In Social Studies this week, we begin our maps and globes unit. We will begin with learning similarities and differences between maps and globes. Then, we will start with thinking about our houses, do some maps of special places in our homes, and school. Then we will take a look at different types of homes around the world and use the globe to get perspective on their location in relationship to us. At home, you can support your child by looking for maps that you use regularly. You could show your child your car's navigation system or play with the features in google maps. If you have photos of houses grandparents lived in, for example, you could compare their home to your current home.

This is the last week before break! We have had a lot of crafty fun, and it's always fun to get out the globe for social studies to really get that whole world perspective. The kids have learned about Africa, Europe, India, and some about North and South America. They have learned why light is such a common practice in celebrating toward the arrival of winter, and what the winter solstice means. In the last week, our learning will be about Christmas and finding many of the places on the globe that celebrate Christmas. They have really taken pride in carefully constructing their holiday artifacts. They have turned out very well. We hope you'll enjoy using them to decorate your own homes over the winter break.

To support your kids at home, keep telling them about your traditions, how they started, where they came from, and what they mean to you.

The conference sign up was closed Friday at 4pm, and if you need to coordinate a conference time, email me at [email protected]. 

We continue working with winter holidays around the world with a focus on the winter solstice and Christmas. We are incorporating our advocacy work on gratitude as we learn about the holidays and why they are celebrated. The concepts fit really nicely together. You can support at home by reading books and talking with your kids about your personal experiences with these holidays. 

Have a great weekend!

Amber 

This week, we will finish making our Kwanzaa Kinaras and then begin learning about the Winter Solstice and Hanukkah. At home, you can support your child by looking at a world map with them, and showing them India and Africa in relation to their location to America on the map. Most of the children are most familiar with Colorado, so you can also reinforce that Colorado is with the United States on the North American continent. We have used the globe in class to locate India (for Diwali) and Africa (for Kwanzaa).

When we return from Thanksgiving break, we will continue learning about winter holiday celebrations around the world. We will learn about Diwali and Kwanzaa this week. 

A Diwali inspired activity you can try at home is to sing this little song together to reinforce the importance of the lamps in Diwali celebrations.

 

Diwali Song by Liz Ryerson

To the tune of London Bridges

Little lamps are burning bright,

burning bright, burning bright.

Little lamps are burning bright.

It is Diwali

 

See them lighting up the night

up the night, up the night.

See them lighting up the night.

It is Diwali!

This week in Social Studies we will begin our Holiday's around the world unit. This unit is a big one and our last unit this semester! This week, our focus is American Thanksgiving.

This week, children will be doing presentations to the class about their learning in the senses unit, and what makes humans unique. Over the unit, the children have done several types of experiments using their senses, played lots of games, and have now completed a replica of themselves that indicates their understanding of body parts that we sense with, physical characteristics of humans and how humans are different than all other animals. 

A really wonderful activity you can try at home, is to sit with your child, both of you close your eyes and listen. Try labeling all the sounds you hear: cars, birds, etc. Then, do it again, and this time notice all the things you feel: the texture of what you are sitting on, the wind across your face, etc.

This week in science we are gaining understanding of what makes humans unique.

This week in science, we are continuing some exploration with the senses and moving into identifying the unique physical characteristics of humans.

This week, we begin our unit on why humans are unique and exploration of the five senses.

This week in social studies the goal is for children to understand sequencing events and relating them to how they have changed overtime.

This week in Social Studies, we will be working on our Civics unit about how to be a good citizen. We will also do a project about who is in our families.