Younger Kids News

February 19, 2019

Dear Parents,

We hope you had a nice long weekend with your child! We look forward to a short but productive and enjoyable week!

This will be our last week studying Central and South America. This week, we will reflect on why it is important to learn about different countries and what we can learn from exploring them. We are looking forward to seeing your child’s research on their Central/South American animal and having them share with us what they have learned! Please remember to have your child turn them in directly to their teacher on or before Friday.

This week we will continue to work hard practicing for the YK Musical. Be sure to mark your calendars to watch them perform at 12:00 PM on Friday, March 1st!

Rivendell Summer Camp Registration will open to the public starting next week (February 25th). These camps fill quickly, so to avoid missing out or being put on a wait list, please take advantage of our priority enrollment for Rivendell families this week. To view the camp descriptions, please visit https://www.rivendell-school.org/programs/summer-camps/. To register, go to https://rivendellearlyregistration.campbrainregistration.com/.

Have a wonderful week!

Annie, Seth, and Rachael

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/920-2/

Monday, February 11, 2019

Younger Kids News

Dear Parents,

Thank you so much for making time to conference with us about your child!  We love having the time to sit down with all of you and we look forward to working with your child to try and achieve the goals we set for the remainder of the year.

We are moving into our final two weeks studying Central and South America.  This week we are ‘visiting’ Argentina. We are continuing to collect the theme writings that your child is completing each week and we are excited to share their completed books with you at the end of the month.  

Valentine’s Day is Thursday and Younger Kids are excited about it!  We are decorating our valentine mailboxes early this week so that they are ready for deliveries.  If you and your child are crafting valentines to bring to school you may bring them in any time this week.

This week is Spirit Week here at Rivendell.  Kids are invited to wear clothing to fit a theme each day.  Participation is optional, but fun! Below are the clothing themes for each day.

Monday – Sports

Tuesday – Pajamas

Wednesday – Favorite Book Character

Thursday – Valentine’s Day

Friday – Rivendell Pride Day

Have a terrific week!

Seth, Annie and Rachael

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/917-2/

Younger Kids News

Monday, February 4th, 2019

Happy February, Parents!

At drop off this morning, you may have noticed the decorations in the commons and the staff sporting blue t-shirts. We are excited for the launch of our 2019 Summer Camps! Spots fill up fast, so be sure to get yours now by taking advantage of priority enrollment for Rivendell families: https://rivendellearlyregistration.campbrainregistration.com/

Thank you to those of you who took time on Friday to meet with us for your child’s conference. It is always a pleasure to sit down and chat with you. We look forward to the rest of the conferences this Friday (the 8th). Again, there will be no school but enrichment camp is offered. Register on our enrichment camp website!

It is likely that your child has been talking about the 100th day of school. We can’t wait to celebrate tomorrow with Zeroman, cake, fun, and games!

We continue our travels in South America this week in Chile. Younger Kids have enjoyed exploring so many new cultures!

Our new Author of the Month for February is Russell Hoban, who wrote the “Frances” stories.

Valentine’s Day is coming up next week! Students will be decorating their valentines boxes later this week and are invited to start bringing in their valentines next Monday (the 11th). We are still in need of empty cereal boxes– so be sure to gobble up the rest of those Lucky Charms or Frosted Flakes!

Enjoy the sunshine today!

Seth, Annie, and Rachael

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/915-2/

Younger Kids News

January 28, 2019

Dear parents,

This last week of January, our Theme Unit studies will move from Central America to South America. We will explore the country of Brazil and learn about its beautiful land and colorful culture. We will learn where it is located in South America and color a Brazilian flag.

Today marks our 95th day of school! Zeroman has come to our classrooms 9 times so far this year! Next Tuesday, February 5th will be our 100th Day. We will mark the occasion with a day of activities, games, a 100th day cake and more fun!  Zeroman will come to our classrooms for the last time this school year and will pose for a picture with your child. It is sure to be a memorable day!

This month’s sharing will reflect the theme of the 100th day. For this sharing, kids are invited to bring:

ONE of something that they have one hundred of!

This could be one lego (if they have 100 legos at home) or one toy car (if they have 100 toy cars at home) or….you get the idea! Since we don’t have school on Friday due to conferences, we will have our sharing this Thursday instead.

