Staying Busy this Summer

With less than a week until Summer Break, you may be looking for ways to fill the inevitable Summer brain drain.  Mixing in Summer fun and relaxation, here are some summer activities to help keep your child on track in preparing for first grade.  Below you will find ideas, printable activity calendars, websites, and more for your child and you to enjoy this summer.  In August, I will be clearing out my blog mailing list to make way for incoming Kindergarten families.  If you would like to remain on the Kindergarten blog mailing list please let me know.

Reading:

Summer is an excellent time for children to explore new ideas and to continue to grow as readers and writers.  Parents and family members play an important role in building successful readers.  Summer reading is vital to your child retaining and building on the skills learned during the past 10 months.  Most importantly, this is a time for children to engage their imaginations, find amusement in books, and to continue their love of reading

•  READ!  READ!  READ!  READ!  READ!

•  Model Reading

If your child sees you reading, it will encourage them to read.

•  Partner Reading

Find opportunities to read to your child.  Read signs while driving in the car, at stores and while you’re on vacation!

•  Summer Reading Program

Sign your child up for the summer library reading program.  Iowa City’s Summer Reading Program fits right in with our Kindergarten motto.  “Get ready, set, READ!” was something we said every single day while in school.

•  Interest = Fun!

Try and find books about things that interest your child.  Help your child create a library of his or her own!

•  Iowa City Mom’s Blog

The Iowa City Mom’s Blog has a great post on Summer reading.

Writing:

•  Build Writing Stamina and Confidence

•  Journal Ideas

Here you will find summer journaling ideas with print outs and video description.

•  Writing Prompts

Summer Writing Prompt ideas for a journal: 

1.  June - How do you like summer so far?  Draw a picture of your June fun.

2.  July - Did you see any fireworks on the 4th of July?   Draw a picture of your 4th of July.

3.  August - Are you thinking about going back to school?  Are you nervous?, excited?, scared?  Draw a picture of yourself in 1st Grade.

•  IXL – Language Arts

IXL has a NEW Language Arts component for First Grade.  I have not had a chance to check this out, but if it is anything like their Math activities it will be well worth the membership.  Here students can practice various skills like – ABC order, pronouns, adjectives, prepositions, word meaning etc.

Math:

•  Basic Math Facts

Kindergarteners LOVED “Time Test Tuesday”.  Encourage your child to participate in weekly (or even daily time tests).  In Kindergarten, we tried to complete 20 problems in 3 minutes.  In First Grade, students are typically asked to complete 50 problems in 5 minutes.  Here you can find math fact worksheets.

•  IXL - Math

While IXL requires a paid membership it is totally worth it.  Here students can work at a self-paced level to maneuver through a variety of age & grade appropriate math tasks.  You determine where your child should start and it builds from there.  A GREAT resource!

Here is an article (10 Ways to Build Math Skills this Summer) that provides quick and easy ways to bring math into your daily summer routine.

Here PBS provides simple tips for Summer math learning.

Summer Calendars & Guides:

Here is a link to Iowa City Public Library’s kid calendar which should include a summer calendar beginning at the start of June.  This calendar typical includes magicians, movies, music and more!

Here is a super fun(!) calendar of activities to complete each day over the summer.

A book recommendation:  Daily Summer Activities for Moving into First Grade -  By Jo Ellen Moore.

This “Back to School” printable will help your child gear up for first grade.  Here you can find printable guides for future grades, too.

This link offers a variety of fun activities to keep your child’s brain engaged while having fun.  From Summer Safety, to outdoor adventures, to reading lists.  You’ll find a ton of ideas here.

This blog post includes resources and ideas for building academics and creating a “summer school” routine at home.

Here are some fun and free summer learning resources.

Barnes and Noble has amazing workbooks and kid-friendly resources that you can purchase at low cost to keep that brain focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic.  The Star Wars and BrainQuest (also available at Costco, I believe, and online) workbooks have always been huge hits with past Kindergarten classes.

Willowwind Summer Camp Courses:

It is always so fun to see familiar faces in Willowwind’s Summer Program as I’ve stop up at Willowwind periodically over the Summer in closing out the past school year and preparing for next school year.  Classes still have openings and additional sections are opening up for our most popular classes.  Be sure to click here to see our Summer Programs brochure, call Rachel B. at 319.338.6061, or email Hanna Yaeger, our Summer Programs Director, at hannay@willowwind.org to learn more about remaining availability.

Laughs:

No summer can come and go without some good laughs.  Click here to access last year's Willowwind Teacher Talent Show Music Video, and here to view last year's Willowwind Teacher Graduation Monologue inspired by Shia LeBeouf.  As always, the teachers are looking forward to their "surprise" video for this year!  Be sure to be at Wednesday's Talent Show to see the talents of our students and the silliness from our teachers.

