Front Building:

This months’ review begins with a wonderful visit from the Bellevue Museum.  Our kids learned about woodland animals and were able to feel animal pelts, scat, touch skulls, and discern the different footprints from various animals.  Although the school was not open on Valentine’s day because of the snow, we had a belated celebration and distributed Valentines to all our friends and enjoyed a special and yummy treat together.  

Our major curriculum unit this year is the study of Dinosaurs which will be very popular with the kids.  We started off by talking about the Big Bang Theory and how over millions of years animal life evolved from trilobites to small invertebrates and to fish and on to the first reptiles.  The three periods of the dinosaurs, Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, will be the foundation as we learn many interesting things about the dinosaurs that lived during these times.  The classroom will have many special works and art to support this unit.  We are all happy to get back into our school routines.  We’ve all missed each other!

Back Building:

What an interesting month of February we have had thus far!  In early February we were lucky to have a, visitor from Bellevue Museum come and teach us about bears, skunks, squirrels, deer, coyote and other animals who live in the Pacific Northwest.  They brought animal furs, tracks, bones, and answered the students’ many questions. 

With Valentine’s Day coming up, we prepared our Valentine bags and made an“I Love You” sign language Valentine’s Day card and then celebrated a week late due to all the snow.  Thanks to all the sign teachers who were able to come and shovel the driveway so we could resume classes safely!  

We have been continuing our science lessons on Tuesday afternoons.  Students learned about sound waves by doing an experiment that combined both music and science with a homemade glass bottle xylophone. We’ve also explored surface tension.

We are in our peace unit currently.  We have a meditation work out on the shelves that allows the children to set up a meditation area and sit while they feel their love.  We also introduced the love lights.  Love lights can be worn by a child who feels their love is shining brightly and it encourages the children recognize the feeling of love inside their bodies.