Mrs. Arbuckle's Kindernews

Please remember school is not in session on Monday. I'll see everyone for a short week on Tuesday morning!

Weather permitting, next Friday January 24 will be our 100th Day of Kindergarten. Please send your child's 100 items to school next week. It's always exciting to share with our friends and see what they think of to bring in.

We have currently used 3 of our allotted snow days for 2020, leaving a further 2 scheduled snow days in the calendar. If we use the remaining allotted snow days, any further cancellations will be e-Learning days. Information can be found on BCSC's website here.

As Kindergarten do not have devices to send home with students, three days of work for e-learning days will come home with your child on Tuesday. Please put these somewhere safe and hope we do not have to use them.

YOUR CHILD DOES NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING WITH ANY OF THESE UNLESS WE USE ALL OUR REMAINING SNOWS DAYS AND HAVE FURTHER CANCELLATIONS AFTER THAT.

The BCSC transportation department has a website - https://www.bcsc.k12.in.us/Page/329 - that communicates information about bus routes. This is managed and updated by the transportation department. Look here first is your child's bus is late as it may well have the information you are looking for.

This week, we reviewed procedures and school rules again as some children have had difficulty with the transition back to school. Today was an interesting day as we had Semester Awards in the auditorium with 1st and 2nd Grade. Two students in each class were recognized as Outstanding Citizens for each quarter and Perfect Attendance awards were also given.

We introduced 4 new sight words - make, she, was, been - and continued teaching anumber word weekly, this week's word being one. Please continue sending in sight word lists and practicing older lists for review - overall our class is doing a solid job in learning their 100 Kindergarten sight words so a hug thanks for your help with this.

We practised the chunks we learned so far - sh, ch, th and ing. Last week and this we have been working on Magic e - in words like mine, time, make, pine, cube. This is a challenging concept for the children and we will continue to work on Magic e words throughout our time in Kindergarten. If you would like a reminder on how Magic e works, click here.

We will also introduced the -ag word family - bag, sag, flag, tag. Our weekly story, Tag on a Bag is here.

In Math this week, we have been counting by 2s and 10s and practicing addition.

READING BOOKS FOR THURSDAY - There is a paper book in your child's VIP folder to be read at home before Thursday. Please take the time to practice reading this with your child as it makes a significant difference to the work Mrs. Brooks does with them in Thursday stations.

WRITING HOMEWORK - I will not be sending handwriting homework weekly this semester UNLESS YOU ASK FOR IT. However, we will be sending home full name writing practice for each student this month where they will have the opportunity to earn a special pencil for being able to write their full name perfectly. Students who master their name in neat, correctly placed and spaced letters, will receive a special fancy-nancy pencil as a reward. Please note, standards for this are high.

MATH FACTS - watch for a note coming home at the end of January regarding math fact fluency practice.

Phonics: -all chunk, and -ap word family

Math: describe and identify squares and circles

Sight words- as, did, all, words + two

Assessing: Comparing numbers

Did you know that…

• We have hired 608 teachers new to BCSC since 2012?

• There are 3.5 times as many teacher resignations per year than 10 years ago?

• We have not filled all of our bus driver positions in 8 years?

• There are 40 buses in BCSC that are more than 12 years old?

• State funding to BCSC has been reduced by $46M since 2010?

On Monday, January 13, the BCSC Board of Trustees voted to pursue a referendum to improve teacher and employee retention while investing in student safety. If the referendum passes:

1. The BCSC tax rate will remain below the Indiana average and of those in similar districts.

2. 100% of the referendum dollars will go towards employee salaries and student safety.

3. The average BCSC homeowner will invest $7.79/month through property taxes.

Additional information about the referendum can be found at this link: www.bcsc.k12.in.us/referendum

Monday, January 20 - MLK Day (no school)

Friday, January 24 - 100th Day of School

Tuesday -Friday (Jan 21-24) Kindergarten basketball camp

Friday, January 24 - 100th Day of Kindergarten (assuming no further snow days)

Please remember we have now used 3 snow days and school will be in session on 3/9 - 3/11.

Spring break is the week of March 16.

Wednesday, May 6 - Field trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum

Please contact me by email or phone if you have any questions regarding your child's progress or what's happening in the classroom

Email: arbucklec@bcsc.k12.in.us
Website: http://www.bcsc.k12.in.us/Page/16204
Location: 1320 West 200 South, Columbus, IN, United States
Phone: 812-376-4423 172