Sharing time in our Journals

28^th of July, 2015   

                

Dear Parents, 

Term Three has arrived and it’s amazing how fast the Pre-Primary students are growing up and progressing in all areas of their learning. Term Three and Four will be a time for continuing the process of your child’s preparation for Year One, especially with important early literacy skills. 

  

This week, PPH will be starting daily writing/drawing in their journal books. Daily writing will take place in the mornings during gathering time. Your child will be assigned a day (generally it will be the same day as their news) where they will have the opportunity to draw or write in their books. In the beginning your child will be just doing it once a week and then it will be increased.

This is a special time you can share with your child to watch them experiment with their writing and oral language. Your child is encouraged to draw a picture, talk about the picture and an adult can help scribe their sentence in their daily writing books.

If your child is ready to have a go at writing, there will be whiteboards and alphabet letter charts on the table that you can use to help support their letter formations. It is important to encourage your child to think for themselves and ask what sounds they can hear in a word e.g. "What sound do you hear at the beginning?", "Do you hear any other sounds?”. Your child may only hear the beginning sound of a word. Let them write it down and you may assist in finishing the word. Do not be concerned if your child is not spelling correctly at this stage (they won’t be), as they are only just learning to sound out their three letter words (C.V.C words). 

This term we will be looking at some sight words to help them with their story telling and writing. Examples of these sight words are went, is, on, I, can, and, it, in and so forth. Some sight words cannot be sounded out. These words are learnt by sight like “to, was and the”. You may want to help your child write down these words.

Daily writing time will be from 8:30am- 9:00am. If your child is late on their morning they are missing this crucial time to practise their writing. Please be prepared to bring your child during this allocated time. (New Timetable begins Week 3).

It’s important to stress that each child is different and will progress at their own rate. Some children are ready and others need more time. Let your child have fun with early writing and experiment sounding out words independently. 

 

When we play hide and seek nobody could find me.    I went to the lake. Sincerely,                                  Miss Katie Horrocks.

Home Readers. Yes! Term 3 is a busy Term for fun and important learning.

28/7/15

Hi Everyone!

Two notes are going home in your child's bag this week regarding the new programs happening in PPH. First is our home reading program and our morning Journal writing/drawing. Please take the time to read them as it might help with any questions or concerns you have. Otherwise don't hesitate to arrange to come and see me before or after School. 

In case the hard copy goes missing. Below is the information regarding the Home reading program. 

Dear Parents,

Today your child will receive their first home reader. This is very exciting.  Some children are already reading and some will be challenged by home readers.

It is important that all reading experiences are positive for all children.  Praise and encouragement are vital to success.

A parent information night will be held in week three to further explain the Home Reading process but for a start please follow these steps.

1.       Look at the cover of the book.  Discuss the title, the pictures and predict the content.

2.       Look at the illustrations inside the book and discuss them in order to establish some comprehension of the content.

3.       Read the text to your child.

4.       Allow the child to read to you.  Supply unknown words after they have had a go at sounding out. When your child is trying to sound out an unfamiliar word ask them to identify the first  sound in the word and then the remaining sounds.  Most children will be able to sound out three letter words with a vowel sound in the middle.  (C.V.C. Words)

5.       Some Sight Words cannot be sounded out and in this case tell your child what it says.  (e.g.  the, two, was )   They will be covered in class as they progress through Sight Word lists.

6.       At the conclusion of the book discuss the story.

Reading Exchange.

1.       To begin with the teachers will exchange the children’s books.  Your child will receive a book approximately every second day. Revisit the book on the second night that you have it.

2.       Your child will not receive a book if they have not returned the previous book.

3.       Books must always be kept in their waterproof folder.  NO FOLDER.  NO BOOK.

4.       Please do not ask for your child to take home more than one book.  This is not permissible as there have been too many books lost in the past.   On some occasions, teachers may choose to supply extra support reading activities to meet individual children’s needs.

Parents:

1.       Parents can bring the folder into the classroom and place it in the wet area on the trolly. Then a new book can be exchanged. 

2.       Please fill out the information in the Green Home reading record booklet in the folder. This will provide details for the teacher.  

Sight Words.

1.       Sight Words are of great importance to Early Reading and to future success.  The mastery of these words will increase fluency and comprehension.

2.       Sight Words are words which are to be read without sounding out.  This takes time and patience to master.  Your child may try to sound out the words at first, especially the ones that can be sounded out (on, at, in) however, it is our aim that they will look and say the words quickly and confidently.  Don’t stress if this takes time.  It will happen.

