The students have been learning the following concepts in each of the academic areas: Religion The children have been learning about Saint Nicholas as we begin the season of Advent in December. We will gather for the Advent song and prayer each morning with the 1st and 2nd graders as we spend the season of Advent waiting and perparing for the birth of Jesus on Christmas. We will read "The Legend of the Candy Cane" aw well as many other Christmas themed books. Our preparations will be focused on the true meaning of Christmas to us and how we can show others our love by giving gifts just as God showed his love for us by giving us his Son. We will complete oru school season of Advent with the Christmas Pageant. Social Studies I want to thank all of the parents who helped make the Thanksgiving Feast so successful. The children had a wonderful time at the Feast and I hope all of you got a chance to see the photographs in "The Washington Times" paper and web-site. In December, the children will be learning about the differences between wants and needs, and also learning about the sequence of events that must happen in order for the items they need (food, shelter, clothing) to get to them. Science The children are starting to learn about the physical science of how things move, especially familiar types of toys. They will learn that some objects move with a push, others with a pull, and about how wheels (and other simple machines) make moving things easier. To tie in science with our Treasures food unit, the children will find out about the food pyramid, good food choices, and other ways to say healthy through literature, music, art, and other hands-on activities. Math We have continued to work on recognizing and writing numbers,and have just finished working on learning position words (above, below, between, left, and right. We continue to stress counting skills (using 1-1 correspondence) as we prepare for January when we will start counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's. We are working on identifying a set of objects and recognizing if one set has "more" or "less" in it than another. These concepts are reinforced using music, puzzles, games, manipulatives, and a variety of art materials. This month we will introduce money in form of pennies and give children chances to use the money to make "purchases" in a "Candy Store" center. Language Arts/Reading We have started our unit on Food. The letters we have learned phonetically and practiced writing so far are: m,a, s, p, i, t, n, c. To reinforce letter recognition and letter/sound recognition, the children cut out pictures from magazines with the letter sounds, they practice "writing" the letters in sand and/or paint, form the letters out of Wikki Stix or Playdough, and listen to poems and music that reinforce letter sounds. Thanks for all of your support. Mrs. Caruso