Meadowgarten: Nov 26-30

Hello Meadowgarten Families!

Last week was full of adventures for our Meadowgarteners.  On Monday, the students worked together to clear a spot in the woods for our new Base Camp.  The first spot we chose is prone to puddles when it rains so we chose a new spot that we hope will remain drier through wet weather.  We hope to add a tarp or other structure above our heads so that we can enjoy snack, foreign language and other activities, rain or shine! 

On Tuesday, we enjoyed a fire on the playground in the morning and ate our rice bowls in the sunshine at the picnic tables.  Rice bowls seems to be the crowd favorite when it comes to snack time! 

On Wednesday, the children discovered the first patches of ice throughout the forest.  This was extremely exciting for them and it was delightful to watch them engage in winter-inspired forest play!   We also made butter while in the forest and served it with bread and jam around the fire.  In the afternoon we washed and chopped veggies for Thursday’s soup.  It was fun to watch the children take pride in chopping their very own vegetables.  

Thursday and Friday were full of sunshine, leaf piles, fort building, and discovering fun forest creatures such as slugs, worms, bugs, a newt, and a bunny rabbit.  We took snack compost to the learning farm and had a nice visit with our animal friends.  We also started learning some fun, new winter songs. 

Thanks to all of the Meadowgarten families for bundling your children up for outdoor play.  Everyone was dry and comfortable through the changing temperatures this past week.

Please remember to send your child with an unwashed, uncut vegetable on Tuesday or Wednesday of each week. The students love looking for their own veggie in Thursday’s soup! 

Mountaingarten: November 26- 30

This past week has been a new fresh start for the children, as we have changed the schedule to ensure that the children are getting enough outside time. The children were able to run and play freely in the forest. The children jumped into mud, made fairy houses and forts, and used imaginative play with the rocks. 

With the class being outside during the snack we will be making most of the snacks on our campfire. On Thursday the children were able to eat potatoes made on the camp fire, and Friday the children were treated to pizza from over the camp fire. 

Friday the class had show and tell, and almost every student brought an item or told a story. A couple of the items include a T-Rex made of rock that was originally make in Pakistan, a first tooth, a turkey project, and a yoga bowl. 

Reminders:

This upcoming Friday we will have our assembly, and it will be half day. Per usual, dismissal will be outside, weather permitting.  

Teachers are asking to have assistance on Monday mornings at 7:30 for set up and Fridays at 3:00 pm for take down. 

Thank you, 

Ki Aja and Ki Fatima

Meadowgarten: Nov 12 - 16

Greetings Meadowgarten Families!

We hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing holiday with family and friends.  We are excited to hear about all of the adventures that were had by the children.  In light of the time off, we would like to offer a few important reminders as we jump back into the school routine.  

Please send your meadowgartener with two full changes of clothing.  If possible, please place the second change of clothing in a clear bag labeled with their name.  We will keep this change of clothes in the classroom to decrease the amount of items traveling back and forth from home.

 Also, even thought he forecast shows sunny skies this week, please still send your child with rain gear and an extra pair of shoes.  The forest may still be muddy and wet and we would like the children to be prepared for wet play each day!

We have noticed that the forest tends to be about five degrees cooler so please keep this in mind when dressing your child.  A heavy coat with layers underneath will ensure that the children are warm enough at all times.  

Lastly, please remember to send your child with an uncut, unwashed vegetable on Tuesday or Wednesday of each week.  We will chop these veggies together and enjoy them in our soup on Thursdays.  

Mountaingarten: Nov 12 - 16

The past week had been fun filled. The students participated in building blocks, marble painting, knitting finger chains, cutting up our vegetables, water color painting, turtle watching, and feeding the animals. 

The class celebrated Daniel's birthday, where the children were able to enjoy delicious brownies brought in by Daniel's mother. 

The students were told a story about Snow Rose. Who rescued her seven brothers from being swans by singing the ABC's. Monday through Wednesday the students were able to  listen to the story, and on Thursday they were able to reenact the story while the teacher narrated. 
 The children's imagination was running wild with stories for show and tell. Several of the students made stories up about animals, babies, Halloween, and snakes. A student brought a book about his favorite animal, the snake, while another student sang the ABC's. 
We want to thank the parents who came in on Friday for our Thanksgiving lunch, and brought in food to share with everyone. 

Reminders:
There were a couple of children not appropriately dressed for the weather. The temperature is very cold in the mornings when we go outside.  Emails have gone out to parents. Please ensure that your child is dressed for the cold weather.  

Fridays are show and tell, even during the half days. 

