The Preschool Survival Handbook!

A welcome packet for families full of resources, ideas, procedures, schedules and everything you need to know to have a child in

Ms. Sadowskys & Ms. Angels Preschool class Robert Brent Elementary School
* Please read immediately. To be read carefully and put in a place that Page 1

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will be safe and easily accessible throughout the academic year.

Table of Contents
Welcome Letter........................................................................ ............ 3 Guardian Questionnaire (loose leaf- to be returned)................................ 5 Volunteer Checklist (loose leaf- to be returned)....................................... 7 Folder Procedures & Regular Communication Outline............................. 8 Contact Information Guideline................................................................... 9 Classroom Schedule. 10 Classroom Promises & HHH Explanation.................................................11 Responsive Classroom Overview.............................................................12 Classroom Community Calendar (bottom half to be returned).................13
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Quick Tips for Parents......................................................................... .....15 Toileting Expectations 16 Student Share Information.................................................................. ......17 Lunch Time Information............................................................ .........18 Snack Time Information 19 Snack Schedule ..20

August 29, 2011

Dear Families, Welcome to Preschool! I cannot wait to begin to build our classroom community for this academic year. Together we can make your childs year a highly productive, enriching and
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empowering experience. This year we will be talking a lot about the dreams of what we want to be when we grow up, and emphasizing how learning puts us on the path to make these dreams come true! Our class theme will be Launching into Preschool and throughout they year we will be shooting for the stars as we work hard to reach our goals. We will be building a supportive, safe, and energetic classroom community. The success of our community will depend on all students meeting certain behavior expectations and continually striving to do their best academically! I have included some information about our classroom promises in the attached packet. One of my top priorities is getting students excited to READ and WRITE. We will be reading books together everyday, and students will have time to read and write independently in our library and writing centers. I am also very excited to announce that we will have a lending library system so that students can sustain their learning at home. I am encouraging families to spend at least 20 minutes a night reading with their child, which I am sure is a time that both you and your children will grow to cherish. Families will be an essential part of our classroom. You are always invited to join us and help us in our learning any time, any day (after the first 6 weeks of school). Younger students LOVE to have family visit their school environment; whether its a grandmother that sits with them or an aunt that watches the hard work they do, or a mother or father that comes in to read a book to us or help us do an art project! Many volunteer opportunities will be available, and you can feel free to sign up yourself or other family members for as many as you like on our family board in the classroom. The family board will serve as a communication tool to keep you informed on what we are working on as well as exciting announcement and classroom events. In addition, a monthly newsletter will be sent out to keep you updated on
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what is going on in Room 108, also look for weekly email blasts! Please communicate with me! I want to know all of your questions, concerns, and ideas! I will be more than happy to talk with you about your child, our classroom, and everything in between. I especially look forward to communicating with you about your childs progress. I will be calling your home regularly, sending e-mails regularly and sending home a complete progress report every weekend. In addition to being a means of communication for us, all important school papers will be sent home in your childs school folder every Tuesday, so please check your childs folder every Tuesday evening. Our communication station will also be a major tool for school to home communication, so please make sure to read about that in the At Home Connection section of this welcome packet. Additionally, please feel free to call me, text me, write me a note, e-mail me, or set up an in person conference. I am very excited to get to know each and every one of your families and am honored to be working with you to supporting your child to reach their fullest potentials as students. With all of us working together, this will be a great year! Sincerely,

Ms. Julia Sadowsky

Julias Cell Phone: (413) 271-4077 Julias Email: Julia.Sadowsky@gmail.com

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Parent/Guardian Questionnaire
Childs Name:_________________________ Parents/Guardians Name: ________________________ I am looking forward to getting to know your child and working with you to make this a wonderful kindergarten year! Our classroom is sensitive to the strengths and needs of each child. Because you are the person who knows your child best, please share thoughts about your child that you think might be helpful for me to know. Your reflection will help me to better match my teaching style and the curriculum to your child and his/her individual needs. Please be sure to complete both sides of this questionnaire. 1. What is your relationship to the student? (mother, father, grandmother) Does your child have siblings at Brent? _________________________________________________________________ 2. What are your goals for your child this year? _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 3. What sorts of things is your child most interested in (in or out of school)? _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

