Joyful Beginnings: March 27-31, 2023

Dear Joyful Beginnings Families,

We had a beautiful week in our Joyful Beginnings class. Spring is finally fully here, and we enjoyed the warm weather. On Monday, while we had some rain again, the children loved running through and jumping in the muddy puddles. For the rest of the week, the sun shone bright and the sky was blue. The trees are turning green in the forest and we heard so many birds chirping and singing happily.  The children had so much fun climbing the trees, collecting treasures from nature, and stepping on the stumps. Being able to experience the season of nature firsthand as we do at our forest school is an amazing experience that helps to foster a feeling of love and stewardship for the environment. As an added bit of excitement, Ki Derek made three new ladders in the forest. The children were so excited to try them. We appreciate Ki Derek’s hard work!

On Monday and Tuesday, the children mixed red and yellow watercolors while painting. They created a dreamy orange color on their paper. Watercolor painting is a special way for young children to experience the colors of our world. Near the end of the week, the children went to the farm to feed the animals, and some of them even got to hold the chickens.  On Friday, we had our Grandfriends Tea event. We were so happy to see families coming to visit our campus and we thank you for joining us. The children were very excited!

After spring break, we will start dropping off outside in the small playground. Please come in dressed appropriately according to the weather. The drop-off time will still be from 8:45-9:00. Have a happy Spring Break!


Upcoming events and friendly reminders:  

  • Please bring one vegetable on Monday and Tuesday. Thank you! 

  • Pack a sunhat every day

  • 4/23-4/27 5th Grade Pentathlon

  • 4/28 Annual Fundraiser-Half Day

  • 4/29: Community work day hosted by Beaver Kindergarten

  • 5/5 Half Day 

  • 5/13 Community Work Day 

  • 5/19 Last Day of School 


Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Siyu and Priti






Joyful Beginnings: March 20-24, 2023

Dear Joyful Beginnings Families,

We had a lovely week in the Joyful classroom. Last Monday was the first day of spring, and even though it was still a little chilly, we could feel the warmth of the bright sunshine. Later in the week, Lady Spring finally arrived and brought us warmer weather.

We have finished our first spring story about an adventure of Fluffy Tail, a rabbit. Fluffy Tail fell down by the big hollow tree and discovered a hidden doorway that led inside. Mr. Robin invited Fluffy Tail to go through the big hollow tree with him because some help was needed. Down through the hollow tree, down into the deep earth they go. While there, Fluffy Tail opened a door full of ladybugs and beetles, and in the corner, he met Mother Earth. Mother Earth asked Fluffy Tail to help clean all the little bugs to get ready for spring. Fluffy Tail went to work right away and cleaned everything. Once all was ready, Fluffy Tail led everyone through the big hollow tree and arrived at the beautiful spring meadow. The children truly enjoyed this story. Last week, we had some helpers to act as Fluffy Tail and Mr. Robin in our puppet show. 

This week, we will start a new story about a little girl, Mary’s spring garden walk. 

This Friday, we will have our Grandfriends tea. We are excited to have Grandfriends and other family members come to visit us. 

Because it is getting warmer, please pack a sun hat in your children’s backpacks. After spring break, the mornings should not be as cold anymore, and we will start dropping off outside in the small playground. It will be so nice for the class to be able to enjoy outside play early in the morning. The drop-off time will still be from 8:45-9:00.

Our class auction project is turning out beautifully. Thank you for your participation and donation. We can’t wait to see the final product!

If you haven’t yet, please send me an email to RSVP with the number of guests and their names, who will be attending the Grandfriends Tea on March 31st. 


Upcoming events and friendly reminders:  

  • Please bring one vegetable on Mondays and Tuesdays. Thank you! 

  • 3/31 Half Day - Grandfriend’s Tea 

  • 4/3-4/7 Spring Break (No School) 

  • 4/23-4/27 5th Grade Pentathlon

  • 4/28 Annual Fundraiser-Half Day

  • 4/29: Community work day hosted by Beaver Kindergarten


Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Siyu and Priti


Joyful Beginnings: March 13-17, 2023

 Dear Joyful Beginning families,

We had a great week in the classroom. Jack Frost returned to visit us last week; thank you so much for dressing your children in layers. At the beginning of the week, everyone was a little tired because of the time change, but the children were also very excited to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. They enjoyed our St. Patrick’s Day story about a tiny lucky leprechaun living in the woods. One day, his friends were looking for a shamrock, and this little leprechaun helped his friend find the perfect one. 