Mountaingarten: Nov. 5th - 14th

This past week was a lot of fun and very wet. The children participated in making cards for the soldiers, feeding the animals, cutting up vegetables, making their own little rolls of bread, felt necklaces and water painting and adding a touch of glitter. The children continue to enjoy their time with Ki Nina where they are able to relax with yoga prior to having rest time.  

Throughout the week we are able to play in the forest with meadowgarten and take nature walks where the children hunt for turtles in the pond. Some children enjoyed splashing in the puddles, and would make sure that they were covered from head to toe in mud.

The children were told the story of a red robin whose broken wing prohibited him from flying South for the winter. The bird continued to go to different types of trees, and each tree turned him down. When the Red Robin came to an Evergreen tree, the Evergreen tree let the bird in and kept him safe and warm for the winter. On Thursday the children were able to reenact the story that had been told to them, with the help of Ki Fatima as the narrator. 

On Thursday the children enjoyed a warm chamomile tea with their snack.

A new poem has been introduced to the children that they will continue to work on throughout the next couple of weeks:

Have you seen the wind?

Neither  you nor I.

But when the leaves are trembling. 

The wind is passing by. 

Have you seen the wind?

Neither I not you.

But when the tree bark bows its head. 

The wind is passing through. 

For show and tell the students brought in a pamphlet of snakes, an invention, a student brought a snack he had made, and a dinosaur tooth. 

Reminders:

All students must have a rain suit or a rain jacket and rain pants. If the student is not prepared for the rainy outdoor weather the parents will be called for them to bring in a coat or to pick the child up.

Please ensure that your child has an extra pair of clothing. It is preferred that there are 2 extra pair of clothes because some children are muddy prior to school starting. If they do not have an extra pair of clothing, and are muddy/wet parents will be called to come bring them extra clothes or to be picked up. 

Children should have at lease two pairs of shoes. Each child should have a pair of rain boots. 

Meadowgarten: Nov 5th - Nov 12th

Hello Meadow Families!

We've got a cold and wet week up ahead! Please drop your child off in their warm layers and rain gear. This makes our morning transition into the forest much faster. 

We will also be asking that each meadowgartener brings 2 changes of clothes for this week. We will be keeping one change of clothes at school for emergencies, so in the future, you will only need to bring one change of clothes to school. If possible, please send in a gallon baggie with their name on it. 

Our week started with some beach play and sand castle building which we haven't done since the weather's turned colder! But donned in our rain gear, the kids had a blast. We have spent our mornings in the forest- including our Spanish and snack- in rain or shine! We hung a tarp so we have a rain shelter when eating, and during snack, the children's discussions revolved around camping at school since we now have an outdoor "shelter"! Our classroom switch has given us more freedom because of its proximity to the bathrooms and ability to change muddy clothes easier.

We hope the pictures give a nice representation of our days at our beautiful school.

In good nature,

Ki Amy and Ki Amanda

Mountaingarten: October 29 - November 2

This past week was great. The kids were able to enjoy stacking and balancing rocks, feeding the animals, watering plants in the vegetable garden, having a nature walk, carpet weaving, painting activity with crafting tape, show and tell, and it ended with the Friday assembly where we were able to perform the Farmer Song. 

Monday through Wednesday the children were told a story about an old man and woman who were down on their luck and in order to make money they had to sell shoes. However, each morning when they awoke the shoes were made by little elves. On Thursday the children were able to become the characters and act out the story as the teacher narrated. 

We have introduced a new song last week which is called the "Tree Song." We will be introducing a new song this upcoming week as well as a poem.  

This week we are excited to start our nature table, where the children have already started to collect items from nature to put at the table. 

Reminders:

Please remember if you are signed up for snack please have the snack in the kitchen by 8:30 am, as it helps us with preparing for our day. 

Please have at least a light jacket for your child, as there have been multiple children coming down with a cold and having the sniffles. 

Please be sure your child brings his/her rest mat to school!

Thank you!

Warmly,

Mountain Garden

Meadowgarten: October 29 - November 2

Hello Meadow Families!

Going into this new week, please remember to adequately prepare your Meadowgartener for success outside! We generally spend more than half of our day outside, so please drop your child off in their rain gear if it is forecasted to be raining. Please note the photograph of Graham and Owen modeling perfect forest kindergarten gear! We will be calling if your child is not outfitted properly.

Last week was so fun, starting with some brisk mornings, campfires, and getting to explore some remnant of hay bales from KOH. In the forest, we chopped carrots, broke bread, and heard the story of the Little Red Hen. We've also seen a surge in kitchen/bakery type play in the forest and strong desires to build structures. Later in the week, the rainy days brought some fun water and mud play, ending our Friday with the assembly.

