First week back

Hello All! We have had a great first week back to school! We definitely have hit the ground running. The children are all working so hard and have been so peaceful all week.

This month we will be learning all about Careers. The children will learn about many different occupations and will be asked to choose one they think they would like to do when they grow up.They seem very interested already and all want to try every profession we discuss. ;)

Having said that... We are asking all parents to come in and talk about what they do with the class. There is a sign up sheet on our classroom front door. Dates and times are flexible and we are happy to work around your schedule. We are looking for a 10-15 minute or longer presentation that is engaging and memorable. Tools of the trade is a key point as well as uniforms. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Book orders have also gone out and they are in the children's file folders. They are due back to me (Ms. J) by next Friday, January 18th. Please hand in checks only made out to scholastic book clubs.

The school will be hosting a Journey and Discovery for the parents on Saturday, January 19th. Information is available in the office for those that are interested. It is a great resource if you're looking for more information about the Montessori Method and what we do in each class and why.

MAU will be closed Monday, January 21st in observation of Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday. Please make alternative child care arrangements on this day if necessary.

Lastly, we will be taking a field trip to Pretend City in Irvine, CA at the end of this month. The exact date is not set but we have put our request in for Thursday, January 31st and hope that try will grant us that date. I will let you know as soon as we are given confirmation. The reservation process has been complicated but it is a wonderful place and worth the wait.

We hope to have a great year... It's hard to believe its half over. Thank you for all that you do!

Cheers,
Ms. J

P.s. A special thank you to those that participated in the class and personal holiday gifts for Stevie and I. We were overwhelmed with all the love we received and the generosity of everyone. It was a great feeling!

Holiday Show 2012!!!!!

Wow! It's a whole day later and I am still smiling about last nights amazing performance. Your children are an absolute joy to work with. I am so proud of each and every one of them!

I was sent a link of the Gangnam Style finale performance that was put on YouTube. It's unlisted so you will need to use the link to find it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2j5zUkQ8MI

Enjoy! I know it was so much to take in at once so watching it again is awesome.

Please let me know if anyone else would like to share photos or video of the show. I'm happy to post it all on this blog. Gina (Olivia's Mom) said that if anyone recorded the program that she would put it on DVD's for everyone! Let me know.

Cheers,
Ms. J

Thank you!

Hello Everyone!
I just wanted to thank you all for your generous contributions to our classroom feast last Wednesday. The children and I all had a wonderful and memorable day. I am so glad so many of you could attend. A special thank you to everyone that helped set up. It looked beautiful. I trust that everyone had a great holiday with family and friends and am excited to hear all about it from the kiddos tomorrow. Just a few short weeks until our Holiday Program and Winter Break. :)

See you all tomorrow!
-Ms. J

Weeks 8-11

Oh my how my poor blog has suffered and the craziness of the holiday season has only just begun. We have had a wonderful past few weeks. The children LOVED studying the human body and seem to have really absorbed a great deal of information. We also enjoyed getting ready for our Harvest Festival and Halloween. The festival was a huge success! It was so nice seeing so many of you there. Our Halloween party was absolutely amazing too! Costumes, games, food, art projects, tattoos, apple bobbing and treats! We all had a blast!

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to catch up on my blog. I will do my best to stay current despite the craziness. Onto November we go... We have already begun our study of our Planet Earth and Being Thankful. Our focus will be on Landforms and Physical Geography.

Our next big shindig will be our annual Thanksgiving Family Feast. It will take place on Wednesday, November 21st at 10am. Everyone is welcome as long as you RSVP on my classroom door so I know how many chairs and tables I need. I am so thankful that our sign up sheet is all filled up. We should have plenty of food for all. If you didn't get a chance to sign up and you would like to bring something I still need festive decor, plates, napkins, cups and utensils. I also need HELP that morning decorating and setting up food. Please let me know if you can come at 9am to help. :)

Also don't forget we are closed this Monday, November 12th in observation of Labor Day.

Lastly, I have exciting and sad news. Our beloved class guinea pig passed away this week. We had Daisy for over 5 years. She lived a good life. RIP.
So we have gotten a new baby guinea pig! Her name is Pipsqueak! The children love her :)

Thank you for reading! Have a great long weekend!

Cheers,
Ms. J

Week 7

This week just flew by! With the cancelled field trip, strange weather and me going on Drake's field trip on Wednesday I can hardly believe it's already the weekend. We did manage to get some pretty good curriculum in this week despite the distractions and changes in schedule. We learned all about the letter sound "v", learned about muscles and joints, talked about Columbus Day, and learned the life cycle of a pumpkin. We also had a special rainy movie day on Thursday and watched The Magic School Bus all about the body. The children loved it! Today we started our morning with some "brain gym" and used our muscles to exercise. The children tire so easily these days... I think they should all play outside more often. Lol. We had fun with songs and movement. In the afternoon we had music class. I am beginning to notice children having a "knack" for certain instruments. It's really neat to see.

A couple reminders:
*Book Orders were due today. I sent the order in already but I can do one additional order on Monday if anyone forgot to send them in today :)

*PICTURE DAY is Tuesday 10/16... The photographer will be there around 8am to set up and begin taking the children's photos. Envelopes have gone out and are due on Monday. Please send your child to school "camera ready" on Tuesday even if you are not purchasing photos because we still will have them participate in our class photo. Combed hair and clean clothes are always a good idea... And shirts without a bunch of logos, etc ;) If your child is wearing something you don't want ruined by outside play please bring in a Labeled change of clothes for them to change into.

*TANAKA FARMS FIELD TRIP (take 2!)
Our field trip has been rescheduled fir this Wednesday 10/17. Same time same place, etc. Please please please let me know if you can't make it or your RSVP has changed due to the change of date. So sorry for the inconvenience.

*Harvest Festival Volunteer Sheets
We need these back ASAP so that we can begin to plan the logistics of the big event. There are so many ways to help. We appreciate anything you could do to help.

*Halloween Snack Party
Did everyone sign up? We still have some open items left on our sheet. We ask that every child participate in bringing something to our parties if possible. Ask me if you would like to bring something special not on the list. ;) thank you!

Busy week coming up! Let's try and stay on top of things so it all goes smoothly :) thank you all for all your help and support! We are having so much fun!