newsletter

december 2011

Grade School
We love watching the excitement of the season build for our Grade School children. They can hardly wait to celebrate the Holidays with family and friends. We will incorporate some of our Holiday traditions into our writing and reading activities this month. The children will use their math skills to practice buying pretend toys and gifts as well. Here is a closer look at some of our lessons for this month.

ts beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Kids Village, with Christmas carols echoing from the music room and the smell of gingerbread and peppermint drifting from the kitchen. Its a special treat to see the wonders of this holiday season sparkling in the eyes of your children.

We are excited to have you join us for a night of Holiday fun at our annual open house, Christmas In the Village. Bring the whole family and enjoy the festivities on December 7th from 3:30-8:30. Every year Christmas In the Village is a magical night where families can participate in a fun holiday craft, sing Christmas carols, share some yummy treats, and of course, visit with Santa. Its the perfect way to share the joy of Christmas with your family. Each year as part of our Christmas In the Village open house we sponsor a fundraiser. This year our fundraiser will focus on our unique Scholarship Program. Every year we meet with families who desperately want to provide a quality educational experience for their children but cannot afford it. We have put into place a Scholarship Program for such families and we need your help to keep it going strong. The requests for Scholarships continues to grow and sadly, there are many that we have to turn away. So, wed like your help in giving other children the Kids Village experience, because every child deserves a wonderful education where they are loved and encouraged to succeed. We will be collecting donations during our Christmas In the Village open house. Whether its spare change, or a months tuition we encourage you to give what you can and help us give a child in need a great start on the road to success. Thank you to all who participated in our Meet & Greet last month. It was fun to see all of the new friendships that were made. We hope you enjoyed the time you spent with us. Remember to watch for your childs Task Card to come home at the end of every month. We are so pleased with the progress we have seen with our Task Card program. The children are working hard to pass off each skill and are excited to share it with you. If, by chance, your child did not pass off all of their skills, its okay. We will continue to work on any of the skills they have not completed, but you can also work with your child at home. Once they have mastered the skill, send us a note so we can evaluate their progress as well. The children receive a Kids Village wristband when they complete all of the skills on their Task Card AND bring in their R.E.A.D.S. calendar. If you have any questions or concerns about the Task Card program or about your childs progress please dont hesitate to give us a call. We want to work with you to help your child reach their goals. Our R.E.A.D.S. program has been a big hit as well. Thank you for marking your calendars, turning them in, and most of all, for reading with your children! The time spent reading with your child is invaluable so thank you for making it a priority. We have totaled all of the points from our October Calendars and we have a tie between Miss Valerie and Miss Korbis Tator Tot classes. Both of these classes will get to enjoy our Prize Book Basket all month long. Congratulations! There are endless numbers of fantastic holiday books out there but here are a few you might want to catch: A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe, Dream Snow by Eric Carle, and Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner. Christmas Break will be from December 19th to January 2nd. We hope you are able to spend those days warm and safe and surrounded by those you love!

Week #1 Nov 28th - Dec 2nd Identifying and using the Floss Rule, sight word speed drills, identifying and using final stable syllables, graphing using a scale of 10, estimating the volume of containers, and telling time to 5-minute intervals.

Week #2 December 5th - 9th Introduce the final stable syllables -dle, -ple, -fle, -gle, and -tle, identify a noun, measure line segments by the half inch, create a pictograph, and use the symbols < > and =. Week #3 December 12th - 16th Review new reading and math concepts, discuss the ways we can give to others, make a special Holiday craft, and read our favorite Holiday stories.

Kids Village Task Card

december 2011
Name: Academic Skills
I Can Write Sentences Using Correct Punctuation & Spacing I Can Match Definitions to a Word I Can Make Personal Connection to a Story
I Can Count Using Dimes, Nickels, and Pennies

grade school

I Can Read Data on a Graph, Chart or Thermometer

Workshop Skills
I Can Follow a Recipe
I Can Recite the Poem A Big Box and Count Beats in a Measure

December Values: Generosity & Service

What a perfect time of year to learn about Generosity and Service. We will learn the importance of giving to those in need, being helpful and kind, and well learn about how to give graciously.

I Can Follow the Scientific Method by Gathering Information Online

I Can Describe Holiday Traditions From 4 Countries I Can Create an Original Illustration

Value Skills
I Can Share and Serve Others
Kids Village R.E.A.D.S.

newsletter continued..
december 2011

Kitchen
This month in the Kitchen we are going to practice reading and following recipes. Here are a few of the recipes we will be working on: Week #1 - Homemade Mashed Potatoes, Week #2 Easy Egg Rolls, Week #3 - Holiday Recipes

Music
We have been learning a few Christmas Carols that we cant wait to share with you at our Christmas In the Village family celebration. We will also learn to count beats in a measure and we will memorize the poem A Big Box by Sandra Bouynton.

Social Studies
This is a great time of year to look at the traditions of different countries. We will learn about this special time of year from a few different perspectives. We will also learn about the ways we can serve and give to others.

Science
What an impressive Science Fair we had last month! Everyone worked very hard and the results were fantastic. We all learned a lot from your projects. This month we will learn to define and identify matter.

Art
We will be using some of the painted papers we created in November to make our own illustrations and we will begin working on a Collection Collage. Watch for a letter to come home describing this project and how you can help. We will also create a special Holiday ornament.

Dates to Remember
December 1:
Begin December calendar for Kids Village R.E.A.D.S.

Birthday Kids

December 1:
Registration for Ski School Ends

December 5:
School Spirit Day - Wear your KV T-shirt!

December 7:
Christmas in the Village Open House 3:30 - 8:30 p.m.

December 15 & 16:

Polar Express Pajama Day

December 19 - January 2:
NO SCHOOL Winter Break

January 3:
School Resumes