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Hello all! This will be the last post made on this blog. As the new school year approaches, the link on the CS website for this blog will be taken down and replaced with the 2010-2011 school year's blog address. I do not have intentions of getting rid of this blog or any pictures associated, but please take the time to either write down or bookmark this page so you may reference the pictures/posts if you need to in the future.

I hope you all have had a wonderful summer with your children. Please come visit me on Thursday, September 2nd while you're on campus for the family picnic! I've missed you all so much.


With love,
Katlyn

Big Thanks!

Thank you to you all! Celebration was amazing and I cried like I thought I would. I can't express how grateful I am for the opportunity to teach your wonderful, loving children and get to know your family. It was a fantastic school year and I can't wait to see you all next Fall. Enjoy your summer with your children! :)


I added pictures of Water Day on the right. Check them out! The kids had a blast and it was the perfect way to end our school year.



With much love and gratitude,
The luckiest teacher at Community School

Happy Birthday, Gracie!

Today we celebrated Gracie's 4th birthday! Special Thanks to Gracie's family for bringing us cupcakes and goodie bags! Inside our goodie bags were rockstar sunglasses...we paused for a picture:

Thanks again, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRACIE! :)

REMINDER:

• We have celebration rehearsal tomorrow and will be walking to Hollins University. Please, NO sandals or Crocs. Walking shoes only! Thanks in advance.

Wednesday, June 9th CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:

8:30am - Ashlynn

9:00am - Gracie

10:00am - Tallulah

10:30am - Jahanvi

11:00am - Alessandra

11:30am - Dillan

1:00pm - Anna Grace

2:00pm - Charlie

Reminders:

The end of the school year sure sneaks up on you and goes so quickly!! The children have been busy wrapping up our dinosaur unit and playing outdoors.

BIG THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our bake sale today - we made.... $62.30! Wow! That's a lot of baked goods to sell! :) We couldn't have done it without you, so thanks again. We'll use this money to buy three more flocks of chickens from Heifer International for a family in need.

Please keep your eyes out for special notes coming home throughout the rest of this week and next week. There is so much going on in the next week and a half I find it easier to send you reminders that way.

Don't forget:

TOMORROW, Thursday June 3rd : El Rodeo Picnic at 11:30am, at school. Parents are welcome to come join us! Please see the note sent home yesterday for more details.

Friday, June 4th : SECRET CARNIVAL! Please see the note sent home yesterday for further details. Remember, it's a secret, so don't tell your child! :)

Friday

     We've been so busy this week with dinosaurs! Yesterday, we did a lot of math workshop. After morning meeting, we made patterns with dinosaur stamps. The children did AB patterns (alternating two different dinosaurs) and some children did ABC and ABB. They really enjoyed using the stamps. You may see some stamp work coming home in their folders. We made cards for soldiers during our buddy time with Betsy's class. Betsy will mail them out in time for Memorial Day coming up. We then continued working with math and finished out measuring project. We worked as a group and measured our toy Brachiosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Triceratops with Unifix cubes. We then wrote out the measurement on our dinosaur booklet (15 cubes long, 11 cubes tall, for example).

     Today, we started our morning off with a visitor. The children were so sweet to him and showed him where everything is in the room. It just so happened our visitor loves dinosaurs as well, so the children were very eager to show him all of our dinosaur things. I'm very proud of our class for being so polite and helpful. We then had Spanish with Elena and went out for some fruit break play. Afterwards, we went to Tulie's class where we talked about what the Earth may have looked like back when the dinosaurs were around. We also discussed what it would have looked like if one of the theorists were right and a crater crashed near Mexico and wiped out the dinosaurs. The children thought it may get cold and snowy if the sun were blocked by all of the dust and ash from the crater. We let the dinosaurs play in the snow! We filled the tables with shaving cream and let the children explore it with our toy dinosaurs. They seemed to have a blast! Pictures will come soon.