Valentine’s Day is around the corner! On the 14th, we will have Valentine’s Day parties in our classrooms. You will soon get a list of the kids in your child’s class. Giving out valentines is not mandatory, but we do ask that if you choose to participate please bring one for every child in the class. In preparation for this day, we are collecting empty cereal boxes to make our Valentine’s Day mailboxes. Please bring in an empty cereal box for your child by February 7th.

We are looking forward to talking with you about your child at their conference this Friday or next. If you haven’t yet signed up, please do!

Have a great week,

Annie, Seth, and Rachael

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/912-2/

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Younger Kids News

Dear Parents,

This week our travels through South and Central America take us to Panama.  We will be learning all about the country, the people of Panama and of course that famous canal!  It has been fun to experience the kids’ excitement as we move from country to country. We look forward to sending home the amazing theme writings that they are creating once our unit is complete.  

It’s hard to believe on a cold, windy day like today but summer is coming!  The office asked us to pass on this note to you about registration for the Summer 2019 Summer camps at Rivendell.

Registration for Rivendell Summer Camps begins for Rivendell families ONLY on Feb. 4th.  As Rivendell families you will receive a special email link to the registration site as the date gets closer.  If you just cannot wait to take a look, click the link below for a view only page of the summer offerings that will be available in just a couple short weeks.      https://www.rivendell-school.org/programs/summer-camps/

Did you know that Rivendell Younger Kids have a special storyteller who comes every month to share her tales with us?  Former Rivendell teacher, Polly, is a volunteer for the Spellbinders program. This program is geared toward exposing kids to the wonders of oral storytelling as a way to pique interest and further connect developing literacy skills.  We are excited to be able to welcome her back to our classrooms this Thursday for the next monthly installment. Be sure to ask your kids about the stories they learned on Thursday night!

Our Younger Kids Musical is coming up in about six weeks!  Mark your calendar for Friday, March 1, at noon. We hope you can come to our performance!

As a reminder, conference sign-up sheets are posted right outside your child’s classroom.  If you haven’t done so, please select a time on one of the days listed or contact us to schedule a different date and time.  

Have a terrific week!

Seth, Annie and Rachael

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/910-2/

Younger Kids News

Monday, January 14, 2019

Hello families!

We are happy to be back to another week of school with students who are growing rapidly before our eyes! It’s so exciting to see the changes in our students that occur at this point in the year. We look forward to discussing your child’s progress with you soon. Conferences are coming up quickly! The dates are Friday, February 1st and 8th. Enrichment camps will be available on these days. Please be sure to sign up for a time slot with your teacher on the sheets posted outside of classroom doors.

For topic work this week, we are diving into the culture of another country in Central America- Costa Rica. We will be learning about layers of the rainforest.

Reminder: there is no school next Monday (the 21st) in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Rivendell’s priority enrollment process will take place January 8th – January 31st.  We very much value your family as part of the Rivendell community and are pleased to provide the opportunity during priority enrollment to ensure that your child has a spot at Rivendell for the 2019-20 school year.  Priority enrollment will end January 31st, and open enrollment for all families will begin on February 4th. As many of you know, our school has been growing! This is great for our Rivendell community, but it also means that it’s important to have your registrations submitted before the February 4th open enrollment period opens up to the public.

If you wish to re-enroll your child at Rivendell for the 2019-20 school year, please review, sign and submit the Renewal of Financial Agreement, which was emailed to you on January 8th.  If you did not receive an agreement, contact Madeline (madeline@rivendell-school.org).  Thank you!

Have a great week,

Annie, Rachael and Seth

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/907-2/

Younger Kids News

January 7, 2019

Dear parents,

We hope you all had a wonderful Winter Break! We welcome your children back to school as we prepare for new topics and a lot of learning and growth to happen over the next several months.

Our new Topic Unit is Central & South America. We will start this week with Central America and the country of Honduras. The kids will learn about the land, people and culture of the country. The paper towel tubes that you gathered for us will turn into Rain Sticks that will emulate the sound of the rainforests of Central America when turned upside down. During this unit, our theme writings will take the form of travel journals, as the kids write about each country that they ‘visit’.

