Dear Parents,

           Where did January go? 

          Last week our afternoon Four Winds volunteers treated us to a lesson about animal skulls and teeth. Volunteers Sharon Evans and Sarah Nussbaum taught us that by looking carefully at the teeth and shape of an animal’s jaw and skull we can determine what kind of food the animal eats. We looked at real animal skulls to decide if it was a carnivore, herbivore, omnivore or insectivore.  After examining the skulls, we created paper skulls and added teeth-canine, incisors and molars.  We also enjoyed a yummy snack of apples and popcorn and talked about which of our teeth we used to eat these foods. 

          Lots of new play areas in our classroom- Our house corner is now a post office.  Each child has a mailbox with their name sign and there are lots of paper, stamps, envelopes and stickers for the children to create Valentines and mail for their friends.  The children enjoy delivering mail that they make for each other.  We’d appreciate contributions of “junk mail” for the children to sort.  We also need stickers if you have extra at home. To go along with making mail for each other, we’ll be reading books about friendship and kindness. 

         As you know, the collage table is now a wood working area. Our classroom has been a bit noisy with all of the hammering!  Another change to our classroom is a plastic sandbox filled with corn for sensory play.                        

        For the past two weeks our house corner was transformed into nursery- babies, babies and more babies!  The children fed, clothed, changed diapers and even bathed all of the babies!                               

I hope you enjoyed the first weekend of February.  Today my family went snowshoeing for a few hours with friends and built a fire in the woods to roast marshmallows.  Tomorrow we hope to hit the icy slopes for some skiing.    

Enjoy,

Pam