Welcome back to a new year in Room Two. The children enjoyed the fall season. We watched as the leaves turned beautiful shades of red, yellow, brown, and gold and then fell from the trees. Our class tree followed the same pattern. Apples were replaced by beautiful leaves the children painted with water color which have since fallen and sent home. Now beautiful snowflakes the children decorated adorn the classroom tree.
We started our preparations for Thanksgiving by reading books about families. We learned that families come in many different shapes, colors, and sizes. We looked at pictures of real turkeys and sang turkey songs. We had our own Thanksgiving feast. Our menu consisted of pumpkin corn bread, corn on the cob, and cranberry orange relish. They had a blast pulling the husk from the corn. At the art table each child made his/her own funky turkey and at the tactile table children had many opportunities to scoop cranberries from the water table. The true meaning of Thanksgiving was demonstrated when we brought the cans of food you donated to the collection center in Vladeck Hall.
The holiday season was a very exciting time for all of us. We sang songs for Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and Christmas and read many stories. The children requested the book Jingle Bells by Iza Trapani numerous times. It presents the words of the familiar Christmas song, plus extra verses and brief descriptions of the Christmas traditions of Mexico, Sweden, the Philippines, Poland, Italy, and Kenya. This book introduced the children to how other cultures celebrate Christmas. Plus they got to talk about their traditions at home. The children were very proud of the holiday gifts they made for their families. We hope you will enjoy it for years to come. We made potato latkes and since then kept a potato in a jar with some water. The children are observing as the potato’s eyes are forming and growing.
During November and December the children enjoyed listening to the book Mr. Cookie Baker by Monica Wellington, The Door Bell Rang by Pat Hutchins, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond. In January we are cooking with potatoes. So far we tried potatoes boiled, baked, and fried and we made potato rolls. We planted potatoes and will be watching our viewing nursery box as the potato plant grows roots and shoots start to come up.
January will be a time to explore the winter season. Included are the environmental changes that take place, freezing, melting, and how animals adapt. Hibernation and migration will be discussed. We will be reenacting the story The Mitten by Alvin Tresstle, The Enormous Potato by Aubrey Davis, and The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett. Our celebration of Chinese New Year which falls on February third will be a perfect introduction of other vegetables. We will get a unit on transportation started towards the beginning of February and will continue with our winter unit exploring the sports people enjoy in the winter months.
The children had formed friendships and are getting along very well. They are starting to use language to express their feelings with one another. They enjoy coming to the writing table and the art table; some are starting to write their names and all can recognized their names as well. The weather chart is a very popular activity during circle time. A few children participate daily to check the weather, tell the class what the weather is like and count how many sunny, rainy, cloudy, windy, or snowy days we had so far in the month.
The parent of the day program has started please try to find a day (or even an hour) to spend with us in our classroom. The children enjoy having their parents visiting the classroom. We missed Vicki in our classroom the children enjoyed her presence. Thank you Vicky for volunteering your time, we look forward to having you back in our classroom soon.
We would like to stress how important it is for children to feel comfortable while playing in the snow. Buying a pair or two of water prove mittens is one thing you can do to assure their hands are always dry. We also recommend to clip them to their jackets.
Looking forward to the rest of the year,
Maria, Alma, Nicole, and Vicki
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