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School Rules

First 15 minutes of class: singing time, sharing time, and show and tell (that way, those who walk in late won’t interrupt class time). This exercise is done on the floor. This part of our preschool is a little louder and more social. We will be singing fun and educational songs.

Show-and-Tell: We will have “show-and-tell” the first Tuesday of every month. For show and tell your child must bring something that starts with the letter we are studying. PLEASE DO NOT BRING TOYS, BLANKETS, HATS, GAMES, AND JEWELRY ETC. Pictures are also great! (New babies, grandma and grandpa, and trips etc.)

Story Time: Your child is welcome to bring some of his favorite storybooks (one book at a time) to be read during story time. Please, make sure your name is printed on the book. We do not have story time every day so you may not get it back that day. We will do this all year. Also, bring books that can be read in five minutes or less.

Little Redd Schoolhouse 

Alphabet Letters and Math Work Books: Each child will be given alphabet and math books. You are welcome to see these books anytime, but your child will not take them home until we have completed them. (Which usually takes about a week.) These will be used as only one of our main courses of study this year. My letter books and math books are from McMillan/McGraw/Hill. I love them and you will too! They are well worth the money. Ninety-five percent of the four year olds and even some three year olds are reading by the end of the year.

These books are colorful, bright letter books for each letter of the alphabet. X and Y are together and K and Q are together. My favorite part of these letter books is the animated story told to your child in each book. Then there are questions asked at the end to see how much they have comprehended. There are also two complete pages devoted to letter formation. On these pages there are letter models to trace, dots to show where to begin each letter, and arrows to indicate the direction of the beginning stroke. For example they learn to write C and c on red, yellow, and green start write lines.

One difficult aspect of teaching handwriting is the child’s perceptual confusion about top, middle, and bottom lines. The lines on start write paper are printed in three colors arranged in the familiar order of the traffic light. The “top” line is red, the “middle” line is yellow, and the “bottom” line is green. The red, yellow, and green lines provide the parent and teacher with visual color clues as well as verbal ones to help orient your child to proper letter formation. Your child is taught from the beginning that each letter has a unique name, shape, and sound. Writing provides an important link in the multi-sensory process of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic training.

Starting with Letter book T, there is a story in every book that your child can start to read. I have some three year olds that are ready and some five year olds that are not ready. The reading books teach the letter C and the sound, the letter A and it’s sound, and the letter T and it’s sound. Then they slide them together to form words like cat and at. Reading comes very easy. That is why we have such a high percentile of readers at the end of the year. However, if children are forced when they are not ready, they will always hate to read. There are ways you can encourage your child at home if you are willing to help. It is up to you. And there are some kids that learn how to read without any help at home!

Homework: In the Alphabet Letter Books there are two pages devoted to letter formation and writing practice. On these pages there are letter models to trace, dots to show where to begin each letter, and arrows to indicate the direction of the beginning stroke. For example they learn to write C and c on red, yellow, and green start write lines. There is not time in class to do these two pages and it is too hard to watch each child individually (which should be done the first year of writing). Please take time at home to help your child do these two pages. It is important that they learn to start at the top or from the red line (if a child is writing from the bottom up, it takes all year to change it. Also, cursive writing comes a lot easier if they have learned to write correctly). Take time to draw a star or happy face and praise the letters printed correctly. I reward the kids in class with candy for doing the two pages at home. This is their homework and it makes them feel like kids.

Home Skill Cards: These are completely optional but highly recommended. These skills are things we don’t have time to cover in class. Some examples are: Bounce and catch a ball 10 times without missing, tell your address and phone number, tell your parents name, identify 20 body parts, sing a song etc.

Science Text: These come from the Weekly Reader program, that so many of you are already familiar with.

Art and other Paper Activities: We do plenty of art projects and other loose paper activities - they will be brought home on a regular basis.

Personal Letter Books: I encourage each child to cut pictures out of magazines or printed off the internet that start with the particular letter of the alphabet we study each week. The pictures need to be labeled and glued to colored paper. We will display these during the week we study the letter. It would be nice to keep these when brought home and put them in a folder for your child to review. In fact, for every child who does this, I will make a cloth covered binder to put them in at the end of the year.

Sound Sharing: Your child may also bring things that start with the letter we are studying. For example: For the letter M he could bring a real mitt, mutt, mittens, mice, enough M & M’s for everyone, baby Mike, melon etc. These items can be taken home the same day they are brought.

Last 15 minutes of class: playtime. Some of this time will be spent playing folder and board games, free time on the computer, snacks, counting as a group each time somebody jumps on the trampoline, etc. NOTE: Your child will not be allowed to jump on the trampoline before or after school unless he has a note from you and is supervised by an adult.

Parental Involvment: An underlying feature of our program that has proven to be tremendous boost is parental involvement. Although it cannot be forced, the benefits of involving parents in the educational process cannot be overstated. The advancement, the growth, and the knowledge gained by educational experience. Through several years of PTA service (elementary, Orem Jr. High President, Mountain View High School President, and Orem City President) I have experienced first hand the impact that parents have on their child’s educational experience, it is unmistakably clear. I have developed a curriculum that involves and utilizes the talents, strengths, and abilities of each parent who is willing to participate. The kid who does the entire extra that is provided is top of the class. In most Alpine School District, for kindergarten, you child is tested, labeled and placed before the first day of class. If your child goes into kindergarten at the top of the class, he/she will most likely stay there. On the other hand if they have to work up to that position, they usually don’t. It is also great for there self-esteem to do well in school. Which is a big plus in my book.

Parent Art Project: The first day of class we will have a sign up sheet for you and your child to do an art project for 50 students on a specific letter of your choice. Example: Butterfly’s or binoculars for B, turtles for T, worms for W, spiders for S, elephants for E, etc. You can use your own creativity or I can help you with some ideas. They need to have something on them that the kids can do. For example you can cut the butterfly forms out so all the kids have to do is color them and glue them on the straw. Simple for them and yet they feel like it was theirs and they helped make it. Plus they have fun flying them around. The project should take no more than fifteen minutes. You don’t need to come the day your art project is due, just fill me in and your child will teach and explain how to do it. I want your child to feel very much like he is in charge of this activity. Two people will sign up for one letter, so find someone to buddy up with. (We study each letter four days.) Note: I do all the letter art crafts. I do not need help with these. An example of this project is glueing toy ants on a letter A or beans on a letter B, etc. (if your confused just call me. Please don’t confuse the two).

Treats: There will be a sign up sheet to bring a treat starting with a specific letter of the alphabet for 50 students. Some of the menu’s centered on the letter might be: A-apple sauce, B-blueberry muffins, C-candy, E-eggnog, I-Ice Cream, P-popcorn, etc. Here again you can pick the letter of your choice, (first come, first serve basis), and you can use your own creativity or I can give you some ideas. Again you do not need to be present the day your treat is due, your child can pass them out and explain them. I do the treats the other three days we are studying the letter. You do 50 snacks, on one day for the year! Two people will sign up for one letter, unless of course your want to do it alone, just sign your name twice if you do. I appreciate all the help I can get here. (Remember one day, one time; I will do the other three days! I will also put on the calendar what snacks I will do, so you can do something different.)

NOTE: Everyone needs to sign up for an art project, snack and a field trip! There are no exceptions. If you don’t sign up, I will sign you up! (parent involvement helps keep costs down and allows Mrs. Redd to spend more time teaching instead of tending).

Parties: We remember to have fun at Little Redd Schoolhouse. We have several parties during the year. Please look for the sign-up sheet the first day and help with games and treats.We celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, Water & Bubbles, and the Last Day of School.