February 2012

So far this winter we’ve been sadly lacking in snowfall – although we are enjoying the milder temperatures!  Hopefully February will bring a little more wintery weather.  Meanwhile, please continue to send in all the winter clothing.  The children are working hard on figuring out how to dress themselves – practice makes perfect!

February is a very busy month.  We have a lot going on – starting with Pajama Day on February 2^nd and 3^rd.  Children (and parents) are invited to come to school in their pajamas.  It’s a lot of fun and we put our snow pants on right over our pajamas when we go outside!   

Valentine’s Day:  We’ll be making tons of valentines this month!  To keep things simple, we’re asking each child to make one special valentine to share at school.  We put them all into a box and the children will each pick one out to take home.  They really enjoy seeing who gets the one they made. 

This month we’ll be starting to do assessments with the children in preparation for parent-teacher conferences next month.    We will spend time with each child doing “games” to help get a sense of their comfort with different tasks.  The children really enjoy the one-on-one time and often ask if they can have another turn.

Fieldtrips:  we are planning a trip to the Museum of the Earth and Ulysses Library this month.  These are tentatively scheduled for the 8^th and 16^th.  We will walk to the library for story hour with the TTh class.  We’re planning to take the Tomtran bus to the museum with the MWF class.  If anyone from the TTh class would like to meet us at the museum, please let me know so I can let them know how big our group will be.

There will be no school February 20^th to 24^th for winter break.

Upcoming:   I will be sending out a link for our parent survey this month also.  Please take the time to give us your input.  We really appreciate any feedback – it helps improve our program for your children and future families.  Also, watch for information on our Mrs. McPuppet fundraiser.  I’m still working on the date – but hopefully sometime in March. 

February Activities:  We’ll start the month by reading The Biggest, Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler.  This is a wonderful winter story about a little girl making a snowman.  We’ll make snowmen out of salt dough and paper circles.  On pajama day we’ll read Go to Sleep Groundhog by Judy Cox and talk about shadows.  We’ll continue our snowman theme the following week with melted-glue and sock snowmen and a silly book Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright.  Valentines week we’ll read A Snowy Surprise by Amy Hest.  We’ll cut and glitter valentines all week and bake surprise muffins.  The week following winter break we’ll start talking about arctic animals and read Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.  This is a wonderful book about a boy who finds a penguin.  We’ll make our own penguin and boats, and do Styrofoam sculpture. 

Terrific Twos:  In February our themes for the month will include: trucks and construction, snow, valentine’s day and snowmen. Some books we will read are:  Hello Snow by Hope Vestergaard, The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond and All You Need For A Snowman by Alice Schertle.

In our play we will talk about shape, letter that start our names and colors. We will explore with paints, playdoh, saltdoh, glue and scissors. We are also planning a delicious baking surprise to share. February may be a short month, but as you can see we will be busy.  Please continue to encourage independence with dressing in outside clothes. We are working hard at school to be able to put on snow pants, coats and boots independently.

Thanks for sharing your great kids with us! Deva and I are thrilled to be part of your kids’ days.