We have been working with the children during imaginative play on who decides which character each child can pretend to be. The language looks like this- "Sarah chooses who Sarah is, and Fred chooses who Fred is. Can Sarah be a kitty even if Fred wants to be a kitty too?" 

This week, we will be moving our nest space into our indoor location next to the kitchen and the Mountaingarten. We are excited to show the Meadowgarteners and for the rainy week ahead!

In good nature,

Ki Amy and Ki Amanda

Mountaingarten: October 22 - 26

Dear Mountain families,

We started out our week as we normally do, making delicious warm bread to enjoy with our homemade butter and olive oil zaatar dip. We cut vegetables for our soup, fed the animals, splashed in giant muddy puddles, and went for a splendid nature walk. We had fun with Meadow in the forest and inside we made colorful felt necklaces and we also had a pine cone craft. Also, we had another wonderful birthday celebration and enjoyed delicious cupcakes! Thank you Carol & Joaquin! 

Friday was our first day of show and tell and we are so happy with what the children brought in! We had musical instruments, a song, trophy, an insteresting stick, “heavens box”, and drawing of the class on a ship. 

The children heard a story about four dwarves who loved to make a lot of noise! Except one dwarf who sat so quietly in his corner and polished the stones they carved out of the cave until it turned shiny like crystals. 

By Thursday all the children acted out the play and it was a lot of fun to watch! 

Reminders: 

Please have each child bring in a maximum of two coats.

Please ensure each child has a wet bag.

Children are expected to be able to take off and put on their own shoes. Please refrain from bringing your child in with laces if he/she doesn’t yet know how to tie shoes. 

Toys found will be confiscated and later given to parents. Children are aware they should not be brought to school. 

Ensure your child is wearing their socks to school, as some have grown out of their inside shoes and others have lost them. 

If you are signed up to bring fruits & vegtables, please drop it off on the kitchen counter no later than 8:30 AM Monday morning. 

As it is the first Friday of the month this week, we will be having an assembly and half day this Friday. Also, although it is a half day, we are still having show and tell so please have your child prepare something to bring in! 

Kingdom of Halloween was a wonderful success. Thank you for all the parents have who helped and those who were able to show up! The costumes were delightful! 

Blessings,

Mountain 

Meadowgarten: October 22 - 26

Hello Meadowgarten families,

This week was full of new experiences for the Meadowgarten- we gathered materials, built a fire, and experienced our first day of pouring rain!

We learned about fire safety as we built our fire together. Meadowgarteners heaved over logs to build our barrier around the fire, as well as collected sticks, twigs, and kindling to feed the fire. No student is allowed to put anything into the fire, and there is always a bucket of water and a teacher while the fire is live. We gathered around and told stories and enjoyed each others company. 

We've also been collecting our compost at the end of the day to feed the animals, and learning about food waste. We talk about how are bodies are feeling before we decide how much food to ask for at snack time. 

This week, Meadowgarteners have started making their own journals (decorating the cover, hole-punching, adding pages) to keep in the classroom to draw and create in. After a sunny afternooon collecting pine cones, we created a nature garland with yarn to begin decorating the dome.

Some days, we will go straight to the forest from the playground. There is the compost toilet there, however, please ensure your Meadowgartener goes to the bathroom before drop-off- this would be very helpful. 

In good nature,

Ki Amy and Ki Amanda

Meadowgarten: October 15 - 19

Dear Meadow Parents,

This week was full of transitions! This was our first week co-teaching with the Meadowgarten and our flow of the day has been slightly altered with the cooler weather.

We were very busy this week making butter, shredding carrots, and celebrating Pipor with delicious homemade applesauce (Thank you, Candace!).

As the weather is cooling, please be sure children have enough clothes to keep them warm. Children who do not have proper attire for the cold will be sent home.

Also, please don't forget to check lost and found for any missing items, and a change of clothes and a wet bag is still required. 

Kindly,

Ki Amanda & Ki Amy

Mountaingarten: October 15-19

Dear Mountain Parents,

The past week went by smoothly and we are happy with the new changes to our daily rhythm. As mentioned before, we are parting ways with Meadow Garden after our morning circle. From now on, both classes will be returning to their home base after circle and will go back outside after second snack, returning to our nest for lunch. 

We had a very busy week! We made butter and used it as a spread on our zaatar bread rolls which we also made, cut veggies for our soup, made a salad with our cucumbers and tomatoes, and celebrated a birthday with delicious muffins (thank you Sarah!). We also went for a nature walk, fed the animals, painted with water color, sewed gnome hats, colored autumn trees with block crayons and glued leaves we found in the forest.

