I hope everyone had a good long weekend. Judging by how it looks outside of our classroom window, winter is only about 5 or 10 minutes away. Note home: Book orders, the last for 2010, went home tonight and are due next Wednesday, Dec. 1st. I can't make guarantees, however the turnaround time from ordering to delivery is usually 3-4 days, so getting things in time for Christmas should not be a problem. We are going to start practicing for our Winter Celebration song over the next few days. You should hear your child singing away to themselves soon. Today we started a new unit on Addition and Subtraction in Math. We will focus on mental math strategies for awhile, then move on to more difficult calculations. I don't have a website for you, but giving simple addition problems to do without paper or a calculator is a good thing to do. Here is a website I posted last week that should have some ideas for extra practice. http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmm/ Speaking of websites, I have made a new friend in the past week or so. His name is Howard B. Wigglebottom. I introduced him to the class today. The book I purchased is called Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen. Howard has some other books that centre around self-esteem and self-acceptance. There are animated versions of some of Howard's books, as well as funky songs to sing. There are also some games and puzzles good for the younger set. Take a peek, its a great site. http://www.wedolisten.com/ We are getting closer and closer to finishing our first narratives. Tomorrow we will talk about what to look for when editing. We finished off the first round of Reader's Theatre presentations today. Ask how your child did. Have a good night.