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4. What motivates your child? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 5. What games does your child like to play? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 6. When your child is upset, what are some strategies that you find helpful? __________________________________________________________________ (Over) __________________________________________________________________ 7. When your child has conflicts with other children, what are some ways he/she works them out? ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ______________ Please share any information I should know about your child (medications, conditions, special seat requirements, bathroom needs) _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ ______________ Please answer the following so we can regularly communicate: 1. Phone number(s) where I can reach you: Home Phone: ________________________________ Cell Phone: __________________________________ Work Phone: _________________________________ Page |7

2. Convenient times to call: ____________________________________ 3. Email address: ________________________________ 4. I prefer to be contacted by (circle one) E-MAIL PHONE

5. Will your child be attending our after care program? ________________________ 6. Who will be picking up your child everyday from school? ____________________________________________________________________ 7. Please provide the names of those people allowed to take your child home: ____________________________________________________________________ _ Thank you! I look forward to communicating frequently and working closely with you this year! Sincerely, Ms. Julia Sadowsky

Volunteer Checklist
Dear Families, Young children love to have their families connected to their classroom. This connection makes the transitions from home to school easier. I sincerely invite you to be a part of our classroom community! Here are some of the ways you might help out. Please check any that interest you. Complete the form and return it to school with your child. Thank you, and I look forward to working with you! Sincerely, Ms. Julia Sadowsky I would be interested in volunteering in the following ways: ___ Share family traditions or a special skill, Page |8

___ Pick up and return books at our local library. ___ Help with math or literacy small group activities in the classroom. ___ Teach the class words in a foreign language you speak. ___ Cut things out and prepare projects in advance from home. ___ Chaperone on field trips. ___ Lead a craft or cooking project in the classroom. ___ Read a book to the class. ___ Attend teacher led parent workshops. ___ Be our PTA classroom parents. ___ Join us during our center time. ___ Lead/help out with a different type of activity (Specify: _____________________) Please add any special skills you or another family member could contribute to the classroom (sewing, quilting, cooking etc.)

Please add any interesting careers/hobbies you or other family members could come speak to the classroom about: (Grandmother is a doctor, Dad is a fisherman, etc.) _______________________________________________________________________ ______

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Folder and Regular Communication

The School Folder
Every Tuesday, your child will bring home their school folder. It is important that you check the folder every Tuesday night so you can be up to date on classroom announcements. Student work, classroom newsletters, Tues News (the school-wide newspaper), permission slips and other important paperwork and forms will be sent home in this folder as well. Please fill out all forms & permission slips that night, and return them in the school folder. Every Wednesday your childs folder should return to school in their backpack, with the appropriate completed paperwork and forms.

Communication Station
Our communication station will be located in the student cubby area, hanging on left-hand the wall. Each child will have their own clearly labeled mailbox in the station. This will be where student work and paperwork is stored until it is sent home in their school folder on Tuesday. If you have anything to distribute to students or their families (invitations, thank-yous, memos, etc.) please feel free to distribute them into these student mailboxes and they will be promptly sent home in their Tuesday folders. You will also find mailboxes for both Ms. Sadowsky and Ms. XXXX at communication station. This is where you should place any notes, forms, or paperwork on nights that the school folder is not sent home. We will check these mailboxes daily. Finally, there will be pockets that house extra newsletters, permissions slips, forms, etc. If you happen to misplace the copies that were sent home, please go to these pockets to find the extra copies that you need.

Weekly Progress Updates

Every weekend you will receive an e-mail blast from me, providing a brief recap of our week as class as well as any reminders for the upcoming week. Attached to this e-mail you will find your childs WEEKLY PROGRESS UPDATE! This document will serve as a progress report and will include GLOWS (accomplishments & successes) and GROWS (A skill we are going to focus working Page |10

on) for your child, as well as pictures of your child working hard that week. Families in the past have enjoyed forwarding these updated to other family members to keep them connected!

