Junior Kindergarten

Upcoming Events:

• Friday, February 27th- March 8th- Spring Break
• Saturday, March 28th- Mark your calendars for CELEBRATE!

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Next Week’s Snack Helper: Leland Greaves

Hello JK families,

We filled our very short week with SO MUCH LOVE! Inspired by our camping adventures last week (specifically the big foot dramatic play) we stumbled upon the perfect book: Bigfoot’s Big Heart by Sarah Glenn Harsh. Even cryptids like the lockness monster, yeti, bigfoot, and the mothman need love!! After the story, we asked the children to share some insight on the upcoming holiday. This is what they had to say:

“It’s a love day.” -Ben

“Love!”- Gemma

“Valentine’s Day is a heart day”- Brody

“You give them chicken that you buy.” – Isla

“I give my friends monster trucks.” – Destry

“I let my parents give me love.” – Avery

“You have to make your child fall in love with learning.” – Archie

“A day you make cards.” – Abigail

“About giving kisses and hugs.” – Lincoln

“It’s for getting cards and kisses.” -Ripley

“For giving hearts.” – Zuri

“A lot of heart monster trucks for my mom.” – Leland 

In language and literacy we practiced spelling the word LOVE! Thanks to the very sweet song L-O-V-E by John Legend the children were not only able to spell the word but even form it with their bodies! They formed each letter using big lines, little lines, and even curves. We then put all the letters together to make a class photo to cherish. Enjoy the catchy tune below:

It wouldn’t be valentine week without learning how to draw a heart! The class drew their own heart and made giant valentines! Each squiggle, curve and peak made their hearts unique, just like them. Then came the explosion of red, pink, and purple paint, glitter, stickers, and more! Some children painted the hearts while others painted their hands (and then the hearts). Some glued the decorative items, while others mixed glitter into the glue itself. We believe in fully exploring the media presented to the children and love watching how each of them approach a provocation differently.

We kept the paint and glitter flowing so the kiddos could make a festive frame for their L-O-V-E class picture.The results were gorgeous and the classroom will be glittery for weeks to come! We hope you cherish both keepsakes for years to come!

Valentine Frames

We closed out the week with a love-filled Valentine’s Day celebration! The children brought in wonderful boxes and loved passing out the cards the treats they brought for their classmates. They took great pride in both their boxes (a true representation of their individual personalities) and the gifts they shared. They enjoyed an extra special snack time with lots of yummy holiday food. Thank you to our families for providing these items to make the party extra sweet! They also enjoyed four festive holiday centers. Chocolate play dough and empty chocolate boxes made for a delightful candy shop spot. Love potions were also made, while letters were written and sealed with stickers and heart doilies. Lastly, they enjoyed snapping pictures with their friends in our class photo booth! It was a hit!

Valentine Exchange and Special Snack

Valentine Photo Booth

The Chocolate Shop

Valentine Writing

Love Potions

As we reflect on all things love this week, we hope you know that your children are at the top of our list. We are honored to share our days with them- to cheer on the small victories, bandage the boo-boos, laugh at the jokes, and stand in wonder with them as they discover the world around them. What an honor.

With so much love,

Miss Liz & Miss Gina

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.

Upcoming Dates and Announcements:

February 6th: 11:30 Early Dismissal- Winter Long Weekend begins!

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: Clara

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Hello JK families

“A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky-unbidden-and seems like a thing of wonder.”-Susan Orlean

Piles and piles of snow and THREE snow days were not exactly how we thought we’d begin our week! Winter decided to transform our world with a blanket of white and shift our best laid plans as well. We hope your time spent at home resulted in lasting memories! When we returned to school on Thursday we wasted no time and jumped right back into our germ studies. The children took some time to revisit their germ drawings and sculptures and added colorful paint to their 3D salt dough creations. The results were wonderful!

