Mrs Altschul's blog

Welcome Back!  I hope everyone had a fun and restful summer!  The students all look happy, focused and ready to learn!  It's amazing to see how they have grown in just a few short months. 

 On September 2nd, I will begin meeting with small groups, of first and second grade students, for some additional reading support before our Fall Reading Picture Day.  After that parents will be notified if their child will receive additional intervention.

These groups will focus on building fluency, language and comprehension skills. In addition, each students' progress will be monitored weekly.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.  I can be reached by phone at 847 745-3775 or via email at raltschul@sd74.org

Sincerely,
Robin Altschul

I can hardly believe the year has come to an end! You've learned so much and grown so big!

 I wish everyone a safe and relaxing summer!  Practice your reading, writing and math and have lots of fun! 

For those of you going off to Rutledge Hall, good luck next year and make sure you come back to Todd Hall and visit.  Kindergarteners, First Graders and Second Graders......see you in the fall!

-Mrs. Altschul

This week, the morning groups will be focusing on the letters "M" and "F".  The afternoon groups focused on the letter "M".  The students practiced writing the uppercase and lowecase letter "M".  They used chips and fake pennies to fill up the letter "M".  We found out it took 26 chips to do this!  Wow!  Your child will be bringing home this page this today.  Ask him/her to show you how they filled in the circles.  You can use other materials that can be found at home such as buttons, stickers, etc. 

I recently came across an article in the October edition of Parenting magazine that I found to be very informative.  In my experience working with children just beginning their educational careers, this seemed to be a great checklist of skills that need to be mastered prior to starting their Kindergarten year.

 A commonly asked question by parents is, "What does my child need to be ready for kindergarten?"  Libby Doggett, Ph.D., the executive director of Pre-K Now, a Washington, DC-based group working to ensure high-quality pre-K education for all 3 and 4 year olds suggests the following:

 To be ready for kindergarten, a child should:

- be able to sit in a circle and stand in line.

-have the social and emotional skills that will allow her/him to learn and to navigate life in a classroom.  This includes such things as being able to share and take turns, and knowing how to work in na group and wait for short periods of time while someone else speaks

I have been blogging about ways to make Home Related Activities fun!  Here is the last of three blogs.  I hope you have found these ideas interesting and useful as you incorporate them into your daily home routines.

Listening for Sounds

Ask your child to close his/her eyes and see if he/she can identify some ordinary household sounds.  Running water, a telelphone or doorbell ring, and household appliances are good sounds to start with.  After the child has had some experience playing the sound game, introduce some more difficult sounds such as a broom sweeping the floor or food cooking.

 Rhymes

Help your child learn some short poems, nursery rhymes, or finger games like Eency Weency Spider.  Encourage your child to sing the songs he/she learns at school or from television shows.  Ask your child to say a word and then see how many words he/she can rhyme with it.

Labels

As promised on last week's blog, here are some more fun home related actvities to try with your child.

Sizes: Big and Little

Look for big objects and little objects around the house, outside, in magaizines and books, and on television.  Have your child compare the size of shoes to his/her own shoes.  Trace your hand and your child's hand on a piece of paper.  Encourage your child to tell you which is the big hand, and which is the litttle hand.

Direction: Left to Right

Tie a string on your child's left wrist.  Have him/her pick up different objects with his/her left hand.  Ask him/her to turn to the left, to stamp the left foot, and to wink with the left eye.  Look through a picture book or magazine with your child.  Have him/her tell what he/she sees on the left hand page.  Then tie a string on your child's right wrist and reapeat all the games.

There are lots of ways to make learning fun at home.  Here are a few activities to try with your Preschooler and/or Kindergartner that promote readiness skills in a fun and engaging way.  Have fun!

Shapes:  Square, Circle, Triangle

Help your child find objects around the house that are in the shape of circles, square, (i.e. bathroom tiles) and triangles.  Encourage him/her to name the shapes of each object, or to put objects of the same shape together.

Colors

Play a color game with your child.  Choose a color such as red, and ask your child to point out everything in the room that is red.  The color game can be played at home, in a store, in the car, or while taking a walk (Autumn: leaves changing).

Positions: First, Middle, and Last

Print the child's full name and names of other members of the family on a piece of paper.  Then point out first, middle, and last names of each person.  Add an art piece to this by having the child draw pictures of each member of the family.  Remember to point out body parts such as face, eyes, nose, ears, arms, legs, feet, etc.

 I'm not sure what has changed most over the years; the needs of children or the methods in which we use to teach our students. The "Triangle of Learning" reminds us just how important it is to incorporate mulit-modalties of teaching into our daily instruction and classroom routine for the many different learning styles we teach.  

                           "Triangle of Learning"

We learn 5% of the information through strictly lecturing

We learn 10% of the nformation through reading

We learn 20% of the information through auditory and visual presentation

We learn 30% of the information through demonstrations

We learn 50% of the information through discussions

We learn 75% of the information through practice by doing

My name is Robin Altschul.  I am the resource teacher at Todd Hall.  I have been working in the district for 10 years.  I previously taught at Lincoln Hall for 5 years and have been here at Todd for 5 years.  I am married and have two daughters (2 year old and 5 month old).  This fall I returned from a 5 month maternity leave. 

I really enjoy working in the many different classrooms assisting teachers and working with and teaching students with different learning styles. The beginning of the school year is the most exciting time of the year as everyone is just getting to know one another and relationships are being built.

 As the "Resource Teacher" I like to be a resource to both staff, students and parents.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about your child.  I can be reached at 847 675-8235.

Sincerely,
Robin Altschul