Monthly Classroom Newsletters

On the first Tuesday of each month our classroom newsletter will be sent home in your childs school folder! This will provide you with announcements, updates, anecdotes about our classroom experiences, special thank-yous, and of course lots of beautiful photos of our classroom community at work! A digital copy will also be e-mailed to you in that weeks e-mail blast.

Contact information Summary

I want to contact Ms. Sadowsky, what are my options?

E-mail me anytime: Julia.Sadowsky@gmail.com Text me anytime: 413-271-4077 Call me before school (starting at 7 am) or after school (until 8 pm): 413-271-4077 Leave me a message at Brents front office during the school day: 202-698-3363 *You can also feel free to stay and chat with me in our classroom at pick-up, any day besides Tuesday (when I leave immediately to travel to Graduate School).

I want to contact the main office, what are my options?

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Call the front office during school hours: 202-698-3363 Send mail to the front office: Robert Brent Elementary School 301 North Carolina Ave. SE Washington, D.C. 20003

Other points of contact:

Peter Young, Principal: Peter.Young@dc.gov Denise Diggs, Business Manager: Denise.Diggs@dc.gov Andrea Casula, Office Manager: Andrea.Casula@dc.gov -Ms. Casula is the point of contact for absences.

Karen Neal, Special Education Coordinator: Karen.Neal@dc.gov

8:30-8:50 8:50-9:10 9:10-10:00 10:05-10:50 11:00-11:25 11:25-11:45 11:45-12:15 12:15-12:30 12:30-1:30 1:30-2:00 2:00-3:00

Arrival Morning Meeting Small Group Specials Outdoors/Movement Read-a-Loud Lunch Story & Bathroom Rest Time Outdoors/ Discovery Center Time

= A great time for you to join us! = a CRUCIAL time for you to join us! Page |12

3:00-3:15

Afternoon Meeting

* Any lapses in time represent transitioning and traveling time.

The fun, growth and academic progress we make as a class this year hinges on the guidelines and expectations of the classroom and school. Because understanding and following these classroom promises is so imperative to our classroom community and development, I want to make sure that each family is aware of and committed to encouraging the children to follow the expectations of the school and my classroom. The following are our classroom promises: 1. Follow directions the first time. 2. Be Safe. Keep hands, feet and objects to ourselves. 3. Use Kind words. 4. Always do your best! It is imperative to our growth as a class and to the children as individuals to feel like the safety rule applies and is carried out to them at all times. We will be discussing each of these promises as a class continually, but please make sure you also talk with your child about these expectations and what it means to follow them at all times.

Hugs, Handshakes and High-Fives

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When members of our classroom community are feeling sad, mad, etc., they will be asked to share their feelings, explain what is making them feel that way, and choose what they would like to make them feel better: a hug, a handshake or a high-five from one of their peers. When social conflicts arise in our classroom community (ex. a student grabs a block from a friend), students will be asked if they think they made a good or bad choice, why it was a good or bad choice, how they would feel if that would happen to them, and then they will need to ask their classmate what they need to feel better: a hug, handshake of a high-five.

Take a Break: Lets Cool Down

When members of our classroom community make repeated negative choices, they will be asked to take a break. There is a special comfortable area in our classroom, stocked with pillows, tissues and visual reminders of ways to calm down and fix our choices where students will cool down and relax until they are ready to rejoin our classroom community. Students can also choose to visit

the cool down if they are time to calm Guiding Principals:

area at anytime throughout the school day feeling that they need some independent down and collect themselves.

