December 14, 2012

Dear Parents,

We had lots of fun this week preparing for all the holidays.  Last week we celebrated Krampus, a European holiday. The children put their shoes in the hallway, and if they were good St. Nick would put candy in their shoes. If they were not well behaved, Krampus would put rocks in them.  Of course, all our children received candy.

This week our focus was on Hanukkah (the festival of lights) which lasts for eight days.  We celebrated the holiday in our class by painting wooden dreidels, making colorful 3-D dreidels and playing the dreidel game. The children had such a good time playing the game, especially winning all the candy. They also made a beautiful classroom menorah and present to go under it. The children enjoyed learning all about Hanukkah by listening to stories.  Some of their favorites were: Hanukkah, by June Behrens, Celebrate Hanukkah, by Deborah Hieligman, Hoppy Hanukkah, by Linda Glaser, and Festival of Lights, by Maida Silverman. We concluded our celebration by making the most delicious Latkes (potato pancakes).  The children absolutely loved them! You will all have a chance to try the Latkes at our Holiday party, next week.

Next week our focus will be on Christmas.  We will be learning all about Christmas and family traditions.  If you have any family traditions that you would like to share with us, please let us know.  Books are always welcome!

In music this week we practiced singing Hanukkah and Christmas songs.  Some of the children’s favorites were “Jingle Bells, “We wish you a Merry Christmas”, “Oh Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah,” and “I have a little Dreidel.” The children were so excited while they marched around the room, shaking bells, and singing songs. 

The Mad Scientist visited our classroom this week.  She showed the children different types of shells and had a discussion with them about which type of clams and crabs live in which shells.  She also passed around a whale’s tooth and a shark’s tooth for the children to examine.

Reminders: 

§  Thank you to those families that have already donated to Toys for Tots.  We will be collecting toys until the end of next week. We appreciate your donations.

§   Our Holiday party will be held on Friday, December 21st at 11:15am.  Please send your child to school at the regular time.  All children are invited to come to school on Friday, even if it is not their regular scheduled day.  

I would also like to thank all of you for your support throughout the year and for sharing your wonderful children with us. On that note, it is not necessary to bring anything to the holiday party, just your family. We can’t wait to celebrate with all of you!

Love,

Ms. Bonne