On Monday and Tuesday, the children mixed blue and yellow watercolors to create the color green to paint shamrocks. The shamrocks were very beautiful. On Wednesday and Thursday, we found tiny green footprints in our forest area. The leprechaun must be hidden in the trees! He was magical and kind, and he shared his precious gold with us.

This Wednesday and Thursday, the children will chop vegetables to help prepare the soup. They now love having our shared snacks in the classroom, and they are looking forward to having rice day, oatmeal day, and soup days in school. 


Here is a fun song about an Itsy Bitsy Leprechaun (Tune: Itsy Bitsy spider)

The itsy bitsy leprechaun was hiding pots of gold,

Down came the rainbow, colorful and bold. 

Out came his friends, they began to look,

For the perfect shamrock hidden in this nook.

The itsy bitsy leprechaun loved to search and find,

With his good luck, he is magical and kind.

They found the leaf and the leprechaun did say,

May the sun shine upon you, happy St. Patrick’s Day. 

Upcoming events and friendly reminders:  

  • Please bring one vegetable on Monday and Tuesday. Thank you! 

  • 3/31 Half Day - Grandfriend’s Tea 

  • 4/3-4/7 Spring Break (No School) 

  • 4/23-4/27 5th Grade Pentathlon

  • 4/28 Annual Fundraiser-Half Day

* Please RSVP to your child’s teacher the number of guests, and their names, that will be attending the Grandfriends Tea on March 31st. Click here to email Ki Siyu.

Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti

Joyful Beginnings: March 6-10, 2023

Dear Joyful Beginnings families,

It has been a lovely week in Joyful Beginnings. We could feel in the air that Lady Spring will arrive shortly. When Father Sun shined sunlight into the forest, it made our play area so magical. The children had so much fun playing in nature. On Tuesday, one friend found a mommy and a baby salamander under tree trunks. All the other children were so curious and wanted to pet and take care of the salamanders. We also saw many carpenter bees flying around flowers and helping the plants to grow. 

Last week, we introduced wet felting to the children. On Tuesday, the children wet-felted red balls, and on Friday, they wet-felted little purple balls. It was a new experience and everyone tried their best to roll little balls in their hands. These wet felt balls will be put together as cherries and grapes as part of our class auction project. Our auction project has been going really well. Thank you for your generous donation and participation. We can’t wait to see the finished product. 

Last Monday was Piper’s birthday. We were so happy to celebrate this special day with Piper, her family, and all her friends. Thank you for sharing yummy treats with us. This week, we will tell a sweet story about an itsy bitsy leprechaun to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. 

Upcoming events and friendly reminders:  

  • Please bring one vegetable on Monday (03/21) and Tuesday (03/22). Thank you! 

  • 3/17: Teacher in Service (No School)

  • 3/31 Half Day - Grandfriend’s Tea 

  • 4/3-4/7 Spring Break (No School) 

  • 4/23-4/27 5th Grade Pentathlon

  • 4/28 Annual Fundraiser-Half Day


Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti


Joyful Beginnings: February27- March 3, 2023

 Dear Joyful Beginnings families,

Welcome back to school! We’ve missed everyone and we were so happy to see our friends. The children gave their friends big hugs and told us about their fun experiences during the break. 

We enjoyed the warm weather and the sunshine earlier in the week. The children were so excited to play in the forest. They pushed the big trucks, climbed the tree, and cooked in the mud kitchen. Near the end of the week, there was some more rain which helps to keep our mud supply plentiful. We also took a nature walk to the farm and fed our animals some vegetables. Finally, we started our spring circle and spring story, “The Spring Adventure of Fluffy Tail the Rabbit”.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we mixed a golden sun color and a blue sky color while watercolor painting. The children were so delighted and amazed to see the colors mixed together and turn into the color of the green grass. On Tuesday, we celebrated our friend Clark’s birthday and enjoyed a yummy treat to celebrate. Piper’s birthday is on Monday, March the 6th and we are looking forward to celebrating this special day with her and her family. Happy Birthday to all our birthday friends!

Upcoming events and friendly reminders:  

  • Please bring one vegetable on Monday and Tuesday. Thank you! 

  • 3/11: Community Work Day 

  • 3/17: Teacher in Service (No School)

  • 3/31 Half Day - Grandfriend’s Tea 

  • 4/3-4/7 Spring Break (No School) 

  • 4/23-4/27 5th Grade Pentathlon

  • 4/28 Annual Fundraiser-Half Day

Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti


Joyful Beginnings: February 13 - 17

Dear Joyful Beginning Families, 

What a lovely week we had in Joyful class. We enjoyed the warm sun earlier this week. We saw many birds flying around us and the bright yellow daffodils scattered throughout campus were so beautiful. In the forest, the children had so much fun running around, playing hide and seek, digging, and cooking. We are very grateful that Ki Derek cut some tree logs for us. The children used their big muscles to carry and move the log around to build and play with. 

