Week 12 in Kindergarten: Sight Words to Flying Frisbees!

Dear Family,

What an exciting week it has been in Kindergarten- full of songs, shapes, balance, and creative fun! Our children are growing more confident each day, exploring new words, building math skills, and expressing their bright ideas through art.

Large Group

We started each day with our cheerful good morning song, set the date, and updated our caterpillar days. We’re now on day 56, only 44 days away from our 100th day of school! After our song breaks, we practiced our Zoo Phonics and reviewed our board messages. This week’s focus was on five sight words “A”, “I”, “And”, “The”, and “See” along with a review of all 2D shapes. Our weekly story, “Corduroy,” was an absolute favorite! Our children learned new vocabulary words like “escalator” and “enormous,” and loved taking turns retelling the story in their own words.


“I go on the escalator when I was in Dubai, my hotel has escalator” -Liyat

“Enormous is big like our old class yeah? Now our class is not enormous” -Leul

“Corduroy is a toy not monkey” -Samuel

“Curious George is a monkey” -Ismael

“It’s 54 today, I write please?” -Yemariam

Literacy

Our young writers created a class word wall to explore and recognize words every day. During the first session, our children worked together to set up the wall with chart papers, tape, and markers. In our second session, each child chose one of our sight words to write (one even picked a name word). Now, our classroom word wall proudly displays their handwriting, a wonderful tool our children use daily to read and spell.



“Dibo and my twins are my nephews and cousins” -Leul (when asked to use the sight words in a sentence)

“I am a boy” -Liyat (giggled)

“The mat” -Ismael

“I , A” -Nai

“I am big” -Betselot (repeating from Samuel)

Math

This week’s math was all about comparing and balancing. Using our DIY balance scale made from cups and a clothes rug, our children experimented with different classroom materials to explore “heavy,” “light,” and “same.” Then, we took the learning outdoors! On the seesaw, they discovered how size and weight affect balance; then gathered sand, rocks, leaves, and sticks to test out their ideas in small groups. Learning about measurement has never been so much fun!


“If we fill both cups with toys it will be balanced” -Liyat

“This is heavy it has a lot” -Samuel

“This is up” -Yemariam

“If you’re pushing it won’t be balanced the seesaw so stop moving” -Ismael

“Look I got” -Betselot (showing off how many sticks she collected)

Science

This week in Science, our students continued their journey becoming full-fledged gardeners! During the first session, they gently took their bean plants out of the cups and closely observed the roots and stems before digging small holes to plant them in the ground. After planting, they proudly watered their beans with care. Since they had planted bean seeds last time, we wanted to introduce them to seedlings, newly sprouted plants. So, in our second session, they planted chard seedlings in the garden. Each child placed their picture stick beside their seedling to mark whose plant is whose, just like they did with their beans. Because our playful bunnies love leafy greens, our children also decided to build a small fence to protect their growing plants!

“My roots are a lotttttt so it will grow and grow in the garden” -Liyat

“Dig dig” -Nai

“We should make a fence for it so the bunnies won’t eat it” -Leul

“My big” -Betselot

“I want to plant again and again” -Samuel

Art

After discussing what a frisbee is and learning its invention story during our large group time, we headed to the art room to make our very own! With paper plates and scissors in hand, our children cut out the centers, decorated them with colors, and stuck two plates together to form their frisbees. Once complete, we took our creations outside and laughter filled the air as our children tossed their DIY frisbees across the playground!


“My will fly to sky” -Ismael

“I’ll play with Alex with it” -Samuel

“Whenever we play we need to say frisbee so we don’t hurt our friends okay, like the kids in America” -Leul

Ethiopian Center

A few weeks ago, our children planned to make Chechebesa, a traditional Ethiopian food. This week, with their Ethiopian Center teacher, Betselot, the delicious plan finally came to life! Together, they mixed, tore, and stirred their own Kita, which is a dough, adding oil and Berbere to create that perfect spicy flavor. The room filled with the smell of freshly made Chechebesa, and our children couldn’t wait to share gursha with their friends. It was a joyful day of cooking, laughter, and celebrating a favorite Ethiopian snack!


Next week’s schedule:

Monday – Math, Literacy

Tuesday – Literacy, Science

Wednesday -Library, Math

Thursday - Science, Music

Friday - Library

Specials:

Monday- Art

Tuesday - Gym

Thursday - Ethiopian center/ clay

Reminders and notes:

• Please make sure that our children are wearing suitable clothes on Monday as we have art class and activities get messy sometimes.

• Every Wednesday and Friday is library day. Our children will be bringing home a book of their choice in their library folder, so please make sure to read the book with them over the weekend. Please return the folder the following Wednesday so they can get a new one.
• Every Tuesday, we have gymnastics, so please ensure that our children come dressed in comfortable and loose-fitting sports attire to facilitate their exercise.

We can’t wait to see what next week brings as our curious minds keep exploring and growing together in kindergarten.