Ms. Tracy's Tykes

9/11/08

Dear Parents,       

It has been a busy two weeks.  We finished our About Me unit last week and this week are reading the first book in our Animal unit - Big Red Barn.  We are working on farm animal vocabulary and talking about where our food comes from, as well as the concepts of big/little and same/different. We have begun to categorize animals and will do more of that as we read the other books.  Next week we will read about animals (and other critters) that we can find in our neighborhood.  Then we will look at forest animals and end with wild animals of Africa. 

This is always a favorite unit and we have lots of fun.  Monday and Tuesday of this week we worked on cutting and pasting, Wednesday we cooked scrambled eggs and bacon, Thursday we "milked a cow", and Friday is a tactile day and we will make a wooly sheep.

We started going to Art with a kindergarten class (Wednesday) and everyone did fine for a first time.  This will be a weekly activity since I want them to get used to following directions in a large group.  Ms. Lopez, the art teacher, is wonderful to include us.

The children have bonded nicely and we are seeing more interactive play, particularly outside.  Yesterday, everyone was holding hands and walking around on the playground (I wished I had a camera).  They are all very comfortable with our routine and behavior is wonderful. 

Thank you for sending in the Weekend Books each Monday.  Everyone has fun telling the others what he or she did over the weekend.  If your child has trouble expressing himself, please send in a very brief note with your picture or item so I can prompt.  That way I can help them expand on his or her sentences.