Greetings Turtle Families,
And just like that..the Fall semester has come to a close! The Turtles have developed such a special bond with one another and I with each one of them. I am so thankful to be a part of their educational journey and I am so excited to spend the Spring semester with them as they continue to grow and blossom. :)
This past week was full of winter excitement. We had fun molding our salt dough between our hands, flattening it onto a cookie sheet and cutting it into shapes with cookie cutters. We found a small stick in the forest to poke a hole in each ornament before allowing them to dry. Our woodworking was expanded a bit as the children graduated from hammering into the ground to carefully hammering into a large log and a stump. A few weeks ago we planted kale, red lettuce, and okra into some pots in the forest. We were delighted to observe that the seeds have sprouted and we hope that the plants flourish enough to send some leafy greens home with everyone!
We celebrated Grace’s half birthday this week as well. For students whose birthdays fall over the summer months, we honor their half birthday during the school year. We were happy to celebrate six and a half trips around the sun for Grace and to learn fun and endearing memories from each year of her life thus far.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you so very much for the mud kitchen and overflowing basket of gifts. I am overwhelmed and filled with gratitude for your generosity and kind words. Our woodland school is truly a magical place and the sense of community in our class is so strong and warms my heart!
Announcement:
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 that this was a special activity for our students on Wednesday mornings, therefore, during that time we will hold new special activities, such as Gardening and Nature Walks. We are all very excited about the upcoming semester and believe this will be beneficial and enjoyable for all of the kindergarten students.
Happy Holidays!
Ki Amy
