Greetings, Turtle Families,

We had a wonderful week in the Turtle class. The children are learning the words and movements of our Circle songs, and it is so nice to hear them singing along each morning. We have been busy getting our supplies ready for the handwork activities we will do this year. We took a nature walk and each student collected leaves, pine straw, and other natural elements to use for decoration on their handwork bags. They each arranged the treasures they collected on top of canvas bags, and then we sprayed dye onto the bags. The children were amazed to see the final results as we removed the leaves and saw the lovely shapes left behind. We will keep our handwork projects in these bags throughout the year. This allows the students to keep up with their own supplies and work on projects over time. Students will bring their creations home as they complete them.

The Turtles are continuing to explore the forest play area, digging holes and moving dirt and wood chips. The heavy rains over the weekend added to their mud kitchen play as the children discovered both wheelbarrows were full of water on Monday. The mud kitchen is always very active, with lots of pizzas, pies, muffins, and soups being created. It is exciting to watch their friendships blossom and strengthen as they all become comfortable and confident in our classrooms and with each other!

We also added a slackline and a hammock to our forest classroom. These quickly became favorite activities. Students are already experimenting with different ways to walk and move across the slack line and are enjoying hanging out and chatting in the hammock. They are using and developing their sense of movement, sense of touch, and sense of balance as they navigate these new challenges.

Announcements and Reminders:

Please remember that all Joyful Beginnings and Kindergarten classes are nut free this year. This is to keep all of our students safe. Please do not send nuts or things made from nuts (this includes nut milks and nut butters) Thank you for your help with this.
Please save the date for our Curriculum Night on September 3rd (adults only, please). We will gather together to review our daily, weekly, and seasonal rhythm and learn the value of rhythm at school and at home.

Thank you for sharing your children with us and for being a part of our community!

Grace and Peace,

Ki Kim