Baby It's Cold Outside!

Wow! What a whirlwind of a week we just had! I am hoping you all had a relaxing, safe and fun week home with one another, despite the super cold weather! I was unfortunately home with a sick kiddo on Friday so I was not able to see everyone yesterday...it looks like my son was not the only one sick unfortunately, we had a lot of friends gone yesterday as well. I can't wait to get back to school and see everyone bright and early Monday morning and am hoping everyone is feeling better!

I hope that you were able to get out and play outside when the temps weren't too cold. We decided to bring the outside in and play in the snow in the kitchen this week instead of brave to cold temps outside.

I find this to be a great reminder and with all of the time stuck inside it can be so easy to use technology as a way to pass the time, although definitely not the only way. I would love to see some pictures of what you were able to do with your family (either outside or inside) that did not involve technology and how you helped your brain to grow during your break! Did you read some new books? Play a game with your family? Build a fort? Share a picture or two with me through email and we will share them with the class this coming week!

I do not have much new to share in terms of our learning goals and expectations at this time, however I do have some information that I would like to share about what is coming up!!!

We have been focusing a lot of our time in reading knowledge and in science on the solar system. Mrs. Heystek and I are SO excited to be able to extend our learning on Wednesday with Space Station Day! We can't wait to start our day with moon exploration, constellation stations, and SO much more.....we will even be able to experience how astronauts eat in space!!! We can't wait for all of the extended learning fun to happen and would love to have some parent involvement as well. In order for our Space Station Day to run as smoothly as possible, I am hoping to have 2 or 3 parent volunteers willing to come in and help run a station. We will be rotating through stations all morning. If this sounds like something you are interested in and willing to help with please email me or call me at school ASAP! I will need to make sure that you have a volunteer form on file in order for you to help. I am hoping you can come help from 8:30-11:30am!

Additionally, Valentine's Day is approaching and I am so excited to host our second annual First Grade Valentine's HeART Party! We will be painting valentine art on canvases until our little hearts are content! It is going to be so much fun, and your child will come home with their unique canvas painting to display in your home!

If you are able, please have your child bring $2 to help cover the cost of the canvas, and we will supply the paint and everything else needed! You can send it in at any time. The canvases have already been ordered. Also, please note that we are opting for this fun experience and activity, rather than dishing out a bunch of candy/treats! We know that you will love up on your child and spoil them with treats at home on this special day. Students are welcome to bring valentines for friends, but PLEASE, NO CANDY attached. The Dollar Store has many GREAT alternatives to candy treats! A list has been sent home with all of our friends names on them if you are wanting to personalize each card. Know that you do not need to write everyone's names on if you do not want to - you can simply have your child write their name on each one and they will just give one to each student. We now have 20 students in our class. Please make sure to send in enough valentines so that every child can get one. It is even fun to send one for your own child too so they can put it in their decorated bag as well. we will be decorating bags at school so there is no need to go out and purchase a fancy valentine bag/box and no need to make one from home to send in!

We would like students to have some sort of special treat, though - at snack time. If you are willing to bring in juice boxes and a fun, yet healthy snack, please let Mrs. Quist know so that you can be scheduled for snack on that day.

Due to some shifts within the district, we have made a couple of changes to our specials schedule for the remainder of the year. Starting this week, we will be having Art on Mondays and PE on Tuesdays (it has been the other way around up until not). In addition, we will no longer have Ms. Schaffer as our teacher. Instead, the students will now have Ms. Schroder as their Art teacher for the remainder of the year. Ms. Schroder is excited to meet all of our friends and get started on Monday! If you have questions regarding our specials schedule, click here.

As some of you may know our beloved school counselor, Mrs. Bender is no longer working for CAPS. She will be missed but know that we will be in good hands when our new counselor (Mrs. Brown) joins us soon! The following is a farewell letter that Mrs. Bender wished to share with you:

Farewell to my Forest View Friends!

I wanted to let you know that next week will be my last week as School Counselor at Forest View. It is bittersweet, as I've accepted a position in another district in order to be closer to home and my own children. I've SO loved being your counselor these past 5 years and will dearly miss my students, their parents, and the terrific staff. A new school counselor will be joining soon and I will certainly stay in contact in order to help that transition go as smoothly as possible. I hope to see you all around out and about in the community!

Take Care,

Mrs. Bender

Our weekly spelling tests will be starting up again this coming week. Your list will come home on Monday and the test will be given on Friday. You can also find the spelling list here.

Don't forget to check our homepage for upcoming dates and events and as always, updated pictures of our class!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and get outside to play...it felt like a heat wave today when I went outside and it was 32 degrees! I am hoping that we are able to keep the snow that we received this past week (although the upcoming rain may rock that boat) so that we can get out soon and go snow shoeing! We have been eagerly waiting to have enough snow and are hoping to be able to do that soon!