On Monday and Tuesday, the children painted with red watercolor and they found many hidden hearts while they were painting. On Valentine’s day, we celebrate Alma’s birthday. She shared delicious cookies with everyone and we loved the special treat. After the break, we will celebrate our friend Clark’s birthday with his family. We are excited!

On Thursday and Friday, we had our spring conferences. Thank you so much for taking your time and coming to our meetings. It was a great opportunity for us to talk about your children’s development. It is my pleasure and Ki Priti’s to continue to assist each child to grow and thrive. Ki Sam helped in JB’s class during conferences so I could step out, we want to give her a big thank you! I hope you all have a peaceful and restful mid-winter break. We will see you again when school resumes on Tuesday, February 28th.

Snack Plan:

Monday: Hot Tea  (please pack a full snack and bring one vegetable to school)

Tuesday: Rice (please pack fruits and bring one vegetable to school)

Wednesday: Oatmeal & Chopping (Please pack fruits)

Thursday: Lentil Soup & Chopping (please pack fruits)

Friday: Rice soup  (please pack fruits) 

Upcoming events and friendly reminders:  

  • Thank you so much for bringing extra vegetables to school every week. Because there will be no school on Monday after the break, please bring one vegetable to school on Tuesday. 

  • 2/27:  Teacher In-Service (No School) 

  • 3/11: Community Work Day 

  • 3/17: Teacher in Service (No School)

  • 3/31 Half Day - Grandfriend’s Tea 

  • 4/3-4/7 Spring Break (No School) 

Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti

Joyful Beginnings: February 6-10, 2023

Dear Joyful Beginning Families,

We had a full and fun week in Joyful. On Groundhog day, General Lee predicted an early spring in Georgia, and it seemed to come true immediately as we enjoyed the warmer weather last week. We saw a beautiful bluebird and we chased a purple butterfly in the meadow. In the forest, students continued to use sticks and logs to build a campfire.  Moreover, with some help, the children built an obstacle course with the logs to jump over and run through.  On Monday and Tuesday, the class used yellow watercolor to paint their golden feathers. They are very excited to have a golden feather just like Papa Giorgio in our story. On Wednesday and Thursday, the children chopped vegetables for soup days. Thank you so much for bringing all the vegetables. The children enjoyed our vegetable soup. We also shared some vegetables with the farm animals, a treat enjoyed by the students and animals alike. 

On Wednesday, we were invited to watch a puppet show that was prepared by our Mandarin teacher, Ki Cerina, and the fifth grade students. The show was about Chinese New Year and the 12 zodiac animals. It was a great opportunity for the children to experience different cultures and to practice being an audience for a short period of time. The fifth grade students preferomed the play using felt animals they had cut, sewn, and stuffed themselves, and spoke the entire play in Mandarin!  Our class was delighted when the animals made their noises and giggled along with the rest of the audience consisting of our kindergarten classes. There is a link to the play in the main message if you would like to see it too!

This week, we will continue with our four-day shared snacks. On Valentine's day, which is also Alma’s birthday, we will celebrate this special day with Alma, her family, and all our Joyful friends. On Thursday and Friday, we will have our teacher-parent conferences. Thank you so much for your support and I am looking forward to meeting you!

Chopping Song

Chop, chop, chippity chop,

Cut off the bottom and cut off the top,

What we have left we’ll put in the pot.

Chop, chop, chippity chop. 

Snack Plan:

Monday: Hot Tea  (please pack a full snack and bring one vegetable to school)

Tuesday: Rice (please pack fruits and bring one vegetable to school)

Wednesday: Oatmeal & Chopping (Please pack fruits)

Thursday: Lentil Soup & Chopping (please pack fruits)

Friday:  Rice soup  (please pack fruits) 

Upcoming events and friendly reminders:  

  • Please send your child to school with a vegetable for our soup next Monday and Tuesday. Thank you very much! 

  • 2/20-2/24: Mid-Winter Break (No School) 

  • 2/27:  Teacher In-Service (No School) 

  • 3/11: Community Work Day 

  • 3/31 Half Day - Grandfriend’s Tea 

  • 4/3-4/7 Spring Break (No School) 

Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti

Joyful Beginnings: January 30-February3, 2023

Dear Joyful Beginning Families,

We had a fun week in Joyful! Last week, the children enjoyed shared snacks rice and oatmeal we provided in class. We are very excited to start our four days of shared snacks this week.

