Kindergarten Beavers: November 29- December 2, 2022

Greetings Dear Families,

It’s wonderful to be back together in the forest after our week long break. We introduced a new Autumn circle this past week. The children find a special spot in the forest to stand and the teacher begins to sing: 

" Come, little leaves, " said the wind one day, 

Come over the meadows with me and play; 

Put on your dresses of red and gold, 

For summer is gone and the days grow cold. " 

Each child is given a leaf and joins the chain of hands, as we walk around our forest space, singing. It’s a delightful and gentle song that invites reverence into our day. On Thursday, the children came to school to find the rain water pouring a beautiful stream into our forest space. The children wasted no time collecting water to play and make special dishes in the mud kitchen. They also used this opportunity to clean their classroom materials like shovels and pots. There was a lot of hustle and bustle in the forest, the class kept busy with games and play that require a lot of movement which has been helpful to keep warm! The children also heard a story about a young girl and her Abuela (grandmother). One of the things the girl loves about her grandmother is that she takes her on adventures. Together, they venture around New York City. They flew over tree tops, parks, and buildings. The children shared about where they would love to go on an adventure, from Florida to Vienna! 

This Friday is our Winter Spiral. This is a beloved festival at The Garden School and across Waldorf schools and communities. This festival occurs near the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. The children silently and reverently walk the spiral with an unlit candle. They meet their teacher in the middle of the spiral to have their candle lit from a larger candle, and then place their candle on a star of their choosing on their silent walk out through the spiral. This touching ritual symbolizes each child giving their own special and unique light to the world, helping guide others in the dark. Families are welcome (and encouraged!) to watch their child’s class walk the spiral. Our walk will begin at 10:15 am. Please arrive with enough time to find a place at our spiral in the forest (signs will guide your way). Two-day students are invited to join us for the spiral; please meet us in our forest classroom at 10:00 if they will be joining us. They may also stay with us for cocoa after the spiral, and leave with their family directly following snack. The ingredients of the cocoa are: coconut milk, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, vanilla. If you would prefer your child not participate in the cocoa or bring their own, please let me know. 

Reminders & Announcements :

  • Please make sure to swap out your child’s change of clothes in their backpacks into winter clothes- thick socks, long sleeves, pants. 

  • Next week (December 12-15) is our MUST Ministries toy drive. If you are interested in participating, please bring a new, unwrapped toy this week. We will collect them during pick up and drop off. 

  • Next Thursday, 12/15, is the last day of the semester and a HALF DAY for all students (12:30 dismissal). There is also an assembly put on by the grades classes at 12:00. Kindergarten parents are welcome and encouraged to attend and see some of the wonderful things the grades students have been learning. 

  • December 16-January 4 is semester break. January 5th is the first day of the spring semester!

As always, thank you for all that you do and for sharing your precious children with us. 🌹

Peace & Blessings,

Ki Fatima



Kindergarten Beavers: November 14-18, 2022

Greetings Dear Families,

Thank you for sharing a lovely meal together at our Thanksgiving Luncheon. We hope you enjoyed your time in the forest with all our families and in the special place your child spends much of their time! 

Last week, we spent more time in our inside classroom space. Although the students are accustomed to playing in our bigger forest area, they played so well together inside in our smaller space. The classroom was humming with busy bodies, as they worked together building forts with silks and large pillows. It was impressive to see how well they shared and helped each other build their forts- sharing a pillow if another student doesn’t have enough, helping each other to clip up the silks. Half of our room became a fort neighborhood. The children have also been watching the teacher spin wool during class and wanted to help. They’re amazed to see the wool roving transform from fluffy tufts of wool to neat and thin yarn. Students took turns spinning the drop spindle while the teacher held the wool roving. Later we will use the yarn we spin for finger knitting and chaining projects. 

