Good Morning,
I hope everyone had a wonderful break. It was nice to have time to relax and enjoy the little things in life. It is hard to believe that we are starting the year 2012. I started teaching at the Waitsfield School in 2000 and the time has certainly flown by.
The rest of the year can be broken down into three chunks: from now until February break, March through the April break, and May through the end of the year. During this block, we will continue with most of our everyday scheduled things but will have a switch in focus from science to social studies. We will be looking at local history and use our Artist in Residence (at the end of this block) to celebrate this history. This year's Artist in Residence is the Bread and Puppet Company.
There are two changes to talk about as far as the makeup of the class. FIrst of all, we will officially welcome Claudia back to the Waitsfield School. After spending the first few months learning in Paris, Claudia will once again be a full time member of our classroom and school community. We also begin our life without Ms. Hines. Ms. Hines will be teaching in Berlin this semester. However, she will keep in touch and may even stop in from time to time.
NOTES: Please make sure to pay special attention to the information outlined below.
*Winter Sports Program: We will start our winter sports program this Wednesday. Please make sure that your child has all of the appropriate clothing and equipment. It is best if you can label all items. It always amazes me how our lost and found grows during this season.
*Winter Recess: It is expected that your child come to school prepared for recess each day. This means, coats, snow pants, boots, hats, and mitten/gloves. If you have extra sets of things and would rather have your child leave items at school, please let me know. I will help them with this.
*Homework: There will be reading homework this week, and math will start next week. Based on experience, I never assign any homework on our school's ski days. I find the the kids are quite exhausted, and parents appreciate the elimination of this task on these days. However, if you feel inclined, feel free to read with your child and/or play the math game on these evenings.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and I wish a Happy New Year to each of you!
Peace,
Tom
