Where has the past month gone?

I know I'm slacking on the blogfront when my background goes straight from autumn leaves to Valentine's Day!

 Bode, below, is a sweet and fun 4 year old who will be joining us for just the pre-school time 2 days per week.

 The kids were shocked when I gave them real tools to try out. They did great with them though!

Despite the lack of posts, we have in fact, been learning and growing right through Christmas and into the new year! We just finished learning all about tools and machines and the letter "L".
Now we are gearing up for our peguin unit and we continue to work on mastering writing our names. Not only do we practice with pencils and paper, but we focus on many fun activities and games that strengthen our finger muscles and ready our hands for writing. A favorite is flicking little balls of paper and opening and closing clothes pins. The simplest of things are so effective!