We shared a story about four trees who lived side by side- the oak, the maple, the apple, and the cedar. Autumn had arrived, gifting each of the trees with a shiny new coat- yellow, orange, red. All but the lovely cedar received a new coat, who wore a green coat all year round. But she didn’t mind! She loved her green coat, her shiny needles kept her warm and she was content. The other trees were so proud of their new coats, but as the strong winds swept through the forest, it would eventually blow away all their leaves so only their branches were left. Meanwhile, a bird looking for shelter to stay warm as winter approached flew from tree to tree. None of the trees were able to keep her warm, but at last she found the cedar tree where she built her nest and stayed warm and cozy all winter long. 

Thank you for all that you do and for sharing your precious children with us! 🌹

Thank you for layering up your child and dressing them appropriately for the colder weather, this makes a huge difference in the overall health and happiness of our class. 

Have a lovely Thanksgiving holiday! 

Reminders & Announcements: 

Reminders: 

  • Monday, Nov. 21 - Friday, Nov. 25:  Thanksgiving Break (No School) 

  • Thursday and Friday, Dec. 8&9:  Winter Spiral

  • Thursday, Dec. 15th:  Last day of Fall semester (Half day, early dismissal)

  • Friday, Dec. 16th - Wednesday, Jan. 4:  Winter Break

  • Thursday, Jan. 5th:  Spring semester begins

Peace & Blessings, 

Ki Fatima

Kindergarten Beavers: November 7-11, 2022

Greetings Dear Families,

Thank you for joining us this past week and walking with us through the candle-lit forest with our glowing lanterns. We hope it was a reverent and beautiful experience for you and your family. 

A few tires were rolled into our classroom this past week and a lot of the children's play revolved around the tires. They stacked, climbed to the top, and hid inside them, as well as rolled and raced them, and used them to play various imaginative games. The children have also discovered the acorns hiding beneath the leaves on our forest floor. They’ve been exploring the grounds and collecting as many acorns as they could- many backpacks and pockets have been stuffed with acorns- which created some good moments of laughter when they poured out once a backpack toppled over! The children were inspired to set up a store selling various items. There was an acorn station, rock station, and leaf station. The students worked together in this store with impressive cohesion- buying, selling, organizing, and preparing their goods. A lot of thought is being put into their play! It’s wonderful to see how their play has evolved since the beginning of the school year. 

There’s been a lot more interest in handwork too. Many children gravitate towards the platform after the morning circle, eager to work on their beanbags. They are developing their sewing skills, and patiently waiting their turn for teacher guidance when they need assistance. Some older and more advanced students are even offering their help to those less familiar with this handwork activity, which is always nice to see. 

As always, thank you for all that you do and sharing your precious children with us. 🌹

Reminders & Announcements: 

  • 11/14-11/18- Non Perishable food drive for Never Alone food pantry

  • 11/18- Thanksgiving luncheon and half-day dismissal– We invite you to join our class for a picnic lunch in our outdoor classroom on Friday November 18th from 11:00-12-00.  Please bring lunch (and maybe a blanket) for your family.  The school will provide a sweet treat (a gluten free/vegan option will be available). This is a half day dismissal day.  We hope you will join us!

  • 11/21-11/25- NO SCHOOL- Thanksgiving break

Peace and Blessings,

Ki Fatima 

Kindergarten Beavers: October 31- November 4, 2022

Greetings Dear Families,

Last week a couple of the children found some “beautiful leaves” and urgently called their peers to come help them roll a large stump to a certain tree. Indeed the leaves looked like three red rubies glowing under the sun. The children worked together pushing and rolling the stump to just the right spot. Finally, they reached the tree and one by one they climbed on the stump until they were able to reach their goal.  It was lovely to observe them working together for a common goal in such a meaningful and magical way.

The yarn that we previously dyed yellow with a natural goldenrod dye made for us by Ki Ieva, has become a popular yarn to build a bow. This has opened up the opportunity for a lot of bow and arrow adventuring in our forest this past week. The children have even designated a certain tree branch as their bow hook to safekeep their bows. 

