Black Bears Newsletter: February 2024

News, Black Bears Newsletter, Classroom Newsletters

Hi Black Bear Parents,

Happy February!

This is one of my favorite months to teach socio -emotional skills, focusing largely on promoting positive self esteem/self efficacy. I realize I might sound repetitive on working on self esteem however, it makes my heart so full and happy when I witness positive shifts in how much they believe in themselves and their own abilities. For instance, I’ve seen the kids go from saying “I can’t do this, I don’t know how to” when we work on our letter tracing sheets, to: ” Oh I can do this!” and they try their best just like the Little Blue Engine That Could, believing in their own abilities. 

Language and literature:
Each day I will be reading a book from a series called Conscious Stories.Today we read, ” The Elephant Who Tried to Tiptoe” that aims to remind children to be their true selves and to love the body that they have.
Tomorrow I will be reading, ” The Forgetful Elephant” that aims to help children to find their inner happiness when they forget.
Monday I will be read, ” The Boy Who Searched for Silence” that aims to help children find silence within. themselves.
And so on…. we have so many great ones from this series!
Next, what I absolutely love about these books is that they incorporate a mindfulness exercise at the end of each book. 
Starting today, I lead one of these exercises during Circle Time that we will incorporate into our daily routine as well as, repeating the  same mindfulness exercise before nap time while they are laying on their cots. 
Examples:
The  “Super- Cool Sleepmaker”:
 It starts with repeating, ” I am super cool, my perfect toes. They are just right, I sleep tight” as they will wiggle their toes. “I am super-cool. My perfect knees. They are just right. I sleep tight.” as they curl into a ball and squeeze their knees into their belly.”I am super-cool. My perfect belly. It is just right. I sleep tight.” as they breathe into their belly.” I am super-cool. My perfect eyes. They are just right. I sleep tight” – as they squint or blink their eyes.” I am super-cool. My perfect ears. They are just right. I sleep tight” – as they massage their ears.
Naptime Bubble Spell
“Raise your wand toward the sky.  Lets make a cozy bubble of love to help you sleep snuggly, Imagine a bubble grows from your heart and surrounds you with love so sleep time can start. Color it gently with light shades of blue or purple or yellow, any color especially for you. Breathe out the day, breathe in the love. Sleep safely in your bubble of light” 
These are just a few examples and feel free to practice these at home! 


Big Circle Time: I do my best to read the energy of the room and the kids, are they needing to move their bodies?, are they needing to calm their bodies? I do my best to interpret their needs and remain flexible and adaptable in my approach to teaching. Here is an example: I decided to alter big circle time a little bit this month into more of a discussion type style sitting together as a class. So many of these sweet kids have so much to say, all children want to feel heard and allowing them to all speak, share their ideas, helps them to have confidence in their voice, understand that their voice matters, and learn from their peers. Today, we brainstormed solutions to a particular problem. The problem was, “Your friend comes over for a play date but you both want to do different things. What would you do?” and they all contributed with ideas, laughed with their friends, practiced decision making and problem-solving. It went great and I loved hearing all of their ideas! l will post what we came up with on a photo through Procare later today.
 I will continue doing this through February with a new “problem” each day that we have to find solutions to. My hope is that this will also help their interactions with peers when conflict in the classroom arises such as, ” they grabbed a toy out of my hand that I was playing with” . 
More literacy and language: We will start on the letter “P” next week creating their “P” books and practicing writing skills in different ways that provide different sensory feedback. For example: worksheets with a marker, chalk and chalk boards, salt boards, dry erase boards, play dough etc. 
Next, I am so excited that our Spanish lessons with start up again beginning next week!! Ms. Lina will come in for 15-30 min once a week to do a Spanish lesson with the kids. 
Show and Tell:I have decided to allow for one day a week that your child can bring a toy from home to share their interests with their teacher and peers. Every Tuesday they can bring a small toy or stuffed animal from home. The rules are that it needs to be safe- not pointy, no small parts and not a choking hazard. Also, when Ms. Lissy asks for it to go back into their cubby for a little while they will listen:) In addition, I will send out an announcement through Pro-Care about an “Interview” assignment. They will be tasked with interviewing one of their stuffed animals, asking them a series of socio-emotional and science questions. 
Science: Right now, it seems the entire class has a little obsession about reptiles currently (including myself) 🙂 We will continue to learn about different reptiles throughout this month since they are enjoying it and so curious about them. Yesterday. they learned about the Basilisk Lizard that can run on top of water using their tales to stabilize them upwards! In addition to reptile ,however, I want to discuss health and nutrition. As we go through affirmations about loving our body, I think it is fitting to talk about nutrition and health. What types of foods are healthy foods? Why is it important to eat healthy foods? What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? How do our bodies and minds feel when we put healthy food and water inside of them? 
We will incorporate math and numbers into health and nutrition by practicing counting apples. How many apples did you eat if you had four on your plate and ate three? 
Finally,Crafts, crafts, crafts! I have some really cute valentines day crafts ideas that they will enjoy bringing home this month and giving it to someone they love if they want to. Also, we will practice writing “love letters” to someone in their family and fixing ms Lissy’s broken hearts that have an upper case letter on one side and a lower case letter on the other side.”Can you find the missing half, and mend the heart?” 🙂 
As always please message me with any questions or concerns and I would love to chat with you at pick up or drop off as well.
Respectfully,Ms Lissy