Dear Parents,
‘Tis that time of year again, the season to be grateful, and to welcome back the light, and (to mix the metaphors so that our study of the year, water, is included) to let the light flow back in.
For me, listening to and moving with your children is to be in that flow. To be in touch with their constant ebbs and flows through each day and each season and each year is to be connected with a sea of change. Your children are singularly and collectively remarkable for that, change.
This is a preview of
El Festival de Agua, Notes of Change, 12.20.07
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Gift Wrap, Bows, and Ribbons. It must be the season for Gift Giving! Be on the lookout for a glittery gift that will be coming home.
This week our little ones will be prancing with pride when they go on a reindeer ride.
A gingerbread house is a fun and tasty way to decorate for the holidays. We will have fun this week eating…. umm I mean making one:)
Did you know…. the first gingerbread houses were made in Germany. Children story writer, Brothers Grimm, made them famous in the very popular fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel". This would be a great time check this story out of the library.
Gingerbread
(Tune: Mickey Mouse Tune)
Gingerbread, Gingerbread.
We are making gingerbread we’re as happy as can be.
For Christmas Day is coming and we’ll have a baking spree.
Peek into our kitchen, be as quiet as can be.
We’re cooking up a secret, It’s a house as you can see.
Gingerbread, echo (Gingerbread)
Gingerbread, echo (Gingerbread)
This is a preview of
3/4’s Projections: December 17-20, 2007
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We had a fantastic week of getting wet:
splashing and making waves in our "bathtub"; bathing the dinosaur and a family of baby dolls; washing napkins and doll clothes and then hanging them up to dry; scrubbing our plates and cups; making a shower with the colander; blowing bubbles and catching them; filling and squirting various squirt bottles; experimenting with funnels and containers; and finally, the icing on the cake, playing with the various BATH TOYS that the children brought in to share. This last was very exciting for the children - a chance to play with toys that came from someone else’s house!
After changing into dry clothes and mopping up the floor, we gathered all the wet things and went to find the DRYER! This mini-field trip was a lot of fun because the dryer is located next to the furnaces way back behind the church offices.
This is a preview of
3/4’s Reflections on Water Play: week of December 10 - 14
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ah! ah-ah! ah! ah-ah! ah! ah-ah-ahhhh!
If you don’t understand this photo - ask your child to sing our Raindrops/Snowflake song!
Festival de Agua Preprimary Songs
December 20th at 9am
Please practice with your child at home the following songs which they will be singing at the Festival de Agua next Thursday.
Thanks!
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout, down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain and the itsy bitsy spider climbd up the spout again.
La arana pequenita (The Itsy Bitsy Spider in Spanish)
La arana pequenita subio, subio, subio.
Vino la lluvia y se la llevo.
Salio el sol y todo lo seco,
y la arana pequenita subio, subio, subio
If All of the Raindrops
If all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops, oh what a rain it would be. I’d stand outside with my mouth open wide. Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah. That’s the weather for me—-! I wouldn’t care if the sun would never shine. I’d keep on wishing for raindrops all the time. If all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops, oh what a rain it would be.
This is a preview of
Festival de Agua: December 20th at 9am for preprimary
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The Preprimary will be performing in the MORNING SHOW of El Festival de Agua. The Evening Show will be identical in performance except we will not perform. We feel this is the kindest and most developmentally appropriate way to include the Preprimary Children in this festive event.
More information about the songs we will sing will be sent SOON! so you can practice at home with your child!
On Wednesday, December 19th we will take part in a REHEARSAL for El Festival de Agua. Therefore it is imperative that on these two days your child is in the classroom at 8:30 am. We will have a short Morning Meeting each day to gather ourselves and then move upstairs for the rehearsal/the performance.
This is a preview of
PREPRIMARY PARENTS: Save this date December 20th at 9:00 a.m.
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This week the children in the fours and fives class will be making gifts for their parents for Christmas. The children have enjoyed making their gifts and later in the week they will be making Christmas cards. The teachers will be working with the children in small groups and making snowflakes. As the weather gets colder, the children are becoming more curious about how ice and snow forms!
Please be sure to send extra warm clothes to school for your child. Extra hats and mittens/gloves would be great too! We will be going outside for a short recess on cold days and we want your child to be nice and warm.
Thanks!
We will be revisiting WATER PLAY this week - this time indoors!
Our play will include: bathing babydolls and toy animals, washing clothes, scrubbing dishes, and playing with bathtime toys.
Lots of splashing, bubbles and spills! So, we really need you to:
1. Dress your child in appropriate but easy to change winter clothes;
2. Bring in a full change of clothing - we will be removing socks and shoes, but just in case send in some extra socks! and;
3. Bring in ONE OR TWO FAVORITE BATHTIME TOYS to share during the week of bath-time play. Toys will be returned at the end of the week.
We will crank up the heat and we have plenty of cozy towels to make sure we are all dry when we have finished. In the event that someone gets too wet, s/he will stay in from recess - no child will go outside with wet hair or damp clothes.
This is a preview of
3/4’s Projections: Week of December 10 -14
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JN: Uh…we’re not really playing here, Kathie.
KH: Well, no. We’re doing some important work though, because we’re writing your words into your Journal.
JN: Oh. Work. Well, when do you think we will be done working?
Actually, I was pretty much feeling the same way even before I was half-way through the pile of Journals. Journaling and reflection are hard work, especially when your colleagues are busily constructing fantastic creations over in the Block Area accompanied by enthusiastic conversations and conflict resolutions. But we preservered - and I must say the children were very cooperative and patient with my tedious pencil. I’m also happy to say that my observations of the children’s stories were more or less accurate, though I did get a few corrections from the authors.
This is a preview of
3/4’s Reflections: Writing in the Book of the Child - Week of December 3 - 7
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Greetings from kindergarten! This week the kindergarten and first grade began working together in math centers in which various topics in mathematics are explored through games, manipulative materials, hands-on experiences, paper and pencil work, etc. Some of the centers require more direct teacher instruction while others are managed fairly independently by the the children. So far, so good! The students are catching on quickly and seem to be gaining in enthusiasm for their work in math.
This week’s Math Center topics:
1) Skip counting by twos, fives, tens (by threes for some of the students)
2) Learning about the calendar (days, weeks, months, years)
3) Writing numbers to 30 and beyond while learning about place value
4) Measuring and estimating length using non-standard units(Unifix cubes)
5) Creating geometric shapes and designs with rubber bands on geoboards
6) Adding and learning addition facts by playing the game, “Sum Swamp”
This is a preview of
12/5/07 Kindergarten News and Notes
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