MOST OF ALL – HAVE FUN!!!:

The most growing your child can do is when you are having fun together.  Check out some of these amazing adventure sites right here in our great state of Iowa.  Thank you Iowa City Mom’s Blog for the great articles.  IC Mom's Blog is a great resource.  I always enjoy their focus on highlighting local and regional summer activities.  Take a look at their blog or below for more information and ideas.

Iowa City’s Passport to Fun

Pools & Splash Pads

Area Beaches

Build Responsibility
Battling Summer Boredom

Zoos – in and around Iowa

Kernels Baseball – Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Maquoketa Caves – Maquoketa, Iowa

National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium – Dubuque, Iowa

Grand Harbor Resort and Waterpark – Dubuque, Iowa

Lost Island Waterpark – Waterloo, Iowa

Fun City Family Attractions – Burlington, Iowa

Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge – Prairie City, Iowa

Adventureland Amusement Park – Altoona, Iowa

Finally, I love this Huffington Post article about enjoying the summer in honor of simpler days (10 Ways to Give Your Kids an Honest-to-Goodness 1970s Summer).

Have other school readiness and/ or summer fun must haves on your family’s summer to-do list?!  Let me know!  I’m always looking to grow my list of resources.  Thank you, all, for an amazing school year.  I hope you are having a wonderful summer break.  Enjoy!

Summer Memories from 2016:

Celebrating the Summer Solstice - Playing outside, past our bedtime, in our PJs.

Exploring the Iowa countryside.

Watching the sun set over Northern Minnesota

Summer Weddings

Meeting MN Twins' TC Bear

Wearing shades & finding enjoyment in a $0.94 pinwheel.

What we're looking forward to most in Summer 2017:

Welcoming home Baby Beninga and becoming a family of four.

Packing Up - Taking Home Belongings

Most student work will go home with your child at the end of Portfolio Night tonight (5:30 - 6:15).  Your child can take home their Portfolio presentation board and green or blue construction paper folder with additional work in it.  In the folder, you will notice their "Word Book" and "Handwriting Workbook".  As to be expected with a busy school year, both of these have additional pages that can be completed over the summer.  In the next week or so, I will publish a blog about activities to do over the summer to help prevent summer gapping between school years.

After tonight, MOST work will have gone home.  There will be a few additional things to take home and their take home schedule is as follows:

Thursday 5.18:  Act of Kindness Bag
Each Kindergartener can take home an Act of Kindness Bag to give to someone (beyond themselves! :D) to spread kindness beyond our Willowwind community.

Friday 5.19:  Remaining Belongings
Last few pieces of work (last Time Test / Table Name Plate), cubby items, sunscreen, Bunny Book Bag, and Quiet Reading Time Blankets will go home.  Blankets do not need to return to school for the last three days of school next week.  I will have Willowwind sunscreen on hand next week to apply to students.  If you have a special sunscreen you'd like your child to wear (or a sun hat) please leave it in their backpack for them to use.

Wednesday 5.24 / Thursday 5.25:  Last Day Supplies
Students will have their personal items to take home, but they will also have a few additional Kindergarten items including:

•  Kids' Rag (if ordered)

•  Class Award

•  A Special Gift
Remember, Thursday's dismissal is 7:30 am.  Please see the email "READ & RESPOND:  Last Day of School Info" of the day(s) schedule, opportunities for parents (Talent Show, Picnic, Graduation), a packing list & much more information.

Let me know if you have questions about taking the remainder of our items home.  Hard to believe we are down to the last five days!

Don't forget to turn in your parent homework (end of year letter) by Friday, May 19!!

Monday 5.22 - Camp Tanager Field Trip

As a reminder, K-6 students will be traveling to Camp Tanager on Monday, may 22 for a school wide field trip.  Camp Tanager, a local summer camp, is opening up their grounds for Willowwind students to take place in a off campus field day where students will be able to participate in various team-building activities with their Partner Families and classes.  Activities include: 9 Square, Capture the Flag, team relays, team challenges, and archery.

Students will leave by school bus around 8:30 and return to school around 3:00.  Please be sure your child arrives to school no later than 8:15 so they are prepared to leave on the school bus at 8:30.

For the field trip, please be sure your child has 2 snacks, a lunch, and water bottle.  Comfy clothing, layers, and tennis shoes are encouraged.  Please be sure your child has applied sunscreen at the start of the school day.  K-6 teachers, will have Willowwind-supplied sunscreen on hand to reapply during the day.

