It was a short sweet week, and many of our Honey Bees were still traveling with their families or staying home with their brothers and sisters. Our class is going to start traveling a bit, so we got out the globe on Wednesday and started talking about geography and the Earth. At first I thought about starting in Africa, but then I decided to stick with a cold snowy climate for January. We learned where the North and South poles are and where the equator is located. We glued a blue jewel to our part of the planet, and some of us are very sure that we do not live on the earth.
We talked about animals that live at the North Pole and that penguins only live in the Southern Hemisphere. We listed our favorite polar animals, and Anna said that hers was the “snow chicken” so I’m posting the rock ptarmigan above. We’ll review all of this again this week for those of us who weren’t at school. We’ll be drawing maps, investigating snow and ice, and reading books by Jan Brett. This past week we read Three Snow Bears and Hedgie’s Surprise. Does anyone have a copy of The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren? It is one of my favorite books, and I can’t it in my house right now. It is a sweet winter book, and we were introduced to a Tomten in Hedgie’s Surprise.
We’ll investigate the science of snow and ice this week, using ice and snow in some sensory and art experiences. I want to talk about life and culture in polar regions, build a pretend igloo in our room, watch a short video on building a traditional igloo, and talk about dog sledding.
A lot of my honey bees have been more hungry at snacktime. If your child seems to be finishing her snack, it’s that time in the year when many of us are growing fast and might need a second snack choice. 
