Mrs. Welcomer's Class News

Hello K2 Families,

In social emotional learning we met the next Kimochis Character in our series. The character was Bug. She is thoughtful and careful. She is smart and loves to talk. But Bug is afraid of change. You will find a handout this week that goes over Bug’s attributes and suggests ways to talk about her with your child. 

This week we continued to work on the positive self help technique of Self Talk or Affirmations. This tool can help children manage emotions and develop confidence and resilience. This third trimester when each child comes into class, they choose an affirmation to say to start off their day. Positive affirmation is a daily practice in K2. When children practice saying positive affirmations, it can help lead to a plethora of proven benefits:

• Promotes Positive Thinking 
• Enhances Communication
• Builds Self-Esteem
• Strengthens Relationships
• Encourages Resilience
• Fosters a Culture of Encouragement
• Improves Mental Health
• Teaches Optimism

You will find your own affirmations to cut out and use at home in your child’s Friday bag. Use them in the morning to start your day, while you're going to school, in the evening or just about anytime!

In math we talked about how a number can be big and small. The number we worked on was 21. Ask your child, “when can the number 21 be a big number?” or “ When can the number 21 be a small number?” Doing these number talks helps children grow their reasonable number sense. The number 21 can be a big number if there are 23 lions in the classroom and it can be a small number if there are 23 children in Springhill. 

In writing this week we wrote true narrative stories. The children are learning to reread their writing to make sure that they have not left anything out. I am impressed to see how their writing is growing each week! We are even using green pens to “grow” our writing! You can encourage writing at home by writing cards and thank you notes or making chore lists.

With the conclusion of our social studies unit on The Presidents, each child wrote a story about what they would do if they were President. This was a wonderful way to culminate our learning and practice our writing skills. Come read what our future Presidents will do!

We also continued learning about the contributions of Black Americans this week. We learned about the scientist George Washington Carver.  George Washington Carver helped people and taught about the nutritional values of peanuts and sweet potatoes. 

On Friday we watched an amazing assembly to observe the Lunar New Year. It was a Lion Dance performance by the Kung Fu Academy of Concord. Before attending the show, we watched a short presentation about what a lion dance is and the history of the lion dance. The children loved it!!!! We painted scrolls, constructed a huge dragon, made red lanterns and read many books about how people in our country and all over the world celebrate Lunar New Year.

Save the date! Mark your calendars for our Springhill Kindergarten Musical, Wed. April 29th at 11:00 in the multipurpose room! All kinders will be performing in Down on Springhill Farm! More information to come!

Thanks for all the volunteers this week! Please continue to sign up for openings! We have a lot!!!!! -Katherine