The past two weeks have been full of fun and learning! We have been busy reading and writing every day. We are almost finished with our Zoey and Sassafras book. After reading a chapter, the students write a summary in their journals and draw a picture to match. They are doing an awesome job writing and retelling the story on their own. Zoey also taught us how to do experiments. We learned to ask a question, make a guess (hypothesis), test our guess, watch and write down what happens, and decide what we learned.

We learned many new things in science! We talked about animals and the differences between mammals and reptiles. Mammals are warm-blooded and have live babies, but reptiles are cold-blooded and hatch from eggs. We also talked about what animals eat. Some are herbivores (eat plants), some are carnivores (eat meat), and some are omnivores (eat both).

With the cold weather we read The Story of Snow and learned about snow crystals and how they form. A snow crystal starts with a tiny speck of ash, dust, or pollen in a cloud. Cold water sticks to it and freezes into a crystal. Snow crystals always have six sides because of how water freezes. No two snow crystals are exactly the same, but they all grow in special ways until they fall from the cloud. We made our own snow crystals by mixing borax with hot water. We used pipe cleaners to make shapes, and the next day, we saw beautiful crystals had formed.

Another experiment we did was making color-changing playdough. We mixed in a special powder called thermochromatic pigment. It changes color when it gets warm or cold. The children loved watching the playdough change colors with their hands.

In art, we learned about a famous artist named Vincent van Gogh. He used bright colors and thick paint to show his feelings in his art. We looked at two of his famous paintings, The Starry Night and Sunflowers. The children worked hard to make their own versions, and they turned out amazing!

The rest of our time was spent building with LEGO, making marble mazes, and working on complex electric circuits. They had fun in our pretend doctor’s office, taking care of baby dolls and working together as a team.

Even though we could not go outside every day, we enjoyed the fresh air and the little bit of snow when we could.

Thank you for all your support! I hope you had a great weekend. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2025! We were happy to welcome back Ayaan, who shared wonderful stories from his trip to India. He showed us some incredible pictures he made in his journal during his adventures—it was such a treat to learn about his experiences!

We started the year with a new chapter book, Zoey and Sassafras by Asia Citro. This engaging series combines science, magic, and problem-solving, making it a perfect choice for our curious group. Each morning, we read a chapter together, and the students use their journals to illustrate and summarize what happened. Journaling helps them develop comprehension, vocabulary, all while encouraging them to express their thoughts creatively.

For our morning meeting this year, we started using our compliment jar. After discussing what a compliment is and ways we can give one, each student’s name was written on a wooden chip. During morning meeting, the students sit in a circle, take a chip, and give that student a compliment. I’m so proud of how well they’ve taken to this activity and how independently they manage it each day. It’s heartwarming to see the attention they pay to one another, whether complimenting someone’s building skills, their artwork, or even their fast shoes!

In math, we’ve been exploring the concept of time! We discussed how many months are in a year, how weeks and days work, and we even began a countdown to the first day of spring. Be sure to ask your child how many days are left!

Our classroom has been buzzing with engineering experiments! The students have been designing and building bowling alleys, testing different ramps to see how they affect the speed of the ball. Learning about ramps introduces concepts like gravity, force, and motion, all while encouraging teamwork and problem-solving.

Nature has been our playground this week! Early in the week, we discovered fascinating patterns in ice. We brought pieces inside—some large, some small—and observed how long they took to melt. These hands-on activities help the children develop observation skills and curiosity about the natural world.

Later in the week, we finally got to enjoy some snow! While building snowmen proved challenging, it sparked a conversation about different types of snow and how each snowflake is unique. The students also showcased their creativity and engineering skills by constructing a “snow machine”! They used a ramp (a small slide) to load snow into a wheelbarrow, working together and problem-solving along the way.

I’m so proud of the curiosity, collaboration, and creativity your children bring to every activity. I can’t wait to see where our next adventures take us!

Thank you for your continued support, and as always, feel free to reach out with any questions.