The children learned a story about a wise man who never told lies (we repeat the same story everyday for the week so the children have time to process and think about it) and by the end of the week our story developed into a play, where the children were able to act out the lines.

We have our good bye song that we are now singing at the end of the day with beautiful tune:

"Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye my friends

Until the day we meet again

We've had our laughs, we've had our fun

And the day is done

Goodbye my Friends."  

We also have a new song we sing to prepare us for the hall: 

"My hands are by my side,

I'm standing straight and tall,

my eyes are looking forward,

I'm ready for the hall!

Shh!" (Their favorite part)"

As the weather is cooling, please be sure children have enough clothes to keep them warm. Children who do not have proper attire for the cold will be sent home.

Also, please remember to pick up your child's rest mat at their end of the week. They will be outside next to the picnic table.

Several children are missing their inside shoes, if the shoes are still at home please remind your child to bring it with them to school. Also, if your child does not yet know how to tie shoes, please send them to school in velcro shoes or something else they can easily take on and off by themselves. 

Also, please don't forget to check lost and found for any missing items, and a change of clothes and a wet bag is still required. 

We are now going to have "show and tell" on Friday's, so please have your child find something from nature or something that he/she made to share with the class, it could even be song or a story!

Lastly, for parents signed up to bring the snack. In addition to the fruits, we will ask for a few vegetables to use in our soup. We will change up the soup every week so vegetables may vary. We plan to start this the first week of November. 

Thank you for reading this lengthy message! 

With Gratitude, 

Mountain Garden

Kindergarten: Oct 8 - 12

Hello Kindy families!

Although our days were cut short last week, it was still wonderful and full of good energy and activity. We didn't spend a lot of time in the creek as the water level raised over the weekend, but we did get to enjoy seeing how high the water could rise. 

We are very pleased with how the parent teacher conferences went, it's nice to touch base with parents and see the overall picture of the child and how he or she is doing! We hope to continue in this way. Thank you all for making time for this! 

As the weather is cooling and after observing at the Waldorf School of Atlanta last week, we've been inspired to make some changes to our schedule and daily rhythm. Meadow and Mountain will now part ways after our morning circle and spend more time as a class. We are very excited for these changes. We still plan to meet during forest time however! 

Warm Regards,

Kindy 

Kindergarten: October 1 - 5

Hello Mountain and Meadow families!

Last week was exciting as we introduced our new autumn song “The Farmer”. We also enjoyed making autumn decorations for our classrooms, we hole punched and strung squirrels, pumpkin, acorn, and fox cut outs and colored them as well. We also spent extra time in the creek since it was so warm outside and we were having fun. We made our bread, chopped veggies for our soup, and played a new game in Spanish called “pato, pato, ganzo”, or “duck, duck, goose.” We also loved seeing everyone’s performance at the Friday assembly. 

Thank you all who came to help during the Saturday workday. 

For parents who drop off fruits or vegetables, we would appreciate it if you could drop it off upstairs in the kitchen. Thank you :-) 

Mountain & Meadow 

Kindergarten: September 17 - 21

Well, the Kindergarten classes had a wonderful week last week! Everyone played a lot, got along swimmingly, and had a lot of fun. There was not a lot for us to do, it was almost like we weren’t even here! The week before was similar! (except we were actually here). 

Everyone seems to be settling into their rhythm and it has made the days move along with ease. We will be transitioning to some new songs in the coming two weeks as we move into fall (kinda), and the kindergartners show more and more enthusiasm and excitement for the circles. We are starting to do some fall-time crafts and we will be trying to get to the creek as much as we can before the days actually get cold (kinda).

The seasons are changing, and so is the early childhood program! We will be bidding a sad farewell to Ki Warren who will be officially stepping away after several months of health issues, and welcoming Ki Amy into the Meadowgarten full time. We'll also see Ki Amanda and Ki Ieva trade roles, so that Ki Ieva will be working with the toddlers and Ki Amanda will be joining the Meadowgarten. We know it's a lot of change, but these are all familiar faces and we'll be working with the children very consciously to make sure that their connections are honored during this transition. Please let us know if you have any questions!

We are excited to be back and hope everyone had a wonderful break!! 

- The Kindergarten Team

Kindergarten: Sept 10 - 14

This past week Mountain & Meadow celebrated dear McKenna's 5th birthday, we found tadpoles where the rainwater had collected inside a tarp in the forest, built a teepee house and broom of pine to go inside, enjoyed Spanish and Mandarin by the pond (where we will have foreign language from now on), and had a happy (and hot!) week over all. 

