Buckeye Class:

Spring has finally arrived!

Thank you all for taking the time out to attend conferences. We really enjoyed sharing  with you what your child is up to in class. Seeing their individual growth in kindness, confidence and academics made it fun to share!

We began our month working on a practical life skill, slicing. Food preparation is such a fun and valuable skill as children truly love being able to do things for themselves. During work time the children had opportunities to slice up a cucumber, eat it, and clean up after themselves. More food to come later!

In science we found out that matter is anything that takes up space and that matter can be a solid, a liquid or a gas, depending on its qualities. We were able to observe a liquid (ex: water) taking on the shape of its container, while a solid (ex: frozen water) does not. Air, on the other hand, fills all available space. A SINK/FLOAT work was introduced explaining what it means to be more dense or less dense than water. We look forward to conducting some more hands-on science experiments.

We discussed the water cycle being the constant movement of water and an appreciation for the availability of water.

This month we started a lengthy unit study of our own beautiful state of Washington. We begin with a cosmic view that ties everything together, leading with the universe and ending with the city we live in. Using paper maps, puzzle maps and models of the earth, a picture is painted of where we are in the world.   (Universe, galaxy, planet, continent, country, state, and city)

We learned all about different biomes in Washington state including their unique and specific climates, animals and flora and fauna. We have also been talking about the state symbols like the bird, flower, gem, fruit etc.… Because our state fruit is the apple, a little apple tasting experiment was conducted.

Kids have been working hard on a spring themed project that will come home in April.

Thank you to Mrs. Leach who shared with the class some of the traditional activities she has enjoyed during the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day including parades, story telling and spreading love.

We can’t wait to dig into plants and gardening!

Hemlock Class Newsletter for March

A big Thank you to all of you for meeting with us for conferences. It is an important time to connect. We learn a lot from you about your child and can inform you about our daily activities in class as we do not have time to do so during drop off and pick up! Thank you again for partnering with us in making your child/children successful!.

Spring is in the air and things are changing. New friendships are forming for a lot of children and how to navigate them is another skill to figure out. We keep our eyes and ears open inside as well as on the playground but appreciate your input, too. ProCare works great for quick messages.

The month of March is our Unit month in class and we are diving deep into -Birds-So far we covered birds in general: beaks, feathers, claws, nest building, egg laying etc. Then we looked closer at different types of water birds, birds of prey from the PNW and tropical birds. We also explore birds that do not fly and birds we see in our area. The children learn lots of bird related songs, make bird puzzles, parts of bird books and read Library books about the subject and some children even write and draw their own! It is very impressive how much detailed information the children remember and all of them have a favorite bird! In practical life the children can create their own nests, feed chicks and write with feathers and feel feathers in different ways. There is dry pouring with bird seeds and gluing of bird pictures available. In other classroom areas we have bird memory as a favorite and matching birds to each other or their homes. Every week a new activity is added 🙂

The time change made some children a bit tired but overall seems to have no effect on our learning. The children started with their Spring project since time flies by and there are several steps to prepare it 🙂 It will come home for Spring Break.

Thank you all for sending in snacks and water bottles as having snack with a friend is an exciting social time during class.

St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated with stories and lots of children wearing green. On the same day we had to say Good Bye to our friend Irfa from the afternoon class. Her family is moving to Canada and we will miss her dearly! We wish her all the best!