It Has Been A Busy December

Winter break is finally here! The students have been very busy this month learning about penguins, completing projects, practicing for the winter concert and as always having fun. Here is what we did in December.

Penguins:

We finished our penguin books. It is always a big undertaking but the children love it and it is a great keepsake.

Christopher Cool:
Christopher Cool came to the centre and performed some very cool magic tricks. I highly recommend him! He does themed shows for schools/daycares as well as birthday parties. Check out his website here.

Winter Concert:
We performed our favourite songs of the year for our parents at the Winter Concert. It was worth all of the practice! They were very cute and super excited. I am very proud of their performance!

Polar Express/Pajama Day:
The day after the Winter Concert is always a lazy day because the children are up late the night before and we have a well deserved break from all of the work December brings. We watch the Polar Express in our pajamas and drink hot chocolate. At the end of the movie the children receive a ticket and a bell to remember the day.

Christmas Party:
We had a great last day of school by playing games and having yummy treats.

Frosty the Snowman Bowling

Pin the Nose on Rudolph

Decorating Gingerbread Cookies

Freeze Dance to Christmas Songs

Animated Literacy:

On Thursday we learned about Arnie Aardvark who says "ar" and hangs by his arm holding a sign for the art festival. Remember that Animated Literacy focuses on the sound (phonics) and the writing (graphemes) so for Arnie Aardvark we focus on the "ar" as seen in the words hard, arm and art.

On Tuesday we drew a star.

On Friday we learned about Jenny Jaguar who likes to juggle jars while jogging. The children discovered that the letters J and G both say the sound "juh" (jar and giraffe). After learning this new sound we practiced reading some words. I almost tricked them with words containing "ar".

Please go over the handouts that have been sent home with your child to review the sounds and letters. They can colour the picture and then circle the special sound within the song at the bottom.

For more information on this program please visit http://www.animated-literacy.com/Animated_Literacy_Home.html

Feel free to contact me anytime with any questions or concerns. I can be reached at the school, by email or just drop in (I am usually around before school).