The social curriculum is as important as the as the academic curriculum. How children learn is as important as what they learn. The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction. There is a specific set of social skills that children need to learn and practice in order to be successful academically and socially: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control. Page |14

Knowing the children we teach - individually, culturally, and developmentally - is as important as knowing the content we teach. Knowing the families of the children we teach is as important as knowing the children we teach. How we, the adults at school, work together is as important as our individual competence

Logical Consequences: Responsive Classroom believes in logical consequences for actions taken. In our classroom, we value choice. Every child chooses his/her behavior and actions each day. For positive choices and actions, the childs behavior will be reinforced with praise, acknowledgement and encouragement. For negative choices and actions, the child will receive logical consequences according to the specific action taken (example: taping a book back together if he/she rips it). Classroom Practices: Morning Meeting- Daily whole group meeting to build community and warm up Rule Creation- The class works together to create classroom rules Interactive Modeling- Teaches children to notice and internalize expected behaviors Positive Teacher Language- Words and tone to promote active-learning & self discipline Guided Discovery- Introducing materials in a way that promotes creativity & responsibility Academic Choice- Promoting student choice and differentiation in instruction Classroom Organization- Set up that promotes independence, cooperation & productivity Working with Families- Hearing family insights & sharing schools teaching approaches Creative Problem Solving- Engage students in problem solving (conferencing, role playing, and other strategies) Learn More: www.ResponsiveClassroom.org Page |15

Our Classroom Calendar

Dear Families, Each day, our classroom will look at our classroom calendar and discuss the days of the week, the weather and anything special about the particular day or week. Typically, special days include student birthday, holidays, field trips, classroom visitors and any special activities our assemblies happening at school. This year, however, I would like to make our classroom calendar a CLASSROOM COMMUNITY CALENDAR, so we can become ever closer as a community and bridge an even stronger connection between school and home. This means, we want to hear about all of the special days going on in your home and family so we can talk about them and celebrate them as a community! Grandpas birthday? Family Tradition? Cousins bat mitzvah? Parents wedding anniversary? We want to know about it so we can highlight all of the different special days family have! Together, we will make this year both exciting and fulfilling, and I look forward to celebrating all of your families special days with your children. Sincerely, Ms. Julia Sadowsky

Please detach the paper below the line, complete and return to Ms. Sadowsky a.s.a.p.

_______________________________s Special Family Days Please list Family Birthdays: Least 3 other special days 1. _______________________ 2. _______________________ Please List At 1. _______________________ 2. _______________________
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3. _______________________ 4. _______________________ 5. _______________________

3. _______________________ 4. _______________________ 5. _______________________

** LABEL everything! Clothing, socks, backpacks, notebooks- anything that your child brings to school should have his/her name on it. ** Lost and Found I will always keep a classroom lost and found for items that were found unclaimed or unidentifiable. Please feel free to come look through the lost and found is your child has misplaced an item at any point during the school year. The bin will be located in the student cubby area. ** Check out our family information board! Updated weekly with classroom newsletters, school fliers, Tues News, notices, important memos, birthday announcements, PTA information, all activities and our classroom calendar. Do you have something to announce or share with the class? Feel free to post it on our family board, this is a tool for you! Use it! ** Birthday Parties Birthday parties are always a fun way to celebrate your childs birthday for all of the kids in the class! I am more than happy to help host or aid in a small birthday party of your child at the end of the school day. If you are interested in having a small party for your child, please contact me at least two weeks before your childs birthday. Birthday parties typically occur at 2:30pm in our classroom, and family and friends are welcome to join us. I suggest coming at 2:00 to join us for center time (to make the day extra special for your child), and then we will start the party at 2:30! I invite you to bring a snack for the class, but please be sure there is enough for each child to have an equal share. I look forward to watching your child make a wish and blow out the candles with you! ** Lending Library The sign up sheet for our lending library can be found on our Family Information Board. Feel free to sign any of our classroom books out to take home and enjoy with your child and family! Your family may sign out one book at a time. **Toys From Home The pre-k 3 classes provide many toys and stimulating activities for students. Page |17

Therefore, toys from home are not permitted. This will help to avoid broken toys, lost toys, and a lot of hurt feelings and tears. Children will have the opportunity throughout the year to share experiences, pictures, and special family items at share time during morning meeting.

