Front Class:
Our class has begun our study of Australia this month. We enjoyed listening to didgeridoo music and learning about marsupials. The koala and kangaroo are particularly fascinating to our young learners. Students are learning to recognize the shape of the continent and its many different biomes. We even made Anzac biscuits, a special Australian cookie!
Everyone looked forward to Valentine’s day. Students got creative by decorating bags with red, white, and pink paint. Students experimented with printmaking, using cardboard tubes dipped in paint to make hearts. Stickers and collage materials were added as designed by each child. On Valentine’s day students exchanged Valentines with their friends, passing them out with a little help from the teachers. Its always an exciting event, and this year was no exception!
Earlier in the month, we had some special visitors. Dressed like tooth fairies, guests from a local dentist office came to teach us about healthy habits for dental health. We learned that fresh fruits and vegetables are good for our teeth and that we should limit sweets, sugary snacks, and sticky foods. Water is a great drink choice for tooth health. Students went home with their own, new toothbrushes along with the important reminder to brush two times a day.
Please don’t forget to sign up for conferences, the sign-up sheet is located just past the front door in the coatroom.
If your child stays for lunch, we wanted to mention our lunch utensils. Please try to remember the necessary utensils when packing your child’s lunch. If you forget, we do have utensils they can borrow, but we want to make sure they don’t go home with your child. We have painted the ends of our lunch utensils light blue, so if you see one come home with your child, please send it back to school. Thank you!
Back Class:
It’s finally sunny and beautiful outside! These 30+ days of rain didn’t come easy for us – we sometimes had to stay inside for the whole day, get socking wet while playing outside (still having a lot of fun) and constantly change our wet clothes. But we’ve survived the rain and are super excited to observe the signs of the upcoming spring! We’ve started the month of February with exploring land and water forms. We’ve memorized the shapes and names and had a plenty of practice with filling the forms up with water and observing how it distributes all around the land. We learned about the opposites and the differences between lake and island, gulf and peninsula, strait and isthmus, and bay and cape.
Also, this month we enjoyed decorating bags for Valentine day celebration and making special cards for the parents. We were excited to share Valentine cards and gifts with all the friends in the classroom. As Valentine day is about acceptance, appreciation and love, we focused on the themes of friendship, love and kindness. We read stories and talked about what it means to be a good friend and what can we do to make a someone feel good.
Last week we started an Ocean Unit. We’ve learned about names, locations and main characteristics of the five Oceans. Our Practical Life and Sensorial areas are now filled with new beautiful works showcasing shells, pearls, sand and fish. Be on the lookout for our Ocean art projects that will soon start coming home with your students.
Last week we also had visitors from a local dentist clinic. Three dental assistants came to our classroom to talk about dental hygiene. They played games, demonstrated teeth cleaning techniques and explained which foods are good and bad for our teeth.