Happy February!
Ahh, I can’t believe we are in the last 6 months of school! From this point on we will begin our mock Kindergarten structure to school. We will have a consistent schedule and routine for work and play. Please be sure to arrive by 9:30am so that the children understand the flow of the day, can do their appointed jobs and to hear about what our day will be like.
This month we will be learning about SO many new and interesting things like, various countries in Asia, the story behind Lunar New Year, Our Presidents, Farms, Farm animals and their special jobs, Love & Friendship, and doctors!
Monthly Curriculum
Theme: Love
Value: Friendship
Color: Pink & Purple
Multicultural Visit: Asia
Holiday: Valentine’s Day & Lunar New Year!
Animal: Farm Animals
Community Helper: Doctor
Additional Theme: President’s Day
Letters/Sounds: Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, Uu
Words: – ot family words & CVC list 1
Numbers: 30-50
Shapes: Pentagon, Hexagon, Octagon
** Week One – Feb. 5 – 9
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In preparation for Presidents’ Day, Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday, and George Washington’s Birthday, we will begin our week by learning about our Presidents! We will learn how many we have had, when the first president took office, all about the job, their responsibilities, why we have a president and how they too can become one if they wanted one day. I will highlight our most distinguished Past Presidents, their accomplishments, and the impact they had on our country. Not all presidents were famous men of change but there are still some very fun/funny facts to learn about them! I will share a few about the more obscure and less famous presidents with the children. Our class will also learn about the lives and actions of 2 strong, brave, and forthcoming women who fought for liberty and justice for all; Susan B. Anthony (honored on Feb. 15th) and Rosa Parks (honored on Feb. 4th). Please don’t forget, there will be no school on February 19th for President’s Day.
In Social Studies and Geography, our class will take an imaginative journey oversees to Asia! Our class will learn about various countries such as, China, Japan, South Korea, Cambodia, and Indonesia. We will find the countries on our map and learn more about each country by seeing pictures of the cityscapes, natural environments, and native animals, listening to music, listening to the language and trying out phrases for ourselves, trying on traditional garments, and looking at, recreating, and discussing each countries flag.
While in Japan, the children will learn about sushi, Koinobori Windsock Flags, and chopsticks! Our class will discuss what the chopsticks are and how they are used, and they will have the chance to experience using them with a fun manipulatives activity.
On our trip to China, we will learn facts about the country and locate it on our world map! We will discover that China is the most populated country on our planet and that the animals that inhabit its land and waters include various species of panda, the only 2 fresh water dolphins on Earth, various monkeys, and even some tigers. We will look at and learn fun facts about a few famous landmarks such as, the Great Wall of China, the forbidden city, the Terracotta Warriors, and Mount Everest. We will also learn a couple of phrases in Chinese as well as our number 1-10. Some of our arts and crafts projects and activities will be panda masks, making a recreation of the Chinese flag, creating our own Terracotta Warriors, and trying to recreate the Great Wall of China.
Week Two – Feb. 12 – 16
In preparation for Valentine’s Day, we will be learning about LOVE and FRIENDSHIP. We will create a list of all the ways we can show love, give love, and how to be a good friend. We will read books about love, friendship, patience, and sharing, such as, Toot and Puddle: A Present for Toot by Holly Hobbie, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and I Will Surprise My Friend by Mo Willems. The kids will always work together to make a FRIENDSHIP QUILT! Each child will receive a square piece of paper and be asked to decorate it how they want. It will be a unique artistic representation of themselves.
Our writing center will be transformed into a Valentine’s Day card making station! The children will be able to write a card to whomever they’d like with the fun materials provided. We will also be making a special batch of cards to send joy to the children at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
In preparation of the Lunar New Year, our class will listen the story of how the animals for the Chinese Zodiac came to be. We will also learn about how this year is the year of the Dog and find out what animal they and other members of our school are! As a collaborative art project, our class will create a Chinese dragon out of recyclable materials and tissue paper! Our class will then take this Dragon around in a Lunar New Year parade with the Raspberry and Strawberry classrooms.
Monthly Academic Focus
Academically, we will be going over the VOWELS: Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, and Uu. Each week, we will focus on one letter/sound and practice writing it using worksheets and our lined practice paper, review words that start with that sound, search for things in our classroom that start with that sound, and read a book about that letter and its sound. So far in the school year we have learned 4 word families (-at, -an, -am and -ad) and will start learning our -ot Family words using the sounding out methods we have learned so far! The words we will learn this month are cot, dot, hot, lot, not, pot, rot, and spot. We will learn to read these words by blending sounds from left to right and matching them to picture words!
For math, the children will have the opportunity to create Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, and farm animal patterns using our class tangram shapes. This will help them practice identifying the shapes, figure out which shape best fits where, and enhance puzzle skills. Our class will practice going over numbers 30-50 with the 100’s pocket chart, the Montessori Tens Board and beads, and our unifix blocks. These materials will allow the children to match the quantities with its appropriate number. We will also practice reading numbers from left to right and how our 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s numbers all have a 3, 4, or 5 in the front followed by our unchanging 0-9 pattern.
Valentine’s Day
Abraham De Los Santos
Elijah Sessions
Jaiden Moore
Philip Duffy
Rania Shakra
Rogan Alper
Reminders
– Hot lunch will continue to be $5 when ordered in advance, however if ordered the day of or by the week it will be billed at $6.
– Show and Tell is every Friday! Encourage your child to bring in a special toy, book, or game of their choice to share with the class. Show & Tell is great because it’s fun for the kids and simultaneously enhances effective communication, strengthens their vocabulary , improves their listening skills, and promotes self confidence.
– Date Night is (typically) every other Saturday from 5:00pm-12:00am. $15/hr for an individual child or $17/hr for a pair of siblings (min. charge is $60). Dinner and a movie are also provided.
– We are now NUT FREE! We have a number of students in the school allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, in order to keep them safe we ask that you please do not send your child to school with any products containing nuts. If you would like a list of nut-free food suggestions let me know and I will get you a list!
– And lastly, a personal request from myself, please try to label all of your child’s items! Many families buy the same things and sometimes other students or teachers may move your child’s items mistakenly; labeling your things will greatly help avoid any mishaps!
If you have any other questions about the parent handbook feel free to ask myself, Gabriel, or Ms. Annie.
School Calendar 2017
February
Saturday – 3rd – Date Night with Ms. Jennifer
Saturday – 10th – Date Night with Ms. Jennifer
Friday – 16th – Lunar New Year
Monday – 19th – NO SCHOOL- President’s Day
March
Saturday – 3rd- Date Night with Ms. Jennifer
Monday – 5th – Picture Day
Saturday – 10th – Date Night with Ms. Diana
Friday – 16th – Celebrating St Patrick’s Day
Tuesday – 20th – Egg Hunt
Friday – 23rd to 2nd – NO SCHOOL- Spring Break
April
Tuesday – 3rd- Back from Spring Break
Saturday – 7th- Date Night with Mrs. Gloria
Saturday -21st – Date Night with Ms. Jennifer