Mrs. Jennifer MacRitchie » Welcome to Kindergarten!

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 18 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

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.
We had a wonderful time on our field trip to The Dunn Museum, learning about what life was like long ago. We got to try some of the games children played with, write on slates with chalk, and explore some of the chores the children would have been responsible for, like churning butter or washing clothes. Thank you to Mrs. Musser and Mrs. Ziemann for taking the time to come along with us.

Week at a Glance May 26th-29th

Math Objectives: The students will be able to identify pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters by name and accurately state their corresponding values in cents. The students will be exposed to counting a small collection of coins. 

 Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write (upper and lowercase), and produce the correct sounds for all 26 letters plus all the long vowel sounds. The students will be able to identify and produce the sounds of the digraphs ch, sh, th, wh, ck, and ph. The students will continue to work on blending the learned sounds to read and write words. The students will be able to identify the correct initial, middle, and final sounds in words. The students will be able to read the 47 sight words. The students will practice being able to identify and produce words that rhyme. The students will work on being able to sequence events that occurred in their reading, as well as being able to identify the main topic of a story.  The students will work on observing, wondering, and asking questions when reading. The students will practice reading fluently with the expression. 

Social Studies Objectives: The students will understand that Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor those who served in the military, especially those who died to protect our country. The students will compare and contrast familiar aspects of daily life to recognize that the world evolves. They will identify how things were used “long ago” versus “today” while appreciating that some things stay the same. 

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to retell how Saint Martin de Porres showed kindness to people and animals, and identify one way they can show kindness to others.  

Writing Objectives: The students will continue to work on developing writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating a complete thought, using the correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words. The students will continue to learn about informative writing. 

There is no school on Monday, May 25, for Memorial Day.  Tuesday, May 26, is our field trip to the Dunn Museum.  If possible, please have your child dressed in their school uniform with the red polo shirt.  The students will eat in the classrooms when they return from the field trip.  

Thank you 

Happy Birthday, Dean! We loved celebrating with you all day long. Thank you for showing us your cool Teeny Mates that you got for your birthday at show and tell. 
In Religion, we have been talking about how we feel God's love when we help or do acts of kindness for others. Today was Mrs. Lentino's birthday, so we made her a card and went to her office to sing Happy Birthday. It was so fun to see the joy we were able to bring Mrs. Lentino and experience God's love inside of us. 

Week at a Glance May 18th to May 22nd

Math Objectives: The students will understand that a whole can be divided into smaller equal parts, specifically focusing on recognizing halves, thirds, and fourths. The students will be able to recognize equal and unequal parts. The students will be able to identify, create, and name halves, thirds, and fourths in various shapes.

Science Objectives: The students will be able to identify specific animals (bees, worms, birds) that help the Earth. 

Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write (upper and lowercase), and produce the correct sounds for all 26 letters plus all the long vowel sounds. The students will be able to identify and produce the sounds of the digraphs ch, sh, th, wh, ck, and ph. The students will continue to work on blending the learned sounds to read and write words. The students will be able to identify the correct initial sound, middle sound, and ending sounds in words. The students will be able to read the 47 sight words. The students will practice being able to identify and produce words that rhyme.  The students will work on being able to observe, wonder, and ask questions when reading. The students will practice reading fluently with the expression. 

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to explain that all people have basic needs: food, water, shelter, clothing, and love. The students will understand that Jesus wants us to have what we need, so sometimes we should help the poor and make sure they have what they need. The students will work on learning the Our Father Prayer.

 Writing Objectives: The students will continue to work on developing writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating a complete thought, using the correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words. The students will learn about informative writing. 

May 18-May 22 is Spirit Week at School the students may dress down 

Monday: Comfy Clothes/PJ (remember this will be going outside for recess)

Tuesday: Sports Team Day

Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday

Thursday: Career Day

Friday: Spirit Day 

We had to say goodbye to our 5 butterflies today. We had so much fun watching them grow from tiny caterpillars to full-grown adult butterflies. 
In Science, we have been learning about the life cycles of the butterfly. Ask us to read you the books we made today. We also did a Scholastic News Let's Find Out and learned about the life cycle of the chicken; they both start as eggs. 

Week at a Glance May 11th to May 15th

Math Objectives: Students will be able to identify what three-dimensional shapes can roll, stack, and slide, and explain their reasoning based on whether the shape's face is flat or curved. Students will identify, name, and describe solid shapes in the physical world. Students will be tested on the objectives in Chapter 12, three-dimensional shapes. The students will be able to identify the hour hand as shorter and the minute hand as the longer hand on an analog clock. The students will understand that when the minute hand points to 12, it is the exact hour.

Science Objectives: The students will observe caterpillars transform into butterflies to help them understand the concept of metamorphosis and the life cycle of a butterfly. The students will be able to name the stages of the butterfly's life and understand how the needs of the butterflies change as they progress through these stages. 

Reading Objectives: To be able to recognize, write (upper and lowercase), and produce the correct sounds for all 26 letters plus all the long vowel sounds. The students will be able to identify and produce the sounds of the digraphs ch, sh, th, wh, ck, and ph. The students will continue to work on blending the learned sounds to read and write words. The students will be able to identify the correct initial sound, middle sound, and ending sounds in words. The students will be able to read the 47 sight words. The students will practice being able to identify and produce words that rhyme. The students will work on being able to sequence events that occurred in their reading, as well as being able to identify the main topic of a story.  The students will work on being able to observe, wonder, and ask questions when reading. The students will practice reading fluently with the expression. 

Religion Objectives: The students will be able to explain that all people have basic needs: food, water, shelter, clothing, and love. The students will understand that Jesus wants us to have what we need, so sometimes we should help the poor and make sure they have what they need.

Writing Objectives:  The students will continue to work on developing writing skills, starting with capital letters, stating a complete thought, using the correct punctuation, and adding spaces between words. The students will learn about information writing.