Washington Family Connection
January 2026
Take a peek at our learning adventures!
Counselor News
Preschool students learned from the Al’s Pals Curriculum about feelings. They practiced identifying feelings, recognizing when they’re having a certain feeling, and discussing what they can do to calm down strong feelings.
Our kindergarten and first grade students practiced recognizing clues in their own bodies that tell what feeling(s) they are having and ways to calm their strong feelings. They especially practiced the calm down steps and belly breathing. The Students have papers called home links that are sent home occasionally from their lessons, which explain more of what the students are learning in class.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at (641) 472-2110 or Kelsie.roland@fairfieldsfuture.org.
Reading Corner
12 Ways to Foster a Love of Reading with Your Child (Aguilar, 2016)
Think and talk about books you have read or are currently reading with your child. This helps them see how exciting and meaningful books can be.
Listen to audiobooks together. With thousands of books available, listening in the car or at home creates opportunities for rich conversations about stories and ideas.
Explain the “why” behind reading. Children need to understand why learning to read is important and worth the effort.
Celebrate the wonder of words. Turn new vocabulary into a game by discussing unfamiliar words your child hears during the day and using them in sentences.
Provide a variety of texts. Offer nonfiction as well as fiction, including poetry and nursery rhymes, which support oral language development and make learning fun.
Read, read, read! Re-reading the same book multiple times helps build confidence, fluency, and comprehension.
Ask for your child’s opinion. Talk about whether they liked a book and why or why not. These discussions strengthen oral language and sentence structure.
Read graphic novels together. These help children visualize stories and create mental “movies” as they read.
Stop and talk while reading. Discuss the beginning, middle, and end of stories. For nonfiction texts, talk about how information is grouped or organized.
Teach the rules of English. Learn spelling patterns and language rules together to better understand our complex language.
Model being a reader. Read in front of your children and talk about why you enjoy reading.
Visit the library. Libraries provide free books, resources, and welcoming spaces that encourage reading.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at (641) 472-2110 or rebecca.thompson@fairfieldsfuture.org
Preschool
Welcome back! We hope you had a happy holiday! In December preschool students learned about bread and enjoyed many different science and cooking experiences related to that topic. When we return we plan on exploring weather, starting out by learning about winter and all things related to the cold, snowy season.
Our first week back we will spend time reviewing all of the letters we have learned so far (Ll, Ff, Ee, Hh, Tt, Ii, Uu, Cc, Oo, Qq, Gg). Then we will continue on with learning letters Ss, Jj, and Dd. In math, preschool students have worked very hard identifying numerals 0-5 and rote counting 1-10; we will continue to work on these skills while also introducing numerals 6-10 and rote counting 1-20. So far this school year we have introduced colors, shapes, sorting and patterns.
Going forward, we will learn about positional words and comparing numbers up to 10. It looks like our first week back to school is going to be nice, so please be sure to send your student with their hat, coat, and gloves so we can go outside to enjoy the fresh air! To encourage independence, have your student continue to practice putting on their own coat and zipping it up.
Thank you so much for all you do for your kiddos! We look forward to seeing them soon!
Kindergarten
Hello families,
We hope you had a happy holiday season!! We are excited to start the new year and look forward to all the growth and exciting moments ahead in our classrooms. FAST testing for reading and math will begin around January 15th. For reading, students will be assessed on letter sound fluency, onset sounds, segmenting words and reading non-sense words. In math, students will focus on number identification, decomposing numbers, and sequencing numbers to 31.
We are approaching 100 days of school and will spend time that day celebrating. Valentine’s Day information will be passed on by each teacher at a later date.
Please remember to send your child dressed appropriately for the weather and label all personal items. It can be difficult to identify snow gear when items look alike and do not have names on them. This will help us return everything to the correct child. T
The Kindergarten Team is so thankful for all your support and contributions to our classrooms. We could not do it without such great parents behind us!
1st Grade
Happy New Year 1st grade families! We are thrilled to start off the year with lots of fun learning in each classroom. In CKLA Knowledge, we are starting to learn about Early American Civilization. In this unit we will talk about The Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs and how they farmed, how their cities were built, who their leaders were, and their religions and beliefs. In CKLA Skills, your child will be learning about vowel teams such as /oi/ /aw/, /ou/, and /oo/. We are also reading stories for comprehension and learning all about Martin Luther King Jr! In Math, we are still working on story problems, learning “how many more” means, and how you find the missing addend.
Starting January 12th 1st grade will begin FAST testing. They will be assessed on word segmenting, nonsense words, sight words, and passage reading. In Math they will be assessed on decomposing, place value, and number sequence.
We are approaching 100 days of school and will spend time that day celebrating. Valentine’s Day information will be passed on by each teacher at a later date.
Please remember to send your child dressed appropriately for the weather and label all personal items. It can be difficult to identify snow gear when items look alike and do not have names on them. This will help us return everything to the correct child.
Winter Attire-Student Handbook
Below 32 degrees, students must have a winter coat to go outside. If it’s below real feel 10 degrees all students will stay inside. Students must have snow boots, snow pants, and gloves or mittens to go off hard surfaces. If students just have snow boots they can play on hard surfaces only. Students must stay near the wall if they do not have snow boots or another pair of shoes to change into. There will be no throwing snow or sliding on the ice.
