Thank you to Beijing Gourmet for working with us to provide the food and chopsticks for our Chinese New Year Celebration. The children really loved it! Thank you also to the moms from Mrs. Brenner’s room who picked it up for us! I hope they shared with you what they are learning about Ancient China as well. They have learned about the many contributions from Ancient China that we are still using today. We are wrapping up that unit and getting ready to start a new science unit.

In science, we will be learning about magnets. The children really enjoy this unit, also. It is a lot of experimentation and hands on learning. The children will learn about the magnetic poles, attracting and repelling, and where we use magnets that might surprise us.

In math, we are working on our addition facts to 20 and collecting, organizing, and representing our data. Ask your child about this unit. They should also be practicing counting money. Have them count loose change and ask the how much they would have left if they spent 25 cents or 10 cents. Ask them how many ways they can make 50 cents or 25 cents or even a dollar. This is a tough concept and practice with real life situations is the best practice.

In reading, the children should continue to read every night. This is the only way for them to learn fluency and get the practice they need. To make it more fun, they can read familiar books or magazines. You can read to them and ask them questions. Or, you can read while they read and then share what each of you learned from reading. This will make it more meaningful to your child.

Finally, as we get to the middle of the year, ask your child how their supplies are holding up. Many children are in need of glue sticks, new crayons, or replacement scissors. Please ask your child’s teacher if you want to be sure. Many teachers have a community set of supplies. Please be careful not to send an excess of supplies as this becomes a distraction and can cause your child to be off task at work time. Some of those erasers, pencil toppers and sharpeners are soooo tempting!

Thank you for all you do and please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher with any questions.