Yay! We're At School Together!

Hello First Grade Families!


How are you? I am great. I have LOVED getting to know your children more during the last two days. I feel like this is such a fun, bright, friendly and caring group of people. They are doing such a great job being open to getting to know new people.

Already I can see we have some great brainstormers. If that isn't a word, I think it should be. And our class photo would be there in the dictionary defining it. :)

This week's brainstorms so far:

~Recess: Ideas on what works when we are playing on the yard as a class and with other classes (We have this posted outside of our class for reference when we need it)

~Interview Questions that will help us get to know our friends

~Future activities that they came up which included finding out our classmates' birthday and creating a time capsule

~Synonyms for the word "mellow": calm, quiet, peaceful (and "shush" was a sound that they felt epitomized the feeling)

Today we also began talking about Fiction and Non-Fiction. This helped us begin to care for the class and organize our life together, since we need to know where to put books so we can find what we need and want. We practiced together with a small group of books the kids had used and needed to be re-shelved. The kids were very into this and picked up on the difference quickly. There were a few books that were less clear to differentiate that didn't stump our group! At one point Levi said, that was a fun game!  Sometimes any old fun thing can seem like a great game!

The kids are in the process of finishing up two key pieces of work that they began yesterday and today. One was to find something in our room and write and or draw information that would help others know how to use it. And the other one they said they wanted to keep a secret as a surprise to you. All I can say about both of these is that they are challenging themselves to make their work their best and to make sure it's clear to others. It is neat to see each of their creativity and thinking abilities.  And some friends even were ready to share their work with the class!

Today we also had a surprise treat offered by the 5th grade. They had a 150 pound watermelon which they filled with fruit to feed the school! The kids thought this was pretty neat.

****A final wish:  Please make sure to ask your child if they would like to bring in photos of their family to share or of your summertime experiences. We will take time Thursday and Friday to share these.

I hope you are having a lovely week! Love, Jennifer

See you on Tuesday!

Hello First Grade Families!

I am so excited about school beginning.  Not very long now!  I just got back from school and putting final touches on things.  I hope you are enjoying your long weekend. 

Please feel free to ask your child if they would like to bring in photos of their summer and of your family.  We will be spending the first many weeks getting to know each other and creating our community.  I am so looking forward to getting to know each of your children!

I hope that all your school preparations have been easy.  Here are the links to the school supply list:

http://ourkindergartenjourney.blogspot.com/2011/08/official-supply-list.html

Our class wish list:

http://www.amazon.com/wishlist/1GPWNUYF8VVAH/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go

Our outdoor wish list:

http://ourkindergartenjourney.blogspot.com/2011/08/its-so-nice-to-meet-you.html

Thank you so much for all that you are doing for our school.  See you on Tuesday!

Love, Jennifer

PS Here are a few photos of what I've been up to this week:

checking out beautiful gardens and enjoying sunsets.

(As always, you can click on the photo to make it bigger!)

It's so nice to meet you!

Hello Families!

I really enjoyed Friday's Open House, I hope you did to!  It was nice to have little moments to talk with you and I enjoyed reading the info you gave me, thank you for taking the time to write it out.  It was also lovely to see people getting to know each other and to watch the children already creating together!

Here are a few images from our first moments together.  I'm looking forward to many more!

Also, Tuesday is IA's first beautification day, please come if you are free.  Bring your power tools!  If you don't have any, come anyway, there are many jobs to be done for our school. 

I have a vision of our outside space making children feel surrounded by plants.  I am hoping more planters will be built on Tuesday.  We need soil for these and lots of plants.  If you get inspired at the nursery, here are some plants I wish to have out there:

different types of Lavender
Salvia
a Kumquat tree
Geraniums
Butterfly bush
Kangaroo paw
different types of sage
different types of mint
chicks and hens
a passion fruit vine
a snail vine
grape vines
I love the red, purple, white, color scheme so I'm going to start with that, with silver or dark green foliage. Part of the planter will be for ambiance and to invite butterflies and birds, while the other part we'll use for our class planting throughout the year.  When planting we will be keeping in mind the hot sun on the blacktop!

We already have a whole great batch of seeds donated by Henry's family for the children to begin planting when school starts. It's going to be fun and exciting to see veggies grow.  Thank you!
We still need soil and could use more planters, so if you have extra of either of these at home, please contact me.

I hope you are having a relaxing final week of summer!  Love, Jennifer

The Official Supply List!

2011-2012 Supply list for First Grade  ( I am editing this because now we have many items and don't need more.  We could really use items off our wish list now!  Thank you so much for our contribution!)


