Monica Ros School

May 29, 2008

Dear Parents,

     Here are a few calendar notes for you as we wrap up the year. 
     First of all, the last day of school is Wednesday, June 4th.  This is different from the date listed in the Monica Ros Directory.  Early in the year we made the switch but it remains in your directory.  We apologize if this has caused any confusion. 
     Monday while the kindergarten and grade school are off to Thacher for Field Day, the preschool will hold our own Playground Fun Day here on campus.  No need to send a lunch, pizza lunch will be provided.  We will spend just about the entire day outside for a fun day including a jolly jump.
     On Tuesday I will be sending home your child’s journal.  If you would like you may join us in the classroom early before dismissal.
     Wednesday we will “try” to keep as low key and normal as possible, although it is a sad day!!!  I can’t tell you in words how much I have enjoyed this years Yellow Room Class.  I truly brag about them like they are my own children. They are like watching a fine tuned machine.  The children have made such solid relationships with each other, family-like.  I see on a daily basis empathy, compassion, humor and genuine concern for each other.  I will cherish fond memories of all our days in the Yellow Room.  Thank you so much for allowing me this year with all of your lovely children.

Respectfully Yours, Shari_Garst

Welcome back,

I hope you had a restful holiday. We will begin January at Monica Ros with Arts Month. This is school wide; each class is exploring a different art medium with Greece in mind. The Yellow Room is going to be photographing Greek artifacts. I’m unfortunately waiting for a confirming phone call from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. My plan is to visit the museum and have the children photograph their favorite piece of Greek history. We will also be helping the school wide documentation process of Arts Month, which will all be on display on January 31st. I will send home field trip information as soon as possible.

We are going to be exploring 5 letters this month, “k”angaroo, “l”ake, “m”e, “n”arcissus, and “o”ctagon. The children are enjoying their own alphabet adventure books as they are growing in pages, ask to have your child show you theirs.

We will be taking a field trip to Lake Casitas on Wednesday, January, 10th. We did this last year and had a great time, we learned about the lake from Ranger Rob then we enjoyed a picnic lunch, played and came home.
With Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday this month we will talk about peace: What does it really mean? I have a great book to read, Peace Begins With You, by Katherine Scholes. This is sure to be a popular topic in our classroom with the peace and kindness jar about ½ full.

We will continue to pattern and reproduce patterns, using unifix cubes, beads and ourselves. Patterning is the underlying theme of mathematics. It is remarkable to see the more complex patterning that is evolving in our class. The children are also really enjoying morning calendar time, they are always eager to be able to recognize the date. I will say to them “if today is the 3rd what will tomorrow be or what was yesterday”? You can just see the wheels turning!

The Yellow Room has acquired two planter boxes in the garden. We will be planting our own “salads”, lettuce, carrots, radishes etc. The children love playing in that area, they will be taking care of our garden planting, weeding, and watering and finally eating! That reminds me our potatoes have sprouted!!!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. This month is going to be busy and full of excitement.

Sincerely,
Shari