It was fantastic to be back together in the River Otter class after spring break. This week we returned to being in our forest classroom all day, including lunch and rest. We are thankful for warmer temperatures which give us fewer transitions and more time for play!
This week the students loved playing with water in the forest, using it to make creations in the mud kitchen, and even some “mud people”, similar to snowmen but with mud! Other times, the water bucket was hung on a branch to become a washing station where students washed hands and dishes, complete with large soft leaves for towels and a trash can for used towels. Their creativity is amazing to watch. Students continue to play with their stick horses and pine cone families, crush rocks into sand, and invent games to play as a group.
We brought paper and block crayons to base camp this week along with yarn, and students had the opportunity to color, finger knit, or finger chain. They also painted with Ki Fatima on Friday. The students have been enjoying Spanish with Ki Maria and have learned greetings, introductions, and this week learned about families and the words for mother, father, baby, brother, sister, grandmother, and grandfather. In ASL with Ki Emily, our class practiced feelings as well as our hello and goodbye songs. We also got to spend some time playing near the garden and picking greens to feed the donkeys. We got a better look at the goats, who are growing braver and more comfortable with our presence!
This week’s story was a fairy tale from India called Bhambhutia. In this tale, an old woman takes a walking stick and travels through the jungle to visit her daughter. Along the way she encounters a lion, a tiger, and a bear who each want to eat her. She tells each of them if they let her visit her daughter she will get plump and round and make a better meal, so they each let her go with a reminder to come back soon. The old woman visits her daughter for a month with good food and lots to talk about. At the end of her visit, she has indeed grown plump and round, and is worried about traveling through the jungle with the lion, tiger, and bear who all want to eat her. Her daughter convinced her to stay while they think of a plan. Another month passes and the woman grows so round she looks like a bhambhutia, a big clay pot. This gives her an idea. She and her daughter make a bhambhutia and the old woman squeezes inside. Her daughter puts on the lid and rolls the pot down the path toward the old woman’s house. As the bhambhutia passes the lion, tiger, and bear, they ask it if it has seen an old woman. From inside the old woman responds that it doesn’t know an old woman and must go to its village. Ask your child to tell you how the story ends! This fun story was filled with rhyme and repetition which was fun for the students and also helps them remember the story.
Golden Knights
This week the Golden knights enjoyed having class outdoors. We went on nature walks and saw many spring animals, such as a duck family, a tree frog, a rabbit, and caterpillars. On Monday, the students practiced using stick crayons along with block crayons. On Tuesday, we talked about what it means to be a good citizen and walked around the campus cleaning up trash (we didn’t find much, our school is full of good citizens!) On Wednesday and Thursday, we used leaves, flowers, cloth, and hammers to make lovely nature prints. The students did well with the hammers! Our story this week was a tale from the South Pacific called Djulung, about a kind young girl and a magic rainbow fish.
Reminders
We still have some cool mornings and some students were cold at times this week. Please send them every day with a jacket, gloves, and long pants in case they need them.
Toys and trinkets from home should not be brought to school. We don’t want them to get lost or broken and they can be a distraction from our learning.
Students may bring a blanket for rest time if they would like.
Starting this week we will be visiting the creek on Monday and Thursday afternoons. While we will not go in the creek, the sand is wet and they will be able to put their feet in the water so will likely get a bit wet. Please send water shoes with rubber soles or other closed-toed shoes that can get wet, and an extra change of clothing.
Thank you for sharing your children with us, and for being part of our community.
Warm regards,
Ki Holly and Ki Fatima
