Congratulations to all of our graduates and their families! This has certainly been a memorable adventure and this year's graduates will forever have a special place in our hearts! Thank you for all the cooperation and compliance as we navigated these unprecedented circumstances. All challenges aside, our students put in tremendous effort throughout the school year and we are so proud of the example of hope and optimism they have exemplified. We were able to remain in person all school year with tremendous cooperation from our students. We are so proud of our elearners and the water they chartered to help everyone establish a new platform of learning at this level. We want to wish everyone a wonderful summer!

Happy Summer ELC Families! Congratulations on a wonderful school year ! All of our students have learned so much! We have some tips on how you can help keep your child from losing academic ground this summer. First, what is the summer slide? It is the tendency for students to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the school year. We need to keep the learning continuing and minds alert and active all summer to avoid this loss. ELC Kindergarten students will be going on summer break with a learning packet provided by the ELC Kindergarten teaching staff. Look through the packet with your child to get an idea of the exercises that are most helpful to keep their mind active. Your child will earn a prize at the beginning of next school year when he or she turns in the completed packet. Next, keep reading with your child this summer! Check out audiobooks for the whole family for those summer road trips. The Lake County Public Library has a summer reading program that begins the first full week of June. The Children's Librarian from the Hobart Branch visited classrooms in May to explain the summer reading program and how your child can earn prizes. Also, make sure screen time is educational as well as entertaining. PBS has a wonderful show line up for kids as well as an app and website that offers fun and engaging games for kids. SCOH recommends Khan Academy for students of all ages as it offers learning challenges at every level.

One great way to get reading in this summer is on the road! Download the library's OverDrive Media ap and download a great story for the whole family to enjoy!

We have put together some information from our First Grade Transition Night and Kindergarten and Coffee session on what to expect in first grade to help families review and better understand what to expect in first grade. We hope you find it helpful as you prepare for another academic adventure!

Recently, the IDOE has revised their guidelines for Kindergarten Readiness. Kindergarten curriculum has evolved considerably in the last 10 years! Please become familiar with these guidelines and help your child prepare for academic success in kindergarten.

The last few weeks of school had students exploring new directions of books in library. Students experimented with stepping inside a story in many different ways. We aren't all alike, so the ways we like to experience books are different. Library offered many different approaches to demonstrate to students that we can experience and enjoy books in many different ways. We explored readers theatre where we made books in our own "show." Using favorites from Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie series, students read the part of Piggie in front of the class while Mrs. Eberle read Gerald. We added simple props and discussed ways to find or make our own using things around the house. Students of all ages love this activity! The stories are simple yet entertaining and by acting out the parts, students are not only working on their sight words, but building fluency as well! Check one out from the library and try give it a try!

Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon is our final book coming home with your Kindergartener this year. This book is about a 1st grader (perfect timing!) who has a very positive look on life thanks to her Grandmother’s encouragement and support.

Positively Literacy says “Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon is all about embracing your individuality and becoming the best version of ourselves by sharing our talents and unique qualities with the world! It is also the perfect book to use to spark a discussion of how to best handle bullies. Molly shows us how loving your self can lead to accomplishing some pretty amazing things! She uses her uniqueness to bring joy to others by taking what some would have seen as negative characteristics and turning them into something positive!

Teachers read this book in class and followed up with discussion questions to engage their students. When you read this book at home, think about how you can include your Kinder in the book. Ask them what they would write about themselves in a book. You can also talk about how our individual differences and personalities makes each of us important and one of a kind. Enjoy reading Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon with your kinder and have a great summer!

Email: sgutierrez@hobart.k12.in.us
Website: www.hobart.k12.in.us/elc
Location: 400 North Wilson Street, Hobart, IN, USA
Phone: 219-942-7263
Facebook: facebook.com/elc