Vision/About Us 
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Dear Parents, The following is an excerpt from the board presentation last month. I am very proud to be associated with such creative and hard working individuals. Once Upon A Time… A few years ago the KTL staff made a presentation to the school board members to demonstrate the way we were using the Core Knowledge Sequence®. We shared a few materials and described how it differed from the standard state adopted curriculum. Since that time, the authors of the materials, Susan Nisan, Cindy Tyson and contributor Marti Knapp have not only completed the classic collections of books for grades K-6 but have also designed 14 complete semesters of daily lesson plans that correspond to the materials. That is 252 weeks or 1,260 days of lesson plans that cover world history and geography, US history and geography, art and music appreciation, science, classic literature, famous sayings, and biographies at every grade level. No other home based charter school offers parents such a complete package. In addition to collecting the materials and writing daily lesson plans, they have created activity books to accompany each level. Parents are attracted to our school because of the Classic Kits and the rich assortment of accompanying materials. We have found that not only are the children learning but entire families are receiving an all important liberal arts education they may have missed the first time around. In addition to this huge project, other staff members have decided to create materials. Two or three years ago, Annette Steele and Cindy Tyson wanted to address the state writing standards in a uniform way that parents and teachers could use and easily understand. The result was the 3-6th grade Step-by-Step writing packets. The parents and the staff love to use them and the authors were able to share last year at the state charter conference. The packs standardize writing activities so that all students are working on the same genre at the same time. Most lessons are also tied into the content subject matter. Our California Classic curriculum kit was authored by Jill McGinnis. It is a six-week course for 4th graders that covers most of California history - not just the missions! The mandate given to charter schools is to meet or exceed the state standards. We feel that our Classic Kits and Step -by-Step writing packets fulfill this ideal and then some. Because knowledge builds on knowledge, we believe that this system, introduced by Dr. Hirsch in 1985 is one of the best solutions for education today. Our staff just happened to adapt it to the homeschool environment. Congratulations on a great job! Sincerely, Lee Ann |
Principal's Corner Announcements
CAT 6 Testing
I would like to thank the parents, staff, and most of all the students for your efforts with state testing this year. This year was the highest in participation and the smoothest in operation. I would also like to acknowledge the PSAC for their efforts to fundraise and provide pizza and snacks this year at no cost to the famililes.
We at KTL thank you for your dedication and true involvement in your children's education.
Sincerely, Marti Knapp
To make sure your child has a place at KTL next year, please e-mail ktlperl@yahoo.com or call the KTL office at 634-6467. Include your child's name, date of birth, your name and phone number. All kindergarten children must be 5 years old by December, 2006.
Core Classes
Core Class K by Jill McGinnis
This month we have really been learning about some great Presidents. We had Washington come for a visit, and we learned about Lincoln. We had a Teddy Bear Tea Party to help us remember who the Teddy Bear was named after (our bears really loved to come to school!). We really talked about the duties and qualities of a good President like honesty, good talking skills, a good reader and writer, and someone who cares about people. We wrote letters to the real President of the USA! Maybe he will write us back! We have also spent time learning about the seasons and the various weather in each. We are trying to figure out why the weather is different in different places and why is it hot in the summer? (If you want to share any information with a K class kid please do!) Our newest member of our class is our new friend, Shadow. He is even going to spend time in the homes of our K class! It has been a busy month, with only a couple more to go this year!
Core Class A by Marlean Bravo
This month we finished writing our letters to President Bush. We sent the letters to President Bush and I am hoping to receive a response by the end of the school year. After Sergeant Lenhart’s presentation, A class students wanted to write soldiers in Iraq. A class students expressed their thankfulness in their letters to the soldiers. We will be putting together a care package to sent with our letters. I will be sending more information home. We started on our class science project. We are planting sunflower seeds and watching them grow into beautiful sunflowers. We are also going to have our Volcano unit on display at the science fair.
B Class – Teacher: Diana McCullough
In the “B” class, we’ve been focusing on our country. When we learned about Westward Expansion, we made paper quilt blocks based on designs developed by the pioneers. These quilt blocks were often made for loved ones going west and had names of friends and family written in each block.
In order to learn more about the states in our country, each student sent letters to friends and relatives who live in other states and requested a little information about their states. It was exciting to get letters with interesting facts back and post them by the map!