Germs Studies

Language and Literacy

In language and literacy the children played “Erase Me Rhyming.” They were given a picture of a person and given a rhyming riddle to solve. They then had to erase the rhyming word. For example:

Why is there a bear in a chair sitting in my ________? (hair)

I think that bug just might land right in my ________. (hand)

Oh dear oh dear, there is a bee near my ______. (ear)

Math

In math the children were given big bowls of snow, shown number cards and asked to scoop that number into their own bowl. This was a great way for them to practice number recognition and counting!

Social-Emotional Learning

In social-emotional learning the children reviewed the emotions, sad, happy, angry, loved, silly, and excited. We discussed how emotions come and go throughout our day and that we can feel several if not all of them in one day’s time! We then played a roll the dice game with emotions. After the children rolled the die, and identified the emotion, they were invited to share a story about a time they remember feeling that way. The stories ranged from feeling loved while cooking with Mommy to feeling silly while wrestling with Daddy!

Other fun moments from the week!

Upcoming Dates and Announcements:

February 6th: 11:30 Dismissal Winter long weekend begins

February 9th-10th: No School 

February 11th: Class Resume

Snack helper: Isla 

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Hello Families,

This week in Junior Kindergarten, we honored Martin Luther King Jr. by celebrating kindness, unity, and love in all its beautiful forms. After reading The Colors of Us by Karen Katz, the children explored how our skin tones can be described using warm creative color names. To help the children see our differences as something special and worth celebrating.

Inspired by the story, the children collaboratively worked on an art project. Each child chose a paint color they felt represented love, and together they created a vibrant heart-shaped canvas that reflects the love we share in our classroom community. We also explored skin-tone paints, mixing colors, and creating paint swatches. The children proudly named their newly created colors, just like in the book!

Here are some of the beautiful color names the children came up with:

Lincoln: “Chocolate, Lincoln, pickles, applesauce, brownie, and peach pecan.”

Avery: “Sunny Daycare.”

Gemma: “Cupcake, brownie, pineapple, cinnamon, peach.”

Leland: “JK, Bob, Gee, V, and Joe.”

Free Nala: “Cinnamon and coffee.”

Sebastian: “Spidy.”

Atticus: “Turtle.”

Archie: “Ovies.”

Zuri: “Fruit cup, hot chocolate, white piece of paper, and peach.”

Levi: “Sydney, Sunny, Brownie, Greenie, and Tax-a-rory.”

Clara: “Storm.”

Destry: “Puddle.”

Maverick: “Rainbow.”

Donato: “Chocolate, vanilla, yogurt, and Stitch.”

Ripley: “Cinnamon and toast.

Ben- “Chocolate brownie, cinnamon, bodo pink, white chocolate, and peanut toast.”

Brody- “Greenie, coconut, orange, strawberry, and chocolate.”

We revisited our germ investigation with lots of giggles as we read Germs vs. Soap! by Didi Dragon, a silly story that explains why washing our hands is so important. The book fit perfectly with our science lesson with our petri dishes from last week. After enjoying the story, we revealed each group’s petri dish and graphed the results together. The children compared which dishes had a small amount of germs and what had the extra-extra-large amount! Everyone was so surprised to find, “Our fingers are dirtier than the toilet!” Nala shouted, which led Ripley to respond, “No more, I’ll put my fingers in my nose!” Germs vs. Soap! helped the children understand that germs love hanging out on our hands because they can easily travel to our mouths, noses, and eyes.

We explored how to turn our germ drawings from last week from 2D creations into 3D sculptures using salt dough! After the children studied their germ designs, they eagerly smooshed, squeezed, rolled, and molded the dough to bring their germs to life in three dimensions. The children worked to transform their flat drawings into chunky textured germs. 

While one group focused on sculpting their 3D germs, the other side of the classroom was busy exploring shapes. The children created 2D shapes using popsicle sticks and yarn, carefully counting sides and noticing corners. For 3D shapes, they used a classroom favorite, magnetic tiles. Together, we compared a square and learned that it has four sides, but to make a cube, we need six squares working together. 

Sally the Sneezer made a return to our classroom this week to help us explore why soap is so important when washing our hands. With a very dramatic “sneeze” (really cinnamon sprinkled into a bowl of water!), Sally showed the children how germs can spread.

