Winter Walk to School Day

   Tomorrow morning is Walk to School Day and there will be an outdoor dance party from 8:45 to 9:10 in the schoolyard. Any child who can walk to school is encouraged to do so! They will receive a ticket for a draw for prizes from Bushtukah and of course the feeling of pride in their accomplishment. If you drive to school and can park even one block further away, that still counts! I will also see about getting some draw tickets for the afternoon class as well, so they can join in and walk too.
UPDATE:   Two of the afternoon children won prizes! Congratulations!!!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is coming! If your child would like to bring in cards for their class they are welcome to do so. Since they are young and they are many, the easiest way to arrange things is for your child to just sign each card with their own name. If they are really keen, they can try writing their friends's names on too, but there is no need to address each card. Also, if everyone does address the cards that's 900 Valentines to sort! Whew!! We will make special bags for their mailboxes and do some lovely heart crafts to celebrate. It will be another great February day.

Pink Day Number Two

There will be another chance to wear pink and support the lesson of No Bullying on February 23rd. We will talk as a class about how to treat people only with kindness. So get out all your pale red clothes and join in!   : )

Happy Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rabbit!

The Chinese zodiac has 12 different animals. This year is the Year of the Rabbit. Since the date for New Year can be in January or February, if your child was born before January 29, he or she is a Rooster. They are known as attractive, sharp, neat, organized and alert. Most of our class were born in the Year of the Dog, which makes them honest, intelligent,  straight-forward and fair-minded. No wonder we have such nice classes!


Here is a sample of a Chinese New Year card that people would send to each other. You can see the lanterns, the fireworks and the lucky red colour everywhere. The children are wearing the new clothes they receive as part of the celebrations. They might also have had a haircut!

These are dumplings which would be part of the big family dinner that everyone would eat together. They come in many shapes. These look a little like purses full of money. One of the wishes for the new year is prosperity.

 Here is a dragon for the Dragon Dance. On New Year's Day there will be many dragon dances for people to see. We are having a little one here, with lots of noise- makers to scare away any bad luck.

Here is another great Chinese dragon, this one on the top of  a beautiful building. Happy New Year!

Happy Groundhog Day!

This little groundhog seems to be taking his work very seriously. We are all glad that he didn't see his shadow, even though it was because a snow storm was hiding the sun. To celebrate Groundhog Day we did the Groundhog Pokey, read a story and learned this song:

(tune: I'm a Little Teapot)    
I'm a little groundhog, furry and brown.
You can see me pop up from the ground.
If I see my shadow, down I'll stay.
Six more weeks of winter on their way!

A Letter a Day

Our study of the Alphabet is going well and the children are doing alphabet puzzles, using stencils to practise their letter shapes and fine motor skills, working on a practice sheet for their names, playing with a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree and letters, writing in a special book with black board spaces on it, reading alphabet books and working together on an alphabet workbook. They are tracing fuzzy letters with their fingers and playing with letter magnets.
Each day we add a new letter to the wall and another verse to one of our songs. Your child has probably sung it to you. It is to the tune of Frere Jacques and we sing it as an echo song where the children echo the leader:
    A starts apple
(echo) A starts apple
Aaaa, Aaaaa, Aaaaa
(echo)  Aaaaa, Aaaaa, Aaaaa,
B starts balloon
(echo) B starts balloon
Bbbbb, Bbbbbb, Bbbbb
(echo) Bbbbbb, Bbbbbb,  Bbbbbb.   

And so on through the letters. You should have received a sheet with all the letters and their sample words. You can post it somewhere visible and use it when you have time to review the sounds and letters. (Please let me know if you need a copy of this sheet and I will send it again.) The children are great at using the alphabet posted on the wall to help them sing the song and think about the alphabet. They enjoy coming in to the classroom every day and predicting what the letter of the day will be. We will be continuing to have a new letter each day until we have covered them all. There will be a few pauses in early February to celebrate Chinese New Year and Valentine's day and we should be done the unit by the middle of the month. Soon we will also begin putting the letters together and reading some easy rhyming words like cat and mat. As you know, each child learns to read at his or her own speed and there is no pressure on them at this age, but whatever step they are at in the hundreds of steps to reading they can enjoy this unit and continue to progress.

Twin Day

Twin Day is coming up on Friday, January 28th. Your child can choose a friend to be twins with and dress alike. You can even try matching hairstyles. The more similiarities the better. It should be a fun day!