Dear Parents/Guardians, 

     The holiday season is here and with this time of year comes many festive and busy days, both at school and at home. It is a good time to remember to maintain those study habits and sleep schedules that have been established thus far. During this time of year, children can show signs of fatigue and crankiness more easily, and maintaining a normal routine will help to keep children content and smiling. Thank you and happy holidays!

           Here are some important dates to note on your calendar:

Monday, 12/8: 1/2 Day, Early Dismissal

Week of 12/15: Spirit Week at Naquag
Mon.-Flannel Fun, Tues.-Dress in White, Wed.-Fancy & Festive, Thurs.-Pajama Day, Fri.-Holiday Sweater

Thursday 12/18 - Holiday Concert!
Afternoon performance at 1:45 PM

December Vacation: Wednesday 12/24 -  Friday 1/2

See you back at school on Monday, January 5, 2026!

Happy Birthday this month to: Willow 12/3, Jon 12/18, and Jubilee 12/24!

Nitty Gritty Reminders

    Just a friendly reminder, to dress your child for outdoor weather/play with a winter jacket, hat, mittens, and boots if needed. We will take the children outside as often as possible, weather permitting, as the playground can be a cold and windy place during the winter months. Also, on those snowy boot days, please remember to send your child to school with a pair of shoes to wear and extra socks! Keeping boots on all day is hot and unhealthy as well as clumsy and dangerous on stairs.

Curriculum Corner

Into Reading

At the start of the month, we will be finishing up Module 4: Better Together. In this module, children are learning why it is important to do their best and get along with others. We are reading books about people and characters who practice hard and learn to play fair because we are better together when we are kind to one another. After, we will then begin Module 5: Now You See It, Now You Don’t.

In Module 5, children will learn about light and dark, and the many sources of light that have an impact on daily life. We will read books about Earth’s rotation around the sun and learn about day and night and the seasons. 

Writer’s Workshop

This month our students are wrapping up their procedural text about how to make a new friend using time order words (first, next, then, and last). Next, students will begin writing an imaginative folktale about how something in nature came to be.

Eureka Math²

In module 3, students use the unit of ten to make easier problems by decomposing addends and grouping them in any order. They intuitively apply the associative and commutative properties and then learn how they can use strategies such as counting on, making ten, taking from ten, subtracting to get to a ten, and relating operations to break down larger addition and subtraction problems.

Social Studies

    For the month of December, our class will learn and share about various holiday customs and cultural traditions. I would like to welcome any parent to our class who would like to share their family’s cultural traditions by reading a story, sharing a cultural ornament, pictures, or special family decoration with the children. Please contact me as soon as possible to arrange a date and time to come in or connect virtually. An appreciation of different cultures is an important lesson for all of us in learning how to understand one another.

Science

    This month’s science focus is how animals learn to adapt during the cold and long winter months: migration, hibernation, or staying active
(adapting). We will discuss adaptations and growth patterns as well as the changes living things go through as the seasons change.

     Have a festive & healthy holiday season and a Happy New Year! 🎉

                                        Best,

    Corey Macaruso