Hope you all had a wonderful break! For the staff, we feel that once January hits, we are on a roller coaster heading to the end of the school year! The fall starts the climb to the top of the hill, and January is the first drop! Happy New Year! Here we go!

We had a wonderful visit from the local fire department with a firetruck for the kids to explore and a firefighter to answer all of our questions. This is such an important visit for all involved so that firefighters stay familiar with the address and entrance to our school, and for the kiddos to be comfortable and confident with the local firefighters. 

We hope you have your childcare/babysitters lined up for our “Parents Night Out” at the end of this month. We will be meeting at BIg Block Brewery on East Lake Sammamish Drive on January 31st, at 5 PM.  The staff will all be there and can’t wait to have some fun with the parents!                          

The staff holiday news:

Brook – Brook and Mick headed to Switzerland with kiddos and Bonnie and David. Mick was hired for a fabulous gig and they found a gorgeous place to stay for all 17 of the troupe and families, nestled in the Alps and full of coziness.  

Emily – Em had a quick getaway before Christmas to visit her Grandmother in California, and then returned home to settle in to a cozy Christmas at her home with her pup, Ravioli. 

Cari – Cari had all of her kiddos at home for Christmas, spent a weekend in Moses Lake with her parents and then headed off to Mexico for an all family vacation with her in-laws. 

Brin – Brin’s mum came up from Arizona to spend this magical time at her beautifully and amazingly decorated home. 

Donna – Donna has 3 kids and her hubby has 4, and all 7, with their spouses, were in town for the week and spent many meals, game nights and evenings singing around the piano together. 

Cara – Cara’s boys and their partners joined her for a fabulous Christmas at home, around the tree, and around the game table. 

Ladybugs

Wow! So fun to see the Bugs enter the classroom after a two week break! They entered with confidence, saying their goodbyes at the door and the waving window and got down to the business of playing. We had Freya and Brin covering for Cari on Tuesday as Cari had to say goodbye to a beloved family pet, and the kids didn’t skip a beat. The teachers actually had to encourage the kids to take their parents to the waving window, as they were too excited to join in at the play dough table and ladybug handprint art in the backroom. 

We are so happy to be back with these kiddos. 

Oh! How fun to have the Eastside Fire and Rescue Truck and team visit with us on Thursday! We absolutely loved having the firefighter show us what he looked like before and after he put all of his outfit on. Still the same person! And then to get a chance to sit in the driver’s seat and to wear our firefighter hats…What a wonderful day! Thank you to so many parents joining us in the movement room and the playground. 

Crickets

Every Cricket was present for our first day back in 2026 on Monday. We started reading different versions of “The Gingerbread Man”, we are beginning to do daily name writing practice, reviewing the alphabet from A-M, and working on our January calendars. Freya was with us all week, as Brook will not return from Europe until this weekend.

We have had fun acting out the Gingerbread Man story, and writing our own stamper books based on the different versions that we have been reading. On Wednesday, our firetruck never showed up, but, boy! You parents sure did! We loved having you for an impromptu sing-a-long and story reading. We also loved having the extra tire-swing pushers on the playground! 

We noticed that all our Crickets, and all our staff, were eager for snacktime more so than usual, and we realized it was because we have all been freely grazing whenever we entered our home kitchens throughout the break! We hope our tummies get back on schedule soon! :0)

How fun to have the firetruck come and visit us with their crew this morning! We loved watching the Lieutenant gear up and dress up and talk through his mask and then Mo took us out to the truck to check all the equipment and sit in the driver’s seat! It was fun to gather the kiddos for a group picture with their helmets on and give three ‘hip hip hoorays’ to the crew!

Honeybees

How fun to see the growth that took place over the winter break! These Bees came back, excited to see their classmates and played together so nicely. Some kiddos arrived on Monday, feeling a little shy and wanted some quiet ‘easing in’ space, and the teachers were thrilled with their ability to ask for that, and for the classmates’ understanding and granting of space. 

It was fun to hear about all the excitement that they experienced over the break for their weekly news, and to listen to their recollection of watching the ball drop and yelling “Happy New Year” with their families. Everyone was present this week, except for Brook and Coco, who are returning this weekend. Freya enjoyed spending the week with the Crickets and Bees.

We worked on our January calendars, worked on writing our own stories, reviewed the words that we can read, and did some daily name writing practice. For those that are comfortable writing their own names, we started working on lower case letters and last names. 

Wells was the first Honeybee to do his Family report, and was so excited to be first! We love how Wells uses such a big guy voice for his presentation.  For this round of reports, we are helping the presenters to remember to look at the audience when they are giving their information, and we are helping the audience use more “Why?” questions, instead of “How?” questions, guiding them to really listen to the information given, and ask for more information, instead of “How did you cut that picture out?”, or “How did you glue that paper on?” etc. Sana did an amazing job of looking at the audience for her entire report. 

Overall, a great week of reviewing what we have learned and lots of new learning! Have a great weekend!