The children also started sanding wood rounds and, after the students polish them on another occasion, they will be used by the class for imaginative play and building. The children have already started using them on the platform as tiny stepping stumps. Some of the children are also sewing bean bags, which we hope to use in our circle in the near future. The children each have their own handwork bag with their name embroidered on it to safely store their current projects.

During the week, the students heard a story reminding us of the Light we each carry within. Summer had come to an end. The days were growing colder, the nights were getting longer, and there was a boy who lived all alone in the forest. When he noticed the sun did not stay as long as it had been in the warmer days, he became very worried. He didn’t like the dark and felt all alone. He wished the sun would stay longer. He walked around the forest and saw a few lingering lightning bugs flickering their lights. He thought to himself, “Even the bugs have a light to brighten them up!” He looked up at the moon shining so bright in the night sky, and the stars too- he so wished he had a light of his own to have with him all the time. The moon was far away, but he could hear the wish of the little boy. Ask your child what happened next. 

Thank you for all that you do and for sharing your precious children with us! 🌹

Reminders & Announcements: 

  • TONIGHT- lantern walk at 6:00 pm

  • THIS WEEK- coat drive for One Warm Coat, through Friday

  • 11/14-11/18- Non Perishable food drive for Never Alone food pantry

  • 11/18- Thanksgiving luncheon and half-day dismissal for all students

  • 11/21-11/25- NO SCHOOL- Thanksgiving break

Peace & Blessings, 

Ki Fatima



Kindergarten Beavers: October 25-29, 2022

Greetings Dear Families,

Thank you for volunteering and helping out during our Kingdom of Halloween festival. After a few years of hiatus it was great to welcome back one of our favorite festivals and we are grateful you could be a part of it. 

We are now looking forward to our lantern walk festival which is just around the corner! The students are learning three new songs that we plan to sing during our lantern walk. We have also constructed our own paper mache lanterns using balloons and tissue paper. We collected leaves from our forest floor and decorated our lanterns with them as well. These will stay at school and be handed out during the walk; they will go home with your children after the walk. The lantern walk is one of our favorite events; we hope you can all join us!  The lantern walk is also celebrated in Germany and France as Martinmas or Martinstag. The essence of this festival is to recognize the inner light we each carry. This inner light needs to be protected, as the light inside the lantern does, so it does not go out. We use this light to help each other in the darker months of the year. It is a reverent, contemplative walk. In understanding the importance of helping others, we also collect gently used coats of all sizes for One Warm Coat, an organization that provides coats for those who need them during the coming cold.

In the forest, we tried a new tea this past week. Ki Sam gifted us with Butterfly Pea Flower tea. The children were very excited about the tea being blue! This week we will add some lime and watch it change color. We also had lunch with a red tailed hawk on Thursday. Our special guest caught a squirrel and ate it only a few feet away from where we were having our lunch. The children were amazed and admired the bird from the edge of the platform. The hawk would also look up at us every now and then and that really stirred up lots of giggles. Talk about a lesson in life science! 

Announcements and Reminders:

  • 11/8: NO SCHOOL / election day / teacher inservice

  • 11/8: Kindergarten lantern walk at 6:00pm

  • 11/7-11/11: Coat drive for One Warm Coat

  • 11/14-11/18: Non Perishable food drive for Never Alone food pantry

  • 11/18: Thanksgiving luncheon (more info coming soon) and half day dismissal for all students

  • 11/21-11/25 NO SCHOOL for Thanksgiving Break

As always, thank you for all that you do and for sharing your children with us!

Peace & Blessings,

Ki Fatima 



Kindergarten Beavers: October 17-21, 2022

Greetings Dear Families,

Last week was very cold but still wonderful! It called for our first fire of the season. As soon as the children saw the fire pit , they got to work right away- collecting sticks, kindling, and pine cones. They also collected large sticks and helped to build the border to mark our boundary around the fire.As the fire was lit, the children watched with wonder as the smoke rose and brother wind blew it towards the trees where the sunlight was shining through- truly magical! It inspired a lot of songs and singing around the fire among the children. Some of the children were making up their own tunes, easily taking turns and raising their voices in song so as to keep the fire going. 

