Kindergarten Newsletter
12/1/2017
Classroom News!
It's Baby Week in Kindergarten!
Babies are of great interest to children this age. Being distinctly NOT a baby is an important part of every Kindergarteners self identity! Studying babies also gives children an opportunity to wonder a bit about how learning takes place. We watched a very short video showing a baby hysterically laughing at paper being ripped. Before viewing the video we tried ripping paper to see how Kindergarteners respond. No laughing. How about playing peek-a-boo? Why is this so much fun for a baby but nothing that special for a Kindergartener? "We know how paper sounds so we don't think it's funny," " We've seen paper rip before but a baby has never seen that," "It's surprising for a baby but not for us." We also talked about walking. How do babies learn to walk with out going to walking school, walking camp or having a walking tutor? We had important conversations about how learning involves trying, failing, being brave, picking yourself up and trying again!
Theo, an actual baby, came to visit! Theo is Mrs. Massa's baby. Mrs. Massa showed us things that babies need and we got to see how Theo crawls, bangs on a xylophone, and smiles. What a sweet baby! Thanks you Mrs. Massa!
We have pictures of 22 babies who happen to be amongst the cutest babies we ever did see! We played a game of "Guess who this baby is" and noted all the ways we have grown and changed over the years.
In math the children revisited the concept of probability with a number race involving rolling and recording the sum of the dots on two dice. The children discovered that rolling a one is impossible with two dice. Additionally we introduced the basic language of probability (likely , unlikely, certain, impossible) and we used these words to categorize various events.
Conversation Starters
* Did you get a new workbook this week?
* Who is the Theo that visited Kindergarten this week?
* Can you think of at least 3 differences between a baby and a Kindergartner?
Important Information
Poem of the Week
Baby
Baby in a high chair
Baby in a bib,
Baby in a stroller
Baby in a crib.
Baby with the giggles
Baby with a smile,
Such a lovely baby,
Happy all the while.
Jack Prelutsky