JANUARY NEWSLETTER

I’d better get a newsletter completed before the month is over! I need to go back and mention the children’s “Holiday Shows.” They did a great job for only having a few weeks to prepare. The 3-day put their hearts into every gingerbread song and just the fact that the 2-dayers sat in one place the whole time was rewarding!  Hope your holidays were enjoyable and may the New Year be a happy one for your family. Once again the staff and I would like to thank you for your thoughtful gifts at Christmas. We’ve all been on shopping sprees!   The New Year arrived with two new babies:                                                                                                                                                        Dakota’s Baby Sister; Alexis                                                                                                                                               Ricky’s Baby Brother: Matthew                                                                                                                                                *And we have more to come…….

 I’m going to do one news letter so the 2-day families may want to skip ahead. Start at OPEN HOUSE notice.

 3-DAY HAPPENINGS

We started by discussing the new year- they know a song with the months of the year so we reviewed that as well as singing:Happy New Year to our house, Happy New Year to your House, Happy New Year to everyone in every house, but most of all…Happy New Year to you.  Our New Year’s party has turned into a “Paper Party”. They will bring home the book we’ve been reading and coloring.  We’ve had paper airplanes, paper balls and are making paper rain…..we’re even going to make paper!!!

“SHOW & TELL” THIS FRIDAY….SOMETHING MADE OUT OF PAPER

In between we’ve been working on our painted snowman. The children have been making their own decorations to go on it. I’m going to display all of them when they finish as I want you to see how creative they can be individually.
We talked about Dr. King and heard the story, “It’s Not Fair.” We understood what Dr. King meant when he said that.                                                                                                                                                                                                Winter is a great theme as we can fit in snow, snowflakes, winter clothes and science experiments. We’ll be moving on to Friendship, love, mail, addresses and Valentine’s Day.

 SIBLING VISIT DAY                                                                                                                                                                       On Monday(25th) older brothers and sisters are invited to spend a day at Burch Tree. (public School is off) This is always a favorite day to us…let me know who may be attending.  One o’clockers bring lunches. We’ll do activities together.

 VISION AND HEARING SCREENING                                                                                                                                    This screening is done every year by the Wilbraham Women’s Club. It will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 27th. Since I was waiting to get these dates, no fieldtrip has been planned.

 *Please note that Hallie no longer attends our class (???)

 OPEN HOUSE For 2010-11 Classes                                                                                                                                       My Open House for Fall registrations is Thursday March 4th at 1:00 Please let anyone know who may be interested in attending Burch Tree next year. I will also be asking for your plans so I know how many spaces I may have available

 2-DAY HAPPENINGS

Probably the biggest news from this class is our 5 new little ones. We’ll do an updated class list for you, but in the meantime: Jacob (Lynn), Maddie(Sue) Jonathan(Lisa), Keira(Serena) and Nicholas (Karen). They’re blending right in. We’ve been working on a special snowman that involved some cutting and gluing. They’re just about finished and should be making their way home. Working individually with the children tends to take some time. The children are all enthusiastic and cooperative doing their tasks and they especially want to take their work home. Reaching the mid-way mark, all kinds of growth is showing.  We continue to work on focus and attending, cooperation, developing friendships and good social interaction. Clean-up and dressing are coming along. We’ve had some great outdoor days.

 VISION AND HEARING SCREENING                                                                                                                                    This screening is done every year by the Wilbraham Women’s Club. It will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 26th. This is a very simple activity and the women are warm and kind with the children. Since I was waiting to get these dates, no fieldtrip has been planned.

 Here are some poems and verses we’ve been doing:                                                                                                         (to Teapot)                                                                                                                                                                                      I’m a little snowman tall and fat                                                                                                                                                  Here is my broomstick Here is my hat.                                                                                                                                When the sun comes out, I melt away                                                                                                                                Down Down Down…I’m a puddle(we watched one melt)

 A chubby little snowman                                                                                                                                                           Had a carrot nose                                                                                                                                                                     Along came a bunny  And what do you suppose                                                                                                                 That hungry little bunny  looking for his lunch                                                                                                                                                                                               Ate that little snowman’s nose      Nibble,nibble, crunch                                                                                                                                        

Books:
Silly Snowy Day, The Snowy Day,  The Hat,  The Mitten, Thomas’s Snowsuit, Frosty the Snowman

 Enjoy this warm patch of weather… Pam