St. Joseph kindergartners to get first look at classroom

By Carol Rolf

LITTLE ROCK — Kindergarten students at St. Joseph School in Conway will get a little extra help from their teachers before school starts this year.

This year’s students, which number approximately 50 divided into three classrooms, are invited to drop by their classroom from 1-3 p.m. Friday to meet their teachers and fellow students. They are asked to bring their backpacks and school supplies in preparation for their first day of school, which will be Monday, Aug. 18. For those still shopping for school supplies, those lists should be available at local businesses that carry such items.

“This is a good way for students to get acquainted with each other and to learn what will happen on that first day of school,” said Charlotte Moix, one of three kindergarten teachers at the local parochial school. “The first day of school can be a little nerve-wracking for them.”

Moms and dads, grandparents, too, may accompany their students, who will learn where they will sit and where their “hook” will be for their backpacks.

Moix, who is beginning her 24th year of teaching, said firstday activities on Aug. 18 would include reading the book, The Gingerbread Boy.

“After we’ve read the book, there will be a note at the end, telling them that I had planned to have gingerbread boys for them to eat, but they seem to have disappeared,” she said. “So we all go searching for them. We tour the school and when we get back, there are the gingerbread boys waiting for them at their seats. It’s a fun way to introduce them to the different areas of our school.”

All three kindergarten teachers will read the same story. In addition to Moix, kindergarten teachers at St. Joe are Lois Coney and Debbie Gosnell.

Moix said students spend the first week of school basically “getting to know each other.” Among the basic things the students learn during the first days of school are how to stand in line, how to walk down the halls “keeping our hands to ourselves” and “how to raise yourhand when you want to talk or ask a question.”

Moix said the three kindergarten teachers meet once a month to plan their units of study. The first unit is colors. “They get to bring a toy each day that corresponds with the color we are learning,” Moix said.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 136 on 08/10/2008