First, we dipped a finger into the bowl of “germs” without soap and noticed how the cinnamon stuck right to our skin just like germs do! Then came the exciting part. We dipped our fingers into Dawn dish soap and touched the bowl again, and WOW! The “germs” (cinnamon) quickly ran away from our fingers. The children were amazed to see how powerful soap really is.

For our next germ demonstration, the children dipped their hands into sneeze germs (glitter glue) and helped paint a large piece of paper together. This activity allowed them to see just how easily germs can spread everywhere onto friends, surfaces, and shared spaces. The glitter traveled fast, just like germs do! Afterwards, the real challenge began: washing it off! The children quickly discovered that the glitter glue was very hard to remove!

This week in math we introduced subitizing through two fun movement games. The children were each given a number card and had to find the correct chair with a matching domino card. Then, they partnered up and took turns rolling a die and counting the right amount of pasta to add to the bowl. These activities helped them quickly recognize quantities without counting.

In phonics this week, we created a word web for the letter Hh. The children came up with an amazing 57 Hh words. We practiced making the Hh sound, worked on writing both Hh, and we reviewed writing Kk.

We also took on a fun name challenge! The children were given their names in scrambled puzzle pieces and worked carefully to put them back together before gluing them down. To extend the activity, we were introduced to Wikki Stix. The children studied the letters in their names, noticing the lines and curves, and traced over each letter using the Wikki Stix.

Have a wonderful weekend, stay warm! See you “Monday”

Miss Gina and Miss Liz

• CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
• Monday, January 19th– Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Buttons for Flood Relief: In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Early Childhood grades have teamed up for our service project. Our classes will be doing our annual button sale with this year’s proceeds benefiting flood relief through the United Methodist Church. The handcrafted buttons made by the children will go on sale beginning Monday, January 19th before school in the gym. The buttons will be 1 for $2.00 or 2 for $3.00. 
• In addition we are also asking for donations of non-perishable items to help fill their pantry. Think canned goods, rice, pasta, laundry soap, etc. You can send these items to school with your child next week. Thank you for your support in our effort to help the children understand the importance of helping others.

Hello JK families,

Last week’s story “Those Mean, Nasty, Dirty, Downright Disgusting… but Invisible Germs” by Judith Anne Rice, made a lasting impression on the children. When they returned to school on Monday, some had even encountered a germ over the weekend and were happy to be feeling better! We decided to re-introduce the germ characters from the story to the children and let them draw their own version of a germ! Some chose their favorite character (earache, sore throat, headache, fever, or tummy bug) while others created a whole new germ! We showed them how to draw their germs using simple lines and curves projected on the wall by an old school overhead projector. They used flare pens to draw the outlines, and colorful sharpies to bring their germs to life on the paper. Here is what they had to say about their germs:

“Look how many eyes, he runs away from people but he’ll make you throw up.”- Avery

“I’m making a new one, just a normal germ that doesn’t do anything to you. He had eyeballs and ears and 100 bellybuttons.”-Lincoln

“It’s this one! It will make you throw up” -Gemma

“It’s the germ, the sun.”-Ripley 

“Ear ache!”-Lennon

“Guess what this gives you…a hot forehead! It’s the kind that will make you fart!”-Leland

“My germ does a little bit of tricks. It makes your belly sick after you eat too much alphabet soup and you throw up and then you have a sore throat! -Archie

“It’s a black germ and it’s angry.”-Kemper

“The throat one, and with a mouth- he’s mad, because he’s a germ.”-Sebastian

“This one gives you a headache.”-Abigail

“This one is an ear headache… an earache!” -Levi

“When I was at my old house the fever made me hot. I couldn’t come to school because my belly hurt, it was from this germ. Toast made me feel better.” ”-Destry

“Remember when I was at school and I threw up at school, on my way to see daddy.”-Nala

