Welcome Back From Break

It would seem as though everyone had a super and restful break. Although many kids had a tough time "crossing the threshold" this morning, they perked right up and had a wonderful day!

The day began with a new letter! Our letter this week is "X". We made the letter with our arms. our legs, our fingers and our bodies! Then, we practiced writing it! We also did a letter craft.

We put "new" items (many holiday-related) in the centers (shelves). Also, we have finished our math segment on "classification". We will be moving in to a new phase now. You should have received a note in your mailbox today.

We read the "Gingerbread Boy" today. The kids loved it. We followed up with an eating activity. Yes! We gave each child a gingerbread cookie. They were instructed to take ONE bite. Then, we had an accompanying construction paper cut out that the kids made look just like the cookie they bit ... if they bit the head, we took the head off the construction paper cut out. Then, the kids finished their cookie and took their cut out to the rug where we graphed the results. Don't you know all but one child ate the head off first! The friend that didn't, ate the right arm off! Funny, huh? We wanted to introduce the notion of a graph and seeing results visually but also we are working on name recognition. The kids found their name on the graph first, then figured out where to put their cut out.

After the graphing activity we played a little game on the rug. We had two stuffed softies (animals). One was a baker-man and the other was a gingerbread boy. We counted to three and the kids began to pass the softies around. The baker finally caught the gingerbread boy!

By the way, we have noted that many of you are working at home with your children on their names! That is so wonderful to see. We thank you very much. Some kids are coming in the classroom asking to write their name. Others are reciting the letters in their name. Still others have begun to "sign" their work. It's just so fulfilling to watch their interests peak and really try to work through these things. It's paying off! We saw (and heard) some lovely letters today! Thanks for your help at home! It's really a joy to see!