Last Monday and Tuesday, the children used red and blue colors to do watercolor painting. On Thursday and Friday, the children used tissue hearts to decorate their big valentine’s heart. They could not wait to take them home! We also started our February story named “A Million Valentines”. In the story, Papa Giorgio shared millions of seed valentines with birds on Valentine's Day. The seeds were magical and they brought Goldfinches to Papa Giorgio’s house. In return, the birdies left a golden feather for Papa as a valentine’s present. It is such a beautiful story and the children really enjoyed it. This Monday and Tuesday, the children will use yellow watercolor to paint their own golden feathers. During our time outside, we played a camping game. We used the sticks around us to build an imaginary campfire and we pretended to roast murshmellows. 

Next Tuesday, it is our friend’s Alma’s birthday. We are looking forward to celebrating this special day with Alma’s family and with everyone in our classroom, too. 

                                                VALENTINE'S DAY 

As has been our tradition at The Garden School, in lieu of passing out cards from home this Valentine’s Day, please save all card/gift exchanges for playdates off campus. 

Upcoming events and friendly reminders:  

Please send your child to school with a vegetable for our soup next Monday and Tuesday. You may also use this link: vegetable sign up as a reference. Thank you very much!

Thank you to all of our families who joined us this past Saturday for our All School meeting.  Coming together as a community to support our lovely school is what keeps us strong and helps us grow.  

2/15-2/17:   Half Days and  Parent Conferences:  Please sign up for your slot here.

2/20-2/24: Mid-Winter Break (No School) 

2/27:  Teacher In-Service (No School) 

3/11: Community Work Day 

3/31 Half Day - Grandfriend’s Tea 

4/3-4/7 Spring Break (No School) 

Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti




Joyful Beginnings: January 23 - 27

Dear Joyful Beginning families,

     It has been a wonderful week in Joyful. The children are settled in our new routine. It is nice to start our day inside when it is so cold outside.  Jack Frost visited us last week, and your children were able to be bundled up warmly. Thank you so much for dressing your children in layers. 

     Last Monday and Tuesday, we had a great time painting hearts with red watercolor. On Wednesday and Thursday, the children did a fabulous job chopping vegetables. We used those yummy veggies to cook soup on Thursday and Friday! The soup is so nice and warm. 

    Starting this week, we are going to tell a sweet story named “A Million Valentines” and the children will glue smaller tissue hearts on the hearts they painted last week to decorate them for Valentine’s Day. On Tuesday(1/31) and Wednesday(02/01), we will have rice and oatmeal. Please pack fruits on these two days. 

        Thank you so much for bringing all the fresh vegetables. To help ensure the children have a large variety of vegetables to cut and eat there is a vegetable sign-up list as a reference for the week of February 6th. Please feel free to bring other vegetables that are not on the list, as desired.

        As it is always helpful to work together for the benefit of our students, we are sharing some common language we use at school to help guide student behavior and actions.  We use positive imagery through phrases such as “gentle hands”, “walking feet”, “quiet voices”, and “listening ears”. We also encourage them to use “please”, “thank you”, and “excuse me” when interacting with peers in play.  Using similar language at home will help with consistency and reinforce these lessons in healthy ways.  Thank you.

JB snack and activity plan:

Monday (02/06): Hot Tea & Watercolor Painting (please pack a full snack and bring one vegetable to school)

Tuesday (02/07): Rice & Watercolor painting (please pack fruits and bring one vegetable to school)

Wednesday (02/08): Oatmeal & Chopping (Please pack fruits)

Thursday (02/08) : Lentil Soup & Chopping & Farm(please pack fruits)

Friday (02/09): Rice soup & Crayon drawing & Farm  (please pack fruits) 

Upcoming events and friendly reminders:  

  • 2/4: Community Work Day / All-School Meeting–A Community Event (adults only, please)

  • 2/15-2/17: Half Days and Parent Conferences.  Please sign up for a conference slot here.  If you need an alternate time, please let me know.

