WHAM Families–Welcome to the Web!

Welcome to a new year and a new way of communicating!  We are very excited to introduce you to the new WH blog and hope that you will find it interesting and informative.  Check back regularly to see what your children have been up to in the classroom.

What’s Been Going On?

As you all are aware, the months of November and December are very busy, even here at school.  We enjoyed all the opportunities to interact with the children and their families.  The children loved showing their grandparents around on Grandparent’s Day.  They love the opportunity to teach the important adults in their lives, and for them, this is the perfect forum.  Thank you to all the grandparents who came in to sit on those little chairs and participate!

The children had another opportunity to teach at Father’s Night.  It was delightful watching the fathers get down and dirty with their children!  Father’s Night was a festival of paper airplane construction, complete with test models tossed off the top of the stairs.   The children beamed with pride as they showed their fathers all their favorite works.  Thank you to all the fathers who came in and participated!

Throughout the month, we had many parents in to read, to help with crafts, and to cook.  While the children enjoyed all the extra activities, they found plenty of opportunities to work on new skills.  Some of the most popular works were table setting, hot cocoa making, and sewing.  Many children loved a layered head puzzle that shows how a person’s face covers his/her skull which protects his/her brain.  They loved working on this puzzle in small groups, coaching and encouraging each other through the complex layers.  Of course, we also took time to celebrate the season with singing and crafts like snowflakes and snow globes.

What’s Next?

After a long winter break, we are all eager to jump back into hard work.  The children returned eager to learn new skills and to try out new activities.  We are celebrating this interest in work by helping each child take his/her individual work to the next level.  Often, this time of year comes with an explosion of new skills and new interests.  Because the children are so eager to immerse themselves in learning, we like to introduce school wide topics of study.  This year, we are exploring the continent of Antarctica.  The children are already interested by the variety of animals particular to that region as well as the unique cultural elements.  The cold and snow give us the perfect opportunity to discuss similarities and differences between Antarctica and here.  If you have any special knowledge of Antarctica or snow climbing or snow survival, we would love to have you come in and teach the children about these subjects.  Please let us know if you are interested!  Of course, parents are welcome in any time.  Look for the sign-up sheet to come in and read, cook, or craft with the children.  It should be posted on the sign-in sheet any day now.  If none of those dates work for you, please feel free to contact us and let us know when you would prefer to come in.

Reminders

In this crazy season of weird weather, it is especially important that children come dressed appropriately.  We try to get outside every day, so layers are essential.  Also, the snow lingers for a long time in the back yard, even on sunny days.  Please have you children wear boots so that they can have free range of the back yard.  Snow pants are another great item to send as snow stays on the north-facing slide for longer than you might imagine.  Even if the day is too cold to start outside, we like to try and make it out eventually, so send warm clothes, just in case.

Thank yous

Thank you Kristen M., Amy M., Cat F., Pam H., and Ashley W. for coming in to read.

Thank you Brooke B. (and your mother), and Christine T. for coming in to make special projects with the children.

Thank you Cat F. and your mother for coming in to cook latkes with the children.  They were delicious!!

Thank you Laura R. for playing the violin

Thank you to Ava B.’s family for the CD player, Lucas D.’s family for the pointsettia, Atticus B. and Luke G. for the books, Amy M. for the hot drinks, Theodora M. for the flowers, Annika W. for the wrapping paper, and Emily F. and Polly W. for all the plastic bags.

Thank you all for being supportive of us and being invested in your children’s learning!