Osiyo, Chickadee Families,
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our Kingdom of Halloween festival and the Community Meeting with the Garden School Board. We love seeing our families engaged and on campus!
Last week, the students enjoyed the cooler weather as they worked and played in the forest. Along with painting and wet felting apples, the Chickadees engaged in creative activities such as building mountains in the sandbox, digging and hauling with large shovels and dump trucks, and building forts and nests. Autumn often encourages children’s natural instincts to build shelters and collect objects. Watching the students work busily, using their muscles to keep warm and their minds to work collaboratively on projects they design, is a privilege and joy. This week, the class will wrap up our focus on apples, and next week, the Chickadees will begin learning about pumpkins! Over a few weeks, the students will engage in several activities, allowing them to explore pumpkins through science, nature, and art.
The quickly changing and often unexpected weather can be alarming for young children and may cause them to feel out of balance or rhythm. One beautiful and affirming way caregivers can allow their children to regain a sense of comfort and control during these seasons of change is through relaxed, unhurried discussions each evening or morning. Sitting with your child while cuddling or engaging in a calming activity without distractions, you can talk with them about what the weather is expected to be like the next morning and throughout the day. Allow them to help choose their clothing for the next day, with your guidance on what is appropriate for school and the weather, and let them know what outerwear they will need. It may help some children to lay all their items out in the same place each evening before bed. Others may benefit from creating a simple chart or drawing together of the day’s or week’s weather. On particularly cool mornings, your child may enjoy a warm breakfast such as oatmeal or pancakes at home. They may also bring a spill-proof thermos of herbal tea or warm water with honey and lemon to school along with their regular water bottle (no cocoa or drinks containing sugar, please).
Announcements and Reminders for Chickadee Kindergarten:
This Friday, October 25th, we will be having a special treat of warm apple cider with our rice cakes at snack time. If you would not like your child to have the apple cider, please let me know by Thursday, October 24th.
The Chickadee class is collecting small circular cardboard lids, such as the tops and bottoms of containers that hold circles of brie. If you have any of these containers, please send them in between now and early November. We will use these as the bases for our lanterns for the lantern walk.
11/01: No School (Teacher In-service Day)
11/06: Lantern Walk for Kindergarten through Third Grade at 6:00 p.m.
11/12: Early Childhood Curriculum Night at 6:00 p.m.
Thank you for sharing your children with us and for being part of our community.
Gvyalieliga,
Ki Holly
