Monday 9 January 2017

Monday, January-09-17
Happy New Year everyone!

I hope that this first week back to reality finds everyone healthy, rested and full of wonderful memories from an amazing holiday!
I certainly do not take for granted this special time that I have to spend with my family. I feel blessed to be able to have 2 weeks with my children to celebrate, play and grow together! This morning was truly bittersweet! While I was a little sad that my holiday adventures with my babies have come to an end, I am truly excited to begin 2017 with YOUR children!
As an educator, I love this time of year!  It is busy and hectic, but the students really do seem to grow over the break. They come back refreshed and ready to learn.....so that is exactly what we are going to do!

We had some renovations done in the classroom over the holidays! The students were super excited to come in and see the new cupboards, closet, counter top and cubbie area! It really is lovely! Check Twitter for some pictures later today! 

Today, we spent some time discussing our Christmas holidays with each other. We practiced active listening and some students even tried asking other students questions about their stories! Everyone had such lovely tales of what they did. We turned the conversation into a discussion about the difference between telling someone something, and asking a question. We will be focusing on "telling sentences" and "asking sentences" throughout this month! 

As the New Year has just begun, we will be taking some time to discuss resolutions.  We will discuss about how people use the turning of the New Year to set a goal for themselves, to try and improve on something.  Some great examples would be: learning to play an instrument, reading more and practicing a sport! 
Throughout the week, each student will be setting a goal for him/her self.  They will also be looking at steps they need to take to meet their goals. Ask your child about what they are looking to improve on! 

As this week is fairly busy already and we have many learning activities planned throughout the week, we will have no word wall words this week.  We will be focusing on our 4 vocabulary words from the story, Gingerbread Baby. This words that we are studying are, pranced, worn, peppy and fool. SO far, we have talked about the words within the context of the story. This week, we are going to come up with an action that we can associate with the word to help us remember the word. 
This story has already led us into some exciting learning.  I am looking forward to seeing where else it takes us!

Just a reminder that this week will be COLD, then WARM and WET!  Please make sure that they children are dressed appropriately. 

This will be a busy month, so stay tuned for more information! 

Again, I wish you all a Happy New Year!  
Stay warm!! 

Sarah Faloon