about your child. Our role will be to listen and learn more about your child and home-life. The conferences are an optional opportunity, can be held in person or on the phone, and are intended to be brief (approx. 10 - 15 min).

Available conference times are listed below.  Please select 2 or 3 times that you would like to meet and email Mrs. Parnell (parnell@bpsk12.org).

To assist you in the preparing your thoughts, please complete and bring the enclosed form along to our meeting. The questions are a guide to focus our conversation, however you are welcome to share anything you feel would be pertinent. Thank you for sharing your son/daughter with us!

Listening Conference Time Slots:

August 21 - 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.*                   August 22 - 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.*                   August 23 - 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.*             August 28 - 7:30 a.m.                   August 29 - 7:30 a.m.                   August 30 - 7:30 a.m.                   September 5 - 7:45 a.m.                              * Propose a time on Aug. 21, 22 & 23

September 7 - 7:45 a.m.                     September 11 - 7:45 a.m.                     September 11 - 2:30 p.m.                     September 12 - 7:45 a.m.                     September 13 - 2:30 p.m.                     September 13 - 2:15 p.m.                     September 13 - 7:45 a.m.

Please email Mrs. Parnell if there is not a time that works for you and we will try to coordinate a better option.

NOTE:  If you elect not to participate in a listening conference, please take a few minutes to complete the form and return to us at Orientation on September 4th.

Listening Conference Guiding Questions

The questions below are a guide to focus our conversation, however you are welcome to share anything you feel would be pertinent.

Your child’s name _____________________________________________________

Parent(s) name _______________________________________________________

Conference date and time _______________________________________________

1. Tell me about your child? (No one knows your child better!). ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2.  What motivates your him/her?  ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3.  What are your child’s likes and dislikes?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4.  What are your child’s strengths and weaknesses?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________       

5.  Tell us about your family. What special family traditions do you celebrate and what traditions do you have?  (Example - Our family celebrates Hanukkah, or We are from Ireland and like to recognize St. Patrick’s Day)

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Please see reverse side

Listening Conference Guiding Questions Continued

6.  Do your family members speak another language in your home regularly?  If so, what language do you speak? Is your child’s primary English or other?

______________________________________________________________________________

7.  Was your child born in another country?  If so, where? ________________________________

8. Anything going on at home that we should be aware of? (Situations like illness, divorce or a new baby may affect your child's school experience, so please inform us if anything that is not your family normal is happening).

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

9.  Does your child participate in extra curricula activities? (sports, clubs, play groups, etc?)

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

10.  What, if any, were your child’s experiences with school prior to kindergarten?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

11.  Do you feel you have the resources you need to be well informed about happenings at Pine Glen and our classroom?  If not, what can we do to assist with our parent/community connection?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

12. Is there anything else/special you would like us to know about your child (tell us about any strengths, concerns, life experiences you would like us to know about)?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Examples of things you might want to share with us:

• Does your child visit the public library regularly?

    - What titles/authors does your child particularly enjoy?

    - Does your child use an iPad/tablet/gaming system- what apps/games do they like to play?

Addition Information to Help Us Get To Know Your Child

At the beginning of our school year we participate in a number of activities to help us get to know one another.  Some of our students may be a little timid or confused when it comes to communicating. Please help us with this by providing answers to some questions in advance……..just in case.

How many people live in your house.

______________________________

Who lives in your house?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

If your child has siblings at Pine Glen, what room are they in?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Do you have any pets? _____________

If so, what kind and what are the names of your pets?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Summer Challenge Update!

SUMMER CHALLENGE UPDATE

We are half way through our summer. If you are participating in the Summer Writing Challenge you should have completed 5 entries already! (If you haven't started... there's still time!) Please remember Mrs. Parnell and Mrs. Kearney would LOVE to read about all our (now former) students summer adventures.  If students write at least once a week every week (at least 10 entries!) of the summer adhering to the kindergarten expectations- at least 3 sentences and an illustration with 6 colors (on each entry) a PRIZE will be earned!  Please have the students bring in their journal the first day of first grade- September 4, 2018.  We hope we will be reading LOTS of summer journals! The past two years we have had two students each year complete this challenge. We hope to have even more this year!

We know that Connor is participating in the summer challenge! He has already written 5 entries. Here he is working hard on his journal. So proud of you Connor. Is anyone else participating. Please let me know so I can post all our hard working students!