Special Notes:

• Please review the paper sent home yesterday/today about being involved in an upcoming bake sale. Please choose your option and send it back as soon as possible. :) Thanks!
• Although Quick Notes for this week states our class will have an El Rodeo picnic on June 3rd at 12:20pm, we're actually having it at 11:30am on June 3rd. We're having lunch early so half day students can be involved without changing their regularly scheduled pick up time. Please feel free to come in at 11:30am and join us! We'd love to have you on our picnic!
• Arts Festival rehearsals begin next week. PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD HERE AND ON TIME.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Announcements

Parents, I have a couple announcements and reminders for you:

• Arts Festival is quickly approaching! Rehearsals will begin shortly. It is important your child is here and on time. The children have been practicing most of second semester, and this will be well worth the wait. Please, Please, PLEASE let me know in advance if possible if your child will be absent. 
• Also, Pattie is busy compiling a list and getting ready to send invitations for our annual Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day. If your child would like to invite someone who is not already on the list, or if you want to make sure that your special person is on the list, please contact Pattie at patties@communityschool.net as soon as possible.
• We still have several sets of student-created strawberry note cards available for purchase. Many parents expressed an interest in them but were unable to break away from their posts at the festival to visit the Community Chest. If you are still interested, please talk to Connie in the office.
• Some Strawberry Festival t-shirts are still available. If you would like to get one, please contact Pattie at patties@communityschool.net.
• Note from Elena: Parents, grandparents, and/or friends are welcome! Please let your child’s teacher know the number of guests at least two days before their scheduled day, June 3rd. Gracias! Elena
  • *Early Learners: Katlyn’s, Ruth Ann’s, and Tulie’s classes will have a picnic at school with food from El Rodeo on the dates assigned for their classes. We will order a taco, quesadilla, and chips for each student. The cost for their lunch will be $3.00. Drinks will not be included, so please send a drink.

Old Clothes

Wednesday

We started continued our study of dinosaurs today by listening to another chapter from our book, Dinosaurs Before Dark, read by Tulie. We're almost at the end of the book, the children can't wait to find out what happens! Be sure to ask your child about the story thus far. We then learned how to measure dinosaurs using unifix cubes. Unifix cubes are manipulatives used frequently for math projects. We took out toy dinosaurs and determined how many unifix cubes long the dinosaurs are and how many unifix cubes tall the dinosaurs are. We also did some crayon rubbings of dinosaurs. We'll continue these activites and go further with our measuring on Friday.

Since we're on the subject of dinosaurs, please feel free to send in anything relating to dinosaurs you may have at home; books, toys, stickers, stamps, puzzles, etc. would be great. During conferences, several of you mentioned having books or toys at home having to do with them. If you wouldn't mind us borrowing them for our unit, we'd love to! :)

We're in need of a class sponsor! It is a Community School tradition for the students to walk to Hollins University the Friday morning of the Strawberry Festival to get a "child-sized" portion of a strawberry shortcake. In order for us to do this, we need a class sponsor. Since the portions are "child-sized", they are $3.00 for each child ($24.00 for the whole class). If you would like to sponsor us by donating either cash or a check written out to Community School, please let me know as soon as possible. We will walk over on Friday, April 30th.We thank you in advance!!

As always, thank you for everything you do.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE click on the Strawberry Festival Blog link on the top right hand side of the page to sign up for your festival shift. We're in desperate need of help and there are several of you who haven't signed up yet! Check Quick Notes for the shifts we still need filled.  THANKS!

Thursday

My goodness it has been too long! My apologies - we've been so busy the past few weeks. We've since wrapped up our Dr. Seuss unit with a couple of books and cds that Gracie brought in to share with us. Thanks Gracie!

Since returning from Spring Break, we've been busy preparing for conferences coming up next Monday, April 19th. Please check below for your time and make sure it fits into your schedule. If not, please contact me ASAP so we can arrange a time that suits you better! While preparing for conferences, it was brought to my attention that several of our classmates were interested in learning more about dinosaurs. So, we've began a dinosaur unit! The kids are super excited to learn about them, as am I. We're working on this unit with Tulie's class. We'll get together each Wednesday and Thursday to work on an activity or particular skill (all pertaining to dinosaurs, of course!).

