Welcome Back Aria

Love is in the air as we approach Valentines’ Day! The class gave Aria the warmest of welcomes when she returned from Puerto Rico with cheers and hugs. The class is very connected at this time of the year, and even when one child is out they are missed! When Roman stepped on a toothpick this week and left the class abruptly, the whole class was very concerned. One child said, “I almost fainted!” We were relieved to get the good news that he was okay, and I am not the only one now vigilantly checking for indoor shoes!

Math

The LE students we saying that subtraction was difficult, and so we have been practicing in several ways… subtraction card games, money game subtraction, and spending the pretend $100 bill from individual wallets at the supply stores at Thematic Choice. Through practice the children are able to notice trends and patterns when “borrowing” and the operation is becoming more automatic.

Reading

The LE students are forming their own Book clubs, enjoying the projects associated! Re-reading, Frog and Toad are Friends, and using tracing paper to draw the characters was a popular activity this week. An influx of books (a big THANK YOU to Ellison’s family for the birthday book gifts) has led to renewed excitement during rest and read. Partner reading with student visitors, and writing down the books we read have encouraged practice, practice, practice! We have completed another round of reading assessments as well to document student’s progress.

Writing

The class has begun to cruise through the word sorts, doing two or three in one sitting. Those along with the phoneme booklets are helping learn more and more complex spelling patterns. Using a tray of sand and dry erase boards to perfect handwriting has led to another leap in handwriting progress.

Thematic Studies

The high point of the week has been the children taking over the sales department at the Home Depot and Ikea stores during the loft building project! We are trying to finish the cardboard models before the February vacation. The children have been so excited about getting credit cards, but I insisted that we know how cash works first. The class has been balancing spending their pretend money and making use of the free resources in the classroom. One student was impatient with the roll out of the credit cards, and took on the project of issuing them himself. I was interested in the number of children that turned down the offer of credit, and impressed with the knowledge of the financial system.

Warm Regards,

Jen