12 Dec Newsletter | December 7-10, 2015

This is the season of love and light, giving and tradition. As we try to keep the focus on tradition and giving, the children have been busy making things for others and filling others’ buckets! They have been working very hard to learn new songs to share with others, make pictures and cards to give away, and be good friends to all!

On Monday, Rebecca and Elizabeth’s mom Priscilla came in to help us make treats for the birds. The children strung Cheerios and pretzels. They were able to hang them on the town tree in Lilac Park. Also on Monday, we started talking about Kwanzaa and its traditions. The children worked at centers making the bird treats and kinaras and playing a numbers game with Miss Chris (putting numbered candles in order).

Tuesday was our letter of the week day. We read Kindergarten Luck and put kinaras on K. The children helped make a list of 19 words that start with K. Every week when we discuss the letter of the week, we talk about the sound it makes. We look at the structure of upper case and lower case letters and compare them. Do they look the same? Do they have both have straight lines and curvy lines? Are they both the same height? The children help make a list of words that start with the letter of the week. We make sure that every child is able to contribute at least one word. When the list is complete, the children help count the number of words on it and we write the number on our list. While it would be wonderful if all of the children gained letter recognition from these weekly activities, it is not our main focus. The children are all learning how to follow multi-step directions in making the week’s letter. They know to cut first and then write their names. They are then able to add whatever it is we are putting on the letter. They are practicing cutting and writing, strengthening their fine motor skills, and sometimes counting (i.e. adding a specific number of items to the letter.) We are so pleased with how hard all the children are working and how they are improving. Each week, we need to help fewer children with cutting and writing. They really are all blooming!

Also on Tuesday, Rabbi Josh came in to talk to the children about Hanukkah. He read the story, “Chanukah Lights Everywhere” by Michael J. Rosen. He talked about the traditions of the candles, food, games, gifts, and gathering together. He brought a menorah and dreidels to show us. He told the children he was very impressed by how well they listened and the great questions they asked.

Wednesday was our cooking day. Thank you so much to everyone who sent in fruit for our Friendship Fruit Salad! The children cut the fruit themselves and we enjoyed the Friendship Fruit Salad for our snack!
Miss Rebecca and Stanley came to read stories with the children. Lunch was earlier than usual on Wednesday because the children were invited to share their new holiday songs with the church’s Women’s Fellowship gathering that was held upstairs! Although some seemed a little shy, they all did a wonderful job!

On Thursday, with the help of our friends from Miss Hall’s School, we made Gingerbread Houses from the kits that Race brought in! Students worked in groups of 3 or 4 to decorate a house. It was messy, delicious, and great fun! I think we all learned a wonderful lesson in perseverance and patience!

Thank you to all that ordered books from Scholastic! The orders have all arrived and have been distributed. We received 12 free books for the classroom with this order! Also, our listening center equipment has finally arrived! Look for our new set up when we return after the break.

The week coming up will be an exciting one! On Wednesday, December 16th we invite families to join us at 12pm for our winter concert and Secret Snowman gift exchange. On Thursday, the children will be walking to Kimble Farms to share their new songs and deliver the cards and pictures they have been making.

Our stories this week included:

“Seven Candles for Kwanzaa” by Andrea Davis Pinkney

“The Hat” by Jan Brett

“Kindergarten Luck” by Louise Borden

 

Quotes of the Week:

Race – “Miss Chris, you should put bananas in your (green) salad.”

Asher – “I got to light two candles but they’re not actually real fire.”

Kane – “When I do something bad, Papa will send me to the moon.”

Race – “I want a ketchup costume, a mustard costume, a hotdog costume, and even a donut costume!”

William – “New York is huge!”

Cooper – “You have hanitizer on?” (hand sanitizer)

William – “The jingle bells come from the real Solar Express!”