This is Miss Daniels' last week with us. She will be here through Friday. She will be missed.

We finished up our unit on food groups this week. We are learning a little about Hanukkah now and will have a Hanukkah party on Friday.

Next week, we will learn about holiday customs in other countries. On Monday, Dec. 19th we will have our Christmas party. This will be our last day of school before winter break. We will be off for two weeks and start back Tuesday, Jan. 3rd.

Please remember to dress your children warmly. We try to go out every day the temperature permits. It would help us if you could practice letting them put on snowpants, boots, hats and gloves at home. The more they can do independently, the faster we can get ready.

We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. The children were anxious to get back to school to see their friends. This week Miss Daniels is teaching the class about food groups. They have learned that there are five food groups: vegetables, fruits, grains, protein and dairy. We have done some tasting too.

Next week, we will learn a little about Europe and Hanukkah. We will talk about different holiday traditions the week before winter break. If you have a holiday tradition you would like to share, please let us know.

We are having a busy November. Last week we talked about the five senses. On Friday, we did some tasting for bitter, sour, sweet and salty when we talked about the taste sense. The children enjoyed this. This week we are learning about native Americans (American Indians). We will make headbands with native American names the children will choose. Next week we will learn a little about the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. We will be having our feast on Tuesday. You should have received a note that tells you what to bring. Remember there is no school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

With the cooler weather, please remember that we try to go out most days. On days that there is snow, the children need snow boots and snow pants. In addition to boots, please send shoes that your child can wear in the classroom. The children's feet get too hot in boots indoors and if they have been outside, the boots are often too wet to wear in the room. In addition to boots, it is a good idea to have an extra pair of socks in their backpack. It also helps if the children can remember to put their hat and gloves in their sleeve when they arrive in the morning. You can help us by practicing putting on snow pants and boots at home with your child. The more independent they are, the faster we can get outside.

We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a nice Halloween party on Monday. We also added a new student to our class, Chloe.
We are learning about North America this week. We will be learning about the five senses next week.

Open House is tomorrow night. The times for our class are 5:30-7:30. We hope to see you there.

With the colder weather, please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately. We try to go outside every day unless the wind chill is below 15 degrees. Sometimes we don't stay out long but it is good to run off some excess energy and get some fresh air. Please put your child's hat and gloves/mittens in their coat sleeve when you drop them off. When snow comes, your child will need snow pants and boots. If you want, the snow pants and boots may be left here daily and sent home on Fridays.

On Monday and Tuesday, we learned about bats. Bats can eat up to 600 mosquitoes in an hour. They migrate south and hibernate for the winter. Mrs. Sheldon brought Bob the Bat (a puppet) to tell the children lots of bat facts.

Our student teacher, Miss Daniels, started on Monday. She will be with us until December 9th. She is a student at Simpson College.

Our Halloween party will be on Monday, Oct. 31st. We will not wear costumes. We look forward to seeing everyone at Open House on Thurs. Nov. 3rd. Our classroom will be open from
5:30-6:30. Your child will be able to show you some of the activities he or she does at school.

We finished up a short unit on pumpkins last week with pumpkin bars and pumpkin seeds. Thank you to Graham's grandmother for the pumpkin bars. They were delicious.

This week we are learning about bones. We have learned the names of some bones and that bones give us shape, protect other body parts and help make blood. We also learned that the biggest bone is the femur in our leg and the smallest are in our ear.

Next week we will learn about bats and owls. We also will have a student teacher from Simpson College, Miss Daniels, start student teaching in our class.

Please remember to send appropriate clothing for outside play with the colder weather. We try and go out each day unless it is raining.

We are learning about pumpkins this week. Yesterday we saw photos of the life cycle: seed, vine, flower, small green pumpkin and finally the fully grown orange pumpkin. The children are excited about the field trip on Friday. We are still in need of drivers--state regulations will only let children ride with a parent or in a car with someone who has had a background check. A volunteer is making pumpkin bars for our snack.

We added a new student to our class today. His name is Lohith. We now have 19 children in our class.

Next week we will learn about bones.

We finished last week learning about apples. We did a lot of tasting. We sampled apple butter on crackers, tasted different types of apples and made our own applesauce. This week we are learning about air, land and water. Today we learned about the three forms of water--vapor, liquid and solid.

