3-6 de enero

 ¡Hola Familias!

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! We have certainly hit the ground running--I can hardly believe this was a 4-day week with all we have jam-packed into it! 

Today we celebrated el Día de los Reyes Magos, or Three Kings' Day, which is celebrated in Mexico, Spain, and other parts of Latin America. We ate Rosca de Reyes, a traditional sweet bread (you can find a small plastic bebé Jesús hidden inside), played a fun game together, and found surprises that los Reyes Magos left inside the kids' shoes!

Here are more details about our fun week...

Reading / Lectura: This week we have been learning the syllables with d: da, de, di, do, du. Additionally, we learned about Mexican tamales (traditionally eaten around Christmas and on other special days) and read a fun book about them. Then, the kids got to try their hand at making their own (non-edible) tamales! We had some help from Señor Cantú (Maestra Cantú's husband and custodian at Rose Park), who taught us how to prepare the masa and wrap it in corn husks.

Writing / Escritura: We have spent a lot of time this week going over our school-wide behavior expectations, which are summarized by the acronym SER (self-control, engaged, respectful). As we reviewed, we wrote mini-books describing how to behave in different parts of the school. Have your child share his/her book with you and tell you about our friend Dino! ;)

Math / Matemáticas: We are starting a new unit that focuses on parts of numbers (e.g. 3 and 4 are parts of 7), as well as the numbers 10-20. We are learning how to see teen numbers as a group of 10 plus more.

Bible / Biblia: We have returned back to the story of Moisés y los israelitas! We have been learning about how God took care of the israelitas when they were in the desert, providing manna, quail, and water from the rock. We also learned how the israelitas had rules just like we have rules at school (los 10 mandamientos, or the 10 commandments), and why it is important to follow rules.

Reading Tip of the Week

Try introducing your child to a new book series. Some of our favorites are Hombre Perro (Dog Man), the Berenstain Bears (I know, old school!), and the Magic Tree House books. If you aren't sure where to start, visit the library and try out some different ones!

Immersion Tip of the Week

Do you have Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu? Does your child have a favorite show or series? Try changing the language to Spanish this week! Or, search for some videos in Spanish on YouTube. Peppa Pig en español or Pocoyo is a great place to start.

Desayuno con Maestra / Breakfast at Maestra's House!

Next Friday, the class is invited to mi casa for breakfast and fun! You will drop off your child at my house (357 Wildwood Dr., Holland 49423) at 8:30 (I live on the south side of Holland, about 10 minutes away from Rose Park). We will have breakfast, play games, have centers, and then take a bus back to Rose Park at 10:00 for morning recess. Would you like to help out by either volunteering or sending in food items? Check out our signup here!

That's all for now! Have a wonderful weekend, and enjoy lots of photos from our week below!

12-16 de diciembre

 ¡Hola Familias! 

¡Feliz Navidad! We had such a fun week, between our SI Christmas concert, a few special chapels, our Christmas party, gift exchange, and celebrating today with a movie. As anticipation and excitement fill the air, let's try to pause and remember why we celebrate Christmas. Our Lord and Savior came down to earth, born in to a humble family, in a dirty manger, to live--and die--for us. May we all remember this, God's greatest gift, during this time--and throughout the year.

In the midst of all of our special activities, we've also been doing lots of learning! Here is a brief summary of our week:

Reading / Lectura: We have continued to learn about pattern books. We enjoyed reading and re-reading the book Oso parso, oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí? (or Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?). 

Writing / Escritura: We wrote our own books mirroring Oso Pardo, called ¿Qué ves ahí? The kids had a lot of fun writing their own stories and sharing them with partners! We are keeping them at school so the kids can read them, but eventually you'll get to see them too. ;)

Math / Matemáticas: We completed our Unit 2 test this week, reviewing shapes (including exploring hexágonos), numbers from 1-10, and more! 

Biblia: We have been working on memorizing a section of Lucas 2, which tells about how the angels appeared to the shepherds to tell them of the good news of Christ's birth.

Christmas Concert Link

If you want to watch our Christmas concert again, here is the link! 

Christmas Challenge

We have done SO much learning this year, and I am so proud of the kids! To help them keep learning over break, I have put together a "Christmas Challenge" packet for the kids to do. Please look for a packet with a yellow paper in your child's folder with details. There are simple reading and math activities to do every day, and everyone who completes the challenge and returns the paper in January will win a prize! Thank you for helping your child keep learning!

Desayuno con Maestra! Breakfast with the Teacher!

I know that January 2023 feels a long way away, but it will be here before we know it! On the morning of Friday, January 13th, I will invite the class to have breakfast... en mi casa! (Yes, at my house!) You will drop off your child at my house in the morning and we will take the bus to school after we finish. Just wanted to put this on your radar--I'll have more information coming soon!

Lunch Duty 2023

I just created a new signup for this semester's lunch duty. Would you consider volunteering in our classroom having lunch with our sweet class? Sign up HERE! 

Looking for More? Build your Child's Reading Stamina!

If you are staying around and looking for another great resource over Christmas break, might I recommend this video series? It is a video series designed to help your child build reading stamina, eventually reading up to 30 minutes at a time! (I did this with my own kids a couple of years ago, and I really see the difference in their ability to sit down and read a book for a sustained period of time.) Simply open the link, scroll down, and hit "watch video series"! It is easy and really fun to do during some down time at home.

Thank you! ¡Gracias!

My gratefulness for you goes beyond words. Thank you for each kind message, smile, gift, and treat. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to teach your child this year!

My prayer is that you and your family have a wonderful Christmas, a happy New Year, and that our learning in 2023 will continue to be as amazing as it has been so far! ¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!

Have a wonderful and rest-filled Christmas vacation! I look forward to seeing your child back at school again in January 2023!