WEBSITES plus Home-School Connections

I Love Kindergarten - Angie Bonthuis is a fabulous kindergarten teacher! She’s just updated her website with tons of new ideas.

Harry’s Kindergarten - Search “harryskindergarten” and you’ll be impressed with the videos this talented teacher has created!

St. Matthews Preschool - This is another great site full of pictures that will give you ideas for setting up your classroom. Plus, you can check out some great literacy kits that Donna Austin-Ahner has created.

smartypantsschool for Ipads Amy Weisberg (teacher consultant) recommended this app for Ipads.

helpkidzlearn.com - This site is for children with special needs and includes things such as switch activated access.

donorschoose.com - This is a great way to get materials for you room!

teachersandfamilies.com Great visuals for nursery rhymes that you can cut apart and use to make books.

GREAT READ

Why Gender Matters? by Leonard Sax - This book is so insightful and should be a “must” read for teachers and parents. Anyone who has ever worked with children has noticed there is a difference between sexes and how they learn. Leonard Sax will reaffirm what you already know and shed light on how you adapt your expectations and instruction for boys and girls. (I bought my book on Amazon for under $10.)

HOME-SCHOOL CONNECTIONS

Laptops for Every Child - A teacher explained at her first parents’ meeting that she recommended that every child needed at least one laptop – two if possible. It’s not the kind of laptop that you plug in, but the kind with two knees. This laptop is perfect for reading, talking, hugging, and singing!

Home-School Alphabet Book - Send a page with a letter on it home with each child. Ask them to decorate it with their parents. Put the letters together to make a class ABC book.

Bear Hug Letter (Susan Finklestein, Montgomery, AL) - Send home a note shaped like a bear that says, “My teacher is so proud of me. Give me a bear hug!”

Brown Bag Special (Diane Landoll, Lawton, OK) - For parents who work, send projects home in a brown grocery sack marked “Brown Bag Special.” Include materials, patterns, and directions for what you want them to make. The child will be so excited to take the bag home and the parent will feel positive about what they have contributed to your classroom.

Helping Hands - Be part of a “Caring Community” with this idea. Send projects you want made to an assisted living facility. Volunteers can then be invited to the school for programs, parties, etc.

Shoe Tying Journey (Allison Caspers, Oak Grove Lutheran) - Kindergarteners know how to navigate the web, but many do not know how to tie shoes. Get a suitcase and put an old shoe in it along with the poem below. (Allison uses two suitcases.) Each night a child gets to take home the suitcase and practice tying the shoe. When they have completed their “Shoe Tying Journey” they receive a PASSPORT OF ACCOMPLISHMENT for learning to tie their shoes.

1-2-3-4 – Tying Shoes
Let’s get ready to tie your shoes.
Over and under. Now, what to do? (Pull strings tight.)
1. Make a loop that looks like a tree. (Make a loop with right string.)
2. The other string is a rabbit you see. (Hold up left string.)
3. The rabbit goes around and in a hole. (Take left string around loop and stick in the hole.)
4. Pull the loops tight and there is your bow! (Take both loops and pull.)

Tying Shoes Version 2
Take the 2 strings (Make loops with each string.)
And make two bunny ears.
Over and under
And a knot will appear. (Tie loops in a knot.)
Pull the ears tight
And what do you know? (Pull loops.)
You’ve tied your shoes
And there is your bow!

Tiny Tales (Jennifer Hay, IL)
Purchase an inexpensive notebook or composition book. Print directions on the inside cover and send the book home with a different child each day. The children get to draw a picture of anything they want and then dictate a story or “tiny tale” to an adult who writes it down word for word. When the children bring the book back to school they get to talk about their picture and the teacher reads their “tiny tale.” This helps develop oral language, vocabulary, and print connections. At the end of the year, tear out children’s individual stories and add to their portfolio. It can be an amazing document of their year and special events that occurred in their lives (i.e. birth of a sibling, Halloween, princess phase, etc.)