the last week and a half and a new restaurant opening!

Hola padres! This last week and a half or so, we are mainly focusing on Hispanic Christmas traditions. We started last week with The Story of The Three Wise Kings as retold and illustrated by Tomie dePaola. I started out by telling the scholars that on January 6th of each year in Spanish speaking countries, the three wise kings visit homes of children who have written them a note, much like Santa visits homes here in the United States on Christmas Eve. The three wise kings usually leave some gifts, just like they did for the baby Jesus. The scholars were excited to learn that often times children will also leave out carrots or oats for the camels the wise men travel on and that camels are very messy eaters, so there is often a mess to clean up in the morning. This was a story that I didn't get to share with them last year as Kindergarteners ( I couldn't decide weather to share it before break or after break since the holiday is on January 6th.) so it was nice to be able to share this tradition with them.

We will continue next week with the legend of the poinsettia and las posadas. I am excited to talk to them about this.

One last point of interest, the new El Pollo Loco is open on McDowell in Goodyear! I am very excited as I've never lived very close to one so I am excited to be able to try all the new menu items as well as just enjoy their grilled chicken. I took my girls last night and some highlights were the fresh salsa bar, the horchata and the free samples of chocolate churros! If you get a chance, give it a try. I'm sure you will enjoy it too!

Have a great rest of the week!
Sra. Hamilton

tamales, rain, concert practices and some introduction to Christmas traditions

Hola padres! Wow; what a week! I have been all over the place teaching all kinds of lessons! With concert practices, the rain and other schedule changes, we have had to modify quite a bit. I have not introduced any new material, but have spent most of the week reviewing or enhancing lessons already taught for both Spanish and PE. Thankfully, the scholars are so flexible and up for whatever I throw at them and always keep things fun and exciting for me. I so enjoy taking this journey with them.

Next week, we will begin our Christmas tradition lessons. I have some great stories that teach the scholars about different Hispanic Christmas traditions such as the legend of the Poinsettia and the story of las posadas. This is a fun time of year as I get to share with them some of the traditions that I have passed onto my children from my childhood. As we reach break, their excitement is starting to build and it is fun to see it in their faces.

One last tidbit for you, tamales are an important part of the Christmas holiday for many Spanish speakers. This year for the first time, I have been able to order some tamales from the Avondale Senior Center where tamales are made every year as a fundraiser. If you would like to share in this tradition with your family, orders are due by tomorrow and can be done online. Pick up is the week of December 15th. For the past couple of years, I have always missed the ordering deadline for some reason, so I am so excited to have finally been able to place my order. In case you are interested, here is the link: https://online.activecommunities.com/AvondalePlay/Start/start.asp
I will hopefully be telling the scholars about this Christmas tradition in the next couple of weeks and would love for them all to be able to try some, but know that that is a pretty big undertaking. So if you can try some homemade ones at home, it would be a great way to supplement what they are learning in class. Have a wonderful rest of your week!

Sra. Hamilton