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All Brent students must be fully potty trained before entering school!
This means that there are no pull-ups allowed and that your child must be able to independently use the bathroom and follow proper bathroom procedures. We understand that accidents are prone to occur, that is not our concern. We want to ensure that all students at Brent have a safe learning environment, and we appreciate your cooperation in achieving this goal. As a result of health code requirements, Brent is not equipped with the facilities to accommodate students who are not potty trained, and furthermore the staff is not trained to potty train children. Without the proper facilities, there is a high risk for potential infection and consistent accidents may put the entire class at risk. In addition, crucial instructional time is lost when teachers must frequently assist in toilet training. In the event that your child is having consistent accidents, a committee will be convened in order to address the schools concerns, and how best to support your family. If an action plan is implemented, and this continues to be an issue, further action may be taken. If you have any more questions or concerns regarding toileting at Brent please dont hesitate to contact Peter Young.

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Share Time Schedule

Dear Families, On Tuesday, September 12, 2011 we will begin our share time schedule. Each student will be able to bring in one item, announcement, or piece of news per week from home that he/she would like to share with the class. Please only have your child bring this item on the day he/she is scheduled to share with the class. This will be a time for the class to build community and practice their speaking skills. Listed below is the share time schedule for the next semester, please follow it closely. Due to time constraints and our rigorous schedule, if a student misses their share day because of a holiday, professional development day, absence or field trip they will not be able to share on the next day. They can bring in their item to share the following week. Sincerely, Ms. Julia Sadowsky Mondays: Mira, Elijah, Max Tuesdays: Mirabelle, Nora, Jack, Kathryn Wednesdays: Kiera, Wade, Joseph Thursdays: Corina, Ethan, Carlos Page |20

Fridays:

William, Cecilia, Ray

Lets Make Lunch a Happy and Healthy Time!

As you know, it is crucial to the development of a childs body and mind that they eat a full and healthy lunch every day. Especially being in an academically rigorous setting, it is imperative that children are re-fueling and getting energy to push through the afternoons at school. As children can be very picky eaters, it is important that we work together to ensure that each child has a lunch they will enjoy eating each day because unfortunately, if they do not like their lunch, it may return to you uneaten. When a student does not eat lunch, it is very difficult for them to participate in the afternoon activities and make the most out of their learning time. What are we doing at school? Teachers encourage students to eat lunch and talk about the importance of eating so we can grow up big and strong. We will be incorporating health and nutrition into our curriculum. How can you help us? If your child eats school lunch, please review the menu before to ensure it is something your child will eat and
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enjoy. Have your child pack their lunch with you, so there are no surprises when they open their lunchbox. Leave the experimenting for home meals, please send your child with a food that you know they will eat and enjoy.

Starting on Monday, August 29th, we will begin our weekly snack rotation system. One family will be responsible for bringing in snack for the entire class for the whole week. Things to keep in mind while choosing your snack to bring:
1. We are a nut free school! Absolutely no nuts allowed. 2. We are only looking for HEALTHY SNACKS. Our children are

working really hard throughout the day and need nutritious food to keep their energy levels up and their brains growing. (No cookies, chips, or things of that sort) Great healthy snack examples:
1. Grapes, strawberries, others fresh fruits

2. Dried fruits (apricots, mangos, etc) 3. Fruit bars, Granola Bars 4. Cheese sticks 5. Raisins 6. Yogurt 7. Carrots, Celery, Hummus 8. Whole Grain Snacks 9. Sugar-free fruit snacks 10.Veggie Stix
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A copy of the snack schedule is on the following page, and another copy will remain posted on the parent/teacher communication board throughout the year. Please make sure to write your snack weeks on your home calendar, so we can ensure the students have a snack to eat each day! When you have decided what you will be bringing on your week, please fill it in on the parent/teacher communication board copy so that other families will be aware of what their child is being given for snack. Thank you so much for your help in making this system work and keeping our students healthy and energized!

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( Insert Snack Schedule Here)

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