Hi Everyone! I know it's been a long time since my last post. I plead the insanity of the holidays. I hope you'll forgive.

<em><strong>What We've Been Doing: </strong></em>

We had a great time in December. We began the month with a celebration of Hanukkah by lighting Menorah candles for each day. The children really enjoyed this. We had some snow during the month so we spent a lot of time playing in, exploring, reading about snow (and taking snow clothes on and off). Thank you all for sending in snow clothes which made it possible for us all to go outside together. We also learned about measuring temperature as we moved the thermometer outside and inside to see  how the mercury works.

During December the children continued to build the classroom. The house area developed as we talked more about family and the holidays, which always involves food. We sort food into 4 main groups: fish/meat/cheese, vegetables, fruit and breads.  We'll continue to talk about these food "groups" and the importance of good nutrition.

Some of the students enjoyed playing with the match cars we got. They raced them around the room for a while and then discovered they could make ramps from the blocks. We are hoping to continue this "physics" exploration (velocity, gravity, balance, etc.) with different kinds of ramps and marbles, as soon as I find a source for "cove molding."

One other area that was fun was listening to "The Magic Flute." We have a children's version of this opera which includes many of the arias of the opera as well as a spoken story. Thanks to Rikesh's mom for putting the Magic Flute computer game on our computers.

<em><strong>What's coming:</strong></em>

We are going to continue learning about holidays as we prepare to celebrate the Lunar New Year at the end of the month.  This year it falls on February 7, and it is the year of the Rat (Brown Earth Rat, to be specific). For more information about the Chinese Calendar, see <a href="http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/NewYearDays.htm" title="Chinese Calendar">http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/NewYearDays.httm</a>

We will continue to learn about <strong>light</strong> as we move out of the winter solstice period and can start watching the days get longer. Some of the concepts we'll be trying to learn are that light comes from 3 sources: fire, electricity and the sun. We will also be learning that light produces energy (heat). (Please don't mind my simplistic physics definitions - this is why I teach preschool). Next week I'll be asking all of you to send in a cheap flashlight so we can start looking at electric light.

Another area of interest will be our focus on friendship and how to relate to other people (social intelligence). We'll be working to learn names for different kinds of feelings, see what feelings look like on people's faces and in their bodies, and how we can deal with hard feelings. We will also be learning that different people have different points of view or different interpretations of events. It's sometimes hard for us grownups to remember how complicated social skills are and that we need to break them down for young children so they can learn them.

In math, we'll be learning more about patterns and also how to record data. We'll continue to work on counting/sorting skills, as well as number recognition. The best way to teach these skills is through experiences (not worksheets!). For example, children can learn about patterns from poetry and books with similar structures (the House that Jack Built, for example). They can predict what comes next based on the pattern they've learned. They can also learn about patterns in music and dance. Our goal is for our students to really feel patterns in the world so it is easier for them to spot one when they see it. Patterns, by the way, are a foundational skill for algebraic thinking.

This month we'll also be learning more about "The Gingerbread Man." For those of you who were here last year, the kids had a great time with this story - especially when the gingerbread man gets eaten up. Before we left on our break, the staff of all the preschool rooms put on a small production of The Gingerbread Man for all the preschoolers. We're hoping they will return the favor.

Other stories we'll be looking at: <em>The Mitten</em> by Jan Brett; <em>The House that Jack Built</em> (and variations); <em>Corduroy</em> by Don Freeman; <em>The Runaway Rice Cake</em> by Ying Chang Compestine; various books about winter, light, and friendship.

<em><strong>Art:</strong></em> We'll continue to work with 3 dimensional materials such as wood, clay, play dough, wire, cardboard, collage, etc.

<em><strong>Housekeeping</strong></em>

1) I will be setting up a day for parent conferences and have a sign up on the back door by the end of the week.

2)  Please check your mailboxes for information daily. I'll be sending home a permission form for neighborhood walks as well as other information.

3) Please continue to send winter clothing, with your child's name on the tags,  since the weather changes from day to day and we will want to be able to play outside comfortably.

4) <strong>Thank you all for a great start to our school year. </strong>You are an awesome group of parents! I hope you will continue to do what you can to participate in the life of our classroom, and we'll continue to give you opportunities to do what you can. Happy New Year to you all!!!

<a href="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/gingerbread_man.jpg" title="Direct link to file"><img src="http://413.rayblogs.org/files/gingerbread_man.jpg" alt="Gingerbread Man" height="128" width="140" /></a>