Dear families,

Though we are always excited to discover new authors and the latest, greatest, children's book, there is something satisfying about returning to a classic children's story or fairy tale. The traditional structure and stock characters provide us with many opportunities for reenactment and the simple, straightforward plots allow us to explore complex themes within a familiar context.

During the next two weeks we will tackle the age old question: straw, sticks, or bricks? as we delve into the world of The Three Little Pigs.  Every child will get their own copy of the book which they will illustrate and take home.  We will read the story on the page and later ask students to reenact the entire plot.  The repetition and interactive 'call back' elements of this story help develop recall and vocabulary skills while reinforcing key math concepts.

Our vocabulary lessons focus on rhyming words like huff/puff, bricks/sticks, light/bright, and weak/peak.  This leads to a conversation about the tricky concept of a homonym (a group of words that share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings) when we discuss the difference between building a house out of 'straw' and drinking a glass of milk out of a 'straw.' 

Our math and science units consist of reviewing the cardinal number system (first, second, third) and the concept of light vs. heavy and strong vs. weak.  Students will be asked to guess which material is strongest before attempting to blow over the 'houses' they have built out of straw (raffia), sticks (pretzel sticks), and bricks (blocks).  We will also use drinking straws and pipe cleaners of various lengths to build geometric shapes like squares, circles, and triangles.

In anticipation of our class reenactment of The Three Little Pigs, we will discuss the many different types of houses in the world: tree house, boathouse, igloo, teepee, trailer, apartment, mansion, etc, before building our house out of blocks, mats, scarves, and parachutes in the classroom,

But what is The Three Little Pigs without any pigs?  We will identify the unique physical characteristics of a pig (snout, ears, hooves, tail), and make our own pig snouts to get into character for our reenactment of the story.  We encourage everyone to practice their wolf and pig impressions as we build towards the climactic utterances of the famous lines: "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in" and "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!"

As a reminder, classes will not be in session during the New York Kids Club spring break (March 21st - April 3^rd), but we hope to see you at our exciting spring camp running Monday through Friday of both weeks.  If you have any questions regarding scheduling or registration, speak with your location manager or visit our website, nykidsclub.com. 

 
Warm Regards,