We Are All Different

This week the focus has been what makes us different...from obvious differences with our looks to not so obvious differences such as pets at home or special talents.  We will be reading a wide range of books that focus on diversity, or the fact that it IS OK to be different. Our books were as follows:

M is our letter of the week, which will have us doing a lot of exploring with marbles and magnets.  We even will use magnets to make art.  We will explore finger prints, make diversity monsters, and notice how we see differences.

We All Have Feelings

This week while we focus on the letter L, we also will be exploring different emotions.  We will be using the following resource book to help us with that, and the book has short stories featuring Clara and her dog Bumper.  Today we learned that Clara recently moved from Chicago to a small town where she lives in a big house with a big yard and no friends.  Her parents get her Bumper to help make her feel better.

We also will have different literature that feature various emotions.  The books will be as follows:

 
 Math will have us reviewing on the concepts of more or less and patterns.  Sight words this week are MY and ARE.

This week is all about our 5 senses.  Each day we will focus on one.  We also will focus on the letter K.  So Books and art are a mix of letter focus or science focus.   Books will include:

Please remember, we TRY to go out daily.  The only thing stopping us is extreme cold or rain.  Children need all their winter gear to go out with.  They pick at ice and snow, and with no mittens on I have to tell them to stop, and some friends have no hood on their coat.  I know most parents are in and out of cars and not in the cold long enough for it to register, but we are out for 30 minutes.  Thanks. (snow pants will remain optional until there is significant amounts)  IT IS SUPPOSED TO SNOW TOMORROW EVENING WHICH MEANS THE CLASS WILL BE ITCHING TO GET OUT IN IT.  

Also, if your child is signed up for ice skating, children will need gloves, snow pants, and a helmet.  Ice Skating lessons start THIS Friday.

My Body

This week we will explore the ins and outs of the human body.  Its a fun week because we get to see what happens to food as it travels through the digestive system.  It's the one week where I say "poop" and "fart" and the KIDS love it!  We learn about bones and muscles and everything that makes us, US.  During the week we will read some informational books about the body such as:

We also will have some silly books to read that help explore the body, such as: 

J is or letter focus this week.  A lot of friends need help at home practicing lower case J.  We will Review our counting skills and focus on the sight words Have and With.

Next week's theme is All About My Senses.

Holidays Reminder

It is going to be a very buy time here in Kindergarten the next two weeks.  Tomorrow we will be practicing "the Spirit of Christmas" play, with the play being Wednesday night.  Everyone in the play was given a request with what to wear if something was needed, others will be in costumes provided.

Friday is our Holiday PJ party.  We will be having a special visitor, exchanging our class gifts (sock exchange) and decorating Christmas cookies and drinking hot chocolate for our party.  We also will join the preschool kids in watching the Polar Express.

Thursday December 24th we are open until 1:00, as well as December 31st.  If you have not let the office know if your child will be here those two days, please do so ASAP.  We then are closed Christmas day and New Year Day.

I hope everyone has a safe and merry holiday.

Christmas Around the World (2 weeks)

The next two weeks will have us exploring the different holiday traditions around the world.  Every class in the building picked a country, and we will briefly explore each one with a focus on Russia next week.  We will see Germany, the Netherlands, China,, Belgium, Jamaica, Russia, Finland, and Brazil.  Each day we will make an ornament that in some way features the country.
Germany= Christmas trees because that is where we got the idea to use Christmas trees.
Netherlands= A last name initial, ass that is featured in the Netherlands
China= Lanterns
Belgium= Advent wreath
Jamaica= Sand and shells with Santa (traditions similar to USA)
Russia= Fabric ball, nesting dolls, Faberge Egg
Finland= Yarn Elf
Brazil= Flowers

We also will learn the holiday greeting from each country, and decorate their flag.  Be sure to keep an eye on our map in class as we mark each country we have studied.

Books these two weeks will include:

 We will not introduce any additional new letter, instead we will review letters A-I.  Sight words will continue with TO and MY.  And, we will start learning the concept of money with the introduction of the penny.  It is sure to be a busy few weeks as we get closer and closer to the holiday.  Please don't forget that our Christmas play is on Wednesday December 16th, and our class Christmas party is Friday December 18th.  If your child will be out during the holiday break please let me know ahead of time so we can plan accordingly for staffing.  Thanks.

Holiday Party News

Hello families, as you may know, the holiday party is fast approaching.  We will be celebrating on December 18th.  I would like to try something different this year.  I want to do a holiday sock exchange.  My thought was to have each child bring in  a pair of WRAPPED child sized, HOLIDAY socks (gender neutral please). We then would exchange and open the "gifts" that day.  Please also look for a sign up sheet to contribute to the party food.