The children finished up their work about the ocean and the creatures that live there.  They worked very hard on the mural outside our room.  I hope you had a chance to stop by and see it. 

This week we will be talking about all things Irish – shamrocks, leprechauns, Ireland, and the color green.  If you have any books about St. Patrick’s Day that you would like to share with us for a week or a day, please write your child’s name in the book and send it to school.

On Friday we will be having a GREEN DAY. Your child may wear something green to school; your child may also bring something green for Show and Tell.  In addition, we will be having a green day for snack on Friday.  I ask that you and your child decide on something green to eat – celery, green grapes, green pepper, broccoli, green jello, etc. Please send in only 20 pieces or servings, as we will have a lot of snack to sample on that day. After we are finished with snack we will graph how many children liked each food.

Our letter for this week is /i/.

On Tuesday we will be going to Mass. We continue to sing SEE WHAT LOVE GOD HAS GIVEN each day and continue to ask the children what love  they have shown to someone else.   We   will read and tell the stories of Jesus healing the man who was lowered through a roof, and Jesus feeding many people with just a little food.

The children are running laps during our morning recess. Right now we are working on running four times around which is 1/2 mile.  Some children are running a mile each day.  At the end of the year we will have a celebration day and everyone will run/walk a mile.  Please make sure they have on shoes that are good for running – ties or velcro closures.

Thank you all for supporting St. Cletus by attending the Blarney Bash. It was very successful and all the children of St. Cletus will benefit from your generosity.

We hope you have a blessed week.

I hope your children are talking about letters and sounds at home as much as they have been talking about them at school.  Not a day goes by that at least one child doesn’t come up to one of us with a word to add to one of our word lists.  It is quite exciting.

Beginning next week our theme will be DOWN BY THE SEA.  We will talk about all things having to do with the ocean and the creatures that live there.  I think the children will have a lot of fun and I know they will learn many new things.

Our alphabet letter for the week will be /o/.

We began our journey to Easter last Wednesday by attending Mass. We have been talking about the great love God has shown us by giving us his Son and about the great love Jesus has for us by giving up his life.  Then, we talk about the ways that we can show God’s love to the people around us.

I hope you all will attend the BLARNEY BASH.  Each preschool class made an alphabet poster to be auctioned at the event.  The children are very proud.  Either of the posters would be a great addition to a bedroom our playroom. In addition, the BLARNEY BASH  is a major fund-raising event for our entire school.

Thank you all for attending the parent teacher conferences last week.  I hope all your questions were answered; but in case they were not, please call or send me a note.

The children have had a wonderful, creative week getting ready for Valentine’s Day. You may have already received some of their creations.

Next week Monday, we will decorate their bags in preparation for our celebration on Tuesday.  Please remember to send 20 Valentines with your child on Tuesday.  The valentines should be signed by your child and the envelopes should be blank so it is easy for each child to distribute his or her cards. 

Next week we will also be preparing our class item for the Blarney Bash auction.  If you haven’t already purchased your tickets and participated in any of the raffles, please do so.  It is a great and fun way to support our school – and you will all be be bidding against each other for our class project!!

We will be spending our alphabet time reading alphabet books and doing projects that include all the letters of the alphabet.  We will also be concentrating on writng names – including last names for some of the children.

In religion we will continue with stories about Jesus and how he lived his life with kindness and caring for all people. 

I look forward to seeing all of you at our designated conference time on Thursday, Feb. 16.  Don’t forget – NO SCHOOL on Friday, Feb. 17 and Monday Feb 20.  Have a wonderful weekend with your family.

Our unit about winter, how animals live in winter, and how arctic animals live is finished for this year.  We can see how much the children have learned by their answers to questions, by their conversation and by their predictions when we read books about those subjects.

This coming week we will concentrate on Valentine’s Day and all the love and kindness that encourages.  Our party will be on Tuesday, February 14.  It will be low-key.  Please have your child bring in the bag with handles that was described in the newsletter last week.  Only 4 children have brought in bags so far and we will begin decorating them on Tuesday of this week.  Check last week’s newsletter for specifics.

This has been a very exciting week for the children with many different activities to celebrate Catholic Schools Week.

Next week our letter will be /v/.

We will be attending Mass on Monday this week at 9:00. Please encourage your children to have good behavior in church.  I am sure that when you take them to church yourself, you hear them singing some of the responses and saying some of the prayers. They are very proud of their participation.

Thursday, February 16 is a half-day of school. The children will be dismissed at 11:15 at the side door.  There will be no after care that day.  Parent teacher conferences will be that afternoon and evening.  We will be sending home your time on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. I am looking foward to meeting with all of you on 2/16. There will be no school on Friday, February 17 and Monday, February 20.

Have a good weekend.