“One time I threw up on my sister’s laptop.”-Clara

“My germ gives me a tummy ache sometimes!” -Ben

“His throat is sick and needs a doctor. This one needs a permanent doctor.”-Donato

“My germ had to throw up in the toilet. This is gonna make him feel better.” – Isla

“This germ hurts my nose all the time.” -Zuri

“It gives you loud sounds and makes you sick.”-Maverick

“I made a fever.”-Brody

“My germ is a bellache one.” -Audrey

“Sore throats hurt.”-Atticus

All the excitement around germs led us to begin exploring how they come out of our bodies! Sneezing and coughing are major culprits of spreading germs to our friends. We read Sick Simon by Dan Krall where it tells the tale of a boy that goes to school even after showing signs of being sick! Simon’s snotty nose was quite a site! The children giggled at the snot and boogers in his nose. They were then invited to throw “boogers” (pom poms) into the nostrils of a giant nose, and blow them into a bucket using a paper towel roll. These silly and snotty games were a wonderful way for the children to build their gross motor skills.

Next, the children learned how the body sneezes and just how fast (100 mph) and far (up to 35 feet) a single sneeze can travel! The teachers unrolled streamers 35 feet long and stretched them across the classroom to demonstrate just how far a snotty sneeze can go! They children also watched a video of a slow motion sneeze. In the video they illuminated the area the sneeze reached with glow in the dark paint and a black light. We then let the children fling glow in the dark paint as far as they possibly could into a giant sneeze box!! We charted everyone’s sneeze distance and then made it glow in the dark! The kiddos loved pretending to sneeze as they splattered paint. Our friend Gemma reached the highest point by flinging paint on the cardboard ceiling!

We’ve enjoyed coming up with clever ways to depict germs in our environment, but the best way for the children to really understand their invisibility is to swab real germs and watch them grow on petri dishes. We teamed up the children and let them decide where they wanted to swab for germs around the school.

Nala & Zuri- wall & cushion

Brody, Ben, & Maverick- gym bathroom toilet 

Isla & Clara- gym bathroom sink 

Ripley & Audrey- floor 

Sebastian & Abigail- tables

Lincoln & Avery- classroom toilet

Levi & Atticus- classroom sink

Lennon, Gemma, & Archie- toys

With one extra petri dish, we decided to swab the fingertip of all 22 kids and see just how germy those little digits are! We placed the petri dishes in the dark and look forward to seeing their growth next week.

In Language and Literacy this week, the children practiced the letter formation and sound for Kk. We also did a letter review and played “smash the sound.” The teachers said a letter sound and the children had to find the letter that makes that sound and smash it’s play-doh ball! The class did a wonderful job recognizing letter sounds.

In Math the children practiced the formation of numbers 1-22 (one number for each kiddo) in a multisensory way. They pinched pipettes to fill them with liquid watercolors and squeezed the fluid on cotton balls. They also continued to build their understanding of a number line using road pieces and a car parking lot! Each child was given a car to send down the shoot and down the road to the parking lot where they parked the car in the corresponding space.

In Character Development the children re-visited the concept of respect. We divided the idea up into three important categories: How can we be respectful to people, places, and things.

People: manners-say please and thank you, don’t interrupt people, calm bodies-keep a nice distance

Places: be quiet indoors, don’t run, draw on paper not furniture

Things: respect books, clean up toys, don’t take-be kind and share

Next week the Junior Kindergarten class, along with the other early childhood classes, will be selling their handcrafted buttons in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day! They painted and drew beautiful designs on small paper circles. Once placed inside a really cool button maker, those small paper circles were transformed into beautiful pins! Here’s a look at the button production:

Upcoming Dates and Announcements:

January 19th: In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., classes will be selling handmade buttons to benefit flood relief. Stay tuned for more information

February 6th: 11:30 Dismissal, winter long weekend begins

February 9th-10th: No School 

February 11th: Class Resume

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Snack helper: Abigail 

Welcome back, families!