We will be sending home permission slips on Friday for our trip to the pumpkin farm next week. If you would like to drive, please sign up on the list outside our room. We need several drivers to be able to go. We will be leaving school at 9:00 and return for lunch at 11:20. The farm provides juice boxes but we would like a volunteer to bring a snack.

Reminder: No School Monday, October 10th

We finished up insects last week with a discussion on bees. We also tasted honey and realized that without bees and flowers we wouldn't have honey.

This week we are learning about trees, leaves and apples this week. On Friday, we will be making applesauce.

I am putting a sign up sheet in the hall for pumpkin farm drivers. Please sign up if you can drive. We are going the morning of October 14th.

We are learning about insects this week. We learned that insects have three body parts and six legs. Yesterday we talked about ladybugs. They help plants because they eat aphids. Today we found out that grasshoppers eat farmers' crops. We will finish the week with ants and bees.

Next week we will learn about trees and apples.

We have scheduled a trip to Howells pumpkin patch on Friday, Oct. 14th. We will need several drivers. We will leave around 9 am and be back for lunch at 11:20. Let us know if you can drive.

We have released 5 monarch butterflies this week. They emerged from their chrysalis and we let them go as soon as their wings were dry. We still have 3 more we are waiting on.

We started a unit on living and nonliving things and the importance of the sun. We are doing an experiment. We have two small flowering plants, one is sitting out by the window and the other is inside a black plastic bag. At the end of the week we will see what has happened to the plants.

Book orders were sent home on Monday and are due on Friday. Online ordering is very easy to do. The class receives free books for each online order.

We still have spaces on our signup sheets outside the classroom. This is where you can sign up to provide things for our class parties.

The Fall Carnival is next week on Thursday from 5-7.

We are having a good start to the school year. The children like the outdoor activities in the courtyard. A parent from the school brought in several monarch caterpillars last week. We have six caterpillars that have formed their chrysalis and two more growing caterpillars. We should see butterflies next week.

We will be learning about the importance of the sun next week.

It was nice to meet everyone at orientation today. We look forward to working with your child this year. See you next week.

We have spent the last two weeks learning about farm animals. The children have enjoyed playing with the farm work.

Our field trip to Backyard Adventures was a lot of fun. Thank you to the parents who drove and provided food for lunch.

We have enjoyed working with your child this year. Good luck to those who are moving on to a different school. We look forward to seeing our returning students in August. We hope you have a wonderful summer.

The children are enjoying learning about ocean animals and shells this week. Yesterday we learned about the octopus. There are many kinds but most are as big as your fist.

The children have been working hard on their songs for the concert next Wednesday. We hope you will be able to attend.

There is a note and permission slip coming home today or tomorrow about the trip to Peony Park. I am still looking for someone to coordinate lunch and drivers. This is a nice end-of-the-year trip.

We started our Australia unit this week. We did a brief overview of the continent and are now learning about some of the animals. We have learned about kangaroos and koalas so far. I think the children were surprised to learn there are many kinds of kangaroos that range in size from 1-6 feet.

Our spring concert is scheduled for Wednesday, May 18th at 2:15 p.m. The children are working on the program during Spanish and music.

We would like to spend a morning at the park before the end of the school year. Our class has done this the last few years instead of a field trip. The children really enjoy the day. We would plan to leave school at 9:30 and go to Peony Park for the morning. We would have a picnic lunch at the park and return to school at noon. We would like to go on Friday, May 20th. If you would be willing to drive or help coordinate our picnic lunch, let the teachers know.

We have been amazed at how fast our ducklings are growing. They will be leaving for a farm at the end of the week. We never named our ducklings--one reason is that we can not tell them apart.

We will be finishing our unit on birds this week. The children have learned many things about the goldfinch, robin, crow, blue jay, cardinal and woodpecker. We have learned which birds make nice nests and have beautiful voices and the birds that do not.

Next week, we will learn about Australia.

Our spring concert will be Wednesday, May 18th at 2:15 p.m.

The children were excited Monday morning to find three ducklings in our classroom. They hatched over the weekend and are mallards. We are making books about the life cycle of the duck and learning about birds. Last week we learned that all birds have wings, beaks and feathers. We know that all birds cannot fly and some can swim.

The children were also excited that our classroom got some new equipment. We replaced our pink tower, broad stair, knobbed and knobless cylinders. The class has been building patterns and we are taking pictures for example books.