These last two weeks, our classroom has been transformed into a bustling workshop! A few months ago, I purchased a “kid safe cardboard table saw” from a startup company, Chompsaw, and it finally arrived two weeks ago. Since then, we’ve been busy putting it to good use!

They can now cut cardboard on their own, and they’ve been making Christmas trees, snowmen, trains, and so much more. It’s amazing to see how proud and confident they feel when they create something new all by themselves.

We’ve also been exploring Christmas traditions from around the world. In Italy, there is an old witch named La Befana who brings gifts to children on January 6th. In Spain, a funny and mischievous character called “El Caganer” shows up during Christmas celebrations (ask your child to explain what it does!). In Mexico, families use a special sphere piñata as part of their holiday fun. Here in the United States, families celebrate in different ways—some decorate their homes and have natural Christmas trees, while others use artificial trees. But one thing that’s the same in all countries is that families come together to share a big feast and enjoy special time with each other.

We also celebrated two birthdays—Kaya and Hana! We had so much fun making their day special. Happy Birthday to both of you, and may all your wishes come true! 🎂🎉

To prepare for the holidays, we’ve been reading lots of books and making crafts. One of our favorite activities this week was learning how to make new paper! Instead of throwing away spare pieces of paper, we used them to create fresh, homemade paper. It was such a busy and exciting day, and the children loved learning about how paper is made.

I’m so excited to see all of you at the Holiday Show next Wednesday. The children are working hard and can’t wait to perform for you. Thank you for your continued support, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

This week, we learned about the Navajo Tribe. The Navajo are one of the largest Native American tribes in the U.S. They are known for their strong traditions, beautiful artwork, and love for the land. They are especially famous for their weaving and the amazing rugs they make, which tell stories and show their respect for nature.

We also read The Goat in the Rug, a delightful story about a Navajo weaver named Glenmae and her goat, Geraldine. The story is told from Geraldine’s perspective as she describes the step-by-step process of how she becomes part of Glenmae’s woven rug. It helped us learn about the traditional techniques of Navajo weaving and the hard work and creativity involved. After reading, we started weaving our own rugs. The children worked hard and it took most of the week, but their rugs turned out wonderful.

On Thursday, we had our first snowfall of the year. It was a magical day and we enjoyed playing and exploring in the snow.

On Friday, we read Fry Bread, a story about how fry bread is an important part of Native American culture. It represents family, community, and history, bringing people together. Fry bread is more than just food—it tells the story of resilience and togetherness.

We also learned how many cultures around the world have their own versions of fry bread, like mekitsi in Bulgaria, bhatura in India, gogosi in Romania, shrak in Jordan, uštipci in Croatia and Bosnia, tiganopsomo in Greece, and borsok in Kyrgyzstan. This shows how food connects us all, no matter where we come from.

After reading the book, we made and tasted our own fry bread. It was a fun and delicious way to learn about the importance of food in bringing people and cultures together as well of the importance of history!

Wishing you a wonderful break and a joyful Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for the opportunity to get to know your children and learn alongside them this year.

We started learning about Native Americans by reading about Sitting Bull. Each day, we read a little about his life and wrote in our journals about what we learned. Sitting Bull was part of the Sioux tribe. When he was born, his name was Jumping Badger. Later, he was called Slow because he took his time before answering questions or accepting gifts, when he got older and own his first fight his father gave him his own name, Sitting Bull. He was a brave warrior who helped others. When he was young, he gave food to families in need, and as he grew older, he fought for the rights of Native Americans.

The Sioux tribe hunted buffalo and used every part of the animal. They used the skin to make blankets and cover their teepees, the meat for food, the horns to make cups and tools, and even the tendons to make bows.

Last week, the students had a fun challenge to build their own teepees. After talking about the shape of a teepee and what we needed to make one, we went outside to collect sticks. In the classroom, the students used clay, yarn, and paper to build their teepees. They worked hard, shared ideas, and fixed their teepees when they fell down.

