P1-9 Students are Busy Bees!
P1-9 students will be very busy this year. Pre-first is an important year because students work very hard to develop their reading and writing skills. Students will also be busy throughout the day learning about math, social studies, and science. On top of that, students will have their daily activity, Spanish literacy hour, and recess. Let's not forget the social and emotional skills that are so important to practice as students start on their elementary school journey. Pre-first students certainly are busy bees!
Birthdays
Below you will find the procedure for sending birthday invitations as well as the procedure for celebrating your child’s birthday during recess time.
Abajo encontrarán el procedimiento a seguir para el envío de invitaciones y la celebración de cumpleaños de su niño durante el recreo.
Birthday Invitations
If you would like us to send your child’s birthday invitations home in the students’ folders, we will be very glad to do so. However, we do ask that the invitations be for the entire class or for all of the same sex (i.e. all the girls, or all the boys). We also ask that you send the invitations in the morning to allow us enough time to put them in the children’s folders. Also sending invitations 2-3 days before the party is best.
Si usted quisiera que enviáramos las invitaciones de su hijo(a) en las carpetas de tarea de los estudiantes, con gusto lo haremos. Sin embargo, pedimos que las invitaciones sean para la clase entera o para todos los niños el mismo sexo (es decir. todas las niñas, o todos los niños según sea el caso). También les pedimos que nos las envíen en la mañana para tener tiempo de mandarlas en sus folders y con dos o tres días de anticipación seria lo mejor.
Picking up Children in the Classroom
You may gather the children for your party in front of the classroom only if ALL the children have been invited. Gathering only some children in front of the classroom for a party can be very hurtful to the children who have not been invited. Also please make sure that you have permission from the parents before taking any child off of the school campus.
Usted puede recoger a los niños para su fiesta en la puerta del salón de clase solamente si ha invitado a todos los niños. El hacer esto solamente llevando a algunos niños causa gran tristeza y daño a los niños que no se han invitado. También usted necesita asegurarse de tener permiso de los padres de familia antes de sacar a cualquier niño de la escuela.
In-School Birthday Celebrations
We encourage you to come to school to celebrate your child’s birthday. We celebrate birthdays during second recess time at our table on the terrace. If you want to celebrate your child’s birthday please let me know a couple of days in advance. I will also show you which table in the cafeteria no later than 1:00. It is very important that you be punctual for these celebrations. The children only have 30 minutes for recess and are always eager to play. If you are not ready on time the children will be asking if they can go and play and this could be disappointing for your child.
Les animamos a que vengan para celebrar el cumpleaños de su hijo/a. Celebramos los cumpleaños durante el segundo recreo en nuestra mesa en la cafetería. Si usted desea celebrar el cumpleaños de su hijo/a por favor hágamelo saber un par de días por adelantado. También le enseñare qué mesa en la cafeteria pertenece a 1-9. Pediremos que tenga todo listo (los ajustes de la mesa, el pastel, las bebidas) a no más tardar 1:00. Es muy importante que usted sea puntual para estas celebraciones. Los niños tienen solamente 30 minutos de recreo y son siempre impacientes para jugar. Si usted no esta listo a tiempo los niños preguntarán si pueden ir y jugar y esto podría ser decepcionante para su hijo/a.
Bolos/Party Favors
Party favors are not necessary, but if you would like to give one, we will wait until the end of the day to pass them out.
No son necesarios los bolos, pero si usted quisiera darlos, pueden repartirlos hasta el final del día.
100 Common Sight Words
This is a list of many words in English that cannot be read phonetically. It is important that students learn these words in order to become a fluent reader. Students can review these words at home using flashcards. We will study these sight words throughout the year.
Math in Pre-First
We will use the Math in Focus program for math this year. Math in Focus was adapted from the Singapore math program. Singapore math is a teaching method based on the national curriculum of Singapore. Singapore math strongly emphasizes problem solving and model drawing, and has a strong focus on the in-depth understanding of the essential math skills recommended in the NCTM Curriculum Focal Points (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics). Skills and concepts are taught in depth to allow for mastery so that there does not have to be a lot of repetition of the same concepts from year to year. Singapore math also has a strong focus on the simple common language of math, which is something we felt that programs we have used in the past lacked. The same math vocabulary is used and extended from year to year. Singapore math was written and developed in English, but was intended for students that did not speak English as a first language. This is ideal for our student population.
This method of teaching math became very popular after students in Singapore scored very high on international standardized math tests. Now this method of teaching math is used all over Asia, Europe, the US and Canada, as well as in many international schools all over the world.
This method of teaching math became very popular after students in Singapore scored very high on international standardized math tests. Now this method of teaching math is used all over Asia, Europe, the US and Canada, as well as in many international schools all over the world.