January’s Authors of the Month are Margaret and H.A. Rey, the creators of the Curious George books. We hope the kids will enjoy hearing stories about the rambunctious little monkey and his friend, the Man with the Yellow Hat. We’ll also read some lesser known books by this author duo!

Coming back to school after a long break is exciting for kids, but also a change from days at home that have been less structured. Keeping to familiar routines, such as arriving by 8:15 AM and being prepared for the day, can help the transition be a smooth one. We look forward to a busy and positive January!

Have a great week,

Annie, Seth, and Rachael

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/904-2/

Monday, December 17, 2018

Younger Kids News

Dear Parents,

It is so hard to believe that this is the final Monday Note prior to the end of 2018!  This semester has flown by. We are blown away by the progress that our students are making and we are so thankful that you have chosen Rivendell for these important formative years in your child’s development.  Thanks for everything that you do to help your child be ready for school each and every day!

This is a short week of school.  School gets out at 11:30 on Thursday, December 20 and there is no school on Friday, December 21.

Because we have no school on Friday, we will not be sending Friday Folders home this week.  

The Talent Show is Thursday!  We are excited to see the talents of the kids who have signed up to share during this event.  Parents are allowed to come and watch the show if you wish!

Since this is the last week of December we will have sharing this week.  Our Sharing will take place on Wednesday.  Our theme for this week’s sharing is…

Something Terrific!

We hope that the break from school allows for some excellent family memories to be made.  We look forward to seeing you in the New Year!

Seth, Annie and Rachael

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/898-2/

Younger Kids News

December 10, 2018

Dear parents,

First off, we would like to extend a sincere thank you to those of you who dedicated time to helping put on a very successful art show on Friday. It was amazing to see the creative work of our talented students facilitated by our incredible art teacher, Tina.

Over the next two weeks, we will be wrapping up our first semester here at school. The countdown is on… only 8 ½ days until Winter Break!

For topic work this week, we will be talking about the three different types of levers and some examples of each.

On Thursday, we will enjoy some exciting tales by Polly our storyteller for YK story time!

If your student is interested in participating in the Rivendell talent show next Thursday (the 20th), please fill out the yellow form that came home in Friday folders and return them to Madeline in the office.

We also need your help with collecting paper towel tubes for a project after winter break.  We don’t need any toilet paper tubes this time, but we need quite a large amount of paper towel tubes!  If your wrapping paper comes on a roll with a tube in the middle we would take that as well. Thanks again for your help!

Short and sweet this week; thanks for reading!

Seth, Annie, and Rachael

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/895-2/

Younger Kids News

Monday, December 3, 2018

Dear Parents,

Happy December! This month brings a new Author of the Month, Robert Munsch, more exploration of Simple Machines, our 2nd Annual Rivendell Student Art Show, another Kids Night In and the Rivendell Talent Show!

The kids had a great time last week learning how wheels and axles work, while making vehicles from the paper tubes and plastic tops you brought in. This week, we will learn about pulleys. The kids will get to see and feel the difference that using a pulley makes with a fun demonstration on our playground. Be sure to ask your child about it later in the week!

Our 2nd Annual Rivendell Student Art Show is this Friday, December 7th from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Rivendell families and friends are welcome to stop by and take a tour of our “galleries” that will be set up in the commons and classrooms. All Rivendell students will have art pieces on display, so be sure and stop by to see what your child has created!

There will be another Kids Night In on Friday, December 14th from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. The movie will be Stuart Little (rated PG) and pizza, popcorn, drinks, games and a craft will also be provided. To sign your child up, go to https://rivendellenrichment.campbrainregistration.com/.

Another event coming up is our Rivendell Talent Show! The Talent Show is the perfect opportunity for students’ creative talents to shine!  It will take place on the last day of school before Winter Break, December 20th. Look for the sign-up sheets to come home in this week’s Friday folder. Some things to keep in mind:

• Talents must be three minutes long or less.
• Talents must be appropriate for school.
• Both individual or group talents are welcomed!

This is always a fun event and of course, parents are welcome to attend! For more information and to sign up, contact Madeline at madeline@rivendell-school.org.

That’s all for now! We hope you have a good week!

Annie, Rachael and Seth

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/893-2/