After a cozy break filled with rest, family time, and a slower pace, our classroom is officially back in the swing of things!  We are recharged and are so happy to be together again. The time away from school truly helped our little bodies reset. We missed each other so much!  We loved reconnecting and sharing stories about the magical experience we had over break. Jumping back into our routines has filled the room with excitement as we begin the new year together.

To kick off 2026 in the most joyful way, we celebrated with fun New Year photo props, dancing, posing, and laughing as the children welcomed the year. We dove right into our first meaningful topic of the year, inspired by the beautiful story The Magical Yet by Angela DiTerlizzi. Together, we discussed the powerful idea of “yet” and talked about all the things we can’t do right now, but are learning, practicing, and working towards. While using Model Magic, drawing materials, or discussing with friends and teachers, the children reflected on their own “not yets” and proudly shared what they hope to learn: 

Lincoln- “When I first got on my bike when I was 4, after my dad was working, I fell. Then, after 2 days, I learned to. Yet I wanna learn how to do the Pledge of Allegiance.’ 

Brody – “ I wanna learn about my camping lunch box. I don’t know how to open it. The colors in the rainbow, too.”

Atticus- “How to ride my scooter.” 

Zuri- “I’m learning how to wash the dishes, read books, and every time I get frustrated when I zip my coat.” 

Sebastian- “I can do everything, I wanna learn how to camp.”

Audrey-  “I wanna learn how to do everything. I want to learn how to be a penguin keeper.” 

Clara- “I want to learn how to make a rainbow.”

Kemper – “I want to learn about dragons. I want to learn about getting home.” 

Abigail-  “I tried to make a museum for my tiny little dinosaurs, and I want to learn how to make one.’

Ripley- “I wanna make a tower for my stuffies.” 

Donato- “I tried to do my best riding my bike.”  

Maverick- “I want to learn how to ride a dirt bike.” 

Nala- “I want to learn how to make pancakes.” 

Levi- How to use a skateboard.”

Avery- “To ride a rollercoaster.” 

Destry- “I want to learn how to drive a monster truck.”

With just a little snow still lingering outside, we decided to bring the winter magic indoors to our classroom! The children explored painting real snow scenes using watercolors, adding soft hues and colorful splashes to create a snowy landscape. This cozy winter activity was not only creative and fun, but also helped strengthen fine motor skills and encourage artistic expression.

But our snow fun didn’t stop there! When the children asked for more, we got extra creative and made our very own “snow” using baking soda and hair conditioner. The children’s little hands scooped, molded, and explored the fluffy, cool textures. After we explored each type of snow, the children had the opportunity to vote on which type of snow they liked best, real or fake. Fake snow was the clear favorite! Great news for us, because that means we can keep the winter wonder going anytime we’d like. Snow day, anytime!

This week in math, the children explored numbers 1 through 10. Each child selected a number card, identified the number, and then counted out the matching amount of bingo dobbers scattered across a big brown piece of paper. They carefully circled and grouped the correct number of dots. Then, we created a number road together! The children worked as a team to build a block road, placed number cards 1–10 in order above it, and then drove cars down the road, counting each number along the way until they safely parked in the garage.

In phonics, we reviewed all the letters we have learned so far using a colorful and multisensory approach. The children practiced forming letters by writing them in shaving cream dyed with food coloring, sealed inside plastic bags. This engaging activity strengthened fine motor skills and reinforced letter formation in a playful way. We also proudly introduced a brand-new letter “Gg.” We worked on exploring both sound, for example, the soft “g” in Gemma and the hard “g” in goat.

This week in Junior Kindergarten, we learned that germs, germs, germs are everywhere! After reading “Those Mean, Nasty, Dirty, Downright Disgusting… but Invisible Germs” by Judith Anne Rice, the children learned about germs and where they might be found, especially around their classroom. Then the children went on a classroom search to find a “real-life germ” (a silly germ finger puppet!), which quickly became the star of our lesson. Once found, each germ was brought to a washing station where the children practiced cleaning their germs using warm, soapy water and good handwashing habits. But the fun didn’t stop there! The children then had the chance to get their germs dirty again by painting and placing them on dollhouse props like a toilet, sink, and bathtub, places where real germs love to hide. This helped reinforce healthy hygiene habits in a fun way!