Yesterday, Tulie read book #1 from the Magic Tree House Collection : Dinosaurs Before Dark, by Mary Pope Osborne. This is a chapter book that has really sparked the kids' interest. She continued this book today and wouldn't you know a note fell out of the book on the last page Tulie read!? It was a message from Jack and Annie - the main characters in the book - telling the children to go look on the playground. The children discovered a series of clues that lead them to the sand box, digging for their very own treasure. Each child found a dinosaur egg! The children haven't opened them, we predicted they may hatch at home this evening. The last clue we found told us to go into the classroom. This lead the children to discover boxes full of all kinds of dinosaur things. The children discovered books, puzzles, stamps, art supplies and more all about dinosaurs. They were so excited that Jack and Annie left them these things to play with and learn about dinosaurs with. It should be a lot of fun!

CURRENT Conference Schedule for Monday, April 19th 

8:30am - Ashlynn

9:00am - Gracie

9:30am - Dillan

10:30am - Jahanvi

11:00am - Alessandra

12:30pm - Anna Grace

2:00pm - Charlie

Remember to bring your child with you, however, we do not have classes on Monday. 

Thursday

We've certainly been busy the past couple of weeks! Last Wednesday, we had a tricky day. When we arrived back from music class, we found green eggs and ham on our tables. We also discovered shamrock headbands and green candy in our cubbies. We talked about it and decided it must have been some sneaky leprechauns that left everything behind. We tried our green eggs and ham, be sure to check out the pictures! Afterwards, Tallulah's Yaya (grandmother) came in and read a Dr. Seuss story to us, Yertle the Turtle.

This week, we've been working hard in Literacy Centers and Math Workshop. In Literacy, the children have been doing a lot of cutting and gluing. We've also continued working on white boards with our "special markers". We have a couple classmates who are pretty sick and have been absent most of the week. The children decided they wanted to make cards for their friends that haven't been here. Too sweet! So, each child made two cards each for our absent friends. This wasn't only a thoughtful activity, but one to reinforce writing and practicing their name. They did an awesome job with them. In Math Workshop, we've been sorting, classifying, and putting things in order. We've worked with several different manipulatives to do these activities in the classroom. 

Today, Jahanvi's father came in and read The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss. The Sneetches is a wonderful story about how it's perfectly fine to be different from someone else. We also talked about how you wouldn't isolate someone because they looked different than you. The world is made of all kinds, right?! Thanks so much for coming in to share this story with us!

You may hear your child talking about "Cinderhog" - we watched as Betsy's class performed three different plays today (all spins off of Cinderella) during our Buddy time. Betsy's class split in three groups and each group wrote their own play, made the scenery, and directed their play. Each child was captured and engrossed in their performances. 

Needed: We need lots of different types of fabric for a project coming up. If you or anyone you know has any extra fabric left over from sewing, crafting, etc., please pass it our way! We can also use old clothing - shirts, denim, etc. THANKS SO MUCH!

Monday

This morning, we were pleasured by the company of Alessandra's dad, Jeff. He read Green Eggs and Ham by none other than the wonderful Dr. Seuss. I plan to have the children actually try green eggs and ham, as well as regular eggs and ham and see if they think it tastes any different. In the spirit of green, we will do this activity on Wednesday.

Thanks so much to Jeff for coming in and sharing this special story with us.

Later this morning, the children had music class - be sure to ask your child what happens at the end of the song they learned today (the little boy burps as he finishes his meal!). They had a blast learning this new song with Kim! We then came back to the room and worked on some fine motor skills. We're working on a project that involves coloring, cutting, assembling, and gluing. I will soon have their completed projects hanging in our windows.

