Dear Honeybee Families,
Thank you so much for all of the cardboard boxes as we start to build our International Space Station. One bee was very worried today that we really were going to space. We are staying in our classroom for sure, but I like to have them set up some version of their vision of the ISS and play in it for a week or so. Today we watched US astronaut Sunny Williams as she gave a tour of the ISS. We’ll watch more this week. The tour is geared towards children and shows much of daily life on the space station and gives us a great visual example when we talk about gravity. Not everyone saw this today, and I’ll have it up again during the next several days. Some of us also watched a video of the SpaceX rocket getting ready to dock at the Space Station. We’ll also watch some Soyuz rockets launch and depart the Space Station, and we’ll learn a rocketship poem at circle tomorrow.
We will make all the planets over the course of the next few weeks and turn our room into our solar system. Next Monday and Tuesday we’ll celebrate the the Lunar New Year. Catherine’s daughter Arya inspired us to learn about celebrating the start of the Lunar Year, the year of the rabbit. I’m going to check out the offerings at Eats for some kind of special snack. I got red envelopes for gifts of (pretend) money, and perhaps we can make some Lion or Dragon puppets. Would your child like to wear red to celebrate the year of the rabbit.
I’m starting to write up observations for parent teacher conferences in the next few weeks. Conferences are not required, but you may request one after reading your child’s observation sheet. If I thought you needed a conference, you have already heard from me. Catherine and I remarked today how well they are doing as a group. They are all friends, and they all support each other and want to play together. These relationships are really heartwarming. I’m available for a conference, email exchange, or hall talk any time you want to talk about your child.
Each year our return to school in January brings a new interest in drawing, writing, and letters. We are supporting them as they learn to write their name and experiment with “writing.” There are so many opportunities to write and draw as we play. We can create our own computers, dials, and instruments as we play in our space station.
You might want to take a look at your child’s extra clothes to make sure they are prepared for any clothes changes. Please make sure your child has a WARM coat, mittens, and a hat on these cold winter days. Their hands do get cold. The wind off the mountain can be strong here. Extra clothes are in the bin on the left on top of the changing table in the bathroom if you want to check. This week I’ll also check everyone’s extra snacks to see if everyone has what they need. Extra snacks are for times when a child drops their snack on the floor or just in case they didn’t have a snack that day. Extra snacks are not available on demand if they eat their regular snack.
Thank you for all of our warmth, kindness, and support. All we need here in Midwinter is some SNOW. I want to do some sledding with these Bees.
