Kissing Hand Homework



This is an example of our homework packet that is sent home, and the book that we will create from the products of that homework when it is returned.
 


Here, our classroom Chester is sitting beside the homework packet that is sent home on the first day of school and the classroom book that we will put together when the homework is returned.  Students are sent home with a zipper bag filled with a note with the instructions for the assignment, 2 sheets of construction paper, and two hearts.  The note has a checklist of ideas for parents/guardians/or loved ones to use to ask their children about their first day of kindergarten.  The families are asked to trace their hands, cut them out, then take the heart that has been provided for them and give it a big kiss in front of their students, glue the heart down, and finally write a "heart felt" message to their child on the hand and heart.  When the hands are returned to school in the zipper bag, I take them and mount them on another sheet of construction paper that I have cut to fit inside standard plastic sheet protectors. 

 I have the sheet protectors bound together with 3 ribbons which makes the book customizable each year. The book is then shared with the class when the hand prints have all been returned. Students love hearing what their parents have written to them and hearing what other parents have told their children. I keep the class book in our library area all year so students can revisit the book as needed. I have used to book to help students who have had separation anxiety in past years. I created the cover of the book using my PrintShop program and the same clipart I found on the Internet that I used on the take-home booklet that the students created on the first day.  I absolutely love the messages that come back from home and it really helps me keep in perspective that each of these students is someone's baby!  :) 

At the end of the year, I take the book apart and I place the pages in each of the students' memory books along with the pictures I took of the families at open house and all the other artifacts and pictures I have taken throughout the year.