It feels like I should say welcome back after having almost a week off for Thanksgiving break! Hard to believe our first snow day came in November! Because of the shortened week we were extremely busy trying to get as much done as possible. We are still working on filling our bucket of bears to earn a pajama day. Right now we have 18 bears and are working towards our goal of 25. Once we reach 25 I will let you know and give you a date to send your child in their pajamas! Also, if they prefer not to wear their pajamas that is absolutely fine, they are welcome to just wear comfy clothes. This week also begins the start of the Christmas season and lots of fun activities to go along with it! I am so looking forward to the next few weeks in our kindergarten room! Please take time to enjoy this season with your family!!

IMPORTANT DATES

• December 20: All school chapel at 9:00. You are all welcome to come and the kindergarteners will be leading!!
• December 21: Class Christmas Celebration! More details to come.
• December 24-January 4: Christmas break

A Few Additional Reminders:

JINGLE JOG: The last week before Christmas break we will have a Jingle Jog. This is a fun run that Mrs. Miller has her gym classes do every year. The class will have an opportunity to run around the gym and through the hallways and families are welcome to come and cheer their kids on! As of now I do not know the exact date but will let you know as soon as I do! The purpose of this fun event is to raise money for our sister school in the Philippines.

NATIVITY SCENE: This week we will be beginning our project! Two things we are still short of are rubber bands and a bag of cotton balls. If you happen to have any extra at home and would be willing to part with them it would be a big help in creating our project. Thank you in advance as this is a big help!

BOOK BAGS: Every weekend your child should be coming home with his/her book bag. They are all starting to read books now from our leveled library and should have them in their bag. Please take time to read them with your child, as they are very excited to be reading books by themselves, and return them on Monday. They are proud readers!!!

VOLUNTEERS: For this upcoming week the only volunteer I have listed is for the Tuesday lunch. If you are signed up to volunteer at a different time this week please let me know and I will try to adjust our schedule accordingly. Thank you for your help and understanding in this regard.

CURRICULUM

Bible: This week I introduced our new Bible verses, Luke 2:6-7. “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in swaddling cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” We started our talk about Jesus’ birth but we will fully dive into this beautiful story next week as we begin our Nativity scene project.

Word Wall Word/Morning Work: up

Daily 5: This week we added another activity to our Daily 5 called word work. This allows your children to have more exposure to letters or words through either the ipad, worksheets or manipulatives. This has made our Daily 5 a busy but rewarding time in our day.

Writing Workshop: This week we started working on how to make a list and what we can use lists for. So far we have done a list of friends and a list of colors. We also finished up our drawing and labeling unit and all of the students were able to “fix and fancy” their favorite story and share it with the whole class on the “big screen” by way of the projector! I also find this to be a great way to expose them to public speaking at a young age! They did amazing!

Phonics: We incorporated phonics into our writing workshop this week. When we worked on our lists together we said words slowly which allowed us to hear many of the sounds in them. They are starting to realize that they can spell by listening to sounds!

Up in Lights: In the last few weeks we have gotten to know more about Dominick Terpstra, Avaleigh Dykema and Elsie Wiersema. It has been so fun to get to know a bit more about them and what they enjoy! It has also been so nice to have parents and siblings join us for lunch! We all look forward to this part of the week and I am so grateful for each member of this class!

Afternoons: Now that everyone is here all day on Tuesday we are able to so some of our everyday curriculum on Tuesday afternoon which is such a blessing during this busy time of year! This past Tuesday we worked on our “Book of Friends” and have just a few more friends to go! The kids absolutely love spelling their friends’ names and drawing their picture to go with it! We also continue to have quiet time and play time (which was extra fun this past week as I was able to bring some different toys from my house 🙂 ). In addition this week we had all school singing, art and math centers.

As always, if you need anything please don’t hesitate to text or email me. Praying that you all enjoy this special season with your families!