Kindergarten First Month Update Newsletter Guide

The first month of kindergarten is the year's most watched period. Families are watching for signs that their child is okay. A first month newsletter that gives them specific, warm, honest information is one of the most effective things a teacher can send all year.

The first month update newsletter structure

Subject line: One month in: how our kindergarten class has settled into the year

Opening: We have officially been a kindergarten class for one month. Here is a look at how students have settled in, what we have been learning, and what is coming up in October.

How the class has settled in

Write honestly about the adjustment period. How are most students feeling? Are morning drop-offs getting easier? Have students found their friends? Families need to know that the transition is going well at the class level, even if their own child is still adjusting.

"Mornings are moving faster now. Most students walk in and start the morning work independently. We still have a few who need a little extra help saying goodbye, which is completely normal at this stage. It is getting easier each week."

What we have been learning

Give a brief overview of the academic work from the first month. Name specific books, concepts, and activities. "In reading, we have been working on letter recognition and the sounds letters make. We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom together and made our own alphabet trees. In math, students have been sorting objects by color, shape, and size, and learning to count to 20."

Include one or two highlights from science or social studies if those subjects have been introduced. Even brief, they give families a fuller picture of the school day.

Classroom community highlights

Name some of the community-building moments from the first month. Class meetings, friendship activities, morning meetings, group projects. "We spent the first two weeks building our classroom promises together: the rules students came up with themselves for how we want to treat each other. They came up with things I would not have thought to put on the list."

A note on routines and expectations

Name any routines that students have mastered and any that are still developing. "Students know the morning routine and the cleanup routine. We are still working on listening when someone else is talking. That one takes a full year to build, and we are off to a good start."

What is coming up in October

Close with a brief preview of October: upcoming events, new units, any special activities. Give families a sense of what is ahead so they can look forward to hearing about it. "In October, we start our first reading unit on stories and story structure. We also have our first family read-aloud event on [date]. More details coming soon."