Stories of the Past
We will study and learn from stories about the past. In this unit, we will learn about history as it relates to people, events and places of other times. We will also talk about our ancestors and send home a family project to complete during our study.
Force and Motion
Our next unit will focus on force and motion. We will explore the Law of Gravity, investigate how things move in different ways and observe how pushing and pulling can change the way objects move.
Mad Libs
With Passover quickly approaching, and the children literally begging to work with language (what teacher doesn’t LOVE that?), we will study parts of speech and have lots of fun completing our own mad libs this week!
Sound
We will explore sound in the coming weeks. We will cover topics such as loud and soft sounds and high and low sounds. Our listening ears will be very important for this unit! 
What’s the Matter?
Our next study will focus on matter. We will discuss and explore the concepts of solids, liquids and gases. We will begin to recognize that matter is anything that takes up space. We will also learn about how we can change matter by doing such things as cutting, bending, heating and cooling.
Day, Night and our Skies
The next unit we are studying is focused on space, the sun, the moon and other objects in the sky. This will help us prepare for our visit to MOSH on 2/15. We will explore objects in the day sky and night sky. We will also learn about stars and planets.
Maps
We are beginning our unit on maps. We will explore various maps, globes and Google Earth and learn about map keys, map symbols, landforms, and cardinal directions. As part of our unit, we will also study our address and learn about our local community, state, country, and continent.
It’s shopping time after lots of learning and hard work to earn our cash!
Workers
We are currently learning about different jobs in the school and community. The children are discovering the reasons why people work and the tools that help make work easier. We are also learning about the choices people have when making purchases (needs v. wants.) Finally, we are working on determining the values of U.S. currency. We are asking for your help to complete a Career Interview so your child can teach us about a career. We will wrap-up the unit with a class store where the children can spend “money” they earned by completing “jobs” in classroom.
Animals
We are busy learning about animals. We learned about different kinds of animals and connected our learning to our field trip to the zoo. We also discussed the difference between pretend and real animals and living and nonliving things. Now we will explore student selected animals to discover the similarities and differences between mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, and fish.
Plants
After a few short weeks with the High Holidays, we’re ready to start our plants unit. The children began the unit last week looking at pumpkins and will discover over the course of the unit what plants look like, what they need to grow, and the parts of plants. We will go on a nature walk, observe, label and even try out our green thumbs by planting seeds!
U.S. Symbols
Now that the students have studied and participated in being good citizens in class, we will turn our focus to the larger picture of United States and what it means to be a citizen of the U.S. We will learn about symbols important to our country and even some information about the rules of our government.
“Catch Me Being a Mentsch”!
Over the following weeks we will focus on a new Social Studies unit, which ties in with our school-wide program of rewarding children who show derech eretz (good citizenship.) We will learn about rules, why they are important, and how we can help others so our class, school, and entire community are a better place.
Welcome “Katom”
We were able to welcome our first butterfly that emerged from his chrysalis last Friday, September 9, 2011. This week we will continue to learn about the butterfly life cycle and facts about Monarchs and other insects.
“If nothing ever changed…there’d be no butterflies.”
During our second week of EKP we wrapped up our formal study of the 5 senses. We spent an afternoon exploring each sense. We tasted food, tried to smell things without looking, and even had to guess items hidden in a bag by touch alone.
Now we are moving into observing the butterfly life cycle. We have several milkweed plants that we’ve spotted with Monarch eggs and caterpillars. The caterpillars are enjoying a butterfly net home in our classroom so we can watch them change into a chrysalis and then emerge as butterflies. The children are eager to meet our first butterfly!
Week 1 Fun!
Our Enhanced K Program is off to a great start! We began the first week with getting to know you activities. Now we are busy learning about the 5 senses. Please ask your child to tell you about the 5 senses.
Welcome to the Enhanced Kindergarten Program!
Program Details: We are excited to offer your Kindergartener an afternoon filled with excitement and learning. Each afternoon will contain:
- Recess/Free Time: This time will allow the children to relax and unwind from their busy day in Kindergarten.
- Enhanced Lessons: These lessons will mostly focus on science and social studies. However, they may also include art activities, special visits to the library or computer lab, and educational games/enrichment activities.
- Snack: We will have time set aside each afternoon for snack. There will be snacks available (such as graham crackers) but if you prefer to send in a specific snack with your child please label it for the afternoon.
- Homework Time: It is the goal of the program to allow each child support from the teacher to help with homework. Please understand that you still need to look over the work so you are familiar with what your child is learning in school. You may also find notes if your child struggled working on the concept. All reading assignment stories will be read at least once during the afternoon, but should be repeated again by having your child read to you at home.
Meet the Teacher: Kristi O’Neill, a native of Manchester, Michigan, is a graduate of Alma College. This is her third year of teaching at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School. She is married to Lt Benjamin O’Neill, a pilot in the United States Navy.
Contact Information: Please feel free to e-mail Mrs. O’Neill if you have any questions or concerns. Her e-mail address is kristi.oneill@mjdgs.org.