  • 2/20-2/24: Mid-Winter Break (No School)

  • 2/27: Teacher In-Service (No School)

Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti

Joyful Beginnings: January 16-20, 2023

Dear Joyful Beginning Families,

    It has been another great week in Joyful Beginnings. We had a lot of rain last week. The children loved jumping in the muddy puddles and playing in the mud kitchen. Some of them were covered in mud, but they had so much fun. We introduced a Chinese story to celebrate Lunar New Year. In the ancient times, there was a monster named Nian, he was giant and fierce but he was scared of the color red, loud noises, and bright light. The story explained why Chinese and other Asian people put red decorations in their houses, play with fireworks, and light up lanterns on New Year’s Eve.

     We continued to serve rice and oatmeal last week. Many friends who did not try these shared snacks the first time enjoyed eating them this time. This Wednesday and Thursday, the children will chop veggies and we will have soup on Thursday and Friday. Next Tuesday (01/31), we will have rice and Wednesday (02/01), we will have oatmeal. 

     From the week of February 6, we will serve one hot tea day and four warm snack days in school.

                                      Here is our snack and activity plan:

Monday (02/06): Hot Tea & Watercolor Painting (please pack a full snack and bring one vegetable to school)

Tuesday (02/07): Rice & Watercolor painting (please pack fruits and bring one vegetable to school)

Wednesday (02/08): Oatmeal & Chopping (Please pack fruits)

Thursday (02/08) : Lentil Soup & Chopping & Farm (please pack fruits)

Friday (02/09): Rice soup & Farm  (please pack fruits) 



Spring conferences are coming soon! They will be held during our school mornings on February 16, and 17. Please sign up for a time here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4BA8A92CA2F4C43-spring. 

If there is not an available time that is convenient for you, please email me and we will schedule a different time. Or if you would like to meet online, please let me know. Thank you!


Upcoming events and friendly reminders: 

  • 01/26 & 01/27: Soup day: Please bring one vegetable on Monday or Tuesday. We will wash the veggies and get them ready for the children to chop on Wednesday and Thursday. 

  • 2/4: Community Work Day / All-School Meeting–A Community Event

  • 2/15-2/17: Half Days and Parent Conferences

  • 2/20-2/24: Mid-Winter Break (No School)

  • 2/27: Teacher In-Service (No School)


Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti



Joyful Beginnings: January 9-13, 2023

Dear Joyful Beginning Families,

     Last week, we had so much fun in Joyful Beginnings. We started our day inside with circle songs and story time. The children are getting used to this new routine. On Monday and Tuesday, the children did watercolor painting with yellow color. On Thursday and Friday, the children glued blue and green tissue paper to decorate their watercolor paintings. They look awesome! On Tuesday and Wednesday, we celebrated Ben and Zen’s birthday. They brought many yummy treats. We are so grateful. 

  We also had shared snacks in our classroom last Tuesday and Wednesday. It will take young children a little while to get used to new food and flavors since they are still developing their sense of taste. Shared snacks will bring children a sense of warmth and it also helps to foster a sense of comfort and security in the world around them. We will continue with rice day and oatmeal day this week. Please pack a variety of fruits to supplement this warm shared snack on Tuesday (1/17) and Wednesday (1/18). 

     During outside time, the children had a great time building blocks, pushing trucks, walking on the stepping stumps, and playing hide and seek in our forest. We took a nature walk and visited the animals on Thursday and Friday. 

Joyful Winter Rhythm


8:45-9:00 inside drop off 

9:00-9:55 Circle time, activities, free play

10:00-10:30 snack 

10:30-12:00 forest classroom 

12:00-12:30 outdoor playground and pick up

Please remember to come to school on time!  

Also, we will make schedule adjustments when spring comes or whenever needed. 

Mark the date: February 4th is our All School meeting, please see the Main Messenger for more information . This is an event for our entire community and all families are asked to attend. We share in a soup bar, compliments of our faculty and staff, and focus on the State of the School. Please mark your calendars and plan to join us!

Upcoming events and friendly reminders: 

  • 01/26 & 01/27: Soup day: Please bring one vegetable on Monday or Tuesday. We will wash the veggies and get them ready for the children to chop on Wednesday and Thursday. 

  • 02/04: All School Meeting

  • 2/15-2/17: Half Day-Parent conferences


Thank you for sharing your lovely children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti


Joyful Beginnings: January 5-6, 2023

Dear Joyful Beginning Families,

Welcome back to school! We hope you had a wonderful and restful holiday break. 

We were so happy to see all the children! They were very excited to see their friends and play with friends in the class. We all shared some fun experiences we had during the holiday break. There are several changes in our daily rhythm; the children are adjusting well!  Once we all settle well in the new routine (with adjustments as needed), we will share our new rhythm with you.