Have a wonderful afternoon and THINK SPRING! :)

Wednesday

Yesterday morning sure had a lot of excitement! We performed our production of The Four Little Pigs for several students and parents. We also got to be in the audience for Tulie's class's production and Ruth Ann's class's production. All three Early Learner classes did an awesome job performing! For many of them, this was the first time they had spoken in front of a crowd. I am so proud of our little Hollywood stars. HUGE thanks goes out to the Compton family for lending me their camcorder so I could capture and share this wonderful moment with others. I hope to have copies for you all next week. Another thanks to the parents and grandparents who made it to see the play.

We began our morning with our usual Wednesday routine, but Pattie was unable to come read to us, so Lynn stepped in and shared three stories with our class. First, she read Caterpillar Spring, Butterfly Summer by Susan Hood:

She then read Froggy's First Kiss by Johnathan London and Frank Remkiewicz:

Lastly, Lynn read The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood:

Later this morning, we had our Early Learner music class with Kim. Today we tried something new - half of our class went with Ruth Ann's class to music, and the other half went with Tulie's class. While not in music, the children spent time with Michi in her office. Michi read them a beautiful story that I failed to get the title of.  All of that is to say that if your child talks about going to Michi's office today, they did, but not because they were in trouble! Michi likes having opportunity to spend time with your children too (who wouldn't!?). 

If your child is a full day student, you may also hear about the exciting afternoon we had. Tulie had to unexpectedly leave school, so we had a sleepover! Tulie's class came into our room for quiet rest today. The children were very excited to get to end their day with their "big" friends. :)

Reminders:

• Don't forget to turn in your form to read our class a Dr. Seuss book if you're interested. They were due back to me today, but we've only received a few. 
• SIGN UP FOR YOUR BAKING DAY SHIFT!!! Each caregiver is expected to volunteer 12 hours towards the festival to ensure a successful festival. Click HERE to visit the Strawberry Festival Blog and to get the Volunteer Form. The link for the form is located on the right-hand side, look for the baker's hat! Thanks for all you do. :)

Wednesday

Yesterday was Dr. Seuss's birthday, so we kicked off the morning by celebrating. We read The Foot Book and Fox in Sox by Dr. Seuss. We then took time to talk about his unique illustrations. We will be celebrating Dr. Seuss all month. Please take a moment to look over the letter/form I sent home today.

Pattie came in to read to us this morning. Pattie first read Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester.

Then Pattie read Froggy Eats Out by Johnathan London and Frank Remkiewicz. 

Lastly, Pattie read New Shoes, Red Shoes by Susan Rollings.

Reminders:

• If you haven't already done so, please visit our Strawberry Festival Blog and click on the baker's hat on the right hand side. Sign up to volunteer soon to get your pick of shifts!
• If your child has worn home their spare clothes recently, please send in a replacement set. There are several children without pants!

ALSO:

• CLASS PLAY: Our class will perform a very short (5-6 minute) play on Tuesday, March 9th at 10:15am in the drama room(upstairs in big white building). All parents, grandparents, and special friends are invited to come watch. We hope to get the play recorded for those who can't make it. If anyone has a camcorder they would be willing to let me borrow for the morning, we would be most grateful! Please let me know if you plan to attend, if possible. Thanks!

Wednesday

     What a special day today is. Our friend Jahanvi turned 4 years old today! We celebrated by singing to her and enjoying yummy cupcakes from Bubblecake Bake Shop. Jahanvi also brought in party favor bags for all of her classmates. We send out a huge thank you to Jahanvi's family for doing this special activity with us!

     We also listened to stories this morning read by Pattie. Since our class is so well behaved and polite to our guests, Pattie read four different books to us! She read Meet the Barkers: Morgan and Moffat go to School by Tomie DePaola, Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell and David Catrow, Mama, Do you Love me? by Barbara Joosse and Barbara Lavallee, and Let's Make Noise around the House by Lisa Rojany Buccieri. Later this morning we went to Music with Kim for our early learner music class.

Also,

     Don't forget about our Preschool & Kindergarten Information Session This Thursday at 7:00pm!
This event is open to the general public, but we encourage current CS parents with rising preschool and kindergarten students to attend the session and learn more about our incredible early learner and lower elementary programs. If you want to take advantage of our free childcare during the session, please call the school office. Don’t forget to remind your friends, neighbors, and co-workers to attend! If you have questions about this event, please contact Victoria (victoria@communityschool.net or 563-5036).

