UPCOMING EVENTS:

Thursday, Feb. 12th- VALENTINE CARD EXCHANGE- Please send in Valentines with your child by Thursday and our ducks will deliver them to one another using decorated bags we’ll make here in the classroom. Have your child sign their names on their Valentine cards and leave the “to” part and envelope, if there is one, blank. This way they can practice writing their own name and not be overwhelmed by writing all of their friends’ names. We have 16 Ducks in our class.

Friday, Feb. 13 from 6:00-7:30pm -FAMILY VALENTINE’S DANCE - A favorite event in Ascension Hall!! Everyone is invited! People have asked what to wear…whatever you like! Some wear jeans and others wear velvet and sparkles…anything in between is OK! Keep in mind, this is a kid-friendly, family event.

School will be closed Mon., February 16th for a teacher workday. We will be prepping for conferences coming March 11th & 12th. A sign up genius link will be sent after 2/16 for you to sign up for a conference time.

Tuesday, Feb. 17th- DONUTS WITH GROWNUPS- The Yellow Ducks invite you to pop into the classroom at dropoff for a donut and some special surprises they have been preparing for you! Don’t worry- this is a quick celebration. Just stay for a few minutes for a special moment with your child. Please let me know if you WILL NOT be able to come to drop off that day!

Spirit Week has been rescheduled once again (along with Pancakes & Pajamas). The new dates are below:

Monday, Feb 23rd– Silly Socks Day (wear your silly socks)

Tuesday, Feb 24th– Team Tuesday (wear your favorite team’s gear)

Wednesday, Feb 25th- wear your PJs for Pancakes in Pajamas! Our class representatives will send more details. You are invited to sign up to help. You may either provide items or cook/serve/clean-up pancakes.

Thursday, Feb 26th- Glow in the Dark Day (wear white or neon- we will supply glow sticks at school).

Friday, Feb 27th- Freaky Friday (go wild with crazy clothes combos or crazy hair…or both!)

YELLOW DUCK NEWS:

Everyone finished creating their own postcard party invitation this week. We took our first short walk to go across the street to the big, blue mailbox around the corner to mail them on Friday. Yours should show up soon at your house! Thank you all for responding so quickly to our permission request this week. You are the best!

The Ducks have been busy writing letters to each other at the writing table and taking turns being the mail carrier to make deliveries around the classroom as well. And they have been caring doctors for people (and for pets!) in the loft this week. This is just the beginning of an exploration of careers and community helpers. We would love to learn something about your jobs, too!! If you would have time to stop by at the beginning or end of our day to show or tell a small bit of what you do (show a piece of equipment you use in your job, teach us a skill, share a story related to your type of job?) we would LOVE to have you! Just let me know, and we can arrange a time.

The children also worked with clay for the first time this week as they began creating special surprises for our Donuts with Grownups party. I think it surprised many how much harder clay was to roll and smoosh than playdough. It offers more resistance, providing a more intense workout for arm as well as hand muscles. Using materials with different properties such as these is also great for giving children proprioceptive feedback (a sense of body position & force).

Our fine motor skills were really put to the test creating heart wands with teeny, tiny beads this week. Everyone loved the beading so much, so there will be more beading projects coming home soon!

Since it was a bit too wet to go on our playground on Wednesday, we decided to go on a scavenger hunt! We read a story about animal tracks and then hunted around the school to find pictures of tracks. We gave each child a partner & they shared a checklist on a clipboard as they hunted. It really was a lesson in cooperation, conflict resolution, turn taking and even empathy (as they patiently helped a partner struggling during their turn). It was also just fun!! We really are hoping for warmer, dry weather next week, though, so we can spend more time outside. 🙏