Posted December 5, 2023
Dear Parents and Families,
Welcome to December! It has been so lovely to be back at school this week. The Reggio training and the National Education For Young Children (NAEYC) conference were inspiring and thought provoking. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow yet we all really missed our school, students, staff, and families while we were gone. We are excited to take our certified staff to the Boulder Journey School on Wednesday, December 6th. Remember, there will be no school for students that day.
ECE classes begin a new unit on Monday focusing on light. On Wednesday, our cohort day, teaching teams enthusiastically brainstormed ways to explore light including kaleidoscopes, prisms, glow in the dark paint, head lamps, flashlights, shadow puppets, bioluminescent organisms, and fort building.
In addition, many people around the world have celebrations that include light at this time of year because it is the darkest time of year. We have chosen 7 holidays to explore that have, among many things, light at the center of them. We want to assure you that we will not be celebrating the different holidays, instead learning about the holiday and how it uses light. Students will learn about the oil lamps used in Diwali, the menorah for Hanukkah, the tree for Christmas, the yule log for Winter Solstice, and the kinara for Kwanzaa. Later in the year, students will revisit light to learn about the Lantern Festival,
which is part of the Chinese New Year, and the lanterns of Ramadan. We created a short list of resources for teachers and it is linked here.
Michelle, one of our awesome three year old teachers, shared an article by NAEYC that reflects the spirit with which we have embarked on this celebrations of light journey. We are striving to share accurate information and yet we know that even within cultures that celebrate the same holidays, the traditions are different. We welcome your additions to our resources as well as your input. We want to know how we can be more inclusive. When we know better, we can do better. If you are looking for ways to enjoy light this weekend, the Parade of Lights is taking place tomorrow, Saturday, at 6 pm. So many lights!
Kindergarten Update!
Our kindergarten Butterflies are busy learning about plants and their life cycle. They are continuing to participate in Social-Emotional Second Step lessons with Mr. Derek twice weekly. They have started going to the library and checking out books, and they are headed to the stock show on a field trip in January. The kindergarten teachers are collaborating with the Cory Elementary first grade teachers, and visited Cory yesterday. Amazing things are happening in kindergarten!
December Dine Out – 12/4 and 12/5 Chook Dine Out – Monday 12/4 AND Tuesday 12/5 – mention SKCEE or enter code “SCHOOLS20” at checkout.
December Shop Out – Friday, 12/8 Wish Gifts will donate 10% of all sales that mention the SKCEE fundraiser on Friday, 12/8. Use code SKCEE2023 at checkout
online. What a great way to do some holiday shopping!
Culture of Wellness Workshop Wednesday, 12/10 2-3pm SKCEE Cafeteria – free! This workshop will be about “Nutrition on a Budget” where we will learn some tips and tricks on shopping on a budget and how to incorporate nutrition into low cost meals. Participants will also get a free bag of ingredients. Adults only. RSVP here!
Holiday Gifts – Teachers and Staff Room Parents will be coordinating holiday gifts for their classrooms this year. Be on the lookout for more information!
No PTA Meeting in December We will resume monthly meetings in January.
Support our Neighbors:
Merrill is actively collecting grocery gift cards for their Families Helping Families Program in order to provide additional food assistance during the winter break. If you would like to help out with this important effort, please drop King Soopers or Safeway grocery gift cards in increments of $25 to the Merrill front office. They are trying to collect at least 100 gift cards and so far, only 19 cards have been donated. Please help them meet their goal and donate gift cards if you are able. Please drop the gift cards off with Staci, and we will get them to Merrill.
December 6: NO SCHOOL for all SKCEE students
December 8: Wish Gifts Shop Out
December 10: Culture of Wellness Workshop 2-3
December 14: CSC meeting
December 15: Holiday Parties
December 16-January 2: Winter Break
January 3: Students Return to SKCEE!