Greetings Doty Families!

We have lots going on here at Doty! Thank you to Miss Julie for spearheading the Pie Breakfast committee. They are off and running for February 3rd at 9. Come one and all, your neighbors are all amazing cooks and it is an event that never disappoints!

Our winter concert is going to be February 19th at 6PM. This is an exciting one as the music is all written by students. I’ve been hearing snippets and those muffins are really talented!

Winter recess is here and the kids are out building snow forts and excavating out our giant plow hills. This is wonderful to watch because kids work together and come up with some amazing plans. It is also a good opportunity for students to learn about accidents. Our rule is that you can add to an existing creation but you cannot take away from it. Sometimes when working with snow, when we are trying to add on, there is a slip or a collapse and the structure gets broken. It’s hard when that happens and it is often hard to remember your own slips or accidents when you are facing a damaged structure. Learning to handle and move through disappointment is an important life skill and recess can be a prime place to learn it.

We are also beginning Winter Wellness. This is less structured than it has been in the past but kids are still getting out and cross country skiing and/or snowshoeing. Teachers try to get their classes out at least once a week. While Winter Wellness might not have direct connections to academic success, it does teach students about perseverance. It’s about learning something that might be new, sticking with it, and seeing yourself get better at it. It is also about patience, maybe you cross country ski a lot at home and your friends do not. How do you be a good friend to your friends who might not have the skills that you have? How do you give someone tips and tricks by explaining what you know? These are what are often called “soft skills” but they are the building blocks of learning the academic facts and skills.

As always, thank you for sharing your students with us!

Gillian

We’ve had a busy Monday in the Health Office. When I visited the classrooms, many students talked about being tired. I’m reminding you that a rested child is a happy child. Also, Mondays are sometimes hard transitions from the weekend.

Everyone is having such fun outside at recess. If any of your children are having trouble finding some outdoor clothing, I have lots of hats and a few pairs of mittens to lend or hand out. And there are some jackets and sweatshirts as well. If they check in with me, I’ll see if we have something their size.

Maureen and I will start teaching a Nutrition unit to each grade in the next month. We will cover proteins, carbohydrates, and fats: their nutrient values and how to read nutrition labels. We will then study nutrients in fruits and vegetables, and we’ll look at some foods to analyze for nutritional quality. At some point, we may be cooking some simple one-pot dishes and see how they taste. I look forward to trying some of these student made creations.

Stay warm and healthy, Nurse Lydia