January Newsletter

Welcome 2010!  The New Year is off to a great start in the Lion’s Den!  So much has been going on since we returned from our long winter break.

We began the New Year with a New Year’s Eve celebration with personalized party hats, noise makers, and confetti.  During snack, we counted down from 10, shouted Happy New Year, and made lots of noise with our noise makers.  We hope that you enjoyed our New Year’s cards.  We worked hard to make all of that confetti with our special hole punchers.  We also talked about our New Year’s resolution.  We learned that a resolution is a promise that we make to ourselves.  Many of our Lions resolved to learn a new sport or become better at sharing with a brother or sister.  We ended our first week back at school with a pajama party.  It was a perfect way to end our Nighttime theme.  We made s’mores for snack, snuggled with our blankets and stuffed animals and watched the short movie, Bear Snores On, with our friends in the Angels and Shepherds classes.  I don’t know about you, but I would love to come to school in my pajamas every Friday!

We are currently in the middle of our winter theme.  During the next two weeks, we are learning about the winter season and winter animals.  We read the story, The Mitten by Jan Brett.  We had a great time lacing our own mittens and creating the characters from the story.  We can’t wait to tell you the story of the mitten using our story props!  We also acted out the story and pretended to be the animals crawling inside the mitten on a cold, winter day.  Next week, we will read another Jan Brett story called Annie and the Wild Animals, and we’ll learn about what some animals do during the winter.  We’ll also use stamps to make animal tracks and make winter bird feeders for the birds that do not migrate for the winter.

We will end the month with a theme about opposites.  During this week, we will not only learn about opposite concepts and words, but we’ll also learn about penguins since their colors are opposites (black and white)!  It will a great way to end a fabulous and fun month!

We have learned many new letter, math, and bible concepts this month.  Here is an overview of what we will learn in the month of January.

Letters:  L, M, N, O

Shapes:  Review of all shapes, focusing on distinguishing between square and rectangle

Colors:  Black and white

Numbers: Counting backwards from 10

Bible Stories:  Jacob’s Dream, Joseph’s Jacket, A Time for Everything, Jacob and Esau

Bible Memory Verses: 

·        "Jacob came to a place and spent the night." Genesis 28:11

·        "Jacob made Joseph a special robe with long sleeves." Genesis 37:3

·        "There is a right time for everything.  Everything on earth has its special season."

 Ecclesiastes 3:1

·        “Esau became a skilled hunter. . . but Jacob was a quiet man.”  Genesis 25:27

Important Dates to remember

January 18:  School will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Day

February 1:  No lunch buddies due to monthly staff meeting

February 10:  Valentine’s Day celebration – information and sign up sheets will follow soon!

February 12:  School will be closed for staff inservice

February 15:  School will be closed in observance of President’s Day

February 26:  Conferences with Ms. Carolyn – please remember to sign up for your time on the bulletin board outside of the classroom!

Reminders

Although the weather is cold, we will still be spending some time outside.  During the winter months, it is a good idea to keep an extra set of mittens and hats in your child’s cubby for the days that we will be going outside.  We will NEVER go outside on bitterly cold days, but some days it certainly will be mild enough for a short visit to the playground.  Please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately on these days (pants, sneakers, coat, hat, mittens).  Thank you for your cooperation!  The children are anxious to get back out on the playground!