Monthly Newsletters
OPEN HOUSE 2013
Welcome to JMA – the home of the JMA Trojans. Our school colors are Blue and Gold. The JMA students are especially supportive of each other. From the 4 Year Olds to the High School Seniors – all of us work together and play together. The Football games are on Friday nights and to show our support we wear Blue and/or Gold to school on Fridays. Home games are FREE for JMA Students.
PURPOSE OF JMA PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM
1) Your child will learn to work and play with other children the same age.
2) The program introduces the concept of school being a happy place.
GOALS OF JMA PRE-KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM
1) Learn to Listen 2) Following Directions
3) Playing Games 4) Music and Singing
5) Physical Fitness
6) Visual Discrimination of Number Sets, Picture Forms, etc.
7) Handwriting, Coloring, Scissor Skills, Gluing
8) Reading Readiness
SCHOOL DAY
8:00 – 12:00 You may drop your child off at the door in the mornings.
Please pick up your child at the same door at 12:00.
Day Care students will be taken to Day Care.
Lunchtime is at 10:40. We will be eating in the lunchroom.
We are very excited about the new school year. Many plans have been made to make this year fun, exciting and productive. We are looking forward to a GREAT year, but there are a few things we need to do to make our year run more smoothly. Please help us with each of these, so that we can have a great beginning to a wonderful school year.
We will be working hard and playing hard. Please do not send your child in clothes that you do not want to get dirty. Also, please encourage your child to wear tennis shoes every day. We will be walking, hopping, skipping and jumping each day and dress shoes and boots are very hard for children to play in.
We also encourage each child to have a backpack to carry things home each day. We will have a special place in the room for them to put their backpack. We also have cubbies labeled with your child’s name and picture. This is where they will place worksheets and art work as it is done each day. Be sure to check backpacks for papers each day. Checking backpacks and talking with your child about the daily activities is always a great way to reinforce skills at home. Remember all of this is new to them, so it may take a few weeks to get into this new routine. Each morning we will encourage your child to put things in the proper place. We want to encourage independence at this point and in time they will handle this new routine with confidence.
We will have lunch in the lunchroom each day. The cost of lunch is $3.00 per day ($15.00 per week). You may pay in advance or each day. If you choose to send a lunch box, and would like to buy milk or orange juice, the cost is 50¢ a day. If and when you send money with your child to school, please put it in an envelope or baggie labeled with their name and what it is for. A special container is made available at the door for lunch money. Your child will be issued a JMA Trojan ID Card which also serves as an ID and Debit card. Any money that is sent to school will be credited on your child’s account. This process can also be done on our JMA Web site. Our Monthly Lunch Menu is on our school’s website. Also, there will be one posted in the classroom.
After Labor Day, we will begin to study the Alphabet beginning with the letter “A”. We have many fun activities planned to help the children recognize letters, both upper and lower case. We will also begin to work on our writing skills. These will improve during the year! Each child is encouraged to write his/her own name on papers even if it is only the first letter. We will also be learning some math skills using different games, computers and money. We will also be using two very helpful resources “Clifford Magazine” and “Weekly Reader – Let’s Find Out”. Your child will bring home his/her very own copy and will be encouraged to tell you about it.
We do not issue Report Cards in Pre-Kindergarten.
Holidays are very special for us as we share with the children. As teachers we plan several special activities at school. Due to scheduling and the age of the children we will not plan to leave the JMA campus for these activities. We will send home newsletters each month to help keep you informed of the planned activities. If there is something special you would like to do for a particular holiday, please let us know. We hope that our special activities will make the holidays memorable for you and your child.
We will make a Handprint T-shirt to wear to class anytime. These will be sent home before Labor Day. Each week we will be learning very important character building values. We will begin teaching about making choices, knowing right from wrong and working together “Hand in Hand”. Together we will also learn our class rules. These include not running in the room, using soft voices, staying in our seats at lunch, taking turns with classroom toys, and the hardest one – listening while another is talking. We will begin following simple directions, such as putting papers in cubbies, lining up when the bell rings (outside) and cleaning up after we color, cut and glue. Doing what is right often depends on good listening skills.
During special times each child will be chosen to be the class leader. This is a very special time for your child and your encouragement is very much appreciated. The leader will help in many ways in the classroom. There is a special desk in the classroom that is for the leader. He or she will help the teacher pass out papers, crayons, glue, etc. to other classmates as requested.
PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) is a very supportive group at JMA. Many things are purchased for our classroom. Your membership counts. Don’t forget to join. Also, the Trojan Athletic Club is another support group here at JMA. More information can be seen on our John Milledge website.
Again, we are very excited about this school year. Thank you for allowing us to prepare your children for a future at JMA.
Please feel free to call with questions or comments.
Maleah Simpson – 478-453-2558
Lori England – 478-251-0198
There are other ways to get school information and contact us.
Classroom web page msimpson4jma.weebly.com
E-mail [email protected] / [email protected]
Info-direct www.johnmilledge.org
School Office – 478-452-5570
Mrs. Diane Deariso-Lower School Dean of Students [email protected]
SCHOOL PICTURES – Tuesday - August 27th