Have a great weekend!

Miss Gina and Miss Liz

Upcoming Dates and Announcements:

• CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
• Classes Resume January 5th- Wishing you a wonderful holiday break!

We had a full week to celebrate the holidays, and boy did we! Every minute was filled with as much magic as humanly possible! We even began the week with a winter wonderland thanks to the BIG weekend snow storm. We bundled up all 22 children and ventured out to explore the joys of playing in the snow! Then, we shifted our focus to the upcoming holiday. Christmas is truly a feast for the senses! The lights, the sounds, and the smells ignite a joy within all of us unlike any other time of year. What better way to celebrate the holidays, than to smell, touch, taste and see it’s beauty! The story The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia Scarry was inspiration for a sniff and guess game with the kiddos! They were invited to close their eyes, smell and guess the holiday scent!

When presented with cinnamon this is what they guessed:

Leland- sugar

Lennon- sugar

Lincoln- coffee

Avery-chocolate

Isla-marshmallow

Archie- pumpkin pie

When presented with almond this is what they guessed:

Nala-wood

Archie- a cherry dilly bar

Avery- the things we put in oranges (cloves)

Ripley- water

Gemma-vinegar

Levi- cherry

They were then invited to explore the lovely scent of real pine! They created their own Christmas trees using small pieces of pine projected on a larger scale on the wall. They added bells and gems to decorate their tree creations. They also enjoyed playing with peppermint play-doh and creating their own christmas cookies in our holiday bakeshop.

Seeing the beauty of Christmas often comes in the form of viewing beautiful twinkling lights on a Christmas tree! We read Christmas Tree! by Wendell and Florence Minor and experienced the many possible trees around the world before sharing some things about our own. This is what the children had to share about their own Christmas trees:

“My tree is at home all week.”- Levi

“When the first Christmas tree was over, my mom put it in the basement it got spiders on it so we got a new one! It has lights on it!”- Sebastian

“My Christmas tree lights up… it’s rainbow.”- Lennon

“Mine has golden lights.” – Clara

“I have lights on my Christmas tree and they are rainbow color.”- Donato 

“My angel star lights up.”- Ben

“I just have ornaments.”- Isla 

The children then made their very own loose part Christmas trees using ribbons, gems and more! They LOVED squeezing the glue! They then re-created the idea of twinkling lights on a Christmas tree by placing colorful cellophane inside cut-out stars on giant cardboard trees. These beauties were so big they filled our classroom windows and reflected colorful patterns onto the classroom floor!

Handmade gifts for our families were at the top of our to-do list this week. The kids coated ornaments with glue and encrusted them with glitter, gems, and rhinestones. These sparkling creations will make the perfect addition to your Christmas tree for years to come!

In language and literacy the children practiced the letter Dd’s formation and sound. They continue to practice their auditory pre-reading skills daily and are making wonderful progress as these drills are increasing in difficulty. We also welcomed the 3rd grade class as our reading buddies! Each 3rd grader read a holiday story with a JK student. It was wonderful to see how much joy the children shared as they read and got to know each other!

We ended the week and launched into winter break with a pajama party holiday celebration! Thank you for helping provide items for the party. The children enjoyed a special snack, and a surprise gift delivered from the North Pole right to our school office! Inside the children found fun glasses that turn twinkling lights in a variety of holiday shapes and kaleidoscopes! They were then invited to play in two dramatic play centers: The Polar Express & Santa’s Workshop! They LOVED cutting paper, taping and wrapping toys and placing them under our class tree. They even watched a live stream of the real Santa’s Workshop as they worked! Meanwhile, children were buying tickets and boarding the train to the North Pole!! Oh the fun! Let’s just say the floor was covered in lots of little pieces of paper from all the fun “ticket punching.” It was the perfect way to begin our holiday break! We wish you a restful time spent creating memories that will last a lifetime!