Due to the location of the field trip and a doctor's appointment that I have scheduled at UIHC, I unfortunately, won't be able to attend Monday's field trip.  Ms. Erin will be on hand as will all other K-6 teachers and Ms. Susan, our PE teacher.  I am confident that the students are in great hands and the other teachers are prepared for my absence.  Let me know if you have questions.

My Wish Day - Tuesday, 5.23

As a wrap up to our Wishes Celebration, we will be enjoying my wish day on Tuesday, May 23rd.  We will be spending our last day as a class (before the final hurrah with our whole school) enjoying Iowa City.  We will travel around by city bus stopping at the Ronald McDonald House to drop off donated cleaning supplies and pop tabs (bring any in you may have!).  We will then head to the Pentacrest to eat lunch and play lawn games together as a class, we will climb on the library's play structure one last time and as a final treat we will stop by Molly's Cupcakes to enjoy a MINI treat.

Shhh....this trip is a surprise, so don't say anything to your Kindergartener.

Looking forward to one last day of fun with your amazing Kindergartener!  Let me know if you have questions.

Archiving Seesaw Photos

Feedback from our families about the success of implementing Seesaw as a communication tool PreK-6 has been overwhelming.  We are so excited that families have found this way to stay in touch helpful when talking about the school day with their child.  As we approach the end of the school year, I wanted to pass along information on how you can archive photos linked to your child's Seesaw account.  See the message from Seesaw below to save photos.

Seesaw Message:

We’re happy to announce that parents can now download a .zip archive of their child’s work for free, anytime.  For parents who want to save their child’s work outside of Seesaw at the end of the year, this is a much simpler option than downloading files individually.  See how it works!

Last Day of School - Talent Show (5.24)

As the end of the year draws near, all students are invited to participate in our Last Day of School Talent Show. Students may share an appropriate performance arts based talent that lasts 60 seconds or less. Examples could include song, dance, comedy routines, acting scenes, music, sports demonstrations, etc. Students will share their talent with the Willowwind community on Wednesday, May 24th from 9:00-10:30 AM. Participation is voluntary!

Please take time to discuss this opportunity with your child.  They may need your advice and guidance as they select an appropriate act for a K-6 audience.  Ideas will be approved by classroom teachers. All materials needed including digital and sheet music and instrument for performances, costumes, sports equipment, etc. must be provided by the student’s family.  All digital music must be played from a family’s device (or CD given to teacher).  Devices must include a headphone jack to plug into Willowwind’s AV / sound equipment.  Please sign up on THIS spreadsheet. Spots are first come, first serve and outline the order of the talent show performances.  Sign up by FRIDAY, MAY 19th!

Thanks so much for sharing your talents, students!  Parents, you are very welcome to join us for the show.  We'd love to have you there to cheer us on!

Shhhhhh! Help Needed: Kindergarten Wishes

Read carefully... I need your help with a fun Kindergarten surprise.  SHHH!  Don't tell your Kindergartener about the top-secret information below.

Our time together is quickly coming to end. While this thought can bring some sad feelings in our hearts it is a truly a time to celebrate all that we have done together and our love for one another. It is a time where we are reflecting on our own individual progress over the last year and thinking about all of the wonderful things we have done together. We have become a family and experienced so much together.

On Friday, the Cottontails talked about wishes. We concluded that a wish is a something we want that makes ourselves and others feel better. Students took Literacy time on Friday to think about our Kindergarten year and brainstorm three wishes they would love to see come true as Kindergarten comes to an end. We generated a flurry of ideas and are excited to think about all the wishes, big and small, that could happen in the coming weeks. I am excited now to take one of each students' wishes and make it come true before the end of the school year.

Daily, beginning Tuesday, May 9th, a student's wish will come true. While the Cottontails know that one of their wishes may come true, it is a total surprise for the Cottontails regarding who's wish will come true each day and which wish. I have created a schedule of students' wishes and what day they will come true. Some may require your help.  These wishes can be found in red font. I will send reminder emails before "help wishes" occur.

Thank you so much for your help in making the last month of Kindergarten incredibly special and fun. Remember, the wish schedule is top secret!! And don't forget to send me your child's baby picture ASAP or before your child's Wish Day.  See other blog post (titled:  Shhhhhh! Help Needed: Your Child's Baby Picture).

Cottontails' 2017 End of Kindergarten Wishes

Tuesday, May 9 - William's Wish - Movie Day

Wednesday, May 10 - Ian's Wish - Park Day
Wednesday, May 10 - Ben's Wish - Plant a Flower Day

Thursday, May 11 - Zariah's Wish - Stuffed Animal Day - Note:  Please pack a favorite stuffed animal for your child to play with at school.  Keep the stowaway stuffed animal a SECRET!

