Happy Summer! Welcome to the summer edition of the Cedar Mountain Blog! A special welcome to all of our new families of entering kindergarten students and the new families moving to Vernon with first-graders! This edition will give information to our families that may have missed the Kindergarten Orientation or are still registering this summer. You will find many useful links that will be helpful to you this summer. So while you’re poolside or lakeside, take a few minutes to check out the Cedar Mountain website as well as the information contained here.
Kindergarten Orientation Information: CLICK HERE to view the Kindergarten Orientation slide deck for general information on what you need to know for the new school year.
Phonological Awareness Resources (from Heggerty.org)- You will be hearing a lot about phonological awareness from your child’s teacher. Using Fundations and Heggerty materials, along with other multisensory instruction, a student’s understanding of our language begins. Phonological awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken parts of sentences and words. Examples include being able to identify words that rhyme, recognizing alliteration, segmenting a sentence into words, identifying the syllables in a word, and blending and segmenting parts of a word (like its beginning sound like the /c/ in cat). I would also like to recommend THIS LIST of books that can develop a love of words in young children.
The resources below have been compiled by our Reading Specialist, Mrs. Kristina Krops, and include activities that help students develop phonological and phonemic awareness. Click on the links to take you to the site.
Florida Center for Reading Research– Printable activities for Kindergarten and 1st grade to reinforce and practice rhyme, alliteration, phoneme isolation, blending, segmenting, and manipulating sounds in words
Sounder & Friends– Phonemic awareness training videos for children
The Literacy Nest– Ideas and resources for teaching phonological awareness
PreKinders – Literacy printables for Pre-K parents
Más Fonoaudiología – Un sitio con actividades para practicar la conciencia fonológica y la fonética.
Nursery Rhymes: To build a child’s phonemic awareness, you can read nursery rhymes with your child. CLICK HERE for common nursery rhymes to have fun with your child.
Summer Math Reinforcement: Here are two documents for you to reference if you would like to keep your child’s math skills up during the summer months to avoid “the summer slide”.
END OF KINDERGARTEN MATH REINFORCEMENT SKILLS
END OF FIRST-GRADE MATH REINFORCEMENT SKILLS
Make Summer Learning a Family Affair: Below are some ideas for you to do at home with your children while at home or when you are traveling to special destinations this summer. Click on the image to enlarge.
DIAL4: Parents often ask what the DIAL4 (Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning, 4th edition) tells us about an entering kindergarten student. Parents and guardians should know that the results of this screening are one of the measures used to help sort the students into appropriate classrooms and helps us know the potential needs of each student. Here are questions that are often asked by our families.
My child has a summer birthday and I am concerned that they are not ready for Kindergarten. Will this screening tell me if my child is ready for Kindergarten?
No. This is a screening, not a readiness assessment. The best person to discuss your child’s readiness for Kindergarten is your child’s pre-school teacher and your pediatrician.
What screening tool is used?
The Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning™, Fourth Edition, or DIAL-4, is the developmental screening tool used by the Vernon Township School District. It is designed to measure the most fundamental or basic concepts that are acquired by young children.
What areas does the screening examine?
The DIAL -4 examines three major areas as follows:
Motor: Catching, jumping hopping, skipping, building, thumb and finger motor skills, cutting, copying and name writing.
Concepts: Identification of body parts, colors, rapid color naming, counting, positions, concepts (big/little), and shapes
Language: Personal data, articulation, objects and actions, letters and sounds, rhyming and I spy, problem solving, and intelligibility.
Does the screening examine any other areas?
Yes. The screening operators take behavioral notes; for example, how willing the child is to separate from the parent/caregiver. These observations may be used to explain individual variations in the way children approach the tasks given in the screening. Operators also note if the child has English as a second language or if they exhibit speech patterns that may need to be examined more closely.
Sign Up Genius for Entering Kindergarten Families: CLICK HERE to sign up for a time to bring your entering kindergarten child in for a Meet and Greet this summer.
Counselor’s Corner: Our School Counselor, Ms. Ingrid Green, encourages you to READ HER S’MORE to learn about her and for information on her program at Cedar Mountain.
Looking for Summer Reading? Here are a few links that you might be interested in when looking for summer reading books for your children
From the American Library Association
Sussex County Library Summer Reading Program: This summer’s theme is “Oceans of Possibilities”. CLICK HERE to learn more how your child can participate in person at the library or online.
2022-2023 VTSD School Calendar: For planning purposes, Click HERE for the 2022-2023 school calendar. The Cedar Mountain Back to School Night is scheduled for Thursday, September 1, 2022. The first day of school is on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. Please note that the school calendar is subject to change by the Board of Education.
Supply Lists for 2022-2023: For planning purposes, here are our supply lists for next year, if you would like to gather these items through the summer months. Please do not over purchase school supplies without looking at this list.
2022-2023 KINDERGARTEN Supply List
2022-2023 FIRST-GRADE Supply List
2022-2023 SCA: For our new families, the purpose of the School and Community Association (SCA) is to serve Cedar Mountain by encouraging a close relationship with parents, administrators, and faculty in order to enhance cooperation between home and the school so that parents and teachers can work together effectively to ensure a well-rounded quality education for all students. Our SCA meets once a month on the first Monday of every month at 9:45 am, in the cafeteria. All parents and guardians are welcome to attend our meetings. If you would like to become a volunteer with the SCA please email cm.vernonsca@gmail.com.
HERE IS THE SCA LINK for all schools.
…Welcome to the 2022-2023 Board:
President: Megan Kapusta
VP: Rose Ahearn
Recording Secretary: Ericka Petrucci
Treasurer: Rachel Cawley
Corresponding Secretary: Viviana Quiros
Save the Date
Cedar Mountain Primary School
2022-2023
- Week of August 22nd – PowerSchool Parent Portal opens. Teacher name and bus information available
- Thursday, August 25th – Open House 10:00 am – 12:00 pm and SCA Social in the cafeteria
- Monday, August 29th – Open House 10:00 am – 12:00 pm and SCA Social in the cafeteria
- Thursday, September 1st – Back to School Night: Kindergarten at 3:30 pm (please bring your child) and First-Grade at 5:00 pm (please do not bring your child)
- Tuesday, September 6th – First Day of School
- Saturday, September 17th – Fall Harvest Open House 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
- 2022-2023 school calendar– Please note, this is subject to change per the Board of Education
In case you missed our farewell video for the retiring Dr. McKay…check out the video Cedar Mountain made to wish him well in his retirement…
Please feel free to contact Cedar Mountain if you have any questions about your child entering Cedar Mountain. Please call Cedar Mountain at 973-764-2890 or email me at: rgebhardt@vtsd.com
Wishing all of you a wonderful and safe summer!
Rosemary Gebhardt
Principal