Thank you as always for bringing in the snacks and for those who came to the community work day this past weekend! 

Have a good week! 

Mountain & Meadow

Kindergarten: September 3-7

Dear Mountain & Meadow parents,

We had our first assembly of the year this past Friday and it was a true joy to see what the children have been working on thus far. We were very proud of Mountain and Meadow who did so well all throughout! 

We spotted a new frog last week, made a beeswax candle, gathered our favorite leaves in the forest, made necklaces out of yarn and leaves, and made our hands red and pink from squishing poke wood berries! 

We ran, jumped, splashed and played. It was a good week. We really missed Ki Warren and are happy he's back with us! 

Meadow parents who sign up for snack, please bring in snacking vegetables (any vegetable you can dip in hummus) instead of fruits from now on, this will provide for the children’s second snack, while mountain garden will provide the fruit snack. We’ve noticed there’s been a lot of left over fruit and we can use the vegetables for MWF second snack and our soup on Thursdays. As a reference, the children usually eat roughly 10 lbs of fresh veggies a week. Thank you. 

One last request, please put the children’s change of clothes in a labeled bag! 

Thank you all and may we have a wonderful week ahead of us! 

Mountain & Meadow

Kindergarten: Aug 27 - 31

Happy September! 

This past week was especially exciting because we got to splash and play in the creek every day! We spotted raccoon and deer tracks in the sand and little fish in the water. The children gathered stones in a wagon and piled them into the channel where water would flow, without any suggestion from us! This was followed by taking turns wheeling each other around in the wagon. We found wild strawberries in the garden, an ant colony living inside a tree, and seashells by the creek. We made sand angels, a forest salad, and placed our painted stones down the forest path.

Our days are feeling more attune to the "breathe in, breathe out" rhythm that we hope to achieve. We are still working around all the transitions, however. It often feels rushed, especially coming in for lunch, so we are trying to see how we can make things run smoother still. 

It's been really wonderful getting to know and understand each child and seeing how they view and respond to the world around them. We am learning a lot from them.

The children look out for each other and ask one another "are you okay?" or "why is he/she crying?" There is a natural tendency towards empathy and wanting to help the other.

If you tried to send an email to mountain@ or meadow@ in the past week and it didn't go through, please know it is because our emails was changed. The emails were supposed to be redirected to the new email address but since that wasn't working we are keeping the original email, so hopefully we will be able to receive your messages now.

Also, now that we've got the garden beds cleaned up, we would love to start gardening with the children! If you know where we may acquire free garden soil, please let us know! 

As always, your energy and commitment to the children, school, and our community is very much appreciated. I am learning everything starts at home, and I can see that each child is so loved and cared for and I sincerely hope we can extend that love and care when they come to school each day. 

With Gratitude,

The Kindergarten Teachers

Meadowgarten: Aug 20 - 24

Good Monday Families!! 

We had a wonderful week last week settling into our rhythm and exploring the wonders of our campus. We have started having our forest play with the other kindergarten class and will continue to combine our energies during this time and snack time as well. We saw lots of creatures this past week including; caterpillars, butterflies, skinks, tadpoles, turtles, fun bugs, skiddish chipmunks, and our wonderful garden animals. We are looking forward to this next week as we begin to make bread and crafts, explore the creek, and learn wonderful things along the way. 

Thank you to all of the parents who came out to the workday this past weekend! We accomplished a lot and it was wonderful to see the community working together to better our space. If you did not make it, no worries, there will be other days and many more ways to contribute! This coming week we will be in the creek so please remember to pack extra clothes and shoes that can get wet!

We have a new floor in our classroom! We are excited to see how that helps cool the space, as well as how that changes the nature of our play. 

Thanks for all of your wonderful energy! Enjoy your week! 

- Meadowgarten Class 

Mountaingarten: Aug 20 - 24

Hello Mountain families!

Another good week is behind us and we are looking forward to the next! 

We celebrated dear Maya's 4th birthday, picked elderberries in the garden, went for a walk down the art walk trail and gathered our favorite stones that we would later paint, chopped vegetables for our soup, crafted a God's Eye, made a wildflower bouquet for our classroom, touched strange caterpillars, and enjoyed the early morning breezes. We are excited Autumn is near. 

We're looking forward to start our seasonal garden now that the weeds have been pulled. Thank you to everyone who came to help during the community work day! And thank you for the fruit! And everyone who has helped in setting up and putting away our classroom. Your help is appreciated. 

Sincerely,

Ki Fatima & Ki Aja