Thanksgiving

The Whole Note children and teachers hope that you enjoyed the Thanksgiving books.  Each line in the opening poem in the book has obviously been illustrated in some way by your preschoolers.  The class had a great time with this project and were most excited when they went home.  These publications are meant to be keepsakes for all of you.

Now that you have seen our books, we can give more information as to exactly what is happening on the blog.  There are photos of some children coloring babies and drawing pictures of activities done with their friends to illustrate one line in the poem in the book.  Still other pictures are of a group completing the last page in the book relating to being thankful for trees, leaves and birds.

The class has been learning about the historical part of Thanksgiving.  At our Whole Note celebration next Wednesday some children will be wearing a Native American headdress while others will be sporting Pilgrim hats.  Everyone was able to make their own choice.  Featured here are some friends making their creations.  All the Whole Notes are shown modeling their hats.

Other views are 2 friends sharing an abacus and counting when they came for early drop off, while others are in housekeeping cooking  Thanksgiving dinner.

Riya presented the letter box for "H".  She wore a dress covered with hearts for the occasion and is playing her harmonica.  Most of her items were hand drawn which was a wonderful accomplishment.  Martina is holding up a paper she completed to review the letter "H".

The teachers wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.  Please be safe with your families.  Watch for an email from the mandarin teacher which will be forwarded to you.  She has sent words describing members of your families which she hopes you will practice with your children.

Rolene and Jackie 

Three Different Celebrations

 

The Whole Note children learned that there are many different reasons for celebrations.  The first one was for JJ's 5th birthday.  Cupcakes are always a hit in a preschool.  His Mom kindly sent a "goody" bag for each child which added to the excitement.  Thanks so much to JJ and his family.  We hope you had a great birthday.

Our next celebration was different.  There was no special food but we talked about appreciating our brave soldiers on Veteran's Day.  An interesting discussion took place on why we celebrate their help.    Jackie told the group a true story about her Dad, soldier Mike, and how he aided soldiers in the war to get to safety even though he was wounded.  He was awarded a Purple Heart Medal which she proudly showed to the class.  From that point we talked about other heroes and heroines such as the police, fire fighters, doctors and astronauts.  All of this information was the basis for creating a peace symbol to color and bring home in honor of Veteran's Day.

The last special occasion was a party to celebrate the Indian culture holiday of Diwali, the Festival of Lights.  Riya and her Mom sent us a storybook about this day to read in class.  We learned that there are 5 days of celebration in India.  Families pray, exchange gifts and light fireworks.  Riya gave everyone a light to keep and a picture to color.  A special thanks to Riya and her Mom for the lights and cupcakes so we could have our own Diwali event.

All photos for our celebrations are featured throughout the blog.  Also shown are friends creating "figures" of their Moms and Dads, once again relating to our special Thanksgiving book that we are still getting ready for publication.

Finally we give Mira and her Mom a round of applause for doing a good job on the letter box for "G".  They were very creative including items such as ginger and guacamole.  Next week we are on to the letter "H" and the completion of our books.  If your family will be going away before our last day on November 25th, please tell a teacher so that we can make sure that you receive your preschooler's wonderful Thanksgiving book.

Rolene and Jackie

Voting

 The most important curriculum of the past week revolved around voting.  The teachers tried to impress upon the class how lucky we all are to live in the USA  where people of eighteen years of age who are citizens have the right to vote.  Our lesson began with an explanation of Election Day and then a little information about where the president lives and a smattering of his responsibilities..  We read parts of a wonderful children's book titled "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue".  Your youngster probably heard facts that you might not know: there are 132 rooms in the White House, one president had a friendly racoon for a pet while another's 2 daughters had pet snakes, Abe Lincoln's bed was 8 feet long and one president received a gift of cheese weighing 1000 pounds.

Finally 2 stories were read: "No Roses For Harry" and "Harry the Dirty Dog", both by Gene Zion.  A ballot was created with 2 choices for your favorite story.  There was a rose for the first story and a pile of dirt for the second.  Each picture had a box under it for a child to put an "X" or a check mark.  The numbers were tallied.  Actually the first ballot ended in a tie so teachers voted to settle it.  The chart with our tally can be seen on our door as you enter.

Hopefully you saw the "I Voted" necklace that came home.  The stickers on them were donated by a poll worker at the request of a teacher.  Hopefully the results of this lesson will be remembered for a long time-that it is a privilege to vote and an important job.

Also on the blog you will view children making hand print turkeys.  These will be used as covers on a surprise book that the Whole Notes always make for Thanksgiving.  Although we do go through the story of the pilgrims on the Mayflower, the Native Americans and the first Thanksgiving, the teachers believe this is hard for preschoolers to imagine.  But all of us can be thankful for our blessings which is the subject of our book.  There are photos of friends doing art work with their hands and feet but we will not say what or why.  You will receive these books upon publication.

Brigitte will turn 5 this weekend so we celebrated her birthday a little early.  More birthdays next week too!  The letter box will be back also.

Finally, it was our pleasure to meet with you for conferences.  If you have questions, please do not hesitate to send an email.  Thanks for sharing your precious children with us!

Rolene and Jackie