Open House Night

Tonight was Open House! I am exhausted, but I am even more ECSTATIC! I have the sweetest group of kids ever! I always forget how small and nervous they are! There were even some who cannot wait to come Thursday and that makes me happy happy happy!!! To make it even better, I also got to see loads of former kiddos when they came to visit me!!! So blessed!

It took a lot of prep work to get ready for the big ~~day~~ night. Here's a picture of the 'stuff' each kiddo received.

In this pack is a manila envelope of the typical school/district paperwork parents are required to complete. To make it easier on parents (and me!), I put a label on each envelope asking parents to put the completed paperwork back into the envelope before sending it back to school. This way, students don't have to worry about a pile of papers to turn in and it's easy to know who has returned their paperwork and who hasn't.

The red folder is a folder that every kindergarten teacher in our building uses. This is our students' daily folder that work and notes will travel to and from school. Inside this folder is information specific to my classroom. I included a pack that has information about EVERYTHING you can think of..rest time, snacks, lunch, discipline, etc. (seriously, type A/OCD person here). I put everything in writing for many reasons. 1. I don't talk about everything at open house. If parents want to know specifics they always ask. I feel open house is a time for everyone to get to know each other and start to build trust - both between teacher and child, but also teacher and parent. 2. Parents can't remember everything you say anyway! 3. If it's written down I can reference it later - need I say more? :)

I also included my class schedule,

an after school transportation form,

and my Student Information sheets (freebie in my store! - click on the picture below!)

I also included information regarding standards based reporting (report card information from our district) and the child's lunch number with a picture of a keypad so they can practice 'typing' their number at home! (We don't really expect them to put their number in independently until after Christmas.)

Besides the red folder, I sent home my information magnet (see this morning's post!).

I also included a little treat (because really, who doesn't love FOOD?!) I got these super cute labels from Tara over at Little Minds at Work. Grab them from her by clicking on the pic below!

After my 'stuff' was ready, the rest of my prep involved getting my room tidied up, setting up my donation area (forgot a pic! #bloggerfail), and putting the finishing touches on my "Getting to Know Your Teacher" PowerPoint. I included pictures of me, my husband and my girls, as well as information about mwah!