JR. KINDERGARTEN/KINDERGARTEN
October 2014 Newsletter
Dear Parents and Grandparents,
October it is! I just want to say a quick and huge thank you to all who attended our
Back To School Family Picnic! I hope you all got to mingle and enjoy yourselves. It was
so good to see everyone talking and making their rounds, and enjoying great food of
course! We have completed a month of school already! I couldn’t be happier with this
class. I have already created such an amazing bond with each individual child, and they
continue to make me laugh and teach me new things everyday.
As you know, I have sent your children/grandchildren home with a couple of
different sight word books. These are to be returned in their blue folders each day so
that they can read them to me during quiet time, and so that I can give them a new
book once they have become familiar with those words. I love sitting with them one-onone and listening to them sound out the words.
I have now assessed each child for the Fall. This has helped me get to know each as
an individual and has given me an idea as to where they stand academically.
Conferences will be held in November. I will send out an email regarding that as soon as
I know, and will put up a paper conference sign up sheet under our WHAT’S THE SCOOP!
bulletin board when you walk in to the left.
This month, and every month forward, I will be sending home a homework packet.
These homework packets are for you and your child/grandchild to work on at home
(optional). In each packet, there will be worksheets and/or class related activities that
we have already gone over in class so they will be familiar with the criteria. There may
be a couple of pages that they have never seen before, but that is just to change it up.
If they bring their homework packet back finished, or the majority of it is complete, they
will receive a sticker or a stamp. They love stickers and stamps! Again, this is optional
but I have found in the past that the more that they have to think, write, cut/paste, and
color, the more confident they are with their work in class.
These homework packets will be distributed at the end of the first week of each month.
I think you will find that they enjoy doing these packets, and it is good for you as a
parent/grandparent to see where they stand and watch their improvement.
MONTHLY THEME FOR OCTOBER: Fall/Harvest.
COMPOSER
As a class, we will listen to the amazing music by Johannes Brahms. Students will
listen to music by Brahms during our morning work and quiet centers every afternoon.
As a class we will read and talk about his life and what he has accomplished.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
October’s Character Development theme is Honesty. As a class we will read
different books on honesty and telling the truth. They will learn why it is important to be
honest, and we will go over different examples and situations.
Our color of the month is BLACK
Vincent Van Gogh is our “Artist of the Month”! Students will learn all about who
Van Gogh is as a person, an artist, and where he gets his inspiration. Each student will
create art just like his, and will learn all about his techniques in painting.
Sight Words &
Letters of the Month
> The class will work on writing and identifying We, Can, See, She. Students will learn
these words by playing sight word games and engaging in activities to help them
remember.
-Sight Word Hop Scotch
-Sight Word Memory Game
-Sight Word Books (sent home & in the classroom)
-Writing Center
> Students will work on their letter sounds and will come up with words that begin with
the letters Oo, Cc, Uu as well as words that rhyme. Handwriting Without Tears Centers
will be available for everyone to explore. These centers will include chalkboards, wooden
letters and play dough letters.
READING
1. Check the pictures.
2. Get your mouth ready to make the first letter sound.
3. Go back and re-read the story.
Each child was given sight word books to bring home in their book bag (plastic Ziploc).
Again, please make sure these are returned so that I can give them new books when
they are ready. The more they read at home to you, the more confident they are
reading to me when they come back to school. It makes me happy to see them reading
and then smiling before they turn to the next page.
WRITING
Students will continue to write their name each day on all of their work (first, last or
both). They are to write their name using uppercase and lowercase letters, lowercase if
they know them. They now have nametags on their desks with A-Z letters, both capital
and lowercase. They know that this is where they can find the letters in their name.
Our Writing Center has been a HUGE HIT! Students absolutely love to write in their
writing journals. These journals are just for them to practice their letters, numbers, and
draw an occasional picture. They know that if they write letters and a couple of words,
that they will receive a stamp. If they complete an A-Z Letter Page, they receive a
sticker of their choice.
Each week, every child is pulled to do a HWT (Handwriting Without Tears) letter mat and
paper with me. These can be found in their green writing folders each week or every
other week. PLEASE DO NOT EMPTY THESE FOLDERS. We keep papers for you to see
their progress throughout the year. Thank You 
MATH
This month students will continue to explore manipulatives. Our class will work more on
patterns and shapes and maybe throw in a little graphing. Students will also play a
variety of memory games with numbers. These games are so much fun and the children
have a blast while learning.
SPANISH
Our amazing Spanish Teacher, Señora Analia is starting Spanish class Friday the 3rd.
Classes will be every Friday from 9:30am to 10:00am. I myself am super excited for
them!
SCHOOL SPIRIT DAYS!
October 30th- WEAR YOUR JEANS AND PURPLES AND GREENS! Deck out for Spirit day
by supporting our colors. Be creative!
October 31st- For Halloween, please remember to keep costumes at home. Students are
allowed to bring in an item or a piece of their costume to share. We have found that in
the past, students who wear their costumes tend to be very distracted and have a hard
time focusing. On this day please have your child/grandchild wear ORANGE and
BLACK- whether it’s socks, a shirt, pants or a hair ribbon! Again, have fun with!
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IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
Paul Cryan: October 20th-22nd (JK class time and day will be posted ASAP)
Lyman Orchards Pies! Start date is October 6th and ends October 17th. Pie
deliveries will be on November 19th.
Scholastic orders are always due on the 15th.
Grandparents Day- October 14th and 15th. Please bring a small sugar pumpkin for
your children/grandchildren to paint with, and give to their Special Person(s).
-The Baking Club is baking for this Special Persons Day! If you would like to bring
or make anything special, go for it! That would be GREAT! Please remember our
no candy/No Nut policy  Thanks, and PLEASE let me know ahead of time.
LOOKING FORWARD
 Life Cubby: Please remember to log into Life Cubby where you can upload pictures
and tag your children. It is a more secure social media.
 Special Guests: If you would like to come in and spend an hour with our class,
reading, crafting, baking- ANYTHING! Please let me know at least 1-2 weeks
ahead of time.
SUPPLEMENTAL CARE
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October 10th will be a special day for JK/K where Miss Laboy and Miss Laigle will be
teaching together with Region 10 friends who don’t have school that day! This is
NOT an SCP day.
**The themes for this day are Spiders and Pumpkins! Please wear something orange!**
October 13th (Columbus Day): Miss Lesieur and Miss Laigle teaching PreK, JK/K.
**The theme for this day will be BATS!!!
Please feel free to call or write me an email with any questions, feedback, comments
or concerns.
Sincerely,
Jenna Laigle
Junior Kindergarten/Kindergarten Head Teacher
jennalaigle@burlingtonacademy.com