Friday, May 12 - Lily's Wish - Prize Bus Day

Monday, May 15 - Jared's Wish - Dance Party Day

Tuesday, May 16 - Aryan's Wish - Word Search Day

Wednesday, May 17 - Hannah's Wish - Dress Up Day - Note:  please pack a dressy (as in more formal) outfit for your child to change into.  Keep the packed dress up outfit a secret!

Thursday, May 18 - Neshi's Wish - PJ Day - Note:  Please pack a pair of PJs for your child to change into.  Keep the packed PJs a secret!

Friday, May 19 - Olivia's Wish - Extra Art Day

Tuesday, May 22 - Ms. Michelle's Wish - Class Field Trip Day (More information to follow.)

Shhhhhh! Help Needed: Your Child's Baby Picture

On Tuesday, May 9th, the Cottontails' will begin watching our End of Year Wishes come true.  A wish is something we want that makes ourselves, and others feel better.  Please see the previous blog post for more information and where your specific help is needed in granting wishes.

In the meantime.... please read this top-secret information carefully.

ASAP, please email me your Kindergartener's baby picture.  Beginning Tuesday, each Wish Reveal Morning the Cottontails will play "Who's That Baby?" making guesses as to which Kindergartener is featured in the Baby Picture of the Day.  At Morning Meeting, I will reveal "Who's That Baby?" and therefore who's wish will come true that day.  Please see the Wish Blog Post for our top-secret Wish Reveal schedule and when I will need your child's baby picture for their special Wish Day.

Email me your child's baby picture ASAP, and keep the picture you select a secret so your child can be just as surprised when their own baby picture is on display.  Now for a little "Who's That Baby?" fun!  Take a look below and can you guess…"Who's That Baby?"

I'll give you a hint.  It's actually a picture of two little ones...it seems like they could practically be twins...but they're not.  ;)  Enjoy, have fun, and thank you for helping us make the end of our Kindergarten year so magical!  REMEMBER, keep the baby picture you email TOP SECRET.

Please Advise - May 10th Field Trip Change

Due to the recent wet weather, an increase in Poison Ivy, a high tick population this Spring, and recommendation from the Hickory Hill field trip coordinator, Willowwind School's May 10th field trip to Hickory Hill Park has been cancelled.  A big task on our field trip was to go "off trail" to help Hickory Hill friends pick Garlic Mustard (an invasive species).  This task would put our students into contact with too much Poison Ivy, a risk too great for Willowwind faculty to feel comfortable taking.  Parents that volunteered to drive, we thank you for your willingness to help but are no longer in need of drivers.

We were most looking forward to the trip to Hickory Hill to help our local environment and spend time together.  We hope to still do so on Wednesday, May 10th, weather permitting, with a walking field trip to Friendship Park and Ralston Creek where students will participate in group games and Willowwind's annual De-Trash-a-Thon.  According to tradition, 3-6 friends will help to clean out Ralston Creek.  Specific information about needs for this portion of the trip will be communicated by 3-6 classroom teachers.  Given Friendship Park is within walking distance we are no longer in need of drivers.  With our revised May 10th field trip to Friendship Park, students should still wear layers, apply sunscreen, and bug spray.  Students will be back at Willowwind in time for lunch.  

Even though our Hickory Hill field trip won't go as planned, we still encourage families to get involved with Hickory Hill Park, if interested.  Families can visit http://www.hickoryhillpark.org/blog  to find ways to help where they have Work Days that are open to the public.

Please don't hesitate to ask your child's classroom teacher if you have questions.  Thank you for your understanding.  

Save the Date: Portfolio Night - Wed, May 17 (5:30 - 6:15)

You're invited to join us for Willowwind School's Annual Portfolio Night! 

Who: Willowwind's students will present work from the school year to illustrate overall growth and progress in all areas of study.  Please note, this event is mandatory for all K-6 students.  Please let your classroom teacher know if an unavoidable conflict stands in the way.

Where: Willowwind School Classrooms

When: Wednesday, May 17 from 5:30-6:15 p.m. for all K-6 Students.

Why:  Portfolio Night and the preparation leading up to this event allow students to be reflective learners within their own education.  Analyzing school work while preparing for Portfolio Night allows students take ownership of their school year and see the progress they have made.  Through parent participation, Portfolio Night provides students a platform to speak about their growth, building their public speaking skills in an informal, open house style forum.  Students will be assigned a classroom based on their partner families.  Click HERE to see your child’s Portfolio Night room assignment.