Donuts for Dad/Special Friends was a little different, but nothing can keep us from doing what we love. Enjoy the video.

Each child was given paper dominos. They had to touch and count the dots and match it to the corresponding number. Activities like this help with number concepts and operations. Children's understanding of counting, number symbols, and number operations are fundamental to their success with more complex mathematics.

Our focus question this week was how do roads help us in our everyday lives? We have talked about bridges and how they are built over water to help you continue getting to where you are going. I put down blue paper to resemble water. After putting them in groups they had to decide what materials they were going to use. Together they worked to construct a bridge over the water. Giving children a specific activity to do with a classmate helps them practice cooperation skills. Taking turns during a creative activity helps children share responsibility and implement the ideas of others. A child who typically leads will learn how to let others make decisions, and a child who hesitates to voice an opinion will have an equal share in the development of the project.

Why study roads? Roads are all around us. Roads take us to school, to the store, and to visit family and friends. A study of roads provides children with an opportunity to learn how roads are made, where roads take us, how we can stay safe on the road, and the features that make up a road. When children work together to create roads, they use a variety of skills to plan, write, draw, build, and negotiate with others.

We turned our home living center into an auto shop!

We began working in our Kick Start Kindergarten workbooks this week. We start with the letter F because teaching in a developmental order helps children master skills and boosts confidence. We teach the easiest skills first, then build on prior knowledge. Capitals are taught first, and lowercase letters follow.

Balancing involves movements to help stabilize the body's position when the person is not at rest. Balance can be static or dynamic. Dynamic balance requires holding a stable position while the body is moving, such as while jumping and landing. Children's ability to balance affects their performance of gross-motor tasks.

We demonstrated our knowledge of the characteristics of living things by watching a video on the life cycle of a frog. The children then had to color, cut and glue the life cycle pictures in the correct order. Young children are interested in living things and activities like this make them aware that living things go through a growth cycle.

Our year was cut short by COVID-19. We accomplished a lot in a short period of time. I want to thank each parent for choosing St. James and letting me be a small part of their child’s life. Enjoy the video!

Much love,

Mrs. Tracy

Who would have thought that 2020 would bring COVID-19 and a shortened school year, but we could not let it keep us from doing what we do best.  We put together weekly packets which consisted of focus questions and activities that go along with our box and bread study, as well as, number and letter work and delivered them to our students.  I have really enjoyed seeing the work my kiddos are accomplishing at home!  

Our focus question this week was what can we do with a box? Here are our answers:

Able - "you can sit in them"

Gabbi - "you can mail stuff in them"

Braxton - "you can build a fort with them"

Aubrey - "places sell boxes"

Every child brought a box and they had to turn them into cars. They have had so much fun this week with this project. I have never heard so much laughter! We decided we could not make cars and not put them to good use, so the children were able to sit in their car and pretend they were at a drive-in movie. They enjoyed a movie with popcorn, gummies, and a drink. They have proclaimed this was the best week ever!!

The children have been working over the last couple of weeks with clay to create sea creatures for a movie they started making in technology. Technology enables children to respond and represent their learning in individual ways.

Check back in a couple of weeks to see the end of our box study and the beginning of bread study!

Mrs. Tracy