Monday

This morning after music class, we read The Peace Book by Todd Parr. 

We then talked about what peace means to us and discussed our own personal peace. After talking about it, we did a journal page to express our thoughts. The children did a wonderful job with these! They all put a lot of thought into their pictures and the words they wanted me to write. 

Since mid-January, we've had last names added to our attendance mittens. The helper for the day gets to pick out the mittens and read their classmates' names. Many of the children are doing a fantastic job remembering their friends' whole names. Every once in a while, quiz them by asking "What is [Alessandra's] last name again?"  and see if they can answer you. This way they will hear the information and be able to retain it and also recognize it on the attendance mittens(if they aren't already).

Today is National Be Humble Day, so be humble! :)

Just a Quick Note

I forgot to let parents know I will not be at school tomorrow, Thursday, but I will return Friday. Lynn will be my substitute.

Thanks and see you all on Friday!

Friday

What a busy morning we had! We immediately started our morning with our morning meeting. We then passed out valentines as a class. It is so wonderful to watch the children's faces light up as they look at their friends' names and can recognize them. Many of them are doing that for the whole class now. It really threw them for a loop when they came across a valentine with my name on it! Thank you to everyone for thinking of me, it was very sweet to say the least! We then had fruit break followed by muffins brought in by Gracie. They were delicious! Thanks again to the Comptons for bringing those in. 
We then had Spanish class with Elena and our Seminar buddies. The children were so excited to see Elena and their buddies again - it's been a while since we've had a regular Friday! 
Soon afterwards we began our Valentine's Day party. Our group started out in Tulie's room, where they finished their project from yesterday (painting their hands) and made a valentine hug for you. They then traveled to Ruth Ann's room where they made a heart magnet and an alien heart. Lastly, they traveled back to our room where we made heart sandwiches and decorated sugar cookies made by Ruth Ann with icing and sprinkles. We finished up just in time to play in the snow for recess. The children seemed to be very excited and had a great time. 


As long as there is snow on the ground, continue to send snow bibs and boots with your children to school. They are having a blast playing outside in the snow!


Please take time to read about the Marginal Arts Festival in both Quick Notes and the flyer sent home today. It began yesterday and runs through the Fat Tuesday celebration at the Jefferson Center next Tuesday.


A couple of weeks ago, we were filmed by PBS for a program on parenting and choosing the right preschool/school for your family. The early learner classes at our school were featured. Please check out the link below to see the footage! Once on this page, scroll down to the "pre-school" video - 4th one down the page. The first part of this clip is an interview with Kim Gregory, my professor and department head at Virginia Western. The second part is a video on our school and preschool program. 


Blue Ridge PBS - Positive Parenting



Have a great weekend and remember there is no school on Monday. We are closed for President's Day.

Monday

We had such a small group today! We started off the morning with only four of our friends. Although we were small, we were very welcoming to our new friend, Gracie, who joined our class today. We had a busy morning full of play-doh, art creations, and dramatic play time in the kitchen. Our music class was postponed to Thursday. We will still have our three music classes this week, just on Thursday instead of today. 


I realize our class list has changed a bit in the past couple of weeks. Our class list is now as follows:


Anna Grace
Charlie
Ashlynn
Gracie
Alessandra
Jahanvi
Tallulah


Please be sure to make valentines with your child this week! Our party is Friday and valentines must be brought in by then. Please see me or write me if you have any questions.

Thursday

I'm sorry parents, but I only have time for a quick post today! Thanks to everyone for your well wishes. I am feeling MUCH better and am so happy to be back with all of your sweet, sweet children. We celebrated Alessandra's 4th birthday this morning. Thank you Jeff and Michelle for bringing in a sweet treat for us to enjoy. We also had a mini lesson on China from Andy's mom, Fei. She taught us how to say China and Beijing in Chinese and how to write both words. She also showed us a children's book from China. The children loved the beautifully illustrated animals in the book. Today was Andy's last day with us. Thank you to those of you who brought in valentines for him. If you didn't and your child would still like to make him one, please feel free to do so and I can mail them to Andy. Thank you!

