Greetings Turtle Families,
Last week we experienced our first really cold weather this school year, starting on Tuesday. All those layers you dressed your children in did their job. Thank you to the families that donated gloves to our class, it is nice to have extras on hand to lend out when needed! To help with the cold, we made our first fire of the season. The children gathered firewood from the forest floor. We had lots of things to consider when bringing the firewood to our stacks. Each piece of wood had to be evaluated to see if it was ready to be burned. As we made stacks of sticks, the children had to decide if the diameter of each stick was small, medium or large and then sort it into the appropriate stack. The children also had to consider the length. If a stick was determined to be too long, it was broken so it would fit into our firepit. We will continue to collect wood throughout the fall and winter. Several students also helped prepare the area around our firepit, raking all the leaves out of the area and creating a border to serve as a boundary, so we can all stay safe. As a class, we took our wheelbarrow and shovels to another area of our campus to fill with some gravel. We wheeled the heavy load back to our classroom, spread the gravel inside the fire pit boundary, and placed the firepit on top. It was purposeful work that the class will benefit from on cold mornings!
We visited the farm on Wednesday and Thursday and held and petted the chickens while we were there. The children are all so gentle with our farm animals. As a class, they are all so kind to each other, so it is not surprising that they are equally kind to the animals. It is still lovely to observe this and pass it on to all of you.
Our story was about an enormous turnip! The turnip was so big that it took a farmer, his wife, their donkey, goat and dog, as well as a passing field mouse, all working together to pull it from the ground. The students all listened intently to the story all week and watched the puppet show Friday with delight. They enjoyed playing with the puppet show turnip, people and animals afterward.
I am including the lyrics to another song from our circle in this message. Several parents let me know they enjoyed having the rhyme last week. This song is a favorite!
Grey squirrel, grey squirrel,
Swish your bushy tail.
Grey squirrel, grey squirrel,
Swish your bushy tail.
Wrinkle up your little nose;
Hold an acorn with your toes,
Grey squirrel, grey squirrel,
Swish your bushy tail.
…climb up the tallest tree,
Let your tail blow in the breeze...
…hide your nuts both near and far
But don’t forget just where they are…
…in the winter you will need
To find those nuts so you can feed…
Reminders:
Tomorrow, October 26th , directly after drop off, we will be making our lanterns for the Lantern walk. If you are able to join us we would love to have your help.
Kingdom of Halloween will be on Saturday, 10/29, from 4:30-8:30. If you are able, please sign up for a volunteer spot if you have not already.
Tuesday, 11/1 will be a late start, as we know many students will benefit from sleeping in a bit after Halloween. Drop off will be from 9:40-9:55.
Thank you all for sharing your children with us!
Grace and Peace,
Ki Kim