This week, we celebrated two birthdays! Happy birthday to Ayaan and Ioannis—may all your wishes come true!

We also made teepee crafts using popsicle sticks, paper, and watercolors. The students were very creative and made beautiful teepees. We talked about shapes again and the difference between flat (2D) and solid (3D) shapes.

On Friday, we played a coding game. The students made simple codes to help a friend move through a maze. It was exciting and kept everyone busy and happy all morning!

Over the past two weeks, we reviewed what we have learned so far. We practiced our letters, sounds, the Secret Stories, and numbers, we painted and build with cardboard. We are also getting ready for the winter program. The students already know most of the words to our song and are doing a great job singing.

Last week, we kicked off by asking the question, “What is circumference?” (It’s the distance all the way around a circle or round object, like our pumpkin). After talking about what circumference means, we estimated the circumference of our large classroom pumpkin. Each student observed the pumpkin closely, with some turning it around and others giving it a big hug, imagining the distance around it before cutting a piece of yarn to match their guess. When we wrapped each piece around the pumpkin, two students estimated correctly! Some of us were a bit short, while others had yarn that wrapped around three times. We learned that our pumpkin’s circumference was 37 inches—much bigger than we expected!

Our next estimation challenge was to predict how many golf tees we’d need to go all the way around the pumpkin’s circumference. Safety goggles on, we began hammering, counting each tee as we went along. The students’ teamwork and focus were impressive, and after lots of counting, we discovered we needed exactly 70 golf tees.

Once we’d finished, we opened the pumpkin and examined each part—the skin (the tough outside layer), the flesh (the soft inside), the guts (the stringy fibers), and the seeds. We dried the seeds and made a final estimation about how many were inside. Students guessed anywhere from 18 to 3001, but one student nailed it: there were 300 seeds! To double-check, we grouped and counted them by 2s and then by 5s, adding some math practice to our pumpkin fun.

Later, we dove into a new question: “Do you like apple pie? But can you make one from scratch?” We sure can! On Wednesday, we made our own butter to use in our pies. Each student shook a small jar of cream until it thickened, building hand strength and patience with each shake. Thursday, we tackled the pie crust using flour, a pinch of salt, our homemade butter, and ice-cold water. On Friday, we put everything together using apple filling made with apples, sugar, and cinnamon. Students made their pies, and we baked them together. Baking apple pie is a great way to see chemistry in action! When we bake, the sugar in apples changes to make them sweeter and more golden. The butter and flour work together to form a flaky crust, while water helps hold everything together. Cinnamon also releases its flavor as it heats up. All these changes are caused by heat, turning simple ingredients into a delicious pie. The taste test was a huge hit, with some students saying it the best dessert they’d ever had!

This week brought us the joy of celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights, which celebrates the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. We crafted our own diyas (small oil lamps) and then crushed chalk to make colorful rangoli art. On Wednesday, one student brought in a book on Diwali and a rangoli puzzle, which everyone enjoyed piecing together in turns.

Thursday was full of festive fun. We started by lighting our diyas to welcome light and positivity into our classroom, then joined Ms. Melissa’s class for a special theater reading. The students in Ms. Melissa’s class did an incredible job, and we all enjoyed their performance.

When we returned to our classroom, we found a whole spooky setup waiting for us! We had a graveyard dig area, witches’ potions to mix, and creepy slime to explore. Creating potions with baking soda was exciting for the kids, letting them see fizzing reactions up close and building curiosity about cause and effect. Our creepy slime was just right for helping kids explore their senses, and digging in our graveyard helped build fine motor skills and a sense of adventure.

We ended our fun-filled day with the school costume parade! It was wonderful to see everyone showing off their creative costumes and celebrating together.

Enjoy your weekend!

It was a short but busy week in our classroom! We had a lot of fun making decorations for Halloween and building a haunted house. I am always amazed by their creativity; their haunted house included a TV, pictures on the wall, a doorbell, and even a mailbox!

