Ms. Nina's Class
February happenings
Belated welcome back to school!
What were we up to in January?
I've started going through the mid-year assessments with your children to assess where they are with letter names, shapes, colors, numbers, and social skills. It's mostly looking at how far they have come and trying to get an idea of where to focus to ensure school readiness in a couple of years.
We have started with name writing, and many of the other students are progressing strongly with early literacy skills. At home practice is always beneficial, and working with your children on letter names and sounds is a good bridge to school. The letter of the week is always posted on the blackboard at the entrance of the classroom, and that is a great way to extend learning.
We welcomed a new(ish) student in to our class this month! Benjamin Nguyen transitioned from the 2 and 3 year old classroom to our class at the beginning of this year. We will be welcoming a new student this week, and your children are all excited to make a new friend! Our little classroom community is growing, and it is fun to see your children learn, play, and work with new students.
We have had a LOT of fun playing in the snow as much as possible, but the wet conditions have made it a little difficult. If you can send an extra pair of gloves with your child, that would be immensely helpful! Please make sure everything is labeled as well so we can try to keep track of it.
What's coming up?
The first week of February is full of fun Catholic traditions, so we will be celebrating St. Brigid, Candlemas (the origin of Groundhog's day), and we will have Fr. Hanley come in for a throat blessing on the Feast of St. Blaise (February 3). We will also be writing a letter to the Pope on the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter later in the month. St. Matthew's does a virtue of the month every month, and the virtue for February is Joy; we will be learning and practicing joy as well as learning about loving others in celebration of Valentine's day.
We will continue working on name writing and letter identification, and we will take a special focus on counting skills during our activities.
Assessments should be done in early February, so if you would like to meet with me to go over your child's progress and set some goals for the upcoming months, please contact me. We can meet on a weekend or evening to chat about your child's development and goals for the second half of the school year.
As always, if you have any questions about the curriculum or if you would like to come in to read to the children or do a presentation on a hobby, job, or special interest of yours, please let me know! We would love to have you! Since part of this month's focus will also be on loving family members, I would like to also welcome any grandparents or other family members who would like to come in and spend time with the kids.
Other notes and announcements
If you have not turned in a media release form for your child or if you need a new copy, let me know.
Please have your child sign in by tracing their name on the easel with their names each morning. There is a wet erase marker attached to the easel for them to use.
Please plan to bring enough snack for 12 children on your assigned day. If there is a day that works better for you, please let me know, and I can accommodate that! Since our facility is nut free, please avoid snacks with peanuts or peanut butter. No one in our class has a known peanut allergy, but we would like to air on the side of caution. Also, if you would like a text or email reminder the day before your assigned day, I am more than happy to send that out. Just let me know :)
I will have mailboxes for each child set out from the 8th to the 12th for Valentines. I invite you to write your children notes, have family members write notes, and have your child write notes for other children in the class. I will send out a list of student names on the 8th if your child wants to make Valentines for classmates.
A big thanks to Lyle Buchholtz for cutting our classroom door! Now we can have the door shut to keep the kids safe and still see out!
Snow and Ice Week
Catholic Schools Week
Mismatch Monday: crazy hair/hat
TV Tuesday: dress like a favorite TV character
Workout Wednesday: wear workout clothes (no shorts!)
Throwback Thursday: pick a decade, any decade
Formal Friday: super dressy
Outside Fun!
Contact me...
Email: hill@stmattsaints.org
Website: https://littleteacherbigworld.wordpress.com/
Phone: 406-756-6807