Seasons Greetings, dear parents!

Thank you so much for the lovely gifts I received. I have a tradition of not opening my presents until Christmas (roots go deep in family superstitions), so I have them all under my tree and eagerly await their being opened.

On Thursday after opening circle, I asked my students to tell me what they know now that they didn't know when school started. I was prepared to remind them of the blocks, but I never had to open my mouth! They listed form drawing, cursive, fractions, division, long division, adding columns of numbers, The Song of the Chattahoochee, many things that they learned on the field trip to Cumberland Island, and, of course, the stories of The Monkey King. I am excited to know that they remember what they've done.

Coming up in January is an intense block of Language Arts. The goals for this block are to increase each student's fluency and reading comprehension, to better understand how sentences are structured - yes, we are going to diagram sentences - and then write business letters, personal letters and notes, non-fiction, and creative writing.

During the Human and Animal Block, we are planning a field trip to a zoo in Dahlonega that rescues animals rather than going to the Atlanta Zoo. If you have any concerns about your child going to a zoo, please let me know. During that block we will be doing a lot of sketching animals, and I want them to be one on one (but from a short distance) with as many different animals as possible.

Safe travels if you are traveling during the holidays, and have a wonderful time with family and friends.

Best,

Ki Kathee