November has definitely been a very interesting month. The weather has been so unpredictable, alternating between warm, rainy days and cold, snowy ones. Weather permitting (temperatures above 12°F including the wind chill and no rain), we do go outside for recess. So, it is very important for your children to have all their cold weather gear on hand, including snow pants. Thanks to a few snowy days, we were able to practice getting all our snow gear on and off. And,  it takes a long time! In order to be more independent and successful at “getting ready to go outside” the children and the adults of P1 have come up with a little line-up that goes like this: Snow pants first; then boots, jacket, scarf (if you have one), hat, and mittens last. Why mittens last, you ask? Because we discovered together that it is very hard to put anything else on once your hands are covered!

We are also discovering many new things during our work time. Like the fact that two letters have the same sound (c & k) and that when you write your name in cursive, your pencil does not leave until the whole word is done because all the letters stay together in a word. Through sound games and sandpaper letters we have been finding out all about the different sounds that make up words and the lowercase cursive symbols that represent them. The reason we begin with the sounds and not the names of the letters is to set up a good foundation for reading. As the children experience the different sounds, they discover reading by blending together different sounds and writing by decoding a word into its component sounds.

But why use cursive instead of print? Cursive is easier for the young child to learn. Cursive letters have a flowing, uninterrupted movement that is more natural to the child’s hand movement. Since all cursive letters have a consistent point, it eliminates confusion with reversal and inversion of letters (e.g., b and d and p; m and w). Research also shows that cursive writing stimulates parts of the brain responsible for learning language, refining fine motor skills and creates more right-left brain connections.

We are so glad that all the children were able to share their classroom with a special person. There were a lot of different activities being shown off and lots of exciting lessons being given to grandparents, aunts, etc. The children do feel pride and such a sense of accomplishment when they are able to share their environment with their friends and family.

Stay Warm…

Archana