Greetings, Turtle Families,
Throughout the week, the children talked of the Kingdom of Halloween, and they re-enacted it in their play. The detail they can remember about stories they only heard once is remarkable. The magic of our Kingdom of Halloween festival certainly made an impression.
Our story is about Witchamaroo, a tiny witch who lives in a pumpkin house at the back of a pumpkin patch. She is clever and wise, and she is not afraid of anything. One day, she sees the farmer’s family working on something in the field. She waits until they have gone home to see what they are doing. She walks, in the dark, across the field and encounters a pair of shoes that go “tippity tap, tippity tap” and she says, “Shoo, shoo, I’m not afraid of you!” She sees a pair of pants (“Hobbldy bobbldy”), a shirt and mittens (“Clippity clap”), and a straw hat (“Whiskity whisk”), and she shoos them all away. Finally, a glowing Jack-o-lantern says, “Boo!” and Witchamaroo runs all the way back to her pumpkin house, jumps in bed, and pulls the covers over her head. The next day, she returns to the field in the daylight and finds a smiling scarecrow. They become friends, and Witchamaroo spends the winter in the Scarecrow's cozy shirt pocket. The children enjoy the silliness and scariness of this story. They loved the play, where they each got to act out the parts of the scarecrow.
To complement our story, we carved our own Jack-O-Lantern on Monday. The children were very excited to design our Jack-O-Lantern, cut the pumpkin open, and scoop out the guts and seeds. We took our time to separate the orange pulp from the white seeds so that the seeds could be saved for roasting. Each child had an opportunity to scoop seeds and carve the face. Our Jack-O-Lantern has a smiling mouth, a star nose, a star eye, and a circle eye. We will enjoy the seeds together with snack this week.
Thank you for being a part of our community and for sharing your children with us.
Announcements and Reminders:
Please continue to send your child dressed in layers and to send insect repellant
11/01: No School (Teacher Inservice 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.
Grace and Peace,
Ki Kim
