100 Days of Kindergarten!!

We passed a huge milestone last week...100 days of Kindergarten!!

We were lucky enough to have a visit by Zero the Hero!  His favorite number is 0 of course, so he especially loves the number 100!!  He read us a story about the 100th day of Kindergarten, helped us with our calendar and counted with us to 100!

We were then able to make necklaces using 0's...100 of them!  We counted by 10's until we had 100, then strung them on necklaces.  One student even observed that when they were on the necklace, the necklace looked like a 0!

We ended our day by looking up at the sky for Zero...he can fly of course...and got a quick look at the trail he left behind as he flew off to another school to celebrate the number 0!!

The Critter Barn

I just found out that The Critter Barn in Zeeland is free during January and February!  I have never been, but I have heard great things from other teachers and parents!  They have lots of animals and have a great focus on community and sustainability!  Their hours are Mon. - Sat. 10 - 3.  You can get more information at www.critterbarn.org!!

Economics

We are now in the middle of our Economics Unit!!  We are learning about concepts such as wants and needs, producers and consumers, and goods and services. 

The students are also getting a chance to earn Durham Dollars. 

They earn these by making great choices at school.  At the end of next week, they will have the chance to spend these dollars in our store!  They are getting pretty excited!  Ask your child what they are doing to earn Durham Dollars!

PJ Day!

The two classes spent a lot of time filling their marble jar (each marble represented great choices the students made) and enjoyed a day of PJ's, stuffed animals, and books!

b vs. d

Many students have trouble remembering which way b and d go in writing and in reading.  At this age, this is completely normal, but there are some tricks we can use to help them remember! 

For 'b' we use the phrase bat before ball.  This reminds the students to draw the line (bat) before the ball (circle).  For 'd' we say doorknob before door, using the same logic, but with a doorknob and a door...you must use the doorknob before opening the door.

We also talked about the word bed and how it looks like a bed.  This can help us remember which was they go as well.

 Finally we used our hands to make the two letters...with the "circle" parts touching. Hopefully one of these tricks will help your child remember the difference between b and d!!



Hot Chocolate

Last week, we made a graph answering the question, do you like hot chocolate.  Then we recorded our observations of the graph!!  Here are the results:

Holiday Gifts!

I have a few recommendations for holiday gifts this year.  And a blog with a ton of great ideas!!

Books!!  Any and all!  A few of my favorites are:


Pete the Cat (there are 2: I Love My White Shoes and Rocking in my School Shoes) by Eric Litwin

Little Blue and Little Yellow (an old but great book) by Leo Lionni

Terrific by Jon Agee

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Ted by Tony Diterlizzi

...and anything by Mo Willems (my favorites are Leonardo the Terrible Monster and all of the pigeon books).  I could go on and on about books!

Here is a great list by Parents Magazine of the best books by age.  The Preschool and Big Kids sections have some great classics and new books!

Games!  Any games to encourage your child to read, count, take turns, interact, socialize, use vocabulary, or have fun!!  One of my favorite, not as well game is Zingo.  It is a great way for kids to have fun, use vocabulary, and interact!  They also have a math version, Zingo 1-2-3 that is a bit more educational and just as fun!!

Mom Colored Glasses, an amazing blog edited by a teacher at our school, also put together a wonderful list of Holiday Gifts!   There are gifts for kids, parents, and even pets!  Some of my favorites for kids are Illustory (kids can write, illustrate, and have published their own story), Color Your Own Castle, all of the books (of course), Box Play for Kids (stickers that turn your recyclables into something extraordinary), Very Silly Sentences, and Rory's Story Cubes (roll the picture cubes and tell a story using all of the pictures!)