Happy New Year & welcome back! We hope everyone enjoyed a restful and joyful break. Our classroom was filled with smiles, excitement, and lots of happy reunions as the children returned, eager to see their friends and teachers again. It was truly wonderful to have our sweet ladybugs back with us.
Now it’s time to jump into 2026! Time is flying by, and we are already noticing how much the children are growing. Many are becoming more independent each day — getting dressed for the playground, opening snacks, and confidently tackling daily routines. As they show readiness, we are gently introducing new challenges in the classroom to support their growth and confidence.
One exciting addition has been making patterns with our calendar numbers. Since our number sets include two different picture options, the children have enjoyed noticing similarities and differences while creating patterns. They have also done an amazing job with name recognition, so we will begin focusing more closely on learning the individual letters in their names. We’ll be practicing letter formation in fun, hands-on ways using play doh, craft sticks, blocks, and of course, writing tools.
To begin our week, we read the beautiful story I Wish you Happiness, by Michael Wong and Ann Baratashvili. This sweet book is filled with heartfelt wishes for kindness, courage, joy, and love — so many of the things we hope for our own ladybugs. It sparked meaningful conversations, and reminded us that happiness looks different for everyone…but caring for one another is always at the heart of it.
Our learning centers this week focused on celebrating and welcoming the New Year.
In our sensory bin, the children explored shiny streamers while searching for hidden letters of the alphabet — combining sensory play with literacy fun.
In the art center, we created dazzling firework displays using paint, toilet paper rolls, and glitter, resulting in some truly spectular masterpieces.
We also made “2026” banners for our classroom window, which was a wonderful way to strengthen fine motor skills while letting creativity shine as the children chose their own materials.
Scratch-art party hats were another big hit!
We even made our own fireworks in a jar — the swirling colors and “explosions” were so exciting to watch!
Our magnatiles and container-building areas continue to be very popular, encouraging creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork.
The dramatic play kitchen was especially busy this week as well. It seems our little chefs became baking experts over the break, because the kitchen was buzzing with activity and imagination.
As always, our cozy book area offered plenty of choices, and the children truly seemed to delight in simply being back together. We missed them dearly and loved seeing the joy they brought back into our classroom.
We also had some very special celebrations this week! Ronan turned 4, and his mom joined us to read a story. We even enjoyed fun dinosaur cookies together. Haydon also celebrated his 4th birthday! Happy Birthday to both of you. We loved celebrating your big days.
As always, we had a wonderful time in Chapel and in Music and Movement.
This week in chapel, we learned about promises, and that God says he will love us no matter what. The angels are always watching over us.
In Music and Movement, we sang our hearts out, while moving our bodies to exciting tunes.
It was such a wonderful first week back! Thank you always for sharing your wonderful children with us each day. We are so excited for all the learning, growth, and joyful moments that 2026 will bring. Here’s to a year filled with curiosity, kindness, and lots of smiles!
REMINDERS:
Lunch Bunch begins next week on Wednesday and Thursday! This will be a new transition for our group, but we are confident they will adapt beautifully and rise to the challenge. Such exciting times ahead!
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend with your sweet ladybugs,
Miss Lisa, Miss Phoenix, and Miss Jenn