We will have a new student starting on Monday. Gracie, our visitor from last Friday, will be joining our class. Please add her to your class roster and be sure to include her while making valentines! :)

I hope everyone has a safe, snow filled weekend. See you next week!

Wednesday

We've been busy the past few days, despite our low attendance. I hope all of our friends are feeling better and will all return to school soon. Please try to call the school (560-5036) and let Connie know your child will not be here. If you call before 8:00am, you can leave a message.

Tomorrow is National Kazoo Day, so if your child has a kazoo at home, bring it to school! We'll take time out our morning to celebrate.

On our January/February F.Y.I. I requested 1 roll of paper towels and either a canister of Wet Ones or baby wipes. Big thank you to everyone who has sent them in already!

Also on our January/February F.Y.I., I requested a valentine be brought in for each classmate from your child by Feb. 12. However, our friend Andy will be leaving Community School. Andy is going to China and his last day with us will be Feb. 4. If your child has already made their valentines, please feel free to send in Andy's and your child can give it to him early. Thanks!

Scholastic Book orders are being sent home today to those who returned their forms requesting them. If you did not return your form to me, you will not be receiving one. Orders are due back to me on Tuesday, Feb. 2. Please make checks payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.

Thursday

     Lynn tells me the children had a great day yesterday.  Pattie started them off by reading to them. Lynn then read Edwina - The Dinosaur that didn't Think she was Extinct. The children then did a journal prompt "If Edwina lived on my street, we would..." - I loved the responses the children chose. Some would walk her, some would eat with her and others would prefer to dance. 

     Today we started off with math workshop. We talked about sorting, colors, and patterns. The children quickly caught on to AB patterns. Some of them are even ready for ABC and ABB! I was impressed. Since math workshop, the children have been spotting patterns all around the room and campus. We discovered Alessandra's shirt today has a pattern on pink and gold on it. Jahanvi was also wearing a more complicated patterned sweater today. We skipped off to fruit break and recess, followed by buddies with Betsy's class. We took advantage of National Hugging Day today and just read with our buddies followed by lots of hugs. We had a great morning that was quickly lead into a sleepy afternoon with the cold rain.

     Make sure you celebrate National Hugging Day today by hugging someone! :)

     Tomorrow we will go to Hollins University and see the performance of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. The children will be transported by bus, and as always in five-point harnesses. The performance will begin at 11:00am. We should be back by 12:15pm.

     Please check the latest edition of QUICK NOTES for information regarding closings and delays for Community School.

**NEW - Follow us on Twitter for the quickest closing and delayed opening updates!**

Tuesday

Thank you to everyone who sent their conference form in to me by last Friday. If you still haven't sent yours in, please do so as soon as possible. Thanks!

We were busy this morning working on another chart during Math Workshop. They told me last week that they were pros at charts now, so I made this one harder by giving three options to pick from, not just two like before. It was a little tricky for some of our friends, but they soon caught on. We now have five charts hanging up in our room. Please stop in and take a look when you have time - your children have worked hard on them!

We then had drama, spanish, and music. Our enrichment classes led us straight to recess and lunch. We had a wonderful morning and start to our week.

Note : I will not be here tomorrow. Lynn, our After School Coordinator will be filling in for me. Lynn has  done several activities with our class and has subbed for me once before. Everyone in our class is familiar with Lynn. If you don't know Lynn, please introduce yourself!! :) I'll see you all on Thursday.

Tomorrow is Lunch-A-Month (pancake & sausage on a stick, syrup, cooked apples, cookie, lemonade). As always, parents are welcome to come!

Please take time to read today's QUICK NOTES and check out the flyer for the PANCAKE DINNER. Reserve your seats today!!