This week, we will start our twice a week shared snack. We will share a rice dish on Tuesday and oatmeal on Wednesday. Please only pack some fruits in small containers on those two days. The Lunar new year is approaching and this year will be the year of the Rabbit. We will introduce a traditional Chinese New Year story in our story time. 

We are also going to celebrate Ben and Zen’s birthday on Tuesday and Wednesday. Happy Birthday, dear friends!

Upcoming events and friendly reminders: 

  • 01/16: MLK Jr Day of Service (No School)

  • 01/17: Rice Day

  • 01/18: Oatmeal Day

  • 01/26 & 01/27: Soup day: Please bring one vegetable the day before to be chopped at school by the children. 

  • 01/21: Open House

  • 02/04: All School Meeting

Thank you for sharing your sweet children with us and thank you for your support.

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti

Joyful Beginning: December 12-16, 2022

Dear Joyful Beginnings Families,

     We had a short but wonderful week in school! The children loved making candles with Mr. Matan and Ki. Ieva on Monday and Tuesday. We want to thank them for their dedication and help. On Wednesday, we celebrated Maxi’s birthday. He shared yummy and healthy snacks with us. We will miss Maxi very much! On Wednesday and Thursday, we visited the farm. We sent our holiday wishes to the cute animals.

     We are going to have three friends moving to kindergarten next semester. We will miss Nika, Amelia, and Shep, but will wave at them when they pass us by. We wish them all the best in their new adventure.

     Thank you so much for your continued support. The fall semester was full of magical experiences. We enjoyed every single minute with the children, and we are looking forward to having a fruitful new year with everyone. 

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

In January, we will be condensing our drop off window from 8:45 am to 9:00 am. This will allow us to head inside for circle at 9:00am and start our morning rhythm. If something unforeseen occurs and you arrive after 9:00am, please call the front desk at 770-765-2036 and Admin will come down to check in your child.

Upcoming events and friendly reminders: 

  • 12/19-01/02: Winter Break

  • 01/03-01/04: Teacher in Service

  • 01/05: First day of spring semester

  • 01/16: MLK Jr Day of Service (No School)

  • 01/16: MLK Jr Day of Service (No School)

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti




Joyful Beginnings: December 5-9, 2022

Dear Joyful Beginnings Families,

     We had a beautiful week in our classroom. It has been rainy and wet, but the children loved jumping in the puddles and cooking in the mud kitchen with the rain water. On Monday and Tuesday, the children used blue watercolor to paint. Mr. Brush missed the blue sky just like us and we hoped father sun would come out soon. 

  This month's story is called “Good Night, Baby Bear”. Mommy Bear, Daddy Bear, and Baby Bear lived in a warm cave in winter time. Mommy Bear and Daddy Bear lumbered into the forest to gather food while Baby Bear was playing in the cave. When Mommy and Daddy came home, they had yummy dinner together, and then they snuggled together to go to sleep. It is a sweet nature story about family love and the children really enjoyed it. 

     This week, we also brought warm herbal tea into our class for the children to have with their snack. On Wednesday and Friday, we celebrated Nika and Shep’s birthday! They shared many delicious birthday treats with us. Happy birthday! Also, we thank you so much for joining us for the Winter Spiral on Friday. It was such a beautiful event that brought peace and light to us. 

     Next week, we will celebrate another festival of light, Hanukkah, in the classroom with our friend Alma and her family. Her father, Mr. Matan, our Environmental Education and Woodworking teacher, will come on Monday and Tuesday to make candles with the children. Next Thursday, the grade level students will have an Assembly from 12:00-12:30 in the sanctuary. All families are welcome to come! Since 12:00 is normally our pick up time, you can bring your child to the Assembly with you to enjoy the songs, movement and verses each Grades class will be sharing.  

     Our good friend Maxi will move to another state in the new year. We are going to miss him very much but meanwhile we are excited for his new adventure. Next Wednesday, we will have an early birthday celebration for Maxi. We want to send all the love and best wishes to him and his family. 

Upcoming events and friendly reminders: 

  • 12/15: Last Day of Fall Semester: Grades Assembly

  • 12/16: Teacher in Service

  • 12/19-01/02: Winter Break

  • 01/03-01/04: Teacher in Service

  • 01/05: First day of Spring semester

Thank you for sharing your sweet children with us and thank you for your support.

Happy Holidays!!!!!

