Farms??? In January? Why not!!!??

Well, I have a new "first" in teaching Early Childhood... 

Today while the children helped me take down the holiday things in the classroom, I asked them what we should learn about in January when they come back.  I gave them a few ideas (winter, snowmen, etc) that I usually teach in January.  Well...  one of my little friends said "Farms.  Because I am a farmer.  And that would be good."  The friends he was playing with all chimed in...  "Yea!  Let's do farms."  Then went on to tell me about farms and tractors for the next few minutes.  So I guess we are going to learn about farms in January :}  I am really excited!  I think it will be a nice change. 

We will really be working on rhyming next month.  Please help your child recognize rhyming words and play games/read rhymes to them to help them to hear the similarities in rhyming words.  There are even children's games online that you can have them play for a burst of novelty.  Research tells us that children that are able to rhyme in their early years are much more likely to be good readers at age 8.  This is a really hard concept for some children to learn so the additional help and support from you would be great!!!