The children are noticing the gradual seasonal changes. Sister frost has been visiting our picnic table during the night and skating all over it and in the morning thechildren notice all the sparkle on our table top. They’ve been creating ice pictures and playing tic-tac-toe together with the frost. In the forest, we had fun cracking walnuts and eating them, which the children were so excited about! It was a great fine motor exercise for them to twist the nutcracker contraption (an adorable mushroom-shaped nutcracker) until they heard the loud “crack”! The walnuts were crunchy and fresh. We used the walnut shells to make walnut babies, whom we cradled gently in our hands and each heard a whispered  wish. We also used dyed our own yarn with the color yellow we got from Goldenrod, students took turns dipping the yarn into water and then submerging it into the yellow dye until the color changed. We hung the yarn up on the tree to dry and plan to use it for later handwork projects. 

Reminders & Announcements:

  • Please continue to send your child to school with plenty of warm layers! Hand warmers are recommended. Insulated shoes are a must, especially as it gets colder. Rain boots without insulation are not enough. Please let us know if you need help finding boots. 

  • Kingdom of Halloween will be on Saturday, 10/29, from 4:30-8:30. If you are able, please sign up for a volunteer spot if you have not already.

  • Tuesday, 11/1 will be a late start, as we know many students will benefit from sleeping in a bit after Halloween. Drop off will be from 9:40-9:55

Thank you for all that you do! May all be well.

Warmly, Ki Fatima

Kindergarten Beavers: October 3-7, 2022

Greetings Dear Beaver Families,

The autumn breeze has swept in and our days in the forest are showered with beautiful sunlight and colorful leaves carpeting our forest floor. Now that the weather is cooling, in place of our time at the creek, we will visit the animals and farm. Last week, the children were able to harvest radishes that were emerging out of the earth. The students pulled out the veggies with such joy and awe. One student asked, “was this from a seed?”, showing the connections made with this simple, yet deeply important activity. In the forest, we have started collecting firewood since we will soon be having bonfires on colder days- our firewood pile is quite large already! 

We acquired some wooden boards of various sizes and the children wasted no time in finding creative ways to use them. The boards have been used for constructing tables, balancing boards, obstacle courses, chalk drawing boards, and even a second mud kitchen. Last week, we had the opportunity to play in the large playground after visiting the garden- the children were very happy to play on the tire swing and seesaw. On Friday, we had our soup snack at the picnic tables. The weather was so sunny and beautiful that we decided to stay outside. 

Announcements and Reminders:

  • Picture day is this week!  We will have our class photo on Wednesday, 10/12 around 10:00 am. If your child does not usually attend on Wednesday, you are welcome to bring them to the school at this time to join us for the group photo. Please let me know if you plan to attend so we can look for you!  Individual photos for 5-day and 3-day students will also be on Wednesday. Individual photos for 2-day students will be on Thursday, 10/13.

  • Conferences are also this week!  Thank you all for signing up, I am looking forward to meeting with each of you to discuss your wonderful children. All students will be dismissed at 12:15-12:30 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (10/12-12/14).

  • Thank you for sending layers for your children!  There has been a significant temperature difference during the day. Pants, long sleeves, coats, and even hats and gloves are helpful in the morning.

Thank you for sharing your children with us and for all that you do. 