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti




Joyful Beginnings: November 29- December 2, 2022

Dear Joyful Beginnings Families

Welcome back to school! We hope you all had a great time with your families and friends. We were so happy to see all the children and they shared some fun experiences with us. We started our week by singing a new song in circle time to celebrate our upcoming festival-The Winter Spiral. On Monday and Tuesday, the children used wooden beads to create winter snowflakes. We practiced sewing and lacing in the fall time, which helped the children develop their fine motor skills. They all did a great job when making their snowflakes. We were excited to spend time in our forest classroom after being away for a week. The children had so much fun running, jumping, digging, and cooking in nature. As the children also missed the donkeys, goats, and the chickens, on Thursday and Friday we took a walk down to the farm and visited the animals. On Friday, we celebrated Johny Max’s birthday! He shared delicious treats with us. Happy Birthday!

Next Wednesday and Friday, we will celebrate Nika and Shep’s birthdays. Also on Friday, we will have our Winter Spiral walk. The Winter Spiral is a festival that we celebrate in Waldorf schools as the winter solstice approaches. We invite all of you to come to join us and walk with your child in our beautiful spiral at 12:00. If your child is in the two day program, please come a little early to allow yourself to walk to the designated spot in the forest. 

Upcoming events and friendly reminders: 

  • 12/9: Winter Spiral

  • 12/15: Last Day of Fall Semester

  • 12/16: Teacher in Service

  • 12/19-01/02: Winter Break

  • 01/03-01/04: Teacher in Service

Thank you for sharing your sweet children with us and thank you for your support. 

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti




Joyful Beginnings: November 14-18, 2022

Dear Joyful Beginnings Families,

It was another beautiful week in Joyful Beginnings. Last week, the weather was quite a bit colder. Thank you so much for dressing your children in layers. On Monday and Tuesday, the children used needles and yarn to finish up their Thanksgiving projects. In the past few weeks, we used watercolor to paint an apple, two leaves, and a pumpkin. Last week, the children laced them all together to create their beautiful fall garlands. They were excited to hang them up at home. On Thursday, and Friday, we celebrated two friends’ birthdays. We told a beautiful birthday story called “The Star Child”. Xavier and Amelia shared delicious birthday treats with us. We truly enjoyed them. Thank you! 

Thanksgiving is a festival to express our grateful thoughts and give thanks to the people we love. In circle time, we added a verse to celebrate this wonderful fall festival. Thank you so much for joining us at our class picnic on Friday. It was such an amazing time to get together with friends and families. We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving break. 

Our Thankful verse:

The earth is firm beneath my feet,

The sun shines bright above,

Here stand I so straight and strong to give thanks to all I know.

Thank you to the sky, thank you to the sea, thank you to the trees and beasts, and the air around me.

Thank you to the food I receive everyday and thank you to the people I love with my heart.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Upcoming events and friendly reminders: 

  • Please bring back your child’s slippers after Thanksgiving break.

  • 11/21-25:  Thanksgiving Break

  • 12/8 & 12/9: Winter Spiral

  • 12/15:  Last day of Fall semester

  • 12/16-1/4:  Winter Break

  • 1/5: First day of Spring semester

Thank you for sharing your sweet children with us and thank you for your support.

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti

Joyful Beginnings: November 7-11, 2022

Dear Joyful Beginnings Families,

We had a lovely week in Joyful Beginnings. The children continued to enjoy this beautiful fall weather and had a great time playing in the forest. The children cooked hot chocolate, soup, and cookies in the mud kitchen. We added some bean bag games before circle time. It is a great activity to help children develop eye-hand coordination. On Thursday and Friday, Ki Ieva helped set up the sanctuary for our lantern walk. The children did an incredible job during the walk. Each child held up the glimmer lantern we made in our class and walked through the sanctuary singing “I Walk With My Little Lantern” along. As they made their way through the quiet darkness all were reminded of how we work to carry our own lights, and in doing so, help us to light the way for those around us. 

This week, we will finish making our Thanksgiving art projects and we will practice a verse to show our gratitude to the earth and people we love.  On Wednesday and Friday, we will celebrate Jonny Max and Amelia’s birthdays.  On Thursday, we will celebrate Xavier’s birthday!

Upcoming events and friendly reminders: 

  • On big rainy days, please dress your child in complete rain gear or pack them in the backpack. If we come up to the small playground near pick up time, we aren’t able to change your child in time. Please prepare a towel and an empty bag in your car to help your child change if necessary. Thank you!

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

  • 11/18- Thanksgiving luncheon and half-day dismissal for all students. We will also celebrate Amelia’s birthday on this particular day and share her birthday treats for snacks. We recommend that you do not pack a snack for your child since we will have our Thanksgiving luncheon at 11:00 am. We invite you to join our class for a picnic on Friday. Please bring lunch for your family. The school will provide a sweet treat (gluten free/vegan options are available).  If your child is in the two day program, you are more than welcome to join us on Friday. The luncheon will last for one hour and end at 12:00. 

