Tis the time of year to be extra thankful and kind to your friends and family. We have been working extra hard in our peaceful classroom to use our words and express our feelings to one another. This week Ms. Brianna read us a story about a Native American Black Elk, the black road of difficulty, red road of thoughtful action & peace, and the sacred tree which flourishes with flowers and singing birds when the world is being cared for. This relates to our classroom because our plants, animals and friends are happy and peaceful when we are kind and take care of each other.

Humongous thank you to the PTO and everyone involved with Teacher Appreciation Week! We are so spoiled and grateful to have such wonderful families participating at this school. We love and adore working with your angels everyday!! Thank you for the cards, gifts and thoughtful, homemade surprises!

Friday 2/14 Valentine Party. Please bring a decorated, labeled box and 30 valentines for each of your friends 🙂 We will enjoy some crafts and yummy snacks.

Monday 2/17 NO SCHOOL, President’s Day

Wednesday 2/19 is Parent-Child Night where your child shows you a Montessori lesson they enjoy working with. Starting at 4:45-5:30 for families whose last name starts with A-M, and at 5:30-6:15 for families whose last name starts with N-Z.

Friday 2/21 is our annual Father-Daughter Dance in our Multipurpose Room.

Yesterday morning we enjoyed a dental puppet show presentation. P1 discussed the importance of dental care, how to properly brush & floss, foods we should avoid and how often we should visit the dentist. This week we began our study on Oceans and Australia. Ms. Jessie read a great story about the pulpo (octopus) and reenacted the scenes with food coloring and plastic animals. We have an exciting work about sink & float, underwater crayon rubbings, and valentine card making. We have discussed the animals of Australia and can make a booklet. Today we also took a close up look at two real, dead fish and discussed their body parts. Ms. Jessie also brought in real snake skin that was shed from a snake. We measured ourselves against the length of the skin.

Have a wonderful weekend, see you next week.

Ms. Jessie, Ms. Brianna, Ms. Julie

We are so happy to have everyone back at school and on schedule. We hope you enjoyed the long weekend. Some of our friends have been out sick and we appreciate those who stayed home to rest and prevent spreading germs. Please continue practicing proper nose blowing and proper hand washing techniques at home.

Important upcoming dates to remember:

• Kindergarten Assembly: Friday, January 24th at 8:30 am. AND  **Everyone can
• dress up as your favorite character!
• Kindergarten re-enrollment Night: Wednesday, February 5th at 5:00 pm.
• Guest Speaker: A Dentist Presentation: Thursday, February 6th at 8:30 am.
• Kindergarten Field Trip: Monday, February 10th.
• Valentine’s Day Party: Friday, February 14th. **(Our afternoon friends are welcome to join us.)
• NO SCHOOL due to Presidents Day: Monday, February 17th.
• Parent Child Night: Wednesday, February 19th from 4:45-6:15 pm.

This month we have been discussing the planets in our Solar System. We talked about The Sun, gravity, The Milky Way, and The Asteroid Belt. P1 friends have also been learning about the continent Antarctica. This week we will finish discussing the animals, climate and people who visit Antarctica. If any friends or family have any interesting information, projects or artifacts to share we would love to have you come into our class.

This week Miss Brianna introduced the first lesson from our peace curriculum: “Honoring the Light of the Child.” We talked about each of us being physically different and unique. Inside each of us a special love light shines when we are feeling happy, loved or accomplished. The light dims if we are sad or our feelings were hurt. We will continue learning about peace within ourselves and around our environment so we can learn to express ourselves and solve everyday conflicts.

For the month of February, we will be asking for volunteers for a few projects. The sign-up sheet will be on our clipboard.

Have a wonderful weekend. Thank you for visiting our blog!

Ms. Jessie, Ms. Julie, Ms. Brianna

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Thank you to our wonderful families for the thoughtful gifts this holiday season. Muchas Gracias! Your kindness is out of this world! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from P1!!

Dearest P1 Families,

It was lovely spending time with everyone yesterday morning, singing, laughing and enjoying a treat! The children had a great time! We are counting down the days to have some time off and spend time with our families. Please remember P1 will have 1/2 day this Friday, December 20th. Class will be released at 11:15am. We wish everyone the merriest time with their loved ones, see you in the new year! 🙂 See you January 7th!

WOW! What an AMAZING outcome! Our adopted Salvation Army family will have a very Merry Christmas this year! We were able to give them EVERYTHING on the list they asked for plus a $225.00 gift card to Wal-Mart for more necessary items and groceries. Thank you so very much, your kindness is most appreciated!

This week we finished talking about Europe and different ways people around the world celebrate the holidays. We discussed hibernation and where specific animals go for the winter. Next month we will touch on the climate, people, and animals of Antarctica. We will also go in depth with the Solar System and Constellations.

We will be looking for a volunteer for our January cooking project. Please let us know if you would be interested. We would appreciate the project be related to the Solar System.

Please switch out the bag of extra clothes in your child’s cubby for weather appropriate attire and don’t forget to label coats/jackets. Thank you!

The students of E6 came to visit our class today, read us Christmas stories and shared trail mix! 🙂

Have a restful, cheerful, holiday break. See everyone back at school Tuesday, January 7th! There is NO SCHOOL Monday, January 6th due to Teacher In-Service.

Feliz Navidad,

Ms. Jessie, Ms. Brianna, Ms. Julie

So many, merry activities heading our way! 🙂 We would like to give a big thank you to all of our parent volunteers who have helped with the gardening and apple pie baking, the kids really enjoyed those hands on activities. We would like to have a cooking project once a month, reflecting the curriculum or theme. If you would like to assist with this and have any ideas we would love to hear them! Thank you to Brittany Feiwell for coming in and sharing the history of Hanukkah with our friends. Every child received a dreidel and instructions to play at home with their family. We welcome any other guest speakers who would like to come in and share about a holiday you and your family may celebrate at this time of year.

As some of you have seen, our baked goods table has been quite a hit. Everyone is enjoying the sweet treats we have to offer. Thank you so much for your donations. We look forward to shopping for our adopted family. If you would like to donate a needed item from our family’s wish list you may do so, all items must be brand new, store bought. We appreciate your donations but gently used items are not accepted through this Salvation Army event. This exciting project will continue through next week. The last day to make a donation will be Friday, December 13th. If you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to send Ms. Brianna or Ms. Jessie an email. Thank You.

P1’s Holiday Sing-a-long will be Tuesday, December 17th from 10:15-11:00. All are welcome to attend. After singing songs we will have a snack and beverage to enjoy together. We would like 6 parent volunteers to make some homemade treats for this day. There will be a sign-up sheet the week before the event.

Friday, December 20th, P1 will be dismissed at 11:15 am to begin the holiday break. FMS will be closed until January 3rd. School will resume Monday, January 7th. We wish you all the merriest holiday season, stay warm! 🙂

We have been discussing the various holidays celebrated at this time of year. We began talking about famous European landmarks, the people and culture of different European countries. Ms. Jessie shared about her special time living in Italy. We have an exciting work about constructing a small version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. P1 will continue discussing Europe until the end of the year, we would love to hear stories or share souvenirs that anybody has to bring in. 🙂

Have a great weekend!

Ms. Jessie, Ms. Brianna, Ms. Julie