Gifts Are For Giving

Dear Parents,

We worked the whole week on our gifts. The children snapped willow tree twigs to create gifts for family members. We used lots of glue. The class chose colors to paint their gifts: gold, silver, copper, or white.

We read books about Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanza.  We noticed that all three celebrations include lighting candles. More than one book mentioned special meals to eat during the celebration. 

On Wednesday, while half the class posed for yoga with Tasha, the rest carved etchings into styrofoam boards to make prints. We printed on paper bags and on white paper. We used silver and copper paint. The children carved straight lines, circles, dots, and a couple of letters. 

The children gave sincere high fives and goodbyes to Tasha. One person insisted he would see her after the holidays although she told everyone it was her last class.

“You know why I love school?” “Because there are more kids than grownups.” Overheard during lunch.

On Thursday everyone beaded necklaces for gifts. We went around during circle and the children said who they wanted to give their gifts to. Only two people said themselves. We reminded the class about all that their mamas and daddies do for them, and how much they (mamas and daddies) enjoy getting gifts. 

On the last day of this week we worked in the classroom playing with math manipulatives on the carpet, cut paper at the table, and danced a little disco. In the big room we built with blocks, rode wheels, and cooked in the kitchen. Two children took turns performing dances for each other on the stage.

Have a great weekend!

Therese

Feely Box, Feelings and Family

Dear Parents,

We began our week using our sense of touch to guess what was in the Feely Box. Children guessed an acorn, popcorn, a present, a stick, a dinosaur, a pinecone, and an elephant. It was an elephant.

We added the letter E to our alphabet and brainstormed words that begin with E: eek!, eel, elephant, ear, eat, exit, extinguisher, earring, England, and Egypt are all on our list.

We asked the children to name two good feelings and two bad feelings. They said: happy, angry, excited, and sad. We asked what color would each feeling be? Happy- pink, angry- black, excited- purple, and sad- blue. The class took turns telling us times when they felt these feelings. Several brought up sad feelings when siblings took toys away or called them names. One person talked about feeling happy when riding bikes with his mama. Someone said last year they were excited for Christmas. No mention of this year. 

We read I Was So Mad, Ooops!, and Feeling Angry. We reviewed the things we can do when we feel angry: leave the room, punch a pillow, or punch our bed, count to ten, and tell a grownup. We encouraged taking deep breaths too. 

During yoga with Tasha, friends were seen hopping, and shortly after, lying quietly. 

We reviewed our feeling chart and talked about how we can have many different feelings in one day. Children talked about how we go from feeling sad back to happy. Some said talking to their parents, a hug, or a bandaid, helped them to feel better when they were sad. 

We sat quietly for one or two minutes, listening to a meditation chant. The class listened intently to the music while two people hummed along. 

We played Duck, Duck, Goose again. Once again, lots of excited laughter. Two people chose not to run. Afterwards, a few friends continued the game while others went to the block area or to play in the kitchen. 

We played lots with our small wooden blocks this week. The class built, and knocked down, many structures. We talked about only knocking down your own buildings and not your friends'. 

On Friday we made a list of who lives in our homes. Everyone listed their family members while we wrote it down. We read a few books about families. One book said that all families are different but held together by the same glue: love. 

Have a loving weekend,

Therese