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Frequently Asked Questions About Kindergarten
What are the school hours?
School starts at 8:40. On the first day, children are dismissed at 10:30. On September 7th, the children begin their half days, with dismissal at 11:30. These half days go until September 27th. Beginning September 28th, kindergartners will start staying for full days. The full day schedule is Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri 8:40-3:00. Dismissal on Wednesday is 2:30.
Where do I
drop off and pick up my child?
You will drop off and pick up your child at our classroom, room 21.
What should
my child bring to school?
Your child will need to bring a backpack to school everyday. In their backpack, your child will bring a small, healthy snack, and a pocket folder. Once full days start, your child will also need to bring (or buy) a lunch everyday. You will receive a list of school supplies, which your child can bring in sometime in September. It is also a good idea to leave a change of clothes in our classroom, just in case.
In our class the children will bring in their own snacks each day. Please send in something small and healthy, that your child can eat in about ten minutes. Good snacks are crackers, pretzels, cheese sticks, yogurt tubes or a small piece of fruit. Your child can drink water from the fountain, or you can send in a small drink. Please let me know if your child has any food allergies or special dietary needs!
Our school has a hot lunch program. Hot lunch is available five days a week. You will prepay for lunch in the main office. The cost of lunch is $1.75. Of course, your child can bring in his or her own lunch.
What are
Intake Conferences?
Intake conferences are a wonderful opportunity for you to tell me about your child. This meeting enables me to get to know you and your child. I will post a sheet where you can sign up for a convenient time. If none of the posted times works for you, please email me so we can set up a time that works for both of us.
How can you
get in touch with me?
The best way to get in touch with me is through email at rich@mamkschools.org. You can also call the school and leave a message for me, or put a note in your child's backpack.
How do we
celebrate birthdays in school?
The children get so excited to celebrate their special day with their classmates! On your child's birthday, you can send in a treat to share. Most children bring in cupcakes, but other treats such as popsicles or brownies are also fine. Be sure to send in a few extra, so that your child can share them with other teachers and administrators.
Will my
kindergartner have homework?
You will receive a Mamaroneck Avenue School Homework Policy early in the school year. This will explain our expectations in detail. Early in the year, your child will be busy working in school and will need time to relax and play after school. Children this age learn through play and that is what I feel they should be doing at home.
But as a parent: You have homework: Read to your children---every night. This could be mom, dad, grandma, brother, or caregiver. Every week our class will go to the library where they may check out a book to bring home. They may also borrow a book from our class. I also have a large collection of books in Spanish that children may borrow. Research shows that reading with a child every day is the number one indicator of that child becoming a successful reader and student.
Remember kids learn by doing. TV and video games are not the best ways to encourage doing or learning. Your child's time is much better spent in creative dramatic play, playing with construction manipulatives such as blocks or Legos, or drawing. Always allow your children access to paper, crayons, pencils, markers etc. Drawing is an important pre-writing skill. It helps to get those small muscles in the hand doing what the child wants them to do. This is often especially important in some boys whose large motor muscles tend to develop first and are therefore used more than the small motor muscles.
When we start Guided Reading your child will bring home one book a night to read to you. Please encourage this. Repetitive readings of familiar books are important in learning how to read. The books will come home in a plastic zip-lock bag labeled with your child’s name and class. Please make sure your child reads and returns their book daily. If you have a family emergency and your child is unable to read, please send the book back the next day anyway. You will receive more information on reading books later in the fall.
I will occasionally send other homework home. This homework will almost always require some sort of parental participation. Please help your child with these. Your participation in your children's homework shows them that you believe that school is important, and it is!
All children must wear sneakers on gym days, Tuesday and Wednesday. Outdoor play is extremely important for five year olds. In kindergarten, we go out every day except in cases of extreme weather. Please send your child to school each day with weather appropriate clothing – boots for rain or snow, rain coat for wet weather, a hat for rain or cold weather, and warm clothes and mittens or gloves for the cold, etc. – all labeled with your child’s name.