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!

Posts

Week at a Glance September 8th to September 11th

Math Objectives: The students will use one-to-one correspondence to identify a group that is greater than and a group that is less than another group. The students will use one-to-one correspondence and counting to compare groups and determine which group is greater than, less than, or whether the groups are equal to each other.

Science Objectives: The students will be able to identify that the sun provides heat, light, and energy to the Earth. The students will learn that when an object or structure blocks the sun's light, it makes shade, and it is cooler in the shade.

Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write, and produce the correct sounds for the letters t, b, f, n, and m. To identify the correct initial sound in words that start with t, b, f, n, and m. To be able to sing the color songs for yellow. To work on observing, wondering, and asking questions when reading.

Social Studies Objectives: The students will work on being able to work together by showing kindness to everyone.

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to recite the Guardian Angel prayer and explain that a guardian angel keeps them safe.

Writing Objectives: The students will continue to work on the illustration process to help them build confidence in the writing process. They will continue to explore how to use shapes to help them create illustrations. They will explore how facial expressions can help them create more impactful illustrations for their writing.

Art: The art teacher has asked that each student have one oversized T-shirt to keep in their locker and wear as an art smock. If you have not sent them in, please do so, as we will start using them on September 14, 2026.

Thank you to everyone who made it to Curriculum Night. If you were unable to attend, I sent home a yellow folder with some kindergarten information and have posted my PowerPoint on my classroom web page. Please contact me if you have any questions.

What an amazing experience for the first group of students to go over to the church garden and harvest the vegetables they grew and take them over to the food pantry.

We had SO much fun with the Libertyville Fire Department going on a ride around the block!

We got to go to Mass today with our 7th-grade prayer buddies. One thing Father Conrad talked to us about was the importance of participation during Mass. We are working on responding correctly at Mass.

Look at our fancy kindergartners on picture day!

August 31st - September 4th

Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write, and produce the correct sounds for the letters t, b, and f. To identify the correct initial sound in words that start with t, b, f, and n. To be able to sing the color songs for orange. To work on observing, wondering, and asking questions when reading. The students are working on being able to define the roles of the author and the illustrator of a book.

Math Objectives: The students will understand the relationship between numbers and quantities when using objects and illustrations to count 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The students will recognize and write the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 and represent a number of objects with a written numeral. The students will use one-to-one correspondence to determine whether groups are equal to each other.

Writing: The students will continue to work on the illustration process to help them build confidence in the writing process. They will continue to explore how to use shapes to help them create illustrations.

Science Objectives: The students will be able to identify that the sun provides heat, light, and energy to the Earth.

Social Studies Objectives: The students will work on being able to work together by showing kindness to everyone.

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to explain that God creates people and how He loves and cares for all people. The students will continue to work on being able to correctly make the Sign of the Cross.

Art: The art teacher has asked that each student have one oversized t-shirt to keep in their locker and wear as an art smock. If you have not sent them in, please do so, as we will start using them on September 14, 2026.

Today we heard the story of Pelé and had so much fun using the wordless books to retell the story. We got to go to STEAM, In writing we used simple shapes to make people. We are amazed that our white flowers are turning the color of the water. Kindergarten is is so exciting!

So much happening in Kindergarten today! We went to gym and worked on hand and eye coordination with volleyballs. We read the book The Shape of Things and looked for all the different shapes hidden in the illustrations. Then we used our pattern blocks to create pictures. We also were also introduced to the letter b and used our Play-Doh to make things that start with the b sound, as you can see in Cate’s beautiful butterfly.

Today we talked about what a scientist is, different types of scientists, and a little bit about the scientific method. We experimented to see if we put white flowers in water with food coloring, whether the flowers would change color. We are very excited to see what will happen!

We had a terrific day! We learned the sound for the letter t and made things with our Play-Doh that started with the t sound, like Hayden's table or Gordon's toothpaste. A few of our friends got to share their All About Me Banners with the class. We worked on our fine motor skills by making beautiful apples out of ripped paper.

Week at a Glance August 24th to August 28th

Math Objectives: The students will understand the relationship between numbers and quantities when using objects and illustrations to count 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The students will recognize and write the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 and represent a number of objects with a written numeral.

Science Objectives: Students will work on making predictions and develop critical thinking by observing what happens when they add food coloring to the water of a white plant. The students will be able to identify and describe different types of weather (sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy, rainy, snowy) by observing and recording daily weather.

Social Studies Objectives: Students will participate in collaborative activities to build a positive learning community.

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to explain that God created the world and everything in it. The students will explore ways we can take care of the world for God. Students will work on praying the Sign of the Cross and making the cross with their right hand.

Reading: To be able to recognize, write, and produce the correct sounds for the letters t, and b. To identify the correct initial sound in words that start with t or b. To be able to sing the color songs for the sight word red. To work on observing, wondering, and asking questions when reading.

Writing: The students will be introduced to the illustration process to help them build confidence in the writing process. They will explore how to use shapes to help them create illustrations. The students will be able to correctly identify the skyline (top line), the airplane line (midline), the grass line (the bottom line), and the worm line.

Art: The students will have art class on Monday, and the art teacher has asked that each student have one oversized t-shirt to keep in their locker and wear as an art smock.

Today we read Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes. Pete took us all around the school on a scavenger hunt. We discovered all sorts of cool places. It was so much fun!

We had a wonderful first day of Kindergarten! Tomorrow will will be a full day we will eat lunch at 10:30 and have our snack around 12:30.

We practiced today for graduation in the Koenig Center. We can not wait for Kindergarten Graduation on Monday at 8:00.

Next week:

Please send your student to school with their backpack and DOT Books each day!

Monday: Kindergarten students should wear their fancy clothes for graduation. After graduation, before you leave, please come back to the classroom (room 3) to pick up your student's kindergarten portfolio. I have saved a lot of their crafts for you to have as a keepsake. The portfolio is large and filled with so many special treasures that I want to make sure it gets home safely. I think the best way to do that is to have you take the portfolios home after Graduation. If your student does not leave with you after graduation, please make sure to send them with a snack and lunch.

Tuesday Field Day non-uniform day: The kindergarten students should wear their navy blue spirit run shirt and gym shoes, as we will be doing lots of running. They will be offered a hot dog lunch. If your student does not like hot dogs, please make sure to send them with a lunch that they will eat. Please apply sunblock before your student comes to school, and make sure they have a refillable water bottle. Please make sure they also have their DOT book and backpack.

Wednesday 10:00 Dismissal non-uniform day: We will NOT have gym class today, the students should wear something nice for Mass. The students will not need a snack or lunch today, but they will need their backpack and DOT book.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.

Today we did one of my favorite end of the year activities. The first week of school, I had each student write their name in their best printing and then draw a self-portrait. Today, I had them do the same thing, and the improvement is incredible. I could not be more proud of how hard these students have worked this year and how much they have learned. I will miss them tremendously.