We wish you all a happy New Year and hope that you enjoyed the holidays. We are glad to be back and eager to resume our days together with your children.
We have begun our new unit of studies on birds. We are beginning by learning about general characteristics of birds and with a look at some of the birds in our backyard. There are many songs and stories to enrich this study. If you have any projects to share with us about birds or items to send in with your child to share at circle, it would be greatly appreciated.
My gentle and friendly cockatiel, Mr. Chio, was a very popular guest in our classroom this past week. I will bring him in for more visits. He is distracting to me but the children love him!
DATES TO REMEMBER
January 17th: Martin Luther King Day—no school.
January 28th: Teacher In-service day—no school.
PARENT VOLUNTEER HOURS
As you are aware, fifteen parent assistance hours are required as participation from each family during the school year. There is a log on our sign-in table for keeping track of your hours. Please keep your hours up to date.
We have various opportunities for fulfilling your volunteer hours. Some current opportunities are:
At home:
- Repairing and spray painting our wicker furniture set
- Making very simple sheer curtains for us to hang across our windows when the sun is blazing in
- Repairing and enhancing a set of paper mache bird puppets (craft skill required)
At school:
- Sweeping and mopping on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays anytime between 12:30 and 1:30. This job could be shared and could of course be co-coordinated with the pick-up of your child.
- Painting shelves
- Various deep cleaning projects
In-class time:
- We welcome presentations at circle time if you have a talent, musical instrument, etc. to share with the children.
More volunteer opportunities will be offered as field trips and parties are planned and other projects arise. When Spring arrives, we will be seeking garden workers.
Thank you all for you participation in our Winter Feast and for all the other ways that you support us. We really appreciate it.
Stay warm.
Coley, Shayne and Sharon