Wednesday, February 3, 2010

NURSERY RHYMES NEWSLETTER - FEB 2010

UPK PM - Future Paleontologists!

Winter finds us really in the thick of our classroom routine. The school year is going so fast, mostly because we’re so busy. We have plenty to do in school from cooking to dance to art projects and everything in between. Having so many choices means that the day flies by, and before you know it, it’s clean-up time. Next thing you know we’ll be heading into spring!

The fall and winter holidays have taught us about the joy of giving and sharing. At Thanksgiving we shared a special feast, full of goodies that we made ourselves. We studied the various holidays and made gifts for our families. We also talked about the importance of kindness and caring, both at the holidays and every day.

Our classroom affords us opportunities to share in many different ways. For example, we share food and stories at snack time, and we work together throughout the day on the various projects and activities that we do in school. It’s fun to be together, and we have all become very good friends.

We had a great time playing in the snow before it all melted away. We had some great snowball fights (all snowballs thrown at each other’s backs, and never above the waist). The teachers even got involved! We dug holes in the snow and went zipping down the slide at top speed. Maybe as winter continues we’ll have more opportunities like that. We hope so. To that end, please remember to dress your children for the weather. We like to go outside as much as possible, especially in the snow! Boots and snow pants are essential for snowy days!

We have turned into paleontologists for the next few weeks while we study dinosaurs! We’re having a great time in the classroom digging up dinosaur bones and creating our own fossils and dinosaur eggs. In the next few weeks we will be examining different species of dinosaurs more in depth. We’ll learn how big they were, what they ate, and how they protected themselves. We may even BECOME dinosaurs! But we promise that when we come home, we will not eat you. With this study in mind – please take advantage of your Cool Culture Cards and visit the Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaur exhibit. I went to visit it on Teacher Education Day!

In the spring, we will be studying the environment in depth. Our class will be examining how best to take care of Mother Earth in celebration of Earth Day. After all, she takes such good care of us, we must return the favor. Since we are such a creative bunch, we will find ways to reuse some of the things that would ordinarily be thrown away. Wait until you see what we come up with!

When you walk into our classroom it is very gratifying to see that everyone is busily interacting with one another. There are many things going on at the same time, and we move easily from one activity to the next. We have a lot of free choice in our classroom, along with many opportunities to explore and use our creativity. In all activities, socialization and communication is encouraged, and it’s great to see a group of strangers become a class of good friends. All of these interactions will lay the groundwork for future relationships. We have such a “warm and fuzzy” class.

Stay tuned for springtime fun!

Andrea, Alma, & Nicole

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