For the class to use:
1 pack of large painting paper approximately 13” x 18”

1 pack of cardstock paper, any color (we would like lots of variety here)
For your child’s needs:

One journal that is half drawing space, half lined paper see example:

http://www.amazon.com/iScholar-Primary-Composition-Journal-10116/dp/B0053CN97G/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1313300755&sr=8-25
1 backpack that fits comfortably and that will hold your child's lunch box and journal- please LABEL this INSIDE

1 hat if desired, LABELED INSIDE

1 lunch bag or box with FABRIC NAPKIN (for a place mat and napkin), LABELED

1 reusable water bottle, LABELED

1 bag of extra clothes and shoes, LABELED

1 family photo or SMALL album of family photos


And if you can pick a few items off this list that would help, but we certainly don’t need 25 of each of these, so if everyone brings one or two off this list, we’ll be great!  (I will take things off as we don't need them anymore...)

Large/Bulk jug of dishsoap

Large/Bulk jug of hand soap (simple scents please, like: honey milk, lavendar, citrus)
1 2-pack of paper mate flair medium tip felt point pens in black
Or any item on our class wish list to enrich our curriculum and daily lives:

http://www.amazon.com/wishlist/1GPWNUYF8VVAH/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go



Throughout the year I could use gift cards for Michael’s or Joann’s to keep our class full of fun ways to express our ideas through multiple media.

I always love getting rich supplies for the classroom, so adding $10-20 to the classroom supply fund is greatly appreciated. As we are a public school, your donation is voluntary and we thank you for your generosity!

Thank you for everything you are doing to get your child ready for school.  And to help our school!

Have a great night!  Love, Jennifer

Got Supplies? Yes we do, but we could use some other things...

Hello IA families!

Welcome to First Grade!  I can't wait to meet all of you!

I am working on the supply list, so stay tuned.  After last year, I still have a lot of some things and didn't have enough of other things.  So I am not going to be asking for you to get a bunch of pencils and the likes.  Our class already has a lot!  We would like for you not to be wasting your money on things we don't need, but to use these resources for cool stuff like beautiful art supplies and great math manipulatives, etc. 

AND BOOKS!  I love when children bring their favorite books as a gift for the class.  This is a great connecting point for them when they are making friends.  This is by no means a requirement, but you think your child would be interested, have them pick out a treasured book (new or a little loved!).

In the meantime, here's the class wish list if you feel inspired to purchase off it for things we'll need for our coming fun.
http://www.amazon.com/wishlist/1GPWNUYF8VVAH/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go

As always, I am not asking you to choose Amazon, but I am just using it as an easy way to show you our needs. 

I found cool journals that have half the space for drawing and half for writing.  I like this better than the ones that we got last year, but they of course are not as cheap.  So I am thinking about this.  But it seems so much more special to not have lines going through your great drawing and then have better ruled lines to practice our writing in.  What do you think?  Here's what I'm talking about:
http://www.amazon.com/iScholar-Primary-Composition-Journal-10116/dp/B0053CN97G/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1313300755&sr=8-25

Oh, all the things we think about to make things so great in class.  :)

I am getting so excited.  Talk to you soon!  Love, Jennifer

PS if you purchase something big like a welcoming arbor for our outside area, please email me so I'll take it off the list and we don't end up with lots of these!
jenniferkt@innovationsacademy.org

My Summer Photos!

Hello Families!

I am enjoying my summer.  I feel so lucky to have time to enjoy my favorite things.  Our trip to Mexico was gorgeous.  We camped, we snorkeled, we drove through such amazing land.  I was very memorable.  Here are a few photos:

Jason and I near Catavina

My campsite mosaic in Scorpion Bay

Our camp spot for our week in Scorpion Bay

Pilates on the bluffs before sundown.

I took so many photos of flowers and birds!

A mango tree, they're everywhere in the towns. 

If you want a mango, just pick one off the sidewalk!

Different mango varieties

Cerritos, near Pescadero

On the water taxi in Cabo

A quiet beach near Pescadero

Jason's Wahoo!

Fishing off of Cerralvo

Sunset off Punto Chivato

Watch out for rhinos!

They are gigantic!

Need a watermelon?

And, I just got back from celebrating my sister's wedding near San Luis Obispo.  Here are a few photos we took since my immediate family was all together!

Mum, Julii, Geoff, Me, Johanna, Dad

Aubrie and Brenden

My Nephew and Niece and I

My Nanna and I

Aunts, Uncles, Cousins galore!

My sister, Jo, my Mum and I

Julii's ceremony

Us sisters together at the reception (after dancing lots!)

Well,  I hope you are having a nice summer and I look forward to hearing all about your adventures.  Please bring photos in to class when you return to school as FIRST GRADERS!!!

Lots of love, Jennifer

P.S. I am working on getting our new classroom ready so it's lovely and comfortable to provoke you to think, wonder, learn and teach each other.  I will be there next Monday and Wednesday mornings if you would like to come in and help out.