Hello Two’s and Three’s Families!!!
Welcome to 2021 and to the spring semester! The children have grown so much over the course of the year and we have seen their capabilities and interests show. They have been very interested in hands on activities. For example, art has been a big hit in our classroom, as soon as the materials are pulled out, they are very eager to come over to participate. Some of the recent art activities we have 
done is watercolor painting with droppers and with spray bottles. We have also done some sticker art where we peeled the stickers off of the paper and put them on pieces of construction paper. We have also been doing a lot of using writing utensils like colored pencils, markers, crayons and oil pastels to work on art and to on our grasp of these items.
The children are becoming very independent! They are seeking to do things for
themselves a lot more. What we have been trying to work on is self-help skills, particularly dressing themselves for outside time. The steps we are teaching the children to use to put on their outdoor gear are the following: put on snow pants, next boots, then jacket, followed by their hat, lastly their gloves. To keep this momentum going, please continue to practice doing these things with your child at home! Research states that encouraging children to dress themselves not only helps develop their confidence but it helps to develop several skills such as gross motor skills with balancing to put on a specific clothing item, cognitive skills with remembering process to put things on and fine motor skills such as manipulating the zipper and other small objects (https://www.educationalplaycare.com/blog/helping-children-learn-to-dress-themselves/).
Outside time has been an engaging time for our children. They have been very engrossed in the snow and what it looks and feels like. One of the things we have been able to use is a sled. The children have been learning about turn taking when we switch so can have other children take a ride. The children also have been interested in touching ice that is within reach. Just a reminder that our outside times and locations are the following: 10:45-11:45 a. m. at the CDFC playground and 3:45-4:15 p. m. at the Gabel Hall playground. Because we are 
spending quite a bit of time outside, please make sure to provide your child with the proper gear (hat, gloves, boots, snow pants and jacket) on a consistent basis. Also, please note that we will go outside if the wind chill factor is above 15 degrees. If the wind chill is between 10-15 degrees we will be out for a short period of time. Lastly, if the wind chill is below 10 degrees, we will not be outside.
Books have been a huge part of our classroom! A lot of the children will come on in and grab a book to read first thing as they get settled into the room. The children have been interacting with social stories that include pictures of themselves and their classmates. Some of the popular ones include “Hickety, Pickety Bumblebee, Won’t You Say Your Name for Me?” “Look and See,” “(insert child’s name) is Here Today,” and more. One of the things we are going to work on to add to our collection is an “All About Me” book. These sheets were sent home with you recently, please make sure to bring them back to Nadine or Kat as soon as possible so we can compile this book for our room.
We have made some changes in our classroom and one of the biggest changes that we have made was to our dramatic play center. The goal of this 
center is to learn many life skills like social skills, language skills, creative and critical thinking, and more. We have done an ice cream shop center. With this center, items that have been provided include ice cream scoops, empty ice cream containers, menus and crayons, ice cream bowls and spoons, and toppings. The children are learning to share and divide up the items, look at a menu and decide what they would like, develop their vocabulary by talking about the different flavors or toppings, choosing between cones or cups, and anything associated with ice cream, eye hand coordination by scooping makeshift ice cream into the cups and pretending to eat the ice cream by bringing the spoon up to the mouth appropriately.
Thank you all for all you do! As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask. We look forward to a great spring semester with you all and continuing to see your children 
grow and develop!
Kat and Nadine
