Welcome to Kindergarten!

There is a wonderful sense of home when you walk through the front doors of Samsula Academy. I deeply believe that your child will find our school to be a warm and friendly place. I am very proud to be a part of the Samsula Academy School family. Once you have opened those doors you are a member of our family too.

I wish to welcome you to Kindergarten. Kindergarten is a new and exciting time for you and your child. It’s a time of change… new beginnings, new friends, new challenges and exciting discoveries! I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation for allowing me to be a part of your child’s life during this precious time of growth and discovery!

This is my honor to welcome you and your child into Kindergarten and into… my life. I will do my best to make this year in Kindergarten enjoyable but also filled with academics. My motto is: “The seeds I plant today will blossom into a flower tomorrow.” It will be my pleasure and privilege to watch your child’s personality and learning abilities blossom and unfold day by day.

I run a very effective classroom which is well structured but allows for fun and growth. I hold high expectations for all my students. Furthermore, I strongly believe in differentiated instruction. Research reveals that all students learn differently. Therefore, I plan my lessons to meet the needs of all students. It will be my honor to expand the growing minds of tomorrow and encourage them to become the great leaders of the new generation.

You will find very useful information on this blog. I will update it with events that are happening in our classroom, student work, and other related events. If you have any questions, you may contact me at cgibbs@readingedgeacademy.org

-Mr. Christopher Gibbs

Run, Run!

Posted by Mr. Gibbs on Thursday, December 3, 2009
So many things are happening in kindergarten! We just finished another fun week. This week, we shifted our learning from letters to word families. This week, we learned the -an word family. We built and read three and four letter -an words. Yes, your child is reading words that contain digraphs and blends! Children in Mr. Gibbs' class can also read decodable readers that contain these words in addition to our current sight words. Mr. Gibbs and Mrs. Shannon are amazed! "I can't believe my child is reading," one parent informed me this morning. Well, believe it! Today, your child had a spelling test on the an word family. The ten words included basic CVC words, some blends, and even a couple digraphs. Everyone did amazing. Everyone received either a perfect score or a near to perfect score. Way to go busy bees!



In math, we learned how to write numbers to 30. We also learned how to use a hundreds chart to help us count by 1s, 5s, and 10s! We are making great progress but will eventually need to know how to count by 1s, 5s, and 10s without the help of the hundreds chart. This is something you can begin to practice now. Next week, we will be learning how to write numbers to 35. We will also learn how to use a hundreds chart to help us count by 2s. During the next two weeks, we will be learning about the following concepts: ordinal numbers and odd/even numbers.


We learned about matter this week in science. We learned about paper, cloth, metal, wood, clay, and water. We also learned how each of these can be changed. We did some hands-on learning this week to experiment. We folded paper to make Christmas links, we observed water turn into gas, and we made pinch pots. Children are doing very well and most children understand the concept of solid, liquid, gas.

These were made on Thursday. We began with a ball of clay and created a pot. This is one way that clay can be changed.









Did I mention that our classroom is now decorated for Christmas? Our classroom has a Christmas tree and several decorations around the room all created by the children. Our tree is special because each child placed (or will place) a special ornament on our tree. Children took home the name of their secret Santa today. This is the person they will be buying for. When items are wrapped or bagged, we ask that you write the name to whom it is for. Please DO NOT write your name. Instead, write "Santa." When the gifted is wrapped, you may come place it under the Christmas tree. If you have trouble thinking of ideas of gifts - ask Mrs. Shannon or Mr. Gibbs. Polar Express party will be December 18th after lunch. Children may wear their PJs this day. Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd will attend the gathering.








We will be doing Christmas crafts during afternoon workshops the next two weeks. Thanks to those who signed up to volunteer. Also, thanks to those who have donated items to our classroom - your help is appreciated!







We read The Gingerbread Man this week! Mr. Gibbs read it daily and children learned how to retell a story in sequence this week. Children should be able to retell the story to you, as well. We did some fun crafts during afternoon workshops this week. Our crafts helped us with fine motor skills. We laced and decorated gingerbread men and also made houses for our gingerbread men. These will be sent home next week. Today, we went on a hunt to find the Gingerbread Man. It was cold outside which was great for the season. It was rainy but we didn't let that stop us!









We ate our Gingerbread and also wished Trevor Riley a Happy Birthday! Trevor turned 6 yesterady and is having his offical party on Sunday. Everyone is welcome to attend - invitations were sent home during the week.



Shelby was our terrific kid this week. She has done an outstanding job this week and we are all very proud of her. Also, our class was amazing in music during the month of November. Our class won the Outstanding Class award for Music! I am so proud of them. Below is a picture of them with our small trophy. The trophy will be in our classroom for the whole month, until another class is chosen. Way to go Busy Bees!





On Sunday, I will update the blog with events, activities, and other information for the upcoming week. Remember, the NSB Christmas parade is Saturday!





The family project was due today, but we will still accept them on Monday. They are very creative! On Monday, we will make a digital story using our projects. Make sure you send one in with your child. I love seeing how creative you and your child can be! Great job!

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