Warmly,

Ki Fatima 



Kindergarten Beavers: September 19-23

Greetings Dear Beaver Families,

We had another wonderful and eventful week in our Beavers class. Thank you for harvesting goldenrod and marigold over the weekend and sharing it with our class. Our silk dyeing project was a joy to do. Many thanks also to Ki Ieva who helped prepare the silks and dye for our kindergarten classes. It is so valuable for children in this age (4-6) to see the process of things and the results before their eyes. These activities nourish their senses- they get to see how it feels, looks, smells, and how it transforms. It is purposeful work. They need to see us doing things with purpose and intention and also to have the opportunity to do it themselves. They are learning how to be in the world. The children's will is said to be bound up with their metabolic system, and there is so much gained when children can see processes unfold. So many things in our current society are prepared ahead, and these experiences at school are invaluable. It was so magical to see the beautiful dyed silks hanging in the forest made luminous by the sunlight, truly a special experience all together! 

We visited the garden this past week as well and were happy to see new hens added to our garden animal family! We spent probably one of our last creek days before the weather starts cooling in a different part of the creek, where there is a little cascade. The children worked hard stacking large rocks, watching the water flow and also trying to fill in the cracks with smaller rocks. We also spotted a large rock that was smiling at us! Someone from the grades seems to have sculpted a smiley face on one of the rocks with clay, but it was smiling at us as far as we were concerned! We also got the opportunity to celebrate Seyla’s sixth birthday! It was wonderful to hear memories from when she was a baby up until now. On Thursday, we cut out star patterns with our watercolor paintings from Tuesday. We painted with yellow and red for our Day of Courage week. We used the scraps from our cutouts to make little autumn leaves that we will add to our hanging mobile on our platform. Now that autumn is on its way, it is time to add those seasonal touches to our classroom as well. It helps being outside, too! 

Reminders:

  • October 3rd–Teacher Workday (NO SCHOOL)

  • Conferences are coming up on October 12th, 13th, and 14th. You can sign up for a time here. Conferences will be in person at the school, however if you need to meet virtually instead please let me know and we will arrange for that. If you do not see a time that works for you, please let me know and we will schedule a different time. Conferences are planned for 20 minutes. If you feel you may need longer for your child's conference, please let me know before scheduling so we can work out a time that respects your time and that of other families. We ask that children do not attend conferences, allowing us to communicate in confidence.

  • October 12-14th–Half day, 12:30 dismissal, Parent-Teacher Conferences

  • Please have your child use the bathroom before leaving the house in the mornings. 

  • October 29th is Kingdom of Halloween.  Save the date for this magical festival.

Thank you for sharing your precious children with us. May peace and blessings be with you all. Enjoy the break and see you in October! 

Warmly, 

Ki Fatima 

Kindergarten Beavers September 12-16

Greetings Dear Beaver Families,

We had a wonderful week in the Beavers Forest class. The children have readily settled into our rhythm and our days are filled with a balance of activity and rest. As we welcomed the cooler mornings of this past week, we also welcomed some new autumn songs and verses into our morning circle. The children picked up the squirrel gestures of our squirrel verse very quickly and even started to sing it on their own during the afternoon, pretending to crack and eat nuts. After our morning circle, we offer tea at the platform. Almost all the children came to our platform for a cup of warm tea. We enjoyed peppermint tea made from the peppermint leaves the children had planted in our classroom! The students thoroughly enjoyed it and insisted to have peppermint tea from now. At the creek, the children found a large piece of floating bamboo with all its branches and leaves still intact. Together, they worked to replant it in the sand. Some children held up the bamboo while others brought scoops of sand to secure it. They all cooperated and worked together until they were able to plant three separate trees they had found. It was a great team effort. 

This week we will be honoring the Day of Courage in our class. As the days grow darker (shorter) and colder, it is all the more important to remember and recognize the inner light that shines within to guide us. We will be recognizing this day in Kindergarten through storytelling. We plan to share a story about Brave Michael and the Dragon. You may read the story here.

Announcements & Reminders:

  • As the mornings are getting cooler, please ensure your child comes to school with a warm sweater or jacket and pants. Please bear in mind that the forest is always cooler too. Layers may be shed as the day warms up. 

