Happy Holidays

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Winter Break.  See you in the new year!  School resumes Wednesday January 2nd!

Crazy about Christmas

This week we have been preparing for Christmas.  The children are working on a special gift for their parents.  We have also been making other craft related to Christmas.  The children sewed (laced) a stocking and glued on cotton balls.  After they sewed the stocking, they were given a candy cane to put in the stocking (but most of the friends ate their candy cane).  Lacing or sewing is a great way to develop fine motor skills and concentration.  It's easy to make your own sewing activities.  All you need is some paper, a hole puncher, and some string.  There are also all kinds of cross stitching supplies available for kids that develop fine motor skills.  The children also made a candy cane with pipe cleaners and beads.  We practiced our pattering skills when making the candy cane.  It took a lot of concentration to thread the tiny beads onto the pipe cleaner, but everyone worked really hard at it!

Our letter of the week is R.  We will not have a letter next week and will resume letter of the week after the winter break with the letter D.  We will also be working a lot on rhyming skills after the break. 

Next Thursday, 12/ 20 will be our holiday party.  Parents are invited to join us for the last 30 minutes of the day to help make and decorate gingerbread houses.  Please read letter sent home today for more information about the party.  Remember, you MUST have fingerprints on file at the Board Office to attend any classroom activities.  

REMINDERS...
*The flu and other illnesses are going around school.  If your child is sick, please keep him/her home.  We want our classroom to be a healthy place.
* Help your child dress appropriately for the weather.  We will play outside any day the temperature is above 32 degrees. 

HOMEWORK...
*Letter R worksheets
*Hand On Homework Activity Bag - remember to return by Tuesday next week.
*Read Letter Book

Sixty Degrees and Snow!

This week we started learning about winter by reading about snow men and making some snow man crafts.  We made snow fluff by mixing corn starch and shaving cream together.  It was very messy but a lot of fun and it really felt like snow (except it wasn't cold).  The children enjoyed sculpting it and making various shapes with the snow fluff.  Hopefully we'll have real snow soon!  The children also used their cutting skills to cut out a snow man.  We also learned size words and position words while making the snowman.  We also made a snow man using mini marshmallows.  Each child cut out a melted snow man and came up with a reason why the snow man melted. 

This week's letter: N
Letters we've learned so far: M, T, A,S, P, C, I, B.


REMINDERS...
*Sign up to bring in supplies for Gingerbread Houses.
*Christmas Party will be on 12/20 at the end of the preschool day.  Don't forget to get fingerprinted if you plan to attend.

HOMEWORK
*N worksheet
* Hand on Homework Activity Bag.  I hope you and your child are enjoying these learning activities together.  Thank you for sending them back each week so other children have the opportunity to use them too.
* Letter books will start going home this week.  These books are a way to review letter names and sounds and build vocabulary.  Please read the book with your child, asking him/her to name the pictures.  Please send the book back to school the following week.