The building didn’t stop there. They also created hotels out of blocks and made a “long hook” to help take down decorations that were hung too high. It was wonderful to see their ideas come to life!

In addition to building, we continued learning our secret stories. We now know more than half of the secrets, which we use to decode words when we read and write. Every day, we also play math games that make learning fun and engaging.

We also joined Ms. Soraya for story time, where we read The Leaf Thief. This engaging and funny book tells the story of a little squirrel who is convinced that someone is stealing the leaves from his tree. As he investigates, he learns about the changing seasons and the importance of leaves. The children loved the playful illustrations and the silly antics of the squirrel!

Ms. Lisa’s class visited us to present their service project. They are collecting gently used children’s books for Bernie’s Bank. Bernie’s Bank is an organization that collects books and distributes them to children who don’t have access to books. It’s a wonderful way for us to help other children in our community, and we’re excited to support their project by making bookmarks and if possible by donating books.

The highlight of our week was Friday when we read the book How the Apple Got Its Star. It’s a great story! You can ask your child how it ends and if our apples had a star too. After reading, we tasted some delicious apples and voted on our favorite kinds. Everyone enjoyed the tasting!

Once we finished tasting the apples, we got to work. We cut the apples into small pieces, added some brown sugar and cinnamon, and made our own applesauce. It turned out great and received a thumbs up from everyone in class! I am excited about the week ahead and can’t wait to see what we will create and learn next.

This week in class, we dove into the culture and history of Peru! We started by exploring the ancient site of Machu Picchu, which means “Old Peak.” The children were fascinated as we wondered how such an impressive structure was built so high in the mountains without modern technology. Afterward, we learned about another interesting place in Peru, the Nazca desert, where we discussed the famous Nazca lines. These giant drawings on the desert floor were discovered in the 1920s, and we talked about how people think they were made over 2,000 years ago. To bring this to life, we created our own Nazca lines using a mixture of glue and sand, and the kids really enjoyed making their own designs!

On Tuesday, we had an exciting adventure for our first field trip! We went to see Alice in Wonderland at the theater. The kids were super excited as they rode the bus and couldn’t wait to see the show. The play was wonderful and encouraged the students to think creatively and dream big. They loved it and talked about their favorite parts all the way back to school!

In the mornings, we have been working hard on our reading and journaling, but we’ve also been practicing something extra fun—the ASL alphabet. They are doing a fantastic job learning the hand signs, and we’re even working on spelling our names together using ASL. It’s great to see how engaged they are, and they’re all making such good progress!

This week, painting was a big hit! Many of the children spent time at the easel, creating colorful masterpieces. It was wonderful to see their creativity as they express themselves through their artwork.

On Friday, we had a special visit from the Des Plaines Fire Department! The firefighters talked to us about fire prevention and what to do to stay safe in case of a fire. The kids were thrilled when they got to see a real fire engine up close! They learned all about the different tools that firefighters use, and we had a chance to ask them questions.

And, as always, we wrapped up the week with our favorite activity—a dance party! The kids had so much fun dancing, and it was the perfect way to end a busy and exciting week.

These last two weeks went by so fast! We wrapped up our Africa exploration, and the kids did a great job. A few weeks ago, they traced a big map of Africa using our projector. Last week, they got creative and painted it with watercolors. They also used their fine motor skills to cut out lots of paper animals that live in Africa. It was a fun way to practice their cutting while learning about African wildlife!

We’ve started our Hispanic Heritage exploration. We talked about two inspiring women: Jovita Idar, an American teacher and journalist, and Jovita Valdovinos, a Mexican revolutionary who disguised herself as a man to fight for her rights. After learning about them, we had a great class discussion. I asked the kids what they would do if girls weren’t allowed to wear pants or if kids couldn’t go to school. Many students shared thoughtful answers, like learning at home with their mom or having their dad build a school for them!

