Osiyo, River Otter families.

What a beautiful, springlike week at The Garden School! I am sure your children came home dusty, tired, and smelling like fresh air and sunshine each day. On Thursday, we started our little garden in the forest. We collected good planting soil and sand from another location in the forest and brought it back to our classroom. We mixed and used this (along with a little potting soil) to fill five planters in a sunny area of our classroom. Next week, we will plant some early growing veggies and flowers, and later this spring we will plant vegetables. The students loved working on the planters and are excited to start planting.

This week we heard a longer fairy tale for the first time this school year. The Magic Lake is an Andean fairy tale about a young girl named Sumac who sets out to find the magic lake at the end of the world to heal the emperor’s son and free her brothers, who were imprisoned by the emperor after trying to trick him to obtain riches. These longer fairy tales take longer to work within the children, as there are so many themes and details, so we will hear this story again through next week. This will also help the children build their stamina for listening for longer periods of time and remembering details of a story.

Announcements and Reminders:

There will be NO SCHOOL this Friday, 3/11
It is getting warmer and students will likely no longer need heavy blankets for rest time. Many of them have enjoyed having the blankets, however, so please feel free to send a light blanket if your child would like one.
Please be sure to send TWO FULL water bottles each day (for full day students, one full water bottle for half day students). As it is getting warmer, students are drinking much more water, and one water bottle does not provide them with enough hydration for the day. One large water bottle may work in place of two regular sized water bottles.
Please remember to check your child’s backpack each day for wet/dirty clothes and other things that should be removed or replaced.

Thank you so much for sharing your children with us, and for being part of our community.

Gyvalieliga,

Ki Holly