Greetings, Dear Honeybees Families,
We hope you enjoyed the break and were able to experience the lovely autumn breezes together. It is good to see the children all together again and to witness the seasonal changes in our forest space. As we enter into this new season, we are beginning a new autumnal morning circle. We will be learning new songs and movements that mirror the movements and sounds of the season.
The last Monday before our break was full of sweet surprises as we entered our forest classroom. During the previous Community Workday, parents helped hang up our hammock, built a beautifully crafted shelf in the mud kitchen, and our sandbox was moved into our forest space. The children eagerly helped fill it up with sand and it has become one of their favorite places to play and build together. Thank you to our Community Workday families for all that you do for our class and children.
We had a very busy week, with the theme of Courage living in our days, preparing us for the day of Courage on Friday. Each day, the children listened to a story about George, Princess Cleolinda, and the Dragon. It is a story about courage, compassion, and helping one another even when we feel afraid. Over the course of the week, the children crafted shooting stars, as there are shooting stars in our story that help guide their way. We also dyed capes with the goldenrod that was harvested by our families (thank you!). This was a wonderful sensory activity that also allowed the children to see the process of things, which is so important for them at this age. By pulling the flowers, dipping the white fabric into the yellow dye and watching it change color, the students were able to experience how it feels, looks, and smells and watch the transformation take place before them. In our pedagogy, it is said that the children’s will is bound up with their metabolic system, so they need to see processes. Things that are already prepared don’t have the same effect. On Friday, the children were each asked, as George and Cleolinda were asked in our story, “Are you brave and true?”, “Are you kind and thoughtful?” to which each child resolutely responded, “Yes!” and were cloaked and handed their shooting star, which they joyously waved about as we walked up together from our forest.
Announcements & Reminders:
If you have not yet signed up for conferences, please do so here. It will be lovely to meet with each of you.
On chilly mornings, your child needs to come to school wearing a sweater or warm jacket. We understand some children may be reluctant to wear extra layers, but as we are an outdoor forest school, it is expected that the children are properly dressed when they come to school. Please also include long pants in your child’s backpack if they wear shorts to school.
As the weather will be getting chillier, we would like to make rest time a bit more cozy for our students. Please pack a small pillow your child can use during rest time. We will keep it at school.
Upcoming Events:
10/11 - 10/12 Sixth grade caving field trip
10/12 Half Day - Parent Conferences
10/13 No School - Parent Conferences
10/14 Community Work Day 10 am - 1 pm *Please note date change
10/21 Kingdom of Halloween
11/1 NO SCHOOL - Teacher in-service
As always, thank you for all that you do and for sharing your precious children with us.
Peace and Light,
Ki Fatima