Thursday

     Although the majority of the snow has began to melt away (after 4 weeks!), we have been all about some snowflakes in our classroom today. We started out this morning reading a story, The Jacket I Wear in the Snow written by  Shirley Neitzel and illustrated by Nancy Winslow Parker. In this story, rhyme follows rhyme as layer after layer of winter clothing ("bunchy and hot, wrinkled a lot, stiff in the knee, and too big for me!") is first put on and then taken off to the relief of the child bundled inside.We compared the clothing the children wear in the story to the outerwear we wear to play outside. Your observant children noticed I never wear a hat - I was never a hat girl - but that I always have a coat, scarf, and gloves. The conversation quickly turned into a discussion about snowflakes when one student asked me where they come from. We then did a journal page of where we think snow comes from. I must say, this is one creative group! There were a lot of thought processes that happened with this one, so watch out! From tall buildings to birds, I got all kinds of creative answers. I love the imagination of children at this age. 

     Later this morning, we had buddy time with Betsy's class. Again, the focus was on snowflakes. Their buddies helped them cut out snowflakes and color them with "watercolors". While teaching with Ruth Ann a couple of years ago, we discovered if you dipped old, dried out markers in water they make a beautiful picture, reminiscent of a watercolor painting. The ink on the paper is saturated enough the colors bleed together beautifully. Some of them are still drying and as soon as they're ready, they're going in our window. Snow buddies that are hanging in our window now will soon be coming home to make room for our colorful snowflakes.   

     After buddies, we did some creative movement and went on a bear hunt. We had some extra time, so we worked in some fine motor centers for a little while. The children rotated through different stations, some requiring transferring items using only tweezers(some stations had small items like lima beans and others had large items like cotton balls) and some included strengthening our pincer grip by using clothespins to "clip" things together. We had an awesome and productive morning!

I am still missing a couple conference forms. I need them by tomorrow, January 15th. Please refer to yesterday's post to see if I am waiting on yours. Thank you for the notes and forms sent in today!

Conference Forms

I have only received signed Conference Forms from the families crossed out below. If your name isn't crossed out, please be sure to return your form to me by this Friday, January 15th.

Aiello

Baldwin

Clinevell

Medina

Patel

Thomas

Wang

Wright

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding the Conference Form.

email : katlync@communityschool.net

 phone : (540) 875-7977

or

your child's folder.

Thank you!! :)

Monday

Today we started off with our usual morning meeting, but then had Ashlynn's show & share. She brought in a guitar and let all of her classmates play it. Playing the guitar was a great way to move on to music class with Kim. We used a lot of different types of manipulatives in our classroom when we returned from music. We also practiced writing our names. I had the children trace their name, and then write it on their own below the traced one, using the traced one as a guide. They did an awesome job with it and I can't wait to show you!

F.Y.I.s for January/February came home today, please review it and let me know if you have any questions.

Several students were absent last Friday. I took sheets and blankets home and washed them for those students. Just wanted to let you all know. :)

Tomorrow we will celebrate Anna Grace's 4th birthday! The Aiellos are bringing in cupcakes in the morning to celebrate.

Thursday

     Happy Thursday! After morning meeting this morning, we had math workshop. In some spare time yesterday, we began talking about charts. I had a chart hanging up near my desk and one of our friends asked me to explain it. We then made our own chart. We tasted fresh cranberries and decided if we liked them or not. I then handed the children a picture of themselves and they had to decide if it went into the column that read "Does like cranberries" with a smiling face or "Does not like cranberries" with a frowning face. They also had to find the row that had their name on it. With this being said, they made an awesome chart and we extended this activity this morning. We made another chart. Today's chart had all of the children's names on it and two columns. The two columns read "Likes the warm weather better" with a sunshine and "Likes the cold weather better" with a snowflake. We also learned about the word "Total" at the bottom of the chart and counted those up. The results for the children were split right down the middle! Four of the children said they liked the warm weather better, and four of them said they liked the cold weather better. I too selected one and decided I like the cold weather better. Please come in some time and check out our charts! Both of them are hanging in our room.
     We also spent time with our buddies this morning. We made cards for the troops by using our hand prints to make angels. A couple children got paint on a sleeve or two, but don't worry - the paint is washable! The children had a great time seeing their big buddies again.