Also, the class has been working hard to learn how to write in cursive. We’ve been learning one or two letters each week and we just learned our last lower case letter! Cassie, Rachel S., and Brielle are doing especially nice cursive writing!
C and D Class – Teachers: Annette Steele & Lorraine Jones
The "C" class has worked hard on a Narrative Autobiographical Incident in writing this past month. They have shared some interesting and meaningful events from their lives while learning more about the writing process. Science has focused on the human body. We have studied the muscular, skeletal and nervous systems. To make the learning more fun, we have done some activities demonstrating how different parts of the body work together to move and react to stimuli from the environment. The students continue to learn their multiplication facts with drills, speed races, songs and hands-on activities and games. This month the students who were the top scorers on the multiplication timed tests sponsored by the PSAC were treated to a coupon for a free personal pizza donated by Round Table Pizza. The high scoring students in the "C" class were Emily Hervey, Mary Martin, Courtney Ramos and Alexius Watje. Remember, this month the prize goes to the students who most improve their scores from last month to this month. So, keep doing your best; anyone can win!
The "D" class has been busy writing, writing, writing this past month! In addition to the Narrative Biography assignment, they also prepared for the fourth grade state writing test by participating in a two session workshop taught by Mrs. Knapp during Core class. The students did their best to improve their writing and we are proud of their hard work. We started a California unit of study this month. The writing assignment for the next few weeks is a state research report, so the timing is great for studying our state. The unit includes literature selections, map skills, geography of California, and of course, history and art. The students molded their relief maps of California this week and will paint them next week. And, fourth grade is not complete without the opportunity to learn about and build a model of a California Mission. Thank you to all the parents for helping out with supplies from home for the art projects!
Congratulations to the "K" and "D" classes for bringing in the most box tops! Both classes were treated to a pizza lunch on Tuesday, March 14th, as a reward. Thank you to the PSAC for that treat! The PSAC also provided coupons for a free personal pizza donated by Round Table Pizza to the students with the most improved scores in the multiplication timed tests for March. This month, treats will again go to the students who most improve their own scores from last month. Keep practicing--this could be your month to win!
E and F Class- Teachers: Cindy Tyson & Michelle Johnson
The “E” class as always is such a delight to be around. They are eager to learn and always have such a positive attitude. We are coming to the end of the “story” genre...finally. It has been a difficult assignment but they have plugged through it. We will be starting our country reports in a few weeks. This assignment will need “at home” participation, Each week Mrs. Tyson will be sending home an assignment sheet for writing for the week. Our class has completed some Lewis and Clark activities in class and now we will be doing some art and activities about the Civil War.
The “F” class has just completed a three week study of Winslow Homer and his style of realistic paintings. Ask your child about the three stages in his life and how his paintings changed. Make sure to stop by room 32 on May 16th (Science Fair/Open House) to see the student’s Homer-Inspired value drawings. The students did quite an impressive job. We are coming to the end of our “Hands On Equations” Algebra unit...only four lessons to go. For the remainder of the year we will be transitioning to more traditional paper and pencil algebra as well as working on algebraic word problems. We are beginning our class science project that we will display at the Open House as well. I look forward to seeing all the parents and students at the Open House. The students are very proud of their work and appreciate you taking the time to check it out!
Prepare for State Testing with Weekly Readers
In April second graders through ninth graders will take the CAT-6 test as a state requirement. One of the best tools to prepare your child for the reading comprehension portion of the test is the student newspaper, Weekly Reader. The paper is full of brief current events stories of interest to children and contains a page of questions, charts and graph on the back. The questions are similar in format to state test questions.
PERL has a large selection of Weekly Readers from third grade level and up. Please take some home today! (PERL)
Six-Hour Recreational Reading Program
Would you like to earn a trip to Marine World or another Six Flags park this summer? All KTL students in kindergarten through sixth grade are eligible to participate in the Six-Hour Reading Program sponsored by Six Flags and Weekly Reader. The student must read or be read to for a total of six hours from recreational materials, including books, magazines, and newspapers. The books can include AR selections, but no assignment reading from KTL textbooks or Core Kits.
The forms are available at the KTL office and absolutely must be turned in by February 20th to the KTL office. Students will receive their free certificates in May and, if there is sufficient interest, KTL may be able to order group rate tickets for parents and older siblings to purchase. (KTL)
Keyes to Learning Spotlight
PERL News
The library will no longer be checking items out after May 12th. This gives us a chance to get our inventory in order before the end of the school year. THANK YOU
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