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Christmas party: December 19th please sign up for party supplies!

Friday, December 19th is a half day of school for the start of our Holiday Break! Classes will resume Monday, January 5th.

Snack helper next week: Archie

Hello JK families,

What a magical week we’ve had in Junior Kindergarten! We ended the week with a truly enchanting Winter Family Night! In the days leading up to the event, our classroom was bursting with creativity as the children poured their hearts into their ocean-themed projects. To bring our underwater world to life, the children painted bubble wrap in beautiful shades of blue to create sparkling ocean “bubbles.” With little hands dabbing, brushing, and stamping layers of blues and teals, the excitement grew, especially as they added the final touches to their under-the-sea caves using bright paint pens. 

When the big night finally arrived, the magic was unmistakable. The children proudly guided their families through the display, eyes wide, voices full of excitement, and hearts glowing. Thank you for joining us and celebrating the imagination and hard work of our amazing Junior Kindergarten kiddos!

As our ocean discoveries continued we dove even deeper into the wonders of the deep blue sea this week. The children were amazed to learn that octopuses have THREE hearts, shark skin feels like sandpaper, and seahorses can move their eyes in different directions at the same time! 

Then swimming into social emotional learning, we “swam back to shore” to talk about something just as important, how to say “I’m sorry.” We learned that apologizing can be tricky, even for grown-ups! The story I’m Sorry You Got Mad by Kyle Lukoff helped us explore different ways people try to say sorry, and what it means to offer a true apology.

Our Letter of the Week was “Oo” and the children discovered that uppercase and lowercase O look exactly the same! During math time, Number Bingo stole the show. The children quickly recognized numbers 1–10, filling the room with cheers, smiles, and proud “Bingo!” moments.

On a sunny Friday we were thrilled to finally visit the playground under warmer sunshine! Later, we read The Animals’ Santa by Jan Brett. In the story, Little Snow wants to know who the animals’ Santa really is. On Christmas Eve, a Snowy Owl in a red cap swoops down with gifts proving that the animals. Santa truly exists!

We asked the children, “If you were the Animals’ Santa, what animal would you be?”
Here are their magical answers:

Audrey: Penguin

Ripley: A Cheeta

Destry: Starfish

Sebastian: Bunny

Brody: Turtle

Kemper: Potato

Ripley: Bear

Archie: Elephant

Zuri: Polar Bear

Isla: Whale

Lincoln: Porcupine

Leland: Bear

Levi: Owl

Lennon: Bunny

Avery: Cheetah because they’re fast… or an Owl!

Ben: Giraffe

Atticus: Owl

Gemma: Owl

Sebastian: Owl

Clara: Unicorn

Donato: Reindeer

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Next Thursday, December 11th- Early Childhood Winter Night at 5:30

Children should come dressed in festive attire they feel best wearing. Please drop them off in their classroom by 5:15. Families can then head to the gym and find a seat for a special story time that will then be brought to life in each of the early childhood classrooms. Families will be invited to enjoy refreshments and travel freely around campus while participating in a variety of heartwarming activities sure to bring joy this holiday season!

Friday, December 19th is a half day of school for the start of our Holiday Break! Classes will resume Monday, January 5th.

Snack helper next week: Ben

Hello JK families,

We welcomed the children back from Thanksgiving break with a transformed classroom, complete with a Christmas tree, and several new centers: small world winter wonderland, ornament making, letters to Santa, and magnetic trees! They LOVED all the new things in the classroom and took great pride in decorating the class Christmas tree. It turned out just beautiful!

Then, Tuesday brought the first big snow of the season and our very first snow day! When the children returned to school on Wednesday the school they had known was once again transformed… into a real life winter wonderland! Thank you for sending in snow gear so we could dress the children and let them explore the snowy campus. They loved sliding down the hillside (on their bellies) making snowballs, and of course taking a taste of the powdery white stuff!