Thanks to everyone for sending in your child with hats, gloves, scarves, snow boots, etc. The children are having a blast outside and seem to forget it's so cold out!

Please don't forget to sign and return your conference form by next Friday. Unless I have spoken with you, I do not feel a conference is necessary. However, if you would like to have one it's no problem! Fill out your form for your preferred meeting time and we'll go from there. :)

Have a wonderful night, see you tomorrow unless the weather doesn't allow. Please check HERE for updates regarding closings and delays.

Also, Quick Notes came out yesterday. Don't forget to read them!

We had a busy day today with all three enrichment classes. We had Drama, Spanish, and Music this morning. We had recess indoors today, with a few of our friends from Ruth Ann's class. The children loved showing Ruth Ann's class where our toys were and how to use them. They were great leaders and I am proud of them for helping their friends so politely.

I'm in the process of uploading new pictures to our blog, but my computer here at school isn't being too cooperative. I may have to try uploading them from home. Hopefully they'll be on here soon!

Be on the lookout for important papers coming home. Today I've sent home important information about the upcoming conference in February. Please select your preference, sign, and return to me by January 15th (next Friday). Thanks in advance! Also, I will be sending home a F.Y.I. this week with more detailed information about the next couple of months.

We've had a great start to the new year and I can't wait to continue this journey with all of your wonderful children. :)

Welcome back!

     Happy New Year to everyone! I hope everybody had a peaceful break. The children all seemed happy to be back - I was too! I had missed my friends and was very excited to get started this morning. We went straight to work after morning meeting. I read Sledding by Elizabeth Winthrop. We then chatted a bit about what we did over Winter break. After we discussed what we did, we journaled about it. I heard about a lot of snowball fights and long trips in cars. The children were very excited to share their experiences in the snow with me. We then had fruit break and Music with Kim. So the children didn't have to travel in the blustery cold, Kim came to our room. We welcomed her with our big hugs and listening ears. The children sang several songs that they had to also listen to for directions. They also played rhythm sticks (and did a fabulous job!).
     When Kim left, we got out some fine motor centers. Play-doh, clay, and salt dough is wonderful for building hand strength.  As the child squeezes the clay or play-doh to soften it, the hand muscles get a good workout, and by pinching the clay and making tiny parts like ears and tails to add to their creations, the child is building fine motor skills. Why do we need them to develop fine motor skills? Fine motor skills are the base for writing skills. All of this being said, one center had play-doh. Accompanying the play-doh were rolling pins and play-doh scissors. Another center had "snowballs" (small marshmallows) in a bowl, tweezers, and a small container. The children were to roll out and cut the play-doh while in the play-doh center. While in the "snowball" center, they were to pick up the snowballs one at a time and put them in the snowball bin with the tweezers. They then dumped them all back into their bowl and moved them one by one with their other hand using only the tweezers. Many of them didn't like doing it with their non-dominant hand, but they got the hang of it pretty quick! This activity worked on the Pincer grasp. The pincer grasp is the one needed to hold your pencil(or in their case crayons, markers, etc.) in the correct dynamic tripod position. Huh? That's just a fancy way to say holding a pencil between the thumb and index finger, resting on middle finger. :)


Notes :

• SHEETS: In the commotion of everything going on Dec. 18th, sheets were not sent home. I personally am taking all of the sheets and blankets home with me today and washing them this evening. A couple of you sent in new sheets/blankets for your child to have this week. If so, I sent home the sheet and/or blanket that was left here at school over break with your child today. Thank you and I'm sorry for any confusion this may have caused you last night/this morning as you went to pack your child's bag!
• PLASTIC CAPS: Please continue to send in plastic caps. We're collecting them all year!
• SHOW & SHARE: Show & Share calendars for the month of January have been sent home today. We'll start this year with Charlie, tomorrow.