Hello families, 

Well we are in the last week of school before the holidays! Everyone is getting excited and there are many things happening around the school this week. Be sure to check into your class dojo and your teacher weekly emails for details on what your child will be doing this week.  

Some highlights from last week include:

• Winter concert – A large part of the week was spent getting ready for the winter concert.  Huge thanks to everyone who came out! It was a full house and the students put on a great show!
• Guessing Jar Contest – Mrs. Bonikowsky’s class ran a successful guessing jar contest. 
• Cards for Seniors – Many of our classes created special cards that will be distributed to our local seniors
• Art- So much holiday art is abounding throughout the school. Come in and have a look at the great pieces students have been working on. 
• Holiday traditions – There has been some great learning happening about the different types of holiday traditions around the world at this time of year. 

Coming up this week….

• Santa’s Workshop – Thanks to everyone who has already donated! Students will be able to do their holiday shopping at the Santa’s Workshop. For a suggested $5 donation, students can purchase 5 gifts. They will be sent home wrapped and ready for under the tree. 
• Cottonwood Lake – Our Gr. ¾ students will be heading to Cottonwood Lake for an outdoor holiday adventure this week.
• Secret Santas – Several classes are exchanging gifts with one another. Students get to choose the name of a classmate and choose a special gift for them. 
• Reader’s Theatre – Mrs. Bonikowsky’s class will be performing their holiday readers’ theatre.
• Baking – many classes are doing holiday baking and are doing gingerbread houses/cookies, sugar cookies, rice krispies, etc.. A few of our classes will even be heading to Trafalgar to join our Trafalgar big buddies for the event. 

A few reminders for you:

1. Upcoming PAC meeting – Come join us for our year-end South Nelson PAC dinner meeting at Marzano. Tuesday December 17th at 6:30pm. All SNES parents/caregivers are welcome. 

Some upcoming dates (you can also find these posted on our calendar: https://southnelson.sd8.bc.ca/events/calendar)

1. Dec. 17 – Santa’s Workshop
2. Dec. 20 – Last day of school
3. Dec. 23-Jan 3 – Winter Break
4. Jan. 6 – First day back to school

Finally, some family learning! 

As we head into the holidays, routines will start to get disrupted, there will be more late nights and sugary treats. This makes for a lot of fun, but also creates an environment where children can get dys-regulated and have a difficult time controlling their emotions and actions.

I have included here a collection of self-regulation information for you, and activities you can do with your children to help them talk about their emotions, and practice calming themselves for the holidays. I hope they are helpful! 

1. Helping Kids Self-regulate during the holidays - https://growingupconfident.com/helping-kids-self-regulate-during-the-holidays/ 

2. 7 Outdoor Activities for Kids to Support Self Regulation: https://growingupconfident.com/helping-kids-self-regulate-during-the-holidays/

Here are some resources to help you support the learning at home this week and for the holidays:

3. Zones of Regulation Holiday Emotions Sorting activity (Teachers Pay Teachers) https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Zones-of-Regulation-Holiday-Emotions-Sorting-Activity-10617599?st=93110ca96ff4e3d1abc3fc983197dad3 

4. Holiday “Colour my Feelings” Colouring pages (Teachers Pay Teachers): https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Holiday-Color-My-Feelings-Coloring-Pages-2901355?st=93110ca96ff4e3d1abc3fc983197dad3 

5. Regulation Snowman Activity (Teachers Pay Teachers) https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Regulation-Snowman-Activity-4259792?st=93110ca96ff4e3d1abc3fc983197dad3 

That’s it for now. 

Have a great week!

Mrs. Snell