February 12, 2026

Dear Parents,

Happy Thursday! Here we are again. It is once again feeling like I just did this. How about the warm temps this week!! I told the kids this is very unusual and to not get out Spring clothes because Winter is not over yet. As much as we may want it to be I am sure we are not done. We have definitely enjoyed being outside and it being dry too.

Language Arts

We finished up our story on Perseus and Medusa today. They took the spelling Post test and end of story test. The results will be in next week's folder. Tomorrow we will begin the last story in Unit 4. It is about St. Augustine. This is the oldest European settlement in the United States. So I guess they are getting a Social Studies lesson in Language Arts. Tomorrow is Spelling pretest day, looking at the skills we will learn, and working on the vocabulary words.

Math

We have finished Topic 4, we have also covered Perimeter and Area. Now, we move on to Topic 5 which is over division. We began out first lesson today. This is always an easy lesson. This is the first time I have been able to get into division before ISASP testing. Yay, for this class. I hope this puts us into Fractions earlier also.

Social Studies

We just finished the last lesson in this chapter today. Next week we will work on a Study guide and take a test. The Test will be on Friday. This will finish up our time in the Southeast. We then move into the Midwest. They are excited about this because that is where we live. I admit it is fun to learn about where we live.

Valentine's Day

Tomorrow we will celebrate Valentine's Day. The students may bring their Valentine's and keep them in their bag until it is time for the party. We will have a snack and drinks while we pass out Valentine's and then we are going to play a round of BUNCO. We played a little on Wednesday to get the idea of how the game is played. They think it is fun.

Lent

We begin our season of Lent next Wednesday with Ash Wednesday. All students will receive Ashes on the forehead to be worn throughout the day. This is a day of fasting for Catholics so no snacking. You are to only eat the 3 meals of the day. The students will talk about "giving something up" in Religion. They also instead of giving something up may "do something". Like I usually say the rosary everyday. It is amazing how hard it is to find the time to pray the rosary daily. You can also say you are going to exercise every day. I look forward to seeing what the kids do. I told them I should give up coffee but they are worried it will affect them! I may be grouchy! haha We will start Lenten activities with our Angels that day also.

We also ask that those who bring a sack lunch need to have a meatless sack lunch on Ash Wednesday and every Friday during Lent.

Fat Tuesday

On Fat Tuesday, which is next Tuesday, the 4th graders will be making donuts for the entire school. It is a tradition that I have done for more than 20 years. We begin Lent the next day where we begin Fasting and so we celebrate by having a sweet treat on Tuesday. I fry them in an electric skillet, the kids will coat them in sugar and deliver them to all the classrooms in the building. It takes us most of the morning. I end up making over 200 donuts!

I hope everyone enjoys their Valentine Weekend. I will be working the bookstore from 10 - 2 on Saturday. Pop in and see me! I also get to have my Granddaughter overnight on Saturday night. I am looking forward to this! I will always take Grandma time. Maddyn is so busy walking around and talking and always learning. This age is super fun.

God Bless,

Mrs. Sickels