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

  • Before Thanksgiving Break, we will send the children’s inside shoes home for a wash. If your child has soft bottom slippers, we recommend you to switch them into hard/thick bottom inside shoes. If we have another fire drill in the cold weather, or any emergency that requires us to go outside immediately, your children will have warm solid support on their feet with hard/thick bottom inside shoes. Here is an example. 

Thank you for sharing your sweet children with us and thank you for your support.

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti

Joyful Beginnings: October 31- November 4, 2022

Dear Joyful Beginnings Families,

     It was another exciting week in Joyful Beginnings. The children all seemed to have fun together on Halloween. Last Monday and Tuesday, we used two watercolors to paint leaves to use as our Thanksgiving art projects. We started to sing new songs during our circle time. We learned the sweet lantern song “I Walk with My Little Lantern”, and introduced a new story which is called “George’s Lantern” to celebrate the Lantern Festival. On Thursday, we visited the farm. The path to the farm is covered by leaves. It was a joy to see the children running and jumping happily on the way to the farm. We also celebrated Henry’s 3-year-old birthday on Thursday. Happy Birthday, Henry! On Friday, we had a fire drill practice. All the children did a great job following the teachers to our designated safe spot. 

   This week, our class will go on a lantern walk in the school during the day. The Lantern Walk is a lovely, reverent event bringing to life for our little ones their role as a spark of light in the world. The lantern walk will be a beautiful, magical experience and the children will love it.  While this special event is for the children only, we encourage each family to take their own lantern walk on the evening of November 11th.  It can become a lovely family tradition as well, as together you walk outside, letting both your inner lights and your lantern lights shine out to brighten the world.   

Upcoming Events and Friendly Reminders:

  • 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

  • Before Thanksgiving Break, we will send the children’s inside shoes home for a wash. If your child has soft bottom slippers, we recommend you to switch them into hard/thick bottom inside shoes. If we have another fire drill in the cold weather, or any emergency that requires us to go outside immediately, your children will have warm solid support on their feet with hard/thick bottom inside shoes. Here is an example.

Thank you for sharing your sweet children with us and thank you for your support.

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti

Joyful Beginnings: October 25-29, 2022

Dear Joyful Beginnings Families,

We had a lovely week in our class. The weather was so nice last week, we truly enjoyed the warmth of the sun. Our forest is enchanting. When the wind blew, the children would look up to the trees and watch the leaves floating down. 

During story time, we introduced a cute story about a little fox who got hurt and was seeking help. First, he went to a beautiful fairy, but she could not provide help. The little fairy took the fox to the gnome king, unfortunately he was not able to heal him. Last, the fairy and the gnome king took the fox to a kind witch who was making a pot of brew. The witch picked up a mushroom and asked the fairy to put her wand and the gnome king to put his healing stone on the mushroom. Then the witch put the mushroom into her brew and stirred and stirred. After a little while, the witch shared a bowl of brew with the fox. The little fox felt so much better after drinking it. The fox thanked the fairy, gnome king, and kind witch, and decided to help protect earth with them. The children loved listening to this story. At the end of the week, our joyful friends found little bags full of mushroom shaped healing stones in our forest classroom. They were so surprised!

We were delighted to see you last Saturday during our Kingdom of Halloween festival. The event was magical, and the experience was incredible. We hope you and your children all had a great time. 

                                   Fun songs we have learned:

        Apple Tree                                                     Jack O’ Lantern

Shake, shake the apple tree,            Jack O’ Lantern, Jack O’ lantern, you are such a 

Apples red and rosy.                         Funny sight. 

Shake, shake the apple tree,            In the day you’re round and yellow, in the night 

Apples red and rosy.                         you’re filled with light. 

One for you, one for me, 

Shake, shake the apple tree,

Apples red and rosy. 

 

Upcoming Events and Friendly Reminders:

  • On Thursday, November 3rd, we will celebrate Henry’s birthday. Happy Birthday Henry!

  • We will have a late start on Tuesday, November 1st. The school will start at 10 am. Drop off is from 9:45-10:00. If you have any questions, please let us know. 

  • We will have no school on November 8th. 

  • Thanksgiving Break is from November 21st to 25th. 

Thank you for sharing your sweet children with us and thank you for your support.

Best,

Ki Siyu and Ki Priti