Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, blessed Christmas!! I am very thankful for the true meaning of Christmas, God's gift of His only Son, Jesus. I am also extremely thankful for my precious, talented students, and for you, their parents, for your support and for allowing me to play a part in their lives.

I would like to wish all of my students and their families a Happy New Year! As 2009 approaches, I am beginning to make plans for the upcoming year in our classroom. I have lots of creative, exciting (and yes, also educational) ideas to try out at TARGET this spring with my third and fourth graders!

I will be sending home a survey about the usefulness of our class blog with all students the first and second weeks back in school. Parents, I greatly value your input in making your child's experience at TARGET as valuable as possible! Please feel free to contact me in any of the following ways - commenting on this blog, email, by phone, or in person.

Kids Making a Difference At Home and Around the World

Before Christmas, during our "Countries Fair," 3rd grade students learned about several ways they can make a difference at home and around the world. As promised (although a couple of weeks late), here are links to some of the websites I mentioned in class and on the flier students took home:

www.compassion.org - Sponsor a needy child in a foreign country for just $32 a month through this reputable Christian organization.

www.hannahssocks.org/ - An 8-year old girl started this organization (with help from her parents) to provide homeless people with warm socks.

www.pointhope.org - Radio host Delilah's nonprofit organization created to help starving children and adults in Buduburam, a community of Liberian refugees. Services include providing clean water, food, and education.

www.soles4souls.org/ - Donate used shoes to help kids around the world.

www.motherbearproject.org/ - Knit a bear for a child born with the HIV virus.

www.letssaythanks.com/ - Sponsored by Xerox, this site allows people to write and send a free card to a soldier.

If you know of additional ways my students might enjoy helping others, please post a comment! Thank you! :)