Greetings, Dear Honeybee Families,
The children worked happily in the forest classroom last week. Some of the children came together and took down a structure made in the previous year and, using some of the same materials, rebuilt a very sturdy fort adjacent to the last one. The students created rooms and used a brush to sweep the ground on the inside. The students placed a strong stick they could sit and stand on between the branches of a tree, which serves as the “lookout.” Nearby, we also discovered our sycamore tree shed much of its bark, which made for perfect drawing canvases. The children used chalk to draw and create maps on the bark. Leaves and various nature items were used to decorate canvas craft bags, which students will use to store their handwork projects. They carefully placed their nature collection onto their personal bag and were delighted to see the effect it created after we sprayed paint over it.
We were also visited by many special creatures this past week. Various caterpillars were spotted in our forest space, even making their way onto our platform. The children were wonderful stewards and made sure the creatures were carefully moved to a safe area. They used a leaf to move a caterpillar to a tree and watched it crawl all the way up until it could no longer be seen. During lunch, we also heard the hooting of an owl, a new bird call we hadn’t heard in the forest before. The most exciting event occurred right before going home: a hummingbird hovered on our platform. We also celebrated our dear Silas’s birthday this past week. Happy Birthday, dear Silas.
This week we look forward to beginning more handwork activities. Now that the children have finished making their craft bags, they have a place to store their handwork projects! We will introduce finger knitting and stringing wooden beads to make necklaces. These activities require focus and help the children develop their fine motor skills, as well as give them a sense of joy and confidence as they see what they are able to create with their own precious hands. We also plan to introduce bean bag games, which will help the children strengthen their hand-eye coordination and gain practice at crossing the midline, which strengthens the neural connection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Plus, it’s a lot of fun!
Upcoming Events:
9/5 Joyful Beginnings and Kindergarten Curriculum Night 6 pm (adults only)
9/6 Grades 1- 5 Curriculum Night 6 pm and Sixth Grade 7 - 8 pm (adults only)
9/16 Community Workday 9 am - 12 pm
9/22 Half Day - Day of Courage
9/25-9/29 Fall Break (No School)
Thank you for all that you do and for sharing your precious children with us.
Ki Fatima
