Dear Parents,

We had so much fun preparing for our "Beach Party."  The children made binoculars which they decorated with fish and shell stickers.  They also enjoyed making aquariums. The children  first decorated the outside of a plastic container with fish, frogs and other sea stickers.  They then filled it with various beach items such as shells, frogs, glitter, and blue water into the container and then covered it.  The results were spectacular.  The children were so excited  when they shook their aquarium while watching the fish and frog swimming around.  We even made edible aquariums with blue Jell-O and gummy fish.  Mmm....was it good!

The highlight of the week came when we had our "beach party."  The children were so excited  with all the activities.  They didn't know which one to go to first.  They had so much fun decorating beach balls and  playing with them as well.  The children also decorated visors with beach themed stickers, which they immediately tried on.  After completing all the activities in the classroom Michelle took the children out into the hallway and read them stories, while I hid pictures of whales throughout the classroom.  The children then came back into the classroom with their binoculars, searching for whales. After each child found a whale  they sat down on their towel.  I then showed them a picture of various whales and they held up their matching picture. We then discussed what each whale eats and how big they grew to.

 

 

After finishing all the classroom activities the children sat down on their blankets and had a delicious picnic lunch.  They all looked so adorable sitting on their towels, dressed in bathing suits, and wearing their beach visors. We then had a discussion about all of the things we learned about this year.  Some of themes included: 

• All About Me
• Experimenting with Mixing Colors
• Nature
• Animals (pet houses)
• Thanksgiving and Halloween
• Teddy Bear Picnic
• Seasons
• Christmas, Hanukkah
• Animals in Winter
• Penguin Colony
• Chinese New Year/ Making Dumplings
• The Five Senses 
• Counting Books
• Passover and Easter
• Nutrition Unit
• Baking
• Science Experiments
• Spring and Planting Flowers
• Magnets
• Magnetic boats and Race Track
• Feelings Book
• Under the Sea Unit
• Music
• Alphabet

We then talked about each child's favorite activity this year, and this is what they said:
~ "I liked making the dog house," Caleb
~"I liked making the snowman," Jack
~ " I liked making the "Rainbow Fish, "Julia
~ "I had lots of fun decorating a beach ball at our beach party'," Alison
~ "I liked making the big turkey," Jacob
~ "I had fun playing with the magnetic boat I made,"
~ "I liked doing puzzles," Benjamin
~"I liked making the sailboats,"Lajos
~"I had fun making a beach ball and a visor at the beach party," Rachel
~"I liked playing in  the gym," William
~"I love the aquariums, and the party" Eli

We ended the school year with a great concert, graduation, and indoor barbecue.  The children did an excellent job singing, and playing instruments.  Thank you for contributing all the delicious food.  Everything was delicious!

I would have to say that this was the best year yet!  It has been an amazing year watching the children grow both socially and academically right in front of my eyes.

I would especially like to thank you for all your support throughout the year and for all your contributions to the classroom such as:  Bringing in fruit each week; cutting the wood for the boats; fixing the closet lock; and donating coffee boxes and wipes.  As the saying goes, "Great parents

have great children" and that certainly couldn't be any truer!

 

Lots of Love,

 

Ms.  Bonne