Greetings, Turtle Families,
Hopefully, you all had a wonderful break! It is so great to come together as a class again. The children missed each other, and we missed them! Fall is here! We are starting a new Autumn Circle this week. There will be new songs, verses, and movements for the students to learn.
The week before break was busy! The whole class worked on rainbow rings with a shooting star attached. The children worked with teachers to tie knots, attaching the ribbon to the rings. Knot tying requires focus and fine motor skills. This project also needed scissor skills as each child cut stars from a red and yellow watercolor painting to attach to their ring. We also dyed fabric, yarn, and felt; the dyeing process is an amazing sensory experience! First, we collected goldenrod and marigolds. (Thank you to everyone who added to our collection.) As the students pulled the goldenrod flowers from the stems and plucked all of the marigold flower petals, many commented on how good they smelled and how soft the marigolds were. The children also learned how stripping the goldenrod from the stems felt. We added all of the plucked flowers to a pot. Ki Ieva helped us by boiling the flowers and water and letting them stew. When the dye was ready, each student dipped a cloth, a felt star, and a bundle of yarn into the mixture and stirred it. As they did this, many noted the dye mixture's good but different smell and that the dye water was “golden.” We pulled the cloths out and hung them each to dry. The children were thrilled to see the white cloth had turned such a beautiful yellow. Naturally dyed fabric makes a wonderful addition to loose parts and imaginative play - it can be a cape, a blanket for a stuffed animal, a fort for some peg dolls, or anything they can imagine. On Friday, we cooked in class and had pancakes and cloudberry (blueberry) syrup. Just like the dragon and the family in our story, we ate every last bite!
On Monday, we celebrated Isabel’s 6th birthday. On Tuesday, we celebrated Tea’s 4th birthday. Isabel’s parents and Tea’s parents visited our class on their day and shared fun memories from their births and each year of their lives. Classmates, teachers, and parents shared wishes for the coming year. Happy Birthday, Isabel! Happy Birthday, Tea!
Announcements and Reminders:
If you have not yet signed up for conferences, please do so here. It will be lovely to meet with each of you.
As the days get cooler, and mornings can be especially cool, please send your child with a sweater, sweatshirt, or jacket every day. It is around 10 degrees cooler in the shaded forest. Please also include long pants in your child’s backpack if they wear shorts to school.
Thank you for sharing your children with us and for being a part of our community!
Grace and Peace,
Ki Kim