We also learned that Jovita Idar is one of the nine women whose portrait is featured on the American Women’s Quarter! This makes her story even more special as she is being recognized for her important contributions to education, journalism, and the fight for civil rights.

In reading, we learned about vowel teams. The kids had fun playing the role of the vowels and acting out how one vowel is “shy” and doesn’t make a sound, while the other vowel says its name. This helps them understand how vowel teams work in words!

We also had an important class meeting where we talked about how to remember that we can’t run or jump around the classroom. The students came up with a great idea: to make signs that remind everyone not to run, jump, or skip inside the room. On Friday, after we shopped at the bake sale, the students worked on creating those signs, drawing pictures and writing words. This was a great activity because it gave them a chance to practice writing while thinking about the meaning of the words. It also helped them connect their drawings with the message they wanted to share!

Math has been especially fun with all the games we’re playing! We’ve been playing card war, where kids practice adding numbers as they compare cards. Games like this help the kids build their math skills in a playful way. We also used dominoes to practice adding and worked on subitizing (quickly recognizing the number of objects). Math games are great for kindergarteners because they make learning numbers, adding, and problem-solving fun and engaging.

The students worked together on building projects this week. A group of girls built an impressive wall and even set up traps and security cameras to protect it! Meanwhile, other students enjoyed building with Legos, creating all kinds of structures. It was great to see them use teamwork and creativity during these activities!

We’ve also been busy with art projects! This week, we talked about the famous French artist Matisse. He created beautiful collages, and the kids made their own by painting colorful paper and adding cut-out shapes.

We learned about Mexican folk art, which was a perfect way to talk about symmetry and patterns. The kids designed their own Mexican mirrors, focusing on using symmetry and colorful patterns.

To celebrate Hispanic Heritage, we joined Ms. Soraya’s class on Friday to learn a traditional Mexican dance called “La Raspa,” which comes from Veracruz. The dance is often performed at celebrations and school events in Mexico. The kids did such a great job and had so much fun learning the steps!

We also celebrated two birthdays these last two weeks. Happy birthday to Lucas and RJ! We hope all your wishes come true and that you had a special day.

What a week! We started the week with a safari and a lion hunt. For that, we made binoculars that helped us see the animals in Africa better.

We also celebrated Medina’s birthday on Monday. Each student made a birthday card for her, and we combined all the cards into a book. We sang and wished her a happy birthday, and we had a dance party at the end of the day to her favorite songs.

We learned a lot about the culture of the Maasai tribe in Africa. We crafted an African hut, which is a round structure made of mud and grass that provides shelter. We also made Maasai necklaces, which are important because they represent identity and status in the tribe.

To create these crafts, we started by making shaving cream marble paper. This process involved swirling the shaving cream and food coloring, then scraping the mixture of our paper, which helped us practice our fine motor skills. We used the marbled paper, straw hay and fabric to make our huts. For the necklaces, we also used the marbled paper but decorated them with paint and lots of gems. The students added their names with beads, working on their fine motor skills while practicing their first and last names.

While making our huts, we talked about shapes. We noticed that the huts are round, while the roofs are shaped like triangles, which started a conversation about 2D and 3D shapes. The roofs have this shape to help rain run off easily, preventing water from pooling on top. This design also allows for better ventilation and helps keep the interior cooler in the hot African climate.

In math, we are working on subitizing and counting by 2s since the students have mastered counting by 5s and 10s. We are also counting down to the next classroom birthday. For our journals, we have a silly question each morning that challenges our imagination. For example, on Friday, we asked: “If animals could play sports, what sport would they be good at and why?” It was fun to hear their ideas! Many students thought giraffes would be good at basketball because they are tall, while others said chimpanzees would excel at gymnastics, and cheetahs and leopards would be great at soccer because they can run fast. Their illustrations were fantastic!

This week, Sophia and her dad upgraded our light table with some fun LED lights, which made our Friday dance parties even better.

Have a great weekend!