Welcome back everyone!

Hope that your break was enjoyable and festive, and that you have been able to enjoy some to this beautiful winter weather!

I would like to thank all of our families for your amazing generosity- we received some beautiful books for our collection and many new items that will be put to good use in our classroom very soon.  Thank you so very much.

Prior to our Winter Break, we had been learning about conifers and how they differ from other trees.  We see so many conifer types of trees during the winter and holidays that it seems so appropriate to discuss what, for example, Christmas trees really are.  What type of conifer are they?  Where do the over 500 kinds of conifers grow? Why do they look the way they do?  Some of those answers can be found in a song that we sing, “C is for Conifer”, and it’s my kind of tree!

We have been talking about Martin Luther King this week in the classroom.  We read, “Martin’s Big Words” and talked about why Martin Luther King was such an important individual for our nation, and the world. We discussed how many of Martin Luther King’s teachings were aligned with those of Mahatma Gandhi, who was an ardent believer and supporter of peace and nonviolent response over any kind of war.  We spent some time talking about conflicts and how love can help us resolve so many of them and how we are all so very different but can still work and have fun together because we have this love in all of us.  We love each other for who we are, the friends we have become, and all we share in our surroundings.  Hopefully, some of you will be spending Martin Luther King Day in service to this incredibly amazing man.

Thanks to everyone who attended our “Looking Ahead” meetings on Thursday night- it was very nice to get to spend time with you, AND, give you some lessons!

Please keep in mind; spring conferences are right around the corner!  You can sign up now at I-volunteer.

In the upcoming months, if you have something you would be interested in sharing with our children, please let me know.  We would love to hear about where you are from, what you do, or a hobby with which you are interested.

Thanks for reading!

Trish