June 2012 Dear New Friends,

1. June 2012 Dear New Friends, Hi, my name is Mrs. Westlund, I’m going to be your new kindergarten teacher! Below is a picture of my family. Lyric is our 9 year old daughter. She is in the white dress. Darwin is our 7 year old son. He is that “monkey” in the tree. My husband, mother, and father are on either side of me. Together we will be working on our farm this summer, reading books, observing nature, and writing about it. I hope you are fully enjoying your summer, too. Take it all in and appreciate what life has to offer! I’d love to meet you and your family before the start of school. Please visit our classroom, bring your family, and drop off your supplies on Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. I’ll be in our room, 214, until 5:00. Then I’ll need to go home and help my kids lay out all their things for the first day. I can’t wait! School is so fun! Now, half of our class will come on September 6thand the other half on September 7th. Children with the last names beginning with A-M will be Thursday, while N-Z will come on Friday. Everyone will be there on Monday September 10th! Enclosed you will find a general supply list for kindergarten. We will be sharing our supplies, so you do not need to label everything. Labeling backpacks, extra clothes (in case of an accident), resting towel, and your journal will be helpful. When school shopping, please be aware that I like to take classes outside every day! It is best to wear sneakers and comfortable clothes, so you will be safe on the playground. Practice tying your shoes all by yourself and unfastening/fastening school clothes, so you don’t have to worry about getting ready for outside or using the bathroom and having trouble with tricky pants. We will have very busy days in kindergarten! So a week before school begins, get your body reset for school times. Start a bed time routinethat will help you have a positive experience. This has really helped me, my kids, and past students have enough energy for all the fun things we do in school! Make a plan and talk about how your schedule is going to be different. Enclosed is a copy of a checklist that I use at my house. This checklist helps my children know what they need to do, because as you get bigger there are many more fun things you get to do, but with that there are many responsibilities, too! Sometimes it can get overwhelming. Using a checklist helps us get focused and keeps us on track. As you get your jobs done, check them off. Then you know just what needs to be done! This helps our family run smoothly. So how else can you get ready for kindergarten? Practice singing your ABC song and knowing your nursery rhymes. Try writing them down. Practice letter sounds, rhyming, coloring, and counting. Visit a library and get your own library card, so you can get out books. Ask the librarian for the good ones! Begin reading books as much as possible to exercise your brain. Read every night before bed, so you can settle down. So snuggle up with a loved one, read, and enjoy the rest of your summer. That’s what we’ll be doing! Sincerely, Mrs. Westlund