This week we went “way down deep in the deep blue sea,” and discovered seahorses, hermit crabs, starfish, sea turtles, octopuses, dolphins, swordfish, and whales! In the story by Jan Peck, a child discovers all the sea creatures in the ocean. We then asked the children to choose their very own sea creature to create and add to our large scale layers of the ocean display. Inspired by pictures and illustrations, they then drew a draft of their sea creature of choice. This is a great way for young children to learn how to plan their designs by having time to practice their ideas before making a “final copy” of their work. We then took their draft drawings and made them jumbo! Using paint, they then chose the colors they wanted to use to bring their creatures to life! We can’t wait to place them in our display for all of our families to see at winter family night.

This week we also introduced our sea creature of the day series! Each day we learned fun facts about sea life. Our first creature had to be a sea turtle in honor of our turtle loving friend, Atticus! We learned that leatherback turtles weigh 2,000 pounds, can swim 6,000 miles in a single year, and unlike land turtles, they can’t retract their head and limbs into their shell! We also enjoyed learning facts about jellyfish! Did you know they don’t have brains, hearts, or bones, but they do have stinging tentacles that catch food and can glow in the dark!? While learning about jellyfish we had to dance to the jellyfish song! We also painted clear umbrellas, paper lanterns, and ribbons that, once assembled, will soon transform into jellyfish! These interactive jellyfish will be featured at our winter family night next week. We can’t wait for you to experience what the children created!

We also learned about the letter Jj and practiced it’s sound and formation. They loved writing it in our sensory rice trays! They continue to work on identifying rhyming pairs, isolating initial sounds and other auditory pre-reading drills!

We will see you Thursday night!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Miss Liz and Miss Gina

Save the Date: Thursday, December 11th- Early Childhood Winter Night at 5:30

Children should come dressed in festive attire they feel best wearing. Please drop them off in their classroom by 5:15. Families can then head to the gym and find a seat for a special story time that will then be brought to life in each of the early childhood classrooms. Families will be invited to enjoy refreshments and travel freely around campus while participating in a variety of heartwarming activities sure to bring joy this holiday season!

• CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
• School resumes Monday, December 1st.

Hello JK Families,

With only a few days together this week, our Junior Kindergarteners made every moment count! We read The Gratitude Jar by Kat Liu, a story that opened the door to wonderful conversations about what it truly means to feel grateful. The children learned that gratitude can be found everywhere, in the people we love, in the places that bring us joy, and even in the small everyday moments that make us smile.

After our read-aloud, the children shared what they were grateful for, then drew their ideas and added them to our very own classroom Gratitude Jar. We all agreed to keep the jar going and continue filling it with thankful moments throughout the year. The children are off to a beautiful start:

• Brody: “My dog, cat, Mia, Mom and Dad.”
  
• Clara: “Willa.”
  
• Zuri: “For my Mom.”
  
• Ben: “Blue dude for Forsaken. My brother showed me how to draw it.”
  
• Destry: “Monster trucks, SpongeBob, and Patrick.”
  
• Donato: “My Mom, Dad, and dog.”
  
• Maverick: “My Dad and my Mom.”
  
• Audrey: “My doctor, Doctor Loren.”
  
• Abigail: “The Grinch. I like that movie.”
  
• Avery: “Mom and Dad because I love them.”
  
• Leland: “I’m drawing a smiley face.”
  
• Gemma: “Outside.”
  
• Archie: “Rainbows because I love rainbows.”
  
• Atticus: “Dragons.”
  
• Sebastian: “A pumpkin patch.”
  
• Levi: “The Grinch, my dinosaurs, the mall, Mamma, and Daddy.”
  
• Lennon: “My Momma.”
  
• Kemper: “Mom and Dad.”
  
• Lincoln: “Someday me and my Dad are driving our RC car.”

Turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, oh my! The children enjoyed a festive school Thanksgiving meal together, sharing laughter and sweet moments with their friends around the table. As we savored the holiday flavors, we also swapped stories about upcoming family traditions and all the fun the children are looking forward to over the break. It was the perfect way to kick off the season of togetherness and gratitude!

Have a wonderful break!

Miss Gina and Miss Liz