Dear Bud Families,
Happy New Year to all of you! This past year has blown by, and we are so excited to start 2025 with all of you and your children!
December ended our curriculumwith many different ways to think about boxes! We started by painting individual small boxes and then decorated medium boxes to stack, measure, count, and play within the block center. We also worked on our pre-reading skills by opening our imaginations and using ideas from the book This is Not a Box. The children created art with squares and then told us what they had made, and we wrote down their words.
There is no lack of imagination in the Bud classroom, and these 2-3-year-olds can take the simplest of things like a box and turn it into a world of creativity. It was fun to watch them explore and grow. Their favorite area was the block area, where we traded the usual blocks for many different-sized boxes for them to build and construct. We are still working on our construction skills and are excited about what the new year brings!
We also had a unique visitor, “The Elf.” The Buds first came up with his name: Jolly! He showed up hanging outside in the cold! He went from watching us to planting candy cane seeds, leaving us treats (Reindeer Poop), and even celebrating our many December birthdays… All of Jolly’s creative ideas throughout December were so much fun!
As we begin the new year, we are excited to learn about our next topic—exploration and Arctic Animals! It is a beautiful time for the children to actively explore the world during the cold that January hopefully brings. We believe that some fantastic learning comes through the encouragement of exploration.
We will also start an “All About Me” process where the children will use their imaginations and pre-writing skills. They will tell us about their favorite things, and we will celebrate them! We love the saying “new year, new me,” especially for this age as they enter new stages of self-expression and exploration!
Reminders:
- Take home your child’s bag with nap time items to be washed the last day of the week that your child attends and bring back the next week so your child has everything they need.
- Mark your child’s clothing items to help us keep them all where they belong, as we see many identical items, such as gloves and hats.
We’re so grateful to celebrate the New Year with you and your children! All our love,
Mrs. Stephanie, Ms. Maci, and Ms. Gale
