Celebrations of Light!
It's hard to believe the holidays are already upon us! This month in Kindergarten we are focusing on light and the different celebrations of light around the world this time of year. We will read stories and talk about Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa as well as any other holidays that our Kindergartners celebrate during the winter months. If your family would like to share about a holiday tradition or celebration please let us know!
Our spiritual theme continues to be Simple Gifts and Service. We have been talking about how simple gifts come from the heart and how special they are to those who receive them. Both classes made lists of simple gifts and then drew and wrote about their thoughts. Check out their "packages" in the hallway. Some of the Kindergartners did a service project Friday morning with reading buddies. Our "Smart Sack" program involves SSFS students bagging up dry goods to send home with local elementary school students whose families are going through a difficult time. The food we pack up ensures these children have healthy food for the weekends. Half of the Kindergarten participated this week, and the other half will do this activity next week.
We've had some exciting times and special activities the past few weeks. On Friday, November 20th the entire Lower School went to the University of Maryland women's basketball game. Our Lady Terps did an awesome job and the children loved going to the big university and seeing the game. It was especially exciting when the mascot, Testudo, came and visited us in the stands. Right before the Thanksgiving break, Kindergarten celebrated all that we are thankful for by having a mini-feast. Thank you for the parents who signed up to bring snacks! And just this past week, Kindergarten participated in a Lower School tradition by making candles in the Art Barn with Kate. We sang holiday songs as we walked around and dipped the wicks in wax. Candles will be coming home before the holidays.
Life Skills - Connected and Respected
This week in Life Skills we talked about feeling angry. First the children went around the room and talked about something that "bugged" them. We talked how we all feel angry sometimes and that is is OK to feel this way. People feel anger in different ways - some people feel it in their tummies, some people feel it in their arms, etc We then talked about different ways to handle anger. We emphasized that it's OK to feel angry, but it's not OK to be mean. We brainstormed appropriate ways to express or handle anger such as taking a deep breath, counting to 10, yelling into a pillow, etc. We will continue this discussion in coming weeks.
Curriculum Highlights
Language Arts - Reading Horizons - letters and sounds /l/, /m/, /j/, and the short vowel /e/, slides with short vowels /a/ and /e/, nonsense and real words with both vowels, Writing Workshop - creating "How to" books, breaking down processes into single steps, adding spaces between words, adding more detail to our work.
Math - Numbers 7, 8, and 9 - writing the numerals and words, combining quantities to make 7, 8, and 9, creating addition problems from the Morning Message,
Social Studies - Roots - Toni, Davey, Michela, and Colette, Talking about Celebrations of Light, Community Service - "Smart Sacks"
Special Events - Making candles in the art barn, special holiday craft with Reading Buddies, field trip to the University of Maryland women's basketball game, mini Thanksgiving feast