We will be dying eggs on Thursday, April 21st. Please remember to send 4 hard-boiled eggs with your child.

Just a reminder--There is no school on Friday, April 29th.

We just finished our unit on the senses. We enjoyed having Graham's mother come and show us a model of the ear. She also showed us the smallest bones in the body which are in the ear. Everyone did a nice job on the hearing tests. We also did some taste testing for sweet, sour, salty and bitter. We also included activities on touch, smell and sight. We will begin a unit on birds this week. Our eggs are due to hatch around April 20th. I am sure this will be an exciting time in our room. In past years, we have spent a morning playing at the park. At the end of the morning we had a picnic lunch before returning to school. If any parent would be willing, we would appreciate help coordinating this.

We have had a fun time learning about African animals. Next week we will study the five senses. Graham's mother is an audiologist and is going to talk about hearing. You will receive a permission note about a hearing test that one of her colleagues will administer on April 11th.

We hope everyone had a nice spring break. The children were excited to see each other Monday morning.

We finished our unit on dinosaurs before break. We are now learning about African animals. Yesterday we discussed gorillas and today lions. We will also learn about the giraffe, hippopotamus, zebra, ostrich and hyena. We may do more depending on the time we have.

Thank you for coming to conferences. It is nice to discuss your child's progress with you.

Mrs. Sheldon will be teaching with Mrs. Reddy on Friday. Mrs. Sutton and Mrs. Allen will be attending a Montessori convention in Chicago.

The peace festival was a success. The children did a nice job singing their songs and there were many kinds of food to sample. We enjoyed seeing all of you that were able to make it.

We are learning a little about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln this week. We are polishing pennies too--we discussed that Lincoln is on the penny.

The next couple weeks we will learn a little about dinosaurs. The children seem to enjoy this unit.

We look forward to seeing everyone at conferences the next couple weeks. You are signed up for either Mon. Feb. 28th or Tues. March 8th.

We had a nice Valentine party. The children enjoyed distributing their cards. They were very excited.

The peace festival is tomorrow night. Our class time is from 6-7 p.m. The children will be singing their peace songs at 6:15. We look forward to seeing you there.

Thank you for signing up for conferences so quickly.

With the warmer weather, the children come in wet and sometimes could use a pair of dry socks. If you could put an extra pair in their backpack, it would help.

We finished up our woodland animals unit last week. We learned a little about Chinese New Year and this week we are doing an overview of Asia. Today we celebrated our 100th day of school. The children were excited about this and enjoyed the snack mix we made.

We sent home notes this week about Valentine's Day and conferences. Your child may bring 20 valentines with his or her name on the card. They will take turns putting their valentines in sacks we decorate at school. There are sign-up sheets in the hall for conferences. They are from 3-6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 28th and Tuesday, March 8th. Please stop in and choose a time that will work for you.

The Peace Festival is Feb. 17th. Our class time is 6-7 p.m. Our class may bring Asian food to share. The children will be singing their peace songs at intervals during the evening.

We are learning about woodland animals in Iowa this week. Mrs. Sheldon brought Little Red the Fox and Sammy Skunk (puppets) to tell the children about these animals. We will talk about many other animals in the next week ending with the groundhog on Groundhog Day.

Chinese New Year is next Thursday, Feb. 3rd. If anyone in the class celebrates Chinese New Year and would like to share with the class, you are welcome to contact us.

We are learning about Antarctica and penguins. Last week we learned that Antarctica is the driest, coldest and windiest continent. We looked at pictures from a book that a woman who visited Antarctica wrote. We found out if you stand at the south pole that you will always face north no matter which way you turn.

Penguins only live in the southern hemisphere. There are many kinds of penguins--the smallest is the little blue or fairy penguin which is 1 foot tall and the largest is the emperor penguin which is 4 feet tall. We found out that penguins are good swimmers and even though they are a bird they cannot fly.

Next week, we will learn about woodland animals.

The Peace Festival will be on Thursday, February 17th.

Our class was very happy to be back at school on Monday. They missed their friends and were ready to get back into a routine. We started the week learning about snow. We will do short units this month on Antarctica, penguins and woodland animals.

One thing that you can help us reinforce is to remind your child to put their hat and mittens in his or her coat sleeve in the morning. This makes it easier when we get ready to go outside. They don't have to dig through their backpack to find things.

We would like to say thank you for the gift certificate from the class. We appreciate your thoughtfulness.