I hope all of you are ready for a fun week. This week we have one of the neatest events happening at Apostles. On Thursday morning and Friday evening, the children in our primary grades will be performing the musical which they have been practicing. Before the musical, the kindergarten children will do an opening act. You don’t want to miss it. On Thursday morning, the performance is just a dress rehearsal. We have invited the ‘Forever Young’ group and several preschools to attend. The performance that day starts at 9:45 am. You are welcome to attend that performance. However, we ask that you let the preschools and elderly people get their seats before you get seated. I would suggest that you be here by 9:30 for that show. On Friday, I would like all of the children here by 6:30 pm. I need to make sure that everyone is here so that we can line up and get up on stage. Please make every effort to be on time that night. This really is a big deal and many people will come to see the children. That is why I need a little time with your child to go over the last minute details. Bring your child to the kindergarten room that night. Then proceed to the church to get a seat. Once we have finished singing, the lights will be raised so that you can come out to the narthex. We will be out there with your child and you will be able to take him or her inside the church to watch the musical. Our opening act only lasts about five minutes and we start promptly at 7:00pm. This is a good opportunity to invite any friends or relatives to come to our school. Enjoy the evening. I must tell you now that one of the songs which we are singing was given to me as a ‘special’ favor. One of my relatives through marriage writes songs for children. When I heard him sing, I knew I needed his song. He arranged for me to be able to do it. However, I need to let you know that his band ‘The String Beans’ is quite popular in the state of Nebraska. If you would like to order any of his music, you can preview it and order it from this website: www.thestringbeans.net. Let me know if you have any questions about this. The music we will perform comes from his CD “Oodles of Noodles.”

This week we will try to get some schoolwork in too. For reading, we will work with the letter B and the story Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate. This is one of my favorite letters and books. I know we will have fun with this. Along with the work here in the classroom, please add the words red, yellow and blue to your short stack of sight words. You do need to practice these. Once we are finished practicing the musical, we will be attacking these words. In math, we will work with the numbers one through seven. For circle time, we will talk again about Martin Luther, a man who helped us see that through the Bible we learn God’s plan of salvation. Our Bible lessons will be “God Has a Plan for Joseph” and “God Is with Joseph in Egypt.” From these lessons we will learn how God permits sorrows to enter a Christian’s life.

On Thursday, we will be taking our first field trip. We will be going to the Uesugi Farms Pumpkin Patch. It is located on Monterey Highway. I would suggest that you take that highway all the way down to the pumpkin patch. It seems to be the best way to go. We will eat here at school and leave at 11:45 am. Our tour is scheduled for 12:15. I suspect that many schools will be there, but since we do an afternoon tour, we should be okay.

Please remember to bring your child’s car seat if he or she uses one. Also, it would be nice if everyone wore their yellow Apostles t-shirt. That is such a help in seeing and finding the children at the farm. We will leave the patch at 2:00 and return to school. If you want to take your child home at that time, feel free to do so. However, the children who come back to school will be in my room reading books, until we dismiss. I will contact you regarding who will drive this week. Whether you signed up or not, I will let you know who your child will be with for this trip.

On Friday, we will end the quarter. I have you scheduled for a conference and I have listed the time below. Please let me know if that works for you. If not, I will be happy to change it.

On Friday, they will be collecting the box tops. This is a big competition so if you have any box tops please send them in. We hope to raise money for our classrooms through this program.

I know this is quite the note. Thank you for your patience and have a good week.

Dear Parents,

I hope that you had a nice weekend. Many things are happening here at school so please read this note carefully. Today your child was able to see one of my favorite presentations. The Wildlife Association came and showed them several animals and explained how they live in the wild. This is always a fascinating assembly. I hope your child enjoyed it.

This week we will be reading the story Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley. Along with this story, we will work very hard with the letter M. You will also see that I am sending two sight words home. Please keep all of the sight words together so that you are able to go through them every night with your child. Next week, I will add some of the color words. We will work on them here at school, but it really helps when you take time to go through them at home. In math, we are learning how to write the numbers from one to six. We also are practicing connect the dots. Some of the children have trouble with this. Hopefully, with practice they will catch on to doing it. During our circle time, we will talk about fire safety. Our Bible lessons will be “God Blesses Jacob with Riches” and “God Takes Jacob Home Safely.” From these lessons we will learn how sinful self-reliance needs to be changed to reliance on God.

As you know, I sent home the forms for the field trip last week. If you have not sent them back, please do so soon. Some of you still have not taken the “Keeping Kids Safe” training class. Remember, if you have not taken the class, you cannot drive. There will three additional classes offered on Monday and Wednesday at 3:30 pm and Thursday at 8:15 pm. Please make every effort to get to these classes if you have not already done so.

As the weather gets cooler, please send a jacket to school. One of these days it will be cold and I don’t have enough jackets to go around. Thank you for remembering to do this. I know the children do not think they need a coat, but I make them start with one in the mornings.

I believe that is it. I hope that all of you have a great week. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

I hope that all of you had a wonderful weekend. Today my note is very important to read from beginning to end. I am going to start by encouraging all of you to take the “Keeping Kids Safe” class. You cannot drive for a field trip if you do not take the class. Just to help you out in this endeavor, I am going to arrange child care for the evening of October 2. The class only lasts a little over an hour. It starts at 7:00 pm and you should be done by 8:15. Please make every attempt to come to the class. The child care will take place in the homeroom. Bring your child to that room and attend the class. We will be keeping track of those who have gone. Again, it is very important.

This week we will be reading the story Big and Little by Margaret Miller. Along with this story, we will work with the letters L, U, X, and F. As you may have noticed, Miss Beutel and I are working on the blending. We will keep working with this until we feel that the children have got it. In math, we will work with the numbers from one through five. We will also work with patterning. During our circle time, we will discuss the seasons. This week we will talk about autumn and winter. Our Bible lessons will be “God Makes Abraham’s Faith Grow” and “The Faith of Abraham’s Servant and Rebekah.” From these lessons we will learn that faith is being certain of what we do not see.

On October 25 and 26, we will be presenting the fall musical. Please mark those dates on the calendar. Your child will be part of the opening act. This is a time to invite the relatives and friends. I am sure you will enjoy the production.

On October 25, we will have our first field trip to the pumpkin patch. I need to have drivers and chaperones. So, if you want to help, you must have the class. Please mark that date on the calendar. More information will come next week.

On October 5, we will have the Harvest Festival. This is always a fun and entertaining event here at Apostles. You are welcome to wear costumes, but they must not be scary. I hope to see you there.

I am sending home some book orders this week. You are not obligated to get any of the books. However, I am giving you this opportunity to expand your child’s library. If you want to order, the forms must be back to me by Friday. Please make the checks out to Scholastic Books. Thank you.

I am still in the process of informally talking to all of you about your child’s progress here at school. This is just an informal time to address any concerns. If you do have anything that you would like to discuss, please let me know. I want you and your child to have a great year. With lots of communication, I know it will be.

I hope all of you have a great week. I know I gave you a lot of information. Let me know if you have any questions.