Welcome to Kindergarten!

Welcome to Mrs. MacRitchie's Kindergarten!

I am so excited to be a part of the St. Joseph Catholic School community. After receiving my bachelor’s degree and completing the master’s program at St. Mary’s University in Minnesota, my first teaching job was here at St. Joseph Catholic School, where I taught kindergarten. I taught at St. Joseph for seven years and then stepped away from teaching after the birth of my first child. When my children were in school, I returned to teaching at a public school in Geneva, working with children with special needs. After 6 years in the public school system, I decided to return to the Catholic School Community and started teaching kindergarten at St. Mary School in Elgin. In 2024, I moved back to the northern suburbs and feel so blessed to be back at St. Joseph Catholic School.

We are fortunate to have a full-time instructional kindergarten aide, Mrs. Graziella Bosco, working in our classroom this year. Mrs. Bosco has been a kindergarten aide at St. Joseph School for 19 years!

Together, we will develop a caring classroom community that will foster growth and develop a love for learning. We are both very excited to work closely with each student to ensure a successful Kindergarten year!

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We were very lucky to have the Libertyville Fire Department come spend some time in our classroom today. We learned that when we hear our smoke detectors go off at home we need to ”Don’t hide go outside”. We watched Firefighter Dylan put on all his gear so we would not be scared if we ever needed help from a firefighter. Lastly, we got to ask the firefighters question and they gave us tattoos to take home.

Week at a Glance November 16th to November 20th

Math Objectives: The students will name, recognize, count, and write the numbers 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20.

Reading Objectives: The students will be able to recognize, write, and produce the correct sounds for the letters t, b, f, n, m, i, u, c, o, a, g, d, s, e, r, p, j, l, h, k, v, w, and y. The students will continue to work on blending the learned sounds to make words. The students will work on identifying the initial, middle, and ending sounds in a word. The students will work on being able to identify how many syllables they hear in a word. The students will be introduced to the 2nd trimester sight words. The students will work on observing, wondering, and asking questions while reading.

Social Studies Objectives: The students will be able to describe basic events involved with the Pilgrims' voyage from Europe. The students will learn about the First Thanksgiving and be able to compare and contrast the First Thanksgiving celebration to Thanksgiving celebrations now, fostering an understanding of how history and traditions change.

Religion Objectives: The students will understand that a disciple loves and follows Jesus and that we spread Jesus’ message by showing love.

Writing Objectives: The students will continue to work on developing sentence writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating a complete thought, and using the correct punctuation. The students will work on using adjectives to add details to their writing.

Today we learned the sound the letter v makes, Charlie made a vacuum and Cate made a vine. Mila use 25 tickets to get show and tell and shared some cool stained glass art projects she painted. In reading we did a buddy reading of the book American Gothic. We learned about Grant Wood’s and how he came up with the ideal for his painting American Gothic. We were very excited to learn that this painting is hanging in Art Institute of Chicago.

Today we went to Mass, followed by a prayer service to honor our Veterans.

Today we made a venn diagram comparing the first Thanksgiving to Thanksgiving today. We thought it was very interesting that they did not eat turkey at the first Thanksgiving.

We were very excited to find out Cate lost a tooth yesterday, bringing our classroom total up to 5 lost teeth so far this school year. We learned the sound the letter k makes today and made things that start with the k with our Play-Doh.

Week at a Glance November 9th to November 13th

Math Objectives: Chapter 11 Test; The students will be able to identify, name, and describe squares, rectangles, circles, triangles, and hexagons. The students will be able to create, compare, and understand patterns. The students will describe objects using the names of shapes and their relative position. The students will practice putting shapes together to form new shapes. The students will be able to name, recognize, write, and count quantities 0 to 15.

Science Objectives: The students will be able to name the four seasons and describe at least two key characteristics of each season, such as the weather, typical clothing, or changes in nature.

Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write, and produce the correct sounds for the letters t, b, f, n, m, i, u, c, o, a, g, d, s, e, r, p, j, l, h, k, and v. To continue to work on blending the learned sounds to make words. To identify the correct initial, middle, and ending sounds in words. The students will be able to read the first trimester sight words. To be able to observe, wonder, and ask questions while reading.

Social Studies Objectives: The students will learn about Veterans Day and how it honors those who protect the nation. The students will be able to describe basic events involved with the Pilgrims' voyage from Europe. The students will learn about the First Thanksgiving and be able to compare and contrast the First Thanksgiving celebration with Thanksgiving celebrations now, fostering an understanding of how history and traditions change.

Religion Objectives: The students will attend a Prayer Service for Veterans Day. The students will learn that God’s family, the Church, is worldwide. The students will learn that we are part of God’s family, and we belong to his Church.

Writing Objectives: The students will continue to work on developing sentence writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating a complete thought, and using the correct punctuation.

Today in STEAM we worked on making 2-D shapes.

This week we have been learning about the first Thanksgiving. Today we learned and wrote 3 facts about the Native Americans.

We had a nice time with our seventh-grade buddies at Mass today.

Today we learned the sound the letter l makes. We made a ladybug, a leaf, a ladder, a lion and a log.

Week at a Glance November 2nd - November 5th

Math Objectives: The students will be able to compare shapes to understand patterns. The students will describe objects using the names of shapes and their relative positions. The students will be able to put shapes together to make new shapes. The students will be able to identify, describe, extend, and complete simple repeating patterns.

Science Objectives: The students will be able to name the four seasons and describe at least two key characteristics of each season, such as the weather, typical clothing, or changes in nature

Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write, and produce the correct sounds for the letters t, b, f, n, m, i, u, c, o, a, g, d, s, e, r, p, j, l, and h. Continue blending learned sounds to make words. To identify the correct initial sound in words. The students will be able to read the first trimester sight words. To be able to observe, wonder, and ask questions while reading. The students will be exposed to King Tut’s tomb and learn about the artifacts on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in this week's reading book, Treasures of King Tut.

Social Studies Objectives: The students will be able to identify the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Native Americans as the two main groups at the first Thanksgiving and describe 3 facts about each group.

Religion Objectives: The students will deepen their knowledge of Jesus by learning that Jesus heals us when we are sick or sad.

Writing Objectives: The students will continue to work on writing complete sentences and understand that adding an adjective (color word) can make them better writers.

There is no school on Friday, November 5, 2026.

Today in STEAM we made spider webs with marshmallows and toothpicks to introduce early engineering, review our geometric shapes and to help develop our fine motor skills.

We finish our pumpkin investigation today by cutting open table 4 pumpkin and identifying all the different parts of the pumpkin. For Bennett’s show and tell today we got to see a very cool dinosaur skull that he printed on a 3-D printer.

Today in writing we talked about the difference between creative coloring and realistic coloring.