Kindergarten

Call 634-6467

Dear New Kindergarten Families,

**You have made a special decision to educate your kindergartner at home this year.** I know many of you are ready to start today and will find it difficult to wait until August. Let me encourage you to enjoy this time with your eager soon-to-be kindergartner. These are precious days whether you are dealing with your first little one or your last.

**The best educational resource you can give your child is your time.** Spring and summer offer chances to go outdoors and picnic, garden, swing, run through sprinklers, observe tiny creatures, or relax on a blanket with a new or favorite old book. Sidewalks offer room to draw with chalk or paint with water and an old brush. On hot days you can find a cool book in your local library or visit a small local museum. There is so much learning to be discovered nearby!

**I suggest that you make a list** of what you want from your child's kindergarten experience and how you want to accomplish your goals. At KTL we provide ample resources and flexible support for a variety of home education needs. We also have some specific requirements as a public charter school using public funds and as a unique program with our own distinct philosophy. Children are not required to attend classes, although many families find them the best part of our school. **Most kindergarteners at KTL are enrolled in the weekly Core Class from September through May.** This class is filled on a first-come basis.

I have been a parent and teacher at KTL since 1997 and helped KTL founder Lee Ann Stangl develop a new and exciting tool for your family to use in exploring the world of Core Knowledge® through literacy in the arts, science, history and geography, and literature. **All our kindergarten families receive a KTL “Core Kit” full of resources to bring this curriculum to life, as well as materials to build skills in language and math.**

In August you will receive daily lesson plans and a copy of //What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know// from the Core Knowledge® Foundation. In addition, you will receive materials that align with the sequence recommended in these books. **KTL wants to help you make your educational experience fit your own family situation and your child’s developmental needs,** rather than trying to force your child and family to fit “school”. We also have an extensive lending library that you may visit and use at any time Monday-Thursday. We have collected the best materials known to be effective in a home environment.

After the August meeting you will see your advisor regularly to review your child's progress. **We have been blessed at KTL with fabulous, caring staff**, and we have made serving our families our first priority. We satisfy state requirements in the most family-friendly way we can. We have tried to streamline our record keeping so that it is helpful to you and KTL. You record daily attendance on a single page that is used all month. You also keep a separate list of all the books you read to your child or that your child reads.

**At KTL we believe the one-on-one attention and the close parent-child and sibling relationships that come from home education are priceless.** Mrs. Stangl had a wonderful vision when she began our school. If you need more information please call our school to arrange an appointment with Mrs. Stangl or kindergarten teacher Jill McGinnis.

Sincerely,