  • Conferences are coming up on October 12th, 13th, and 14th. You can sign up for a time here. Conferences will be in person at the school, however if you need to meet virtually instead please let me know and we will arrange for that. If you do not see a time that works for you, please let me know and we will schedule a different time. Conferences are planned for 20 minutes. If you feel you may need longer for your child's conference, please let me know before scheduling so we can work out a time that respects your time and that of other families. We ask that children do not attend conferences, allowing us to communicate in confidence.

  • Please continue to send insect repellant and apply it to your child before drop off. We are still seeing mosquitoes and fire ants.

  • This Friday, 9/23, is a half day. All students will be dismissed 12:15-12:30. Students will not need a lunch on this day.

  • Next week, 9/26-9/30, is fall break (we follow Cobb County Public School’s calendar for breaks). The following Monday, 10/3, is a teacher in service day. There is no school on these days.

Thank you for sharing your precious children with us and for all that you do. 💐

Warmly,

Ki Fatima

Kindergarten Beavers: September 6 - 9

Greetings Dear Beaver Families,

Thank you to those who were able to attend our parent and caretaker night! It was lovely to see so many of you present and we hope that you have a better picture of what our days look like and the kind of practical work activities the children are participating in while at school. 

We had a joyful week. Gentle breezes have been visiting us in the forest and creek, reminding us that autumn is just around the corner. We are enjoying the creek while we can! This past week, the children discovered many areas with clay. A piece of bamboo was found floating in the water, it was carefully covered with clay and set to dry in the sun. It went from being a sword to a torch, and many other items- the students always get so creative with the simplest of things,  allowing for their creativity to blossom. We also discovered many small clamshells and little blooming flowers along the shoreline. 

We enjoyed a wet felting activity where the children wet felted colorful balls of wool. They were able to choose their colors, fluff up the wool like a fluffy cloud and roll it into a ball. After dipping it in water, they get a pinch of soap and roll it around gently in their palms until a ball forms. This is a wonderful tactile activity for the children which also smells wonderful and invigorates many of their senses. We plan to make flowers with them, and in the autumn we plan to do the same activity but turn them into pumpkins! 

Reminders & Announcements:

  • Saturday, September 17th–Community Workday from 9:00-12:00.

  • Friday, September 23rd–Half-day, 12:30 dismissal

  • September 26 - 30th–Fall Break (no school)

  • October 3rd–Teacher Workday (NO SCHOOL)

  • October 12-14th–Half day, 12:30 dismissal, Parent-Teacher Conferences

Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and for all that you do. 💐

Warmly,

Ki Fatima

Kindergarten Beavers: August 29- September 2

Greetings Dear Beaver families,

We had a busy week in the Beavers forest class. We introduced a new harvest song into our morning circle, and we are slowly transitioning into an autumn circle. The children are noticing the season slowly changing as they find colorful leaves on the ground and cooler mornings each day. Last week we enjoyed a nature walk around our forest and got to see what the other classes are up to on campus. We also visited the animals in the garden and fed them a special treat of kudzu. The children were especially excited to find a chicken egg in the coop as well! We spotted new animals this past week. We found a turtle bathing on a log in the pond and a rabbit in our very own forest. During creekcess, there were so many little fish in the creek which took us all by surprise. 

At the creek, the children found a piece of flat wood which they used as a little boat. They polished stones and crystals and placed them on the boat and noticed that some larger stones would make it sink. A fun game was formed to see how many stones they could place on the boat before it would start to sink. We also crafted wood beaded necklaces and the children enjoyed counting ten beads on each necklace, with the option to pick only three large beads. They enjoyed stringing their beads with a needle and thread, and then subtracting beads when they realized they beaded too much! 

Reminders & Announcements:

  • Please be sure to pack an extra change of clothes for your child to bring to school each day.

  • Have your child bring a vegetable to school every Wednesday for vegetable chopping day! All vegetables are welcome! 

