Christmas is Approaching!
This week our kindergarten room was filled with learning and laughter as always, but the greatest part of this week was sharing the Christmas story with your children. They are so eager to learn about Jesus and sharing this story with them brought so many incredible discussions as to why it was so important that Jesus came to this earth! It was so amazing to watch their faces as they realized that without Jesus coming to this earth as a baby He would not have been able to save us! We talked about how truly great the sacrifice he chose to make was! What an awe inspiring thought to think about how much He loves us! May you continue to surround yourself with His love during this season!
IMPORTANT DATES
December 14: No PM bussing
December 17: Jingle Jog
December 20: All school chapel at 9:00. You are all welcome to come and the kindergarteners will be leading!! Your children are all very excited about this!!
December 21: Class Christmas Celebration! More details to come.
December 24-January 4: Christmas break
A Few Additional Reminders:
Jingle Jog! Our class will be jogging on December 17 from 9:00-9:30am. If you would like to cheer the kids on, please come to the gym. Students may wear Christmas pajamas (they can wear t-shirts if you think they would be too hot). We will wear our gym shoes for the jog. Mrs. Miller will send home papers soon describing the fundraiser part of the jog. It is to raise money for our sister school in the Philippines.
Bucket of Bears: We are now just a few bears away from earning our pajama/stuffed animal day! We will be having the option to wear our pajamas for the jingle jog so I will try to fit in an additional day before Christmas break to have another pajama day! As soon as we reach our goal I will let you know!
Decorating: If you enjoy decorating and would be willing to help spruce our kindergarten chapel up a bit let me know. Anything from a small Christmas tree to poinsettias, snowflakes or balloons. We will also be standing on risers so it would be great to have a few things to decorate the sides of those! If this is something you enjoy please let me know we would love your help!
From the Immersion Program Director, Jodi Pierce: Wondering how kids learn language? So are we! Join Betsy Sneller, language researcher at Georgetown University (also known as Mr. Sneller’s daughter and a grad of ZCS), and Jodi Pierce, director of ZCS’s language immersion program, for a short presentation about language acquisition on Tuesday, December 11 at 7:00 in the media center. Betsy will talk about how researchers study language acquisition, what the field has uncovered so far, and some of the exciting questions they are still researching. Come with any questions you might have! The content will definitely be applicable for both immersion and non-immersion parents. This entry was posted in newsletters 2018-2019 on December 7, 2018.
Curriculum:
Bible: This week we started our study of Luke 2. We learned about the angel who came to Mary to announce the coming of our Savior and about the journey to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. We talked about how life changing this is to us now! We then started our nativity project. We have made an angel, Joseph and Mary. This week we will continue with the shepherds and wisemen. We are also working hard on our verse, Luke 2:6,7. In addition, we are practicing some beautiful Christmas songs for our upcoming Christmas chapel.
Word Wall Word: up
Daily 5: This week we continued our Daily 5 as well as started building stamina while reading to someone. I am hoping to add this to our Daily 5 this week. Please take time to read the books that come home with your child in his/her book bag on Friday and return it on Monday! If they struggle, encourage them to use the pictures to help them decode some of the words. This is an important step in the reading process!
Writing Workshop: We continued working on making lists this week. We all used clipboards as we sat on the rug and made a list of our favorite animals. I am encouraging them to write the sounds they hear and that it doesn’t have to be “perfect.” This can be very hard yet so important as they develop into young writers.
Phonics: This week we emphasized beginning sounds. I got into the Christmas spirit for this and pulled some items from a stocking and had them write down the first sound in the item I pulled out. They did AMAZING! When you are at home take time at dinner to ask them sounds they hear at the beginning of words on your table, such as fork, spoon and plate. They love this and will be so proud to share their knowledge with you!
Math: We learned to look for groups of 5 this week. Also, the concept of having five and some “extra” left over led us into simple addition.
Up in Lights: Brooks Compagner was Up in Lights. His dad came in to share about him and, along with his dad, his mom and little sister joined him for lunch. A special treat was having Brooks’ Nana, a former kindergarten teacher at Holland Christian School, come and read to us a fun book about penguins while also giving us a little science lesson. She taught us about the different types of penguins as well as some of their characteristics. At the end of her time she gave us all a bag of goldfish, a penguin’s favorite treat! Thank you Nana, we love having you in our classroom!
Afternoons: Being so close to Christmas the afternoons were a little different from the norm this week. We were able to make Christmas trees, which are on the wall in the hallway, and we started our Nativity project. We also practiced songs for our Christmas chapel. In addition we were still able to enjoy snack, recess, play and quiet time! I really enjoyed having the whole class stay the entire day on Tuesday! So fun to watch everyone participate together during play! What an incredible group of kids
Hot Wheels track building has helped us develop the skill of working together toward a common goal. The boys have built some amazing things and are loving it!