Greetings Dear Beaver Families,
Our first semester in our Beaver forest class truly flew by and it is wonderful to see how much the children have grown and strengthened in their relationship to each other and as individuals. The harmony in our classroom and the play dynamics between the children has developed beautifully and we have grown so much together as a class, and we have more growing to do still. The last week was the perfect way to wrap up our first semester. On Monday, the children made watercolor paintings and enjoyed lemon tea together. We had a nature walk to the garden and fed carrots to the eager-to-be-fed animals. The children strung together necklaces with colorful wooden beads, many of them with the intention to give them as gifts. We also rolled dough and used heart and Christmas tree cookie cutters to make cookies! Gifts were shared and there was an abundance of joy and warmth in the air, literally and figuratively!
Beginning next semester, in lieu of a formal Spanish class, our kindergarten classes will offer language and cultural experiences to our students throughout the day through stories, songs, verses, and games. In addition, we are inviting our families to visit our class during the year to share crafts, songs, and stories from their own cultures and backgrounds, or to send us ideas to share with the students. This change allows our kindergarten students to experience different languages and cultures embedded in their daily rhythm; as they rise into the grades program, formal foreign language classes will commence. We recognize this was a special activity for our students on Tuesday mornings, therefore, during that time we will hold a new special activity, Gardening and Nature Observation, for students to participate in at their interest and comfort level. We are all very excited about the upcoming semester and believe this will be beneficial and enjoyable for all of the kindergarten students.
Thank you all for your gifts and for all the contributions you make for our sweet Beaver class and school. I’m truly honored and blessed to have the opportunity to care for your precious children and look forward to spending the Spring semester together.
Happy holidays!
Warmly,
Ki Fatima