Warmly,

Ki Fatima 

Kindergarten Beavers: August 15-19

Greetings Dear Beaver Families,

We had a very full and vibrant week as we stepped into our new rhythm with all our practical work activities and creek play! We happily celebrated our first birthday of the school year, happy 5th birthday dear Jay! The children listened with great interest as we shared our special birthday story. 

Outdoors, we enjoyed warm chamomile tea in the mornings and visited the creek twice during our week. Sand castles were built, rivers were dug up for the fishes, and beneath the sand, some children excavated blue clay which they used to make clay bowls. We peeled and chopped vegetables for our soup (thank you for remembering the veggies!). In our indoor classroom, we enjoyed both delicious oatmeal and warm soup. Additionally, we began our practical work.  We washed both our dishes and the laundry that we used throughout the week. The children love participating in these practical work activities which help to develop their will and develop their inner confidence.

On Friday, the children watched a puppet show of the story they heard over the course of the week. Our story was about a loving mother raincloud who searched for the perfect plot of land to drop her little raindrops. All but one fell to the earth! Finally, the littlest raindrop decided to be brave and join his brothers and sisters. When he reached the deep earth, he found a little seed buried beneath the ground. The seed and raindrop hugged and a beautiful, golden sunflower sprouted from the earth. We also had our first watercolor painting time and painted with the color yellow. We share a sweet painting story to demonstrate how we properly use the paint. 

This week, we are planning to visit the animals on the farm. It looks like we may have some rainy days; please dress your child accordingly. 

Reminders & Announcements :

* Please do not leave your car during our afternoon carpool; a teacher will walk your child to the car. Thank you for your patience. 

* Please remember your bouquet sign-up date! 💐 https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/70a0844aaaa29a4f49-flowers

* Please bring a vegetable each Wednesday for our soup prep day. Thank you.

* Our school’s next work day is Saturday, August 27th. If you are able to attend, there will be tasks to finish preparing the forest and school for the rest of the school year. And of course, it counts toward your volunteer hours.

* Our Kindergarten parent night is Tuesday, September 6th at 6:00 pm. Look for more information to come in the next couple of weeks.

Thank you for sharing your precious children with us and for all that you do. 

Warmly,

Ki Fatima

Kindergarten Beavers: August 10 - 13

Greetings Dear Beaver Families,

Our first (half) week back to school went so well! It was wonderful to welcome back returning students and introduce new children to our forest class. By the first day, the students were already playing together with great joy and cooperation. New students explored the forest terrain while our returning students noticed the changes that occurred over the Summer while we were away- our favourite little brook that emerges when it rains was completely overgrown by new plants and many mushroom families popped up on our famous dirt mound. We are still getting to know one another and establishing our rhythm. The students have been so willing and receptive when learning about our classroom boundaries.

This week, we are excited to bring back our shared snack. The children will help prepare our soup by chopping the vegetables. Please have your child bring one vegetable to school on Wednesday for our practical work activity in preparation for soup day on Friday. We also look forward to watercolour painting in our indoor classroom space on Tuesday.

It is a joy to have Ki Annabelle assisting in our Beavers class! Her gentle, loving presence is a wonderful addition to our classroom. Ki Annabelle also has a child in one of the other kindergarten classes and a second grader who attends The Garden School. We are so grateful she has joined our team and value her insight, kindness and care for the children. 

Reminders & Announcements :

  • If you have not done so already, please send water shoes and inside shoes to school. We will keep them at school.

  • If you drop off your child late, please call the front office to check in your child before they join the class.

  • Our school’s next work day is Saturday, August 27th. If you are able to attend, there will be tasks to finish preparing the forest and school for the rest of the school year. And of course, it counts toward your volunteer hours.

  • The Kindergarten parent night is Tuesday, September 6th. Look for more information to come in the next couple of weeks.

Weekly Schedule Special Activity:

Monday: creek or farm 

Tuesday: oatmeal & painting 

Wednesday: soup prep

Thursday:creek or farm

Friday: soup & puppet show 

Thank you for sharing your wonderful children with us! 

Warmly,

Ki Fatima