29 de octubre - 2 de noviembre

¡Hola Familias!

Another full week has flown by! We have spent lots of time reading, playing new math games, singing, and enjoying the crisp fall weather. The students are doing a fabulous job speaking more and more Spanish in the classroom, at lunchtime, and even on the playground! Here are some highlights from our week:

Our Week

Bible
This week we concluded the story of José. We learned about how Faraón (Pharaoh) had a dream about siete vacas gordas y siete vacas flacas (ask your child about it!). Then, José was able to interpret the dream and became an important helper in Egypt. When his brothers came looking for food, José les perdonó--he forgave them. What a great reminder of how God forgives us too!

Reading
We studied the syllables sa, se, si, so, su this week. Here is Monosílabo's video that we watched to practice reading words and sentences with the sounds. I'm so proud of the kids when they start pointing out syllables they know around the classroom and throughout the day! They get pretty excited to read them too. :) We have also been starting to read short books in Spanish, practicing following along with our ojos (eyes) and dedos (fingers). It is exciting to see these young readers grow in confidence every day!

Writing
This week, we talked about animales and mascotas (pets). We wrote about our favorite pets and about other animals we've seen. As we write and build vocabulary, the students are stretched more and more to listen to the sounds in words and add more details and descriptions. We also practiced sharing our work with a partner, rather than in a whole group.

Math
In Math, we have been learning new games and practicing them in our centers. We have been using lots of dice to practice sumas (addition) and más uno (plus one). Your child also took home his/her previous workbook pages, and you'll see more coming home next week! Be sure to talk to your child about what we worked on in class.

Blackout / El Apagón
As you have probably read in our HC emails, Rose Park is participating in Holland's Big Read project by reading the book Blackout by John Rocco. Our class was fortunate enough to get a copy in Spanish, called El Apagón. The book explores the idea of what might happen in a city-wide blackout, while reminding us of the importance of spending time together as a family. We enjoyed reading this book as a class and reacting to it by drawing pictures and talking about our favorite family activities. We're also excited that John Rocco will be visiting Rose Park next Friday! You may also see him for the Author Visit and Book Signing at the Herrick District Library on Saturday, November 10th at 11:00am.

Immersion Tip of the Week
Immersion in a second language can be overwhelming, and these kids are champs! Let them know what a great job they are doing. I was talking with my daughter, Anaiah, this week about how I didn't know Spanish at her age, and her papi didn't know English. Learning another language breaks down so many barriers, and it is an amazing gift for your child! Thank you for allowing me to be part of this language journey. 

Reading Tip of the Week
There are many, many activities you can do to build your child's reading skills, but the most important thing is that you ENJOY it! Take time this weekend to read with your child. If it's not part of your daily routine, I encourage you to find a time to do so. Reading  20 minutes a day yields amazing results (see infographic at right!).

Upcoming Dates to Remember

*Wednesday, November 7th: Return library books

*Friday, November 9th: Author John Rocco visit at Rose Park

Blessing Bags
As we enter into the month of November, we can't help but bless God for how He is so, so good to us.  We have much to be thankful for!  There are those God places in our path each day that aren't feeling so blessed.  It may be an overwhelmed young mom that you run into at Target, or a friend at church who has recently lost a spouse.  Could it be the person on the corner by Family Fare who is begging for work?  We all can come up with someone, in recent days, that has caused us to pause and pray.  
Our three Rose Park kindergarten classes will be collecting items and creating Blessing Bags this month.  Each child will be coming home with his/her own Blessing Bag on Thursday, November 29.  Would you begin praying for who God desires your family to give your Blessing Bag?  Allow the Holy Spirit to lead your family in giving this blessing.  
In order to make the Blessing Bags possible, we need your help in providing items to fill the bags.  If you are able, would you sign up for an item or two that works for your family?  All items will be due by Monday, November 26.

Have a great weekend, and enjoy some pictures from our week below!