Week 5

We've already learned a lot this school year about our Forest School play norms and about our 2nd grade expectations.  The students brainstormed things they felt they could promise to try their best at each and everyday.  We have a Class Promise, a Play Promise, and an Outdoor Learning Promise.  These are great reminders on how we treat one another, treat the space we're in, and share God's love.

We created our Play Promise as a way to stay safe, learn, and have fun while playing outside.  

Announcements & Reminders:

*Please remember to order lunch by 7am on Monday!  Remember you must order in this time frame for the whole week.  If you click on the three lines in the top left corner of the blog, there is a quick link to the lunch form.  

*Please take note: On September 25 we will not be at Sassafras House all day. We are going to chapel, Farmer's Market, and then the walk-a-thon.

*Friday folders are coming home today with our work from the week. Please take these papers out, look them over, discuss them with your child, and send the empty folder back on Monday.

*Homework bags are due on Monday. These should have a completed math page and a fully filled out reading log inside.  

*A reminder about our driveway chain: if you are coming to Sassafras House, please make sure to unhook the chain, move it out of the driveway, and then drive up to the house. Our classroom door is always through the basement steps. Once you leave, please pull through the chain area, re-hook the chain, and then continue on your way. Thank you!

*From the Office: Holland Christian’s All School Walkathon will be taking place on Wednesday, September 25 during the afternoon of school. Thank you for your support in this endeavor. For those new or unfamiliar with our Walkathon, please read through a few FAQs here! 

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Bible:  We finished our Creation books, these are coming home today. Please have your child read it to you! We moved on to talking about the Fall and how God's perfect world fell and sin entered. But learned that the good news is that God had a plan and his name was Jesus! We are enjoying Thursday Praise! It is such a beautiful time of worship together as a whole 2nd grade!

Writing in our prayer journals on Friday mornings is such a calming time.

ELA:  This week we focused on learning about our books from the front cover and the back blurb. We learning to stop and jot as we read. Our jots can be comments, questions, connections, predictions, wonders, etc. that we think about while we read. The goal is to pay attention to our thinking - good readers always think when they read. Just look at these focused readers:

Thank you for filling out last week's writing heart homework with your child!  We cut these out and glued them into our writing folders...this gives us many ideas of what to write about! 

Our new Phonics First program is up and running!  We are currently practicing long and short vowel sounds with open/closed syllables.  This activity had us exercising as we identified open or closed syllables!  

Math:  We are working on addition and learning some of our doubles facts. We're also talking about doubles + 1 and doubles + 2.

Outdoor Learning:  We are continuing to learn about seeds. We released our seed bombs that we created a week or so ago.

We went on a hike to find something colorful.  

Then we journaled our colorful piece of nature.  We learned how to use colored pencils to layer the different colors and even create new colors.  

We spent time studying the meadow areas around Sassafras.  We noticed that if we were still and quiet we saw many types of insects fly closely to us.  

We played a "pollen" game with the other class after reading about bees moving pollen all around to help flowers and plants grow in our meadow.  Each kiddo was put into a team and a different color paint was added to their hand.  They performed a relay activity and had to clap hands with the next person in line.  Some of their pollen transferred to the next person and then the next and the next and so on.  This was a fun way for us to see how bees transfer pollen from flower to flower.  

Star Student:  Willa was our Star Student this week. We had fun looking at Willa's pictures and poster and hearing about her life. We learned that Willa loves diving and soccer and wants to be a dentist or a scientist when she grows up. We are thankful for you Willa - you are a special child of God!

Important Dates:  

*Wednesday, September 25:  Chapel at FS

*Wednesday, Septemer 25:  Off-Campus trip to Holland Farmer's Market (9:15-11:00)

*Wednesday, September 25:  Walk-a-Thon (in the afternoon)

*Wednesday, October 9:  Chapel at FS

*Tuesday, October 15:  Off-Campus trip to Jonker's Gardens (8:15-11:15)

*Thursday, October 17:  Parent/Teacher Conferences 

*Monday, October 21:  Parent/Teacher Conferences 

*October 23-25:  No School - CEA Teacher's Convention 

Have a Fantastic Weekend!