March has finally arrived. In like a lion, out like a lamb...that must mean winter will be leaving soon! In the Galaxy Room we will turn our focus to Europe this month. We locate Europe on the map and globe, identify coutries and landforms within Europe; discuss the varying cultures and animals within those countries as well as the weather and climate of each area! We will have share day on Friday March 5th, and our letter sound of the week is Jj! Hope you all have a great week!!

Good day mate...

In the Galaxy Room we have been studying the continent of Australia. We have identified the location of Australia and the oceans and seas that surround it. We have located the Great Barrier Reef and the beauty within and discussed the need to take care of our waters here on Earth in order to preserve this natural beauty before it disappears. We have already identified the biomes of Australia, including the tropical and temperate forest areas, the grasslands, the desert, otherwise known as the Outback and The Great Dividing Range of mountains that line the eastern coast of Australia. We have taken a look at the island of Tasmania, which was once attached to the mainland. As we continue our study of Australia, we will continue to learn about the various animals that make their homes in Australia and the culture of the people as well. We will also take a look at the indigenous people, The Aborigines and their way of life. Wow, after this unit, your child will be ready for a trip to the down under to see it all in person.

This week in the Galaxy Room

Hello Galaxy Room families! We have had such an icy fun time studying Antarctica over the past few weeks. We are now moving on to learn about the down under... Australia. During this unit, we are going to study the location, landforms, and history of Australia. We will include a study of modern culture and traditions in Australia, then we will learn about the indigenous people of Australia, their culture and history as well as their current status. We are going to take a closer look at the animals of Australia and those that live within the the Great Barrier Reef too. This will prove to be an exciting unit covering a variety of topics that are sure to draw in the interest of all the children!!

Galaxy Room Update

This week we will continue our study of holiday traditions around the world. We have already covered Hannukkah, Kwanza, The Soltice and now we will turn our attention to St. Lucia's Day, The Posadas, and Christmas. Holiday program is set for Friday, December 18th at 3pm. Hope to see you there.

Here in the Galaxy Room, we are studying holiday traditions from around the world. We would like to encourage all students to realize that various people and cultures from around the world have different holidays and traditions that they celebrate and that we can all love and accept one another despite those differences. We have already covered Kwanza, The Solstice, and are currently discussing the history and traditions of Hannukkah. Next, we will move on to St. Lucia's Day, The Posadas, and Christmas. Our holiday program will be December 18th @ 3pm and you are all welcome to attend and invite friends and families as well.

Here in the Galaxy Room we are studying North America. We have been learning to identify all the continents by name and location and cardinal directions. The students have been learning to create their own compass rose, and reading maps of our school, our classroom, our neighborhood and the landmarks on the North, South, East and West side of each. This helps them in the process of understanding maps, directions and locations. We are also learning the various biomes of North America, and the plants, and animals of each. In the upcoming week we will continue to learn about the history of North America, more specifically, the United States of America. How it originated, the Native people of America and their culture and way of life. We will focus specifically on the Pilgrim voyage and early settlement in America and their relations with the Wampanoag tribe, Squanto and the first Thanksgiving. In afternoon kindergarten, we will also be incorporating more about Early America, the thirteen colonies, Louis and Clark expedition, and Louisiana Purchase. As a class, we are learning traditional songs about America, the history of the songs, and the composers. We will be learning to identify significant states (those of significance to each of us, and of course New York, Washington D.C., Florida, California, The Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, etc.) If there is a state in which friends or relatives live, or that your child remembers visiting on vacation, be sure to let us know so we can make mention of this in our discussions and mark it on our map!!

Hello Galaxy Room Families! This week we are 'blasting off' into our space unit!! We will be studying the solar system and all that it consists of. We will also begin our study of Vincent Van Gogh and Sebastian Bach. We will review the letter sound 'Tt'. Everyone may plan to bring an item from home beginning with the 't' sound and present it to the class on Friday. At home, you could reinforce these things by: taking a moment to look up at the stars, moon, etc. and just open up discussion about space; look up some of Van Gogh's works of art on line; listen to some of Bach's music; create your very own 't' collage from magazines and such; create a letter t on dark paper with glue, then salt on top. If you don't have time for any of these, be sure to talk about these topics in the car and try to find out what they've learned. All students may not open up at first, but keep asking, and eventually they will tell! Remember, if it is important to you, it will be important to them. Also, we've been learning to dance to music with our rhythym sticks. Ask your child to demonstrate rhythym sticks with their 'pretend rhythym sticks' (fingers) and teach you some of the songs!!