January Newsletter

Happy New Year! I hope everyone has had an enjoyable Holiday season! The Kindergarten children and I are very excited to be back at school and to start off fresh in a new year! I am hoping this blog will keep us all better in touch. Each monthly newsletter will be found on this blog, as well as any other important information that should be made available to you. Check when you can for any updates!

Our main themes for the month of January will be The Ocean and Healthy Habits. We will be featuring books by Marcus Pfister and Leo Lionni. We will work on a number of crafts related to our Ocean theme which include making colourful jellyfish and crafty crabs. We will be learning to recognize a variety of ocean animals and recite interesting facts about them. Children will also be encouraged to try the variety of "fishy crafts" at our art center at Free Choice Center Time! In addition to this, the children will learn about habits to keep them healthy; such as, washing hands frequently, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly.

The following is a list of skills we will be working on during the month of January: reciting telephone number and birth date, making predictions when listening to stories, recognizing and printing numerals 1-5, comparing two sets using one-to-one correspondence, counting and creating sets of numerals 1-5 to their respective quantities, printing last name, and learning the letters Hh, Jj, Ff, and Kk. We will continue drawing objects and learning to recognize their names in print. We have completed pup, pop, ox, ax, map and mom. We will add the words dad, stop, pot and top. Feel free to print these words on flashcards (especially those words which we have already studied). You may be amazed at how well your child can "read" these words!

Notes and Reminders:
* Many of the children's markers are drying out. Please ask your child if his/her markers need to be replaced.
* Library will continue to be each Day 1 of the school cycle.
* Early Dismissal this month is on Thursday, January 14th at 12:10, Day 1.
* Friday, January 29th is a Professional Development Day for teachers at our school. There will be no classes for students on this day. This is not a day on the school cycle and therefore children will not attend school again until Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 (Groundhog Day!). Watch your Sharing Calendars closely!

Feel free to give me a phone call at the school if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. As well, you can always email me at the address posted above.

Mrs. Lippai