3.       This term your child will receive sets of 5 words at a time to practise at home.  Please keep these words in a clip lock sandwich bag and care for them.  Sadly we cannot replace these as the cost of the cardboard is high. Don’t discard old sets as revision will be required.

4.       Use games like Snap, Concentration and Bingo.  You can easily make up games like this with the lists supplied. Display words on the wall.  Say them all before going to bed or school.

5.       You may wish to download iPad apps that support this learning. Reading Eggs and similar programmes are highly effective but please try to focus the children’s learning on the five words they receive. 

6.       The children will receive the next level of words when they have shown mastery of the previous list.

Good luck with your Home Reading.  Enjoy it.  Home reading is a very special time between parents and their children. Grandparents love it too.

Thank you and stay tuned to find out about our Parent Information Evening.   

Remember we have a unique classroom of  Five and Six year old's. This time is for exploration and experimental learning. They will make mistakes. They cannot know everything. Practise makes perfect. They still need to enjoy being a child. 

Miss Katie Horrocks.

Email: horrocks.katie@cathednet.wa.edu.au

   

A SPECIAL MORNING

                                                

                                                GRANDPARENTS DAY! 

In Week 10 we had Grandparents Day! It was fantastic to see so many grandparents come into PPH to spend the morning with us. The children were so excited and it was wonderful to watch all the Nanna's, Pops, Grannies, Grandads, Great Aunties and Great Uncles interacting with their Grandchild. 

It was a chilli morning so it was more comfortable being inside in the warmth. Our morning session was filled with stories, gardening games,  fishing, counting tools, puzzles, board games and making gifts. The children decorated spare boxes to turn them into a funky jewellery or a tackle box. The children even used knowledge of their sounding out skills to write Nan or Pop on their box. The Grandparents were very impressed with their gifts. 

Thank you to all the grandparents who travelled from near or far to come and visit Green Room. The children loved this special time they had with their families. 

(please past on this message).  

From Miss Horrocks, Mrs Jackson and Mrs Peacock. 

Our Letter Song

Our Letter sound Hip Hop Song we performed for our Grandparents. " who let the letters out". 

Even Madi's Nanna had a go at dancing. 

WELCOME BACK

Welcome Back to PPH Everyone! Term 3 I can’t believe it.

Hope everyone had a safe, relaxing and fun filled holiday! I know I did, however, I missed the children and I was so proud to see them all grown up again marching through the door yesterday. There has definitely been some growth spurts, new haircuts and once again the children are showing how independent they are with their morning routines.

We had a great day on Tuesday listening to everyone’s holiday stories and hearing about ice-skating, visits to the Zoo, fun at Bounce Inc, Bali and many other wonderful experiences. They seemed fresh and rested ready for another hard working term.

First of all I would like to give a big WELCOME to the Richardson Family to OLC. We have Ellie joining us in PPH. Just a reminder to the classroom representatives to attach the Richardson's email and contact details to the class information forum.  

Thank you again to all parents for their on-going support with all that you do in PPH. We have a new parent roster up and ready for term 3. We appreciate your help for our morning learning program (9am-11am). We only require one parent each day from Monday-Thursday.

Your child’s small pillow was taken home over the holidays to be washed. Please bring them back to class ASAP.

End of Last Term was a busy one. Reports were issued out on the Last Friday in your child’s bag. Hope everyone received them. This was the first time your child received a formal report. Please remember that each child is a unique individual. Your child’s Learning Journey will differ from other classmates and even from their siblings. It does not pay to compare. Should you wish to discuss your child’s report you can make an appointment to see me.

The predominate focus of this Semester’s learning program is the further development of your child’s literacy skills. Your child will have the opportunity to take home a reader to accelerate this important process. The children will also receive a set of Sight Word Cards so they can begin to learn all the important sight words. All this doesn’t mean we forget everything else! We are always practising and revisiting our letter sounds and concepts already taught to become confident learners in Pre-Primary. Notes explaining the best use of both readers and Sight Words will be sent home in the first few weeks of this term. Both Pre-Primaries will be hosting an information evening about Home Reading and morning journal writing. The meeting will be occurring in Week Three and the date and time will be announced prior to this day.

Looking forward to the cooperation and support of all parents in assisting the children of PPH in achieving their learning goals for this Semester (and having lots of fun doing it!) 

Miss Horrocks.

Any concerns all quiries, please don't hestistae to contact me by email.

Email: horrocks.katie@cathednet.wa.edu.au