UPCOMING DATES & ANNOUCEMENTS:
CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
- September 22 – October 3 – Parent/Teacher Partnership Meetings: Click Below to Sign up!
- Fall Break – Friday, October 3rd – Monday, October 6th
- Friday, October 3rd – 11:30 dismissal
- Tuesday, October 7th – Classes Resume
- Friday, October 10th – Special Persons Day – Details coming soon!
- Mark your calendars for Van-toberfest, October 18th! (Raffle tickets are in student folders!)
- Before care is available starting at 7:30 am in the gym. Dismissal begins at 3:00 pm, with After Care available until 5:00 pm.
Hello SK Families!
This week, the children were up to some serious ANTics as we dove even deeper into our bug study! We happily welcomed some new pet friends, a whole colony, really! A huge thank you to the Wallace family for generously donating an ant farm to house our 30 new roommates. Miss Arden had quite the adventure too, chasing a few stragglers around her kitchen while settling the ants into their new home. Watching them dig tunnels through the sand and nibble on sunflower seeds has been pure magic, and the children’s giggles and squeals of delight as they observe these tiny engineers remind us all just how fascinating the smallest creatures can be!
Inspired by the book Insect Soup: A Book of Bug Poems, the children set out to create their own bug-inspired poetry. We began by exploring descriptive language, what it is, how it helps our writing come alive, and how poets use it to paint pictures with words. Using simple prompts like “I am a…,” “I feel…,” “I look…,” and “I move…,” each child chose a bug and crafted their own unique poem. Words like slimy, beautiful, wiggly and creepy were just some of the words that filled the pages!
In phonics the children are working on deepning those early literacy skills such as matching sounds to objects, others are matching those sounds and building words with said sounds and working on tapping and blending those words! It’s a joy to witness each child engaging at their own pace, with growing confidence. We are really beginning to see our budding little readers emerge!
In Math this week, the children were introduced to a new friend, Allie the Alligator! Allie only chomps the bigger number, helping us learn about greater than and less than in a playful, hands-on way. Partnered up with numbered rocks, playing cards, and counting manipulatives, the children took turns picking, writing, counting, and deciding which number Allie would chomp. They also continued working on handwriting and sequencing numbers 1–10 through a fun partner game. With dice in hand, they rolled, added the two numbers, and erased the sum from their number line, the first to erase all their numbers won! They sure do love some friendly competition.
In SEL we checked in with Munchy and Jumpy this week, working on coping mechanims. The children shared what helps them feel better when they feel sad, frustrated, angry or worried.
Stylee – “Sometimes if I am upset a sweet treat helps”
Bradford – “Taking a break helps me if I feel frustrated”
Daxton – “Taking Deep Breaths”
Hailey – “Thinking about something that makes me happy”
We then worked on a few different breaths , such as rainbow breath, candle breath and lions breath accompanied by yoga to help calm our bodies.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we read Bug Hotel and Bug Homes. Each turn of the page led us to a different insects and their living preferences. The kiddos were invited to then sketch out a mock draft of their bug hotel and the materials needed.
Kipton – “Look, I put numbers on each door so the bugs will know just where their room is”
Rory – “This is a special place where lady bugs can poop, I even drew the poop!”
Scarlett – “I’m making a place for them to swim”
Despiter the rain, in true WCDS fashion, we headed out for a nature hunt to collect the materials for our bug homes, sometimes stopping to turn over a rock or piled up leaves in search of some insect friends.
On Thursday we read Addie the Ant Goes on an Adventure, very fitting for our new class pets. The story sparked great conversations about how ants work together, but also what friendship can look like in the insect world. The children noticed how Addie met different bugs along the way and how each one helped in their own way, but also how friendship looks to us, the kiddos pointed out that they noticed it meant being kind, listening, helping each other, and being brave together.
On Friday, after weeks of building and imagining in their bug gardens, the children were completely captivated by the story The Girl Who Loves Bugs. Inspired by her curiosity and care, each child set out to create a magical little room for our own bug hotel. Using materials such as seashells, pine needles, straw, moss, bark, broken tiles, gems, and pine cones, they thoughtfully designed cozy spaces where beetles, ants, and other tiny guests might rest and feel at home! We can’t wait to bring all the rooms together and display them outside, ready to welcome our new six-legged neighbors. According to our friends, these neighbors might just be living in luxury!
Lucas – “I’m making a ladder to help them get to the hot tub”
Scarlett – “Look, it’s like an umbrella they can relax under”
Sophia – “I’m going to make a pool for them to cool off in”
When asked what insects they hope come to visit the hotel this is what they hoped for:
Noah- “Butterfly”
Scarlett – “Butterfly”
Lola- “Butterfly”
Hailey – “Butterfly”
Leonardo – “worm”
Daxton – “lady bug”
Evelyn – “Caterpillar”
Lucas – “The beetle that fights”
Kipton – “Ants” –
Henry -”Caterpillar”
Mylah “Stick Bug”
Ollie – “A lady bug”
Alyx – “A lady bug”
Wendell – “A spider, a scorpion, an underwater spider”
Stylee – “A normal ant”
Emma – “A lady bug”
Addison – “A bumblebee”
Moxley – “A fire ant”
Izzak – “A spider”
Bradford – “Maybe, just a cricket”
Bria – “A lady bug”
Parker – “A grasshopper”
Bodhi – “Mosquito”
Rory -”A grasshopper”
Wishing you a wonderful weekend filled with fresh air, tiny crawly discoveries, and just the right amount of bug magic, hopefully the kind that doesn’t end up in your home!
Miss Arden & Miss Hanna
SK ENTOMOLOGISTS:
LITERACY:
MATH:
DAILY DISCOVERY & EXPLORATIONS:
