Mrs. Naughten's Kinder News

Thursday, August 19, 2021

It was so much fun meeting all my "new" kindergarten friends and seeing the BIG smiles and excitement that filled our classroom! I was amazed with how well they did following the "new" routines I was putting into place and how well they all sat and listened throughout our kindergarten day together! It was truly a wonderful day in K-1 and K-3! We did calendar, learned about the daily routine, did a "This Is Me" page, played "Who Stole The Cookie From The Cookie Jar" to learn each others' names and both classes had a long recess so they could get to know each other. They had such a fun day! At the end of our day, I had many friends come up to me and say, "This is the best day ever!" and my favorite was "Mrs. Naughten, I don't ever want to have any other teacher. I love you!" It melted my heart! I kept telling them that after today, it only gets better each and every day! Here are some pictures I took today of both classes so you could see who your child's classmates are.

Here are my morning (K-1) friends: (masks were only taken off for a few seconds just to take the pic and immediately put back on).

Ellie

Paige

Oliver

Avalyn

Jennifer

Henry

Georgia "GG"

Ethan

Knox

Fiona

Elias

Callahan

Abby

Lillian

Kento

Julia

Josephine "Joey"

Here are the afternoon (K-3) friends:

Dominik

James

Quinn

Evangelina "Eva"

Taji

Charlotte

Cole

Alenia

Owen

Sophia

Charlie

Anya

Madeline

Leon

Jacob

Mairin

Loic

It was such a fun first day and I'm looking forward to another wonderful one tomorrow! Have a great night, everyone!

Some extra pictures of my kinder friends hard at work today:

About Me

This is my 12th year teaching kindergarten at Olive and I believe I am the luckiest teacher each and every day! I began my teaching career as an Early Childhood/Special Education Teacher in Buffalo Grove after graduating from Iowa State University with a BA in Early Childhood Education. While teaching in Buffalo Grove, I attended National Louis University where I got my special education endorsement. After teaching in B.G for one year, I began teaching kindergarten at Robert Crown School in Wauconda. When I was teaching in Wauconda, I was living my dream of being a kindergarten teacher where I loved absolutely every minute of it! I have wanted to teach kindergarten since I was five years old, teaching is my true passion in life. I am so lucky I was able to return to my dream job at Olive after being home for awhile with my two children.

I live in Arlington Heights with my husband and two amazing children. My son is 22 years old and my daughter is 20 years old. This was a big year in my house as my son graduated from the University of Iowa last May and got his first job out in Phoenix, Arizona as a capital market analyst at JLL. We are so excited for him as he begins his professional career but sad that he’s not at home. My daughter will be starting her third year at the University of Utah this Fall where she is studying kinesiology on a pre-med track. She has decided that she wants to be a PA and is working hard to accomplish her dream. It’s so hard to believe my two kids are so grown up! Enjoy every second with your little ones…it truly does go FAST! I absolutely love teaching kindergarten and to be able to teach at Olive in the community I have grown up in and raised my kids in is a dream come true! I am looking forward to a wonderful year in K-1 this year as we begin the full-day kindergarten adventure together!!