Greetings Forestgarten Families!
This week was different from most, as we spent more time inside than we are used to due to the rain and low temperatures. Although we missed our forest mornings, we enjoyed a few cozy mornings inside. On Monday, we savored a warm oatmeal snack sweetened with sunbutter and garnished with sunflower seeds. Friday morning, we chopped vegetables and made a simple veggie soup for snack. The children dressed up with silks, built elaborate towers with wooden blocks and peg dolls, and engaged in endless imaginative play scenarios in our classroom.
We celebrated Levi’s and Lucas’s birthdays this week. Levi made his fifth trip around the sun, while Lucas took his sixth trip around sun. Happy birthday Levi and Lucas! Thank you to both families for providing sweet treats!
We would also like to thank Ki Melissa’s class for teaching us about St. Lucia Day. St. Lucia wore a crown of candles and explored dark places, delivering food to people who were hungry. We enjoyed a musical performance followed by ginger bread cookies. Thank you second grade!
Our story this week was called The Mitten. Nikki lived in a cottage in the mountains with his grandmother. One day, while warming their hands by the fire and looking outside at the beautiful snow, Nikki asked his grandmother if she would make him mittens as white as the shimmering snow. Although she felt certain he would lose mittens that blended in with the snow, he insisted, and she agreed. While playing, Nikki took his mittens off and placed them in his pocket while he climbed a tree. What do you suppose happened? One of those mittens fell onto the snow and Nikki, unnoticing, kept playing. Soon after, a little mole saw the mitten and decided to burrow inside to keep warm. Several friends followed, all finding warmth in the snuggly mitten. How does this story end? What happens to the mitten? Does Nikki find it after all, or is it lost for good? Ask your Forestgartener to finish this humorous tale for you. We hope you will laugh just as the children did!
We are looking forward to a fun filled week ahead as everyone prepares for Winter Break. We would like to encourage the children to practice putting on and taking off their winter gear at home so that they can do this independently at school. We understand that layers can be hard to work with but if each child is able to zipper their coats and handle their rain suits, snow pants and boots on their own, we will be able to minimize our transition time and maximize our play time.
Also, please remember to send your child’s rest mat to school each Monday and pick it up from the picnic tables to take home and wash every Friday.
With gratitude and appreciation,
Ki Fatima
Ki Holly
Ki Amy
