Upcoming Dates and Announcements:
CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENT
February 9th-10th: No School
February 11th: Classes Resume
Friday, February 13th will be our Valentine’s Day celebration! We will have a class party and a valentine exchange. If you would like to help provide items for the party please click here.
Please send in a valentine box for your child anytime the week of Valentine’s Day. We love when the children take part in creating their own box with you! Please make sure the box is large enough to hold plenty of valentines- think adult size shoebox! Please send in 22 valentines for all the children in the class. You may leave the cards blank, write each child’s name or even let your child practice writing the names of the other children in the class on their cards! Here is a class roster:
Snack helper: Audrey
A Note from Miss Meredith & Mrs. Fuentes: Several of our WCDS families will be traveling to Chile with FC Wheeling Soccer over spring break, including Miss Meredith and Mrs Fuentes, and will have the opportunity to visit a local school while they are there. As our students are learning Spanish as a foreign language, we are excited about the chance to support children in Chile who are learning English.
If you have any bilingual English/Spanish children’s books at home that you would be willing to donate, they will be shared with the school as a way to support their English language learning. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library books are often bilingual and are a wonderful option to donate! Thank you for helping us share language, learning, and kindness beyond our classroom!
CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENT
Hello JK Families,
This week, something magical unfolded in our classroom when the children discovered a big box leftover from Winter Family Night. Just like we always say… “It’s not a box!” Before we knew it, the children were busy gathering their personal belongings bookbags, snacks, and rest-time blankets from their cubbies. It made us wonder… where were they going?
As we watched, it became clear they were packing up for a camping trip! The children propped the box up like a tent, climbed inside, shared snacks, and told stories together. Their imaginations were in full swing, and the classroom quickly turned into a cozy campsite.
We asked the children, “What do you need when you go camping?” and “Have you ever slept in a tent?” Their answers were thoughtful, creative, and adorable:
- Ripley: “A backpack”
- Zuri: “A blanket”
- Destry: “A snack”
- Levi: “A tent”
- Donato: “A blanket and pillow”
- Leland: “Blankets and stuffies”
- Sebastian: “A fire starter”
- Lennon: “Binoculars”
- Zuri: “A fire light”
- Nala: “We need to do this for a fire start!” (rubs hands together)
- Lincoln: “Forks”
- Avery: “I’m gonna bring my lion and all my other stuffies—even my Sonic!”
- Archie: “Marshmallows”
- Nala: “We get marshmallows, put them on a stick, and then put them in the fire!”
Their imagination grew even bigger when our classroom transformed into a full campsite! We set up three real tents for the children to explore. The room felt extra cozy with blankets, trail mix, sticks to build a “campfire,” battery tealight candles for flickering flames, and yellow and orange scarves to bring the fire to life. Flashlights were a must especially for spotting “Bigfoot” coming out of the woods (aka Miss Liz and Miss Gina ). The children ran from tent to tent, finding safe havens and sharing lots of giggles along the way.
We also had a cozy and creative time celebrating Groundhog’s Day this week! We cuddled up with the story Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming, which follows a curious bear as he gets ready for a long winter’s rest and meets a few friendly animals along the way. Each animal friend learning that it’s time to sleep!
After the story, the children brought the book to life! Using shadow puppets and characters from the story, they worked together to reenact the events. With a hanging sheet and an overhead projector, the classroom transformed into a shadowy storytelling stage. To take our creativity even further, we used a spotlight and a big piece of white paper to make our animal figures appear larger! As the light shined, the children carefully traced and imagined their animals growing bigger and bigger. This helped them slow down, focus on details, and really think about the shapes and features of their drawings.
In phonics, we played a fun game called Cover the Letter Sound. Each child had a paper with letters scrambled all over the page. As a letter sound was called out, the children listened carefully and then placed their upside-down cup on top of the matching letter. We were introduced to the letter Rr, and our word web was a little challenging this time.
In math this week, the children practiced identifying numbers 1–10 and used loose parts to create groups that matched each number. They carefully counted and added the correct number of items to their section to build a snowflake on the carpet. We also began a brand-new math project by creating the first rainbow arch! The children wrote numbers 1–10 on the red arch, focusing on number formation and sequence.
