Dear Families,

Happy New Year and welcome back! We hope the vacation was a time of rest and enjoyable family time for everyone. As we have often seen in past years, the children have returned from the vacation seeming not 2 weeks, but 2 months older. The time away really seems to help them process (all of)  the many activities, routines and social experiences they worked on so diligently during the fall.

Curriculum:
During our morning meeting, we have begun a new routine. Each day, we go through the letters of the alphabet to see who has the next turn to count the children. First we checked to see if we had a child whose name begins with “A,” then “B” etc. Now when a child asks, “When is it going to be my turn to count?” they are satisfied with the answer, “When we get to the letter ‘M,’” for example. There has been an interest in letters and their sounds in particular recently, so this activity is very exciting for many of the children.
They are practicing the order of the alphabet and the concept of organizing words by alphabetical order. They are developing their auditory perception of initial sounds and letters. And they are augmenting their recognition of their own and each other’s written names with an understanding of how the letters translate into sounds. They are also each reassured that they will get a turn.

We have placed some winter-theme books on display. Last week, we read the story Paperwhite by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. This week, we will re-read the story and plant a paperwhite bulb for the classroom.

On Wednesday the children will cook the celery root and rutabagas that Kaliope Kostas brought in. Deb Grant is working on a couple of recipes and will come in to cook with the class.

Special Activities:
We continue our small group activities from 11:00-12:00 each day. We have some new materials in our little room for tumbling, rolling, jumping etc. This gives children an opportunity to do some active indoor play and to get some wonderful sensory input in their bodies. This week, the children are working with their hands with another wonderful sensory material, Oobleck. Oobleck is made from corn starch and water and has the unusual property of being both liquid and solid at the same time.

We continue to have one of the following special activities each day: Movement, Music, Yoga, Reading and re-enacting a story, or Dancing with Judy Lasko.

Long Day Curriculum:
Based on conversations the Long Day children had before the break, we have decided to do a COLOR study. The children came up with a long list of possible activities: mixing colors, making a large rainbow, collage, drawing different colored animals, making crayons, making cookies, making different colors of water, making color patterns with cubes, finding leaves and seeing what color they are in winter and sorting colorful fabrics to make different shapes. As we get into these activities, we will see how their ideas deepen and change.

Professional Development:
Emily will be attending a workshop on strategic planning on Wednesday afternoon.

Business:
The building management has requested that we remind you not to use the laundry room bathroom, to keep your voices down in the hallway, and not to make a mess in the hallway.

Dates:
January 17: Parent Meeting, 6pm. Please email Emily to let her know that you are coming.
January 21: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, School Closed


Warmly,

Caitlin and Amy