December 2009

 I can’t believe we’re in the last month of 2009 and so close to a new decade! We have another short month ahead of us with the holidays coming – so much to do, so little time. If you get a chance, check out our thankful turkey feathers on the tree before we take them down – the children are thankful for many interesting things! One sad piece of news – Sophia Cramer from the MWF class will be moving to Maryland at the end of December.  She will be sorely missed by everyone, but we hope to keep in touch.

 We’ve been pretty lucky with the weather so far, but snow could come anytime. Get those snowpants ready!! Once we get enough snow, we slide down the hill on our bottoms – but you need snowpants! Even with the warm weather, mittens and hats are helpful outside.

Fun with Santa: Don’t forget your silent auction donations!! Please get them in as soon as possible so our organizers can begin to put together the packages. If you haven’t yet signed up for a shift on the 5^th or baked items for the cake wheel, please do that soon. We’re also looking for items to put together for raffle baskets. While you’re cleaning out and organizing and shopping for the holidays, please think about bringing in something. It’s a good way to make room for all the new presents that will be coming with the holidays!

Fundraising Ideas:

At the last parent meeting we discussed some different fundraising ideas for the spring. Some of the ideas included a family event like Mrs. McPuppet or Tom Knight which we could combine with a bake sale and raffle, or doing a children’s rummage sale in conjunction with the rummage sale run by the church. If anyone has any interest in helping – or other ideas that might work, please let me know. We’re trying to find an alternative to the Big Fun at the Fairgrounds which didn’t do as well last year.

TCNS is also going to work on a community service project during the holiday season. We’ll be collecting socks for children and adults to be distributed by Catholic Charities. Please bring in new & gently used socks for our collection. It’s a very practical way for children to start thinking about others in the community and will fit well with the book we’re reading after Thanksgiving.

You may have noticed our new digital cameras the children have been enjoying. The cameras, along with the digital picture frame and a new printer were purchased with a grant from the TCSD Foundation. They’ve been a wonderful addition to our classroom.

December Activities:

With all the excitement that the holidays bring, we’ll be working hard to maintain our regular routine for all the children.  We’ll start the month by reading Today I Feel Silly by Jamie Lee Curtis. This is a fun book about different feelings with great rhyming text and wonderful illustrations. We’ll talk about our feelings, make our own feelings book with our new cameras, make a puppet and paint with shaving cream. Next we’ll read Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Christmas by Joy Cowley. This is a great tale about how farm animals start a silly holiday celebration.  We’ll cut and decorate our own holiday tree and make some wonderful ornaments for your tree or to give as gifts. For our last two days before the holiday break we’ll be reading Santa’s Stuck by Rhonda Gowler Greene.  You can guess the topic of this book, another silly holiday story. We’ll make and decorate our own cookies as we continue to work on ornaments.