Joyful Beginnings: November 15 - 19

Dear Joyful Families,

Last week we enjoyed late autumn in all of its glory. The children jumped in many crunchy leaf piles, and thoroughly enjoyed their new mud kitchen, made with love by the generous Brunk family (thank you again)! We had two new students visit our class this week, and the children enjoyed playing with them and showing them all “the ropes”. Our Friendsgiving was also a great success. The children shared dishes brought from home, and shared with one another what they were most grateful for by decorating our gratitude tree one by one. Friday was also a very special day that had us celebrating not one, but two birthdays! Johnny Max and Amelia both turned three and we celebrated them together in Joyful tradition. 

Thank you all for another beautiful week, and we hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving break! We are certainly grateful for you all. 

Reminders:

  • We need greenery for our Winter Spiral by Wednesday, December 1st! If you purchase a live tree over the coming weeks, please ask the store for the extra clippings (there is often a bin of free clippings to take). Please drop them off at carpool (or leave them next to the dome at any time!).

  • We will be accepting donations for Toy Shops for Must Ministries now through Friday, December 17. You can bring a new, unwrapped toy to carpool and a teacher will collect it for you. 

In gratitude,

Ki Jessica & Ki Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: November 8 - 12

Dear Joyful Families,

Last week we enjoyed celebrating Martinmas by kindling our inner light as the days grow shorter and colder. We shared a sweet story about a child who asks Father Sun for the last flames of autumn, which he keeps safe in a little lantern house. In the story, as in our class, the child fashions a lantern out of watercolor paper and blue and yellow paint, cuts tiny windows into the lantern, and places a candle inside. He then carries his lantern into the night singing sweet lantern songs. Last week, the children were sent home with their lanterns and invited to celebrate Martinmas at home with their families by having a simple lantern walk. If your family has not done so yet, we encourage you to celebrate! It’s an absolutely magical (and in my opinion, quintessential) early childhood experience.

This week is the week before Thanksgiving break, and we will be looking forward to a Friendsgiving celebration with the children at school! Please make sure to sign up to bring a contribution to the potluck. We are also celebrating the birthdays of two of our students before the break, Johnny Max and Amelia. This week is shaping up to be quite celebratory. Enjoy!

Reminders:

  • Thanksgiving break is next week.

  • Please consider donating nonperishable food items and personal care products for the Never Alone food pantry in Woodstock. Please follow this link to find a list of items most urgently needed, and to find the "Donate Now" button if it is more convenient or preferable for you to contribute in that way. 

In gratitude,

Ki Jessica & Ki Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: November 1 -5

Dear Joyful Families, 

Our week began with a beautiful celebration of Día de los Muertos thanks to the help and contributions from the Chavez family. We created an ofrenda, sang a traditional song, and enjoyed pan de muerto with the children. When the holiday was done, we brought our altar flowers to Liza’s loom to honor her memory. We intend to make this into a weekly ritual with our classroom flowers, so that we can help to actively maintain the loom.

Next week we look forward to celebrating Martinmas! The children have helped to make special lanterns which we will be sending home with them on Monday and Tuesday. We will tell a special puppet story on those days. You are invited to celebrate Martinmas with your children at home with a simple lantern walk. Songs are linked here for you all to learn, as well as this article to help inspire your at home celebration. 

Thank you for another beautiful week!

Gentle reminders:

-Please pack your child a pair of gloves and a hat every day.

-Please make sure your child has rain gear packed. The muddles are getting very chilly, and we want to keep the children as dry as possible!

-Coats for our annual Coat Drive can be donated all week during drop-off and pick-up.

With gratitude,

Ki Jessica and Ki Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: October 25 - 29

Dear Joyful Families,

What a beautiful week we enjoyed with one another in the Joyful Beginnings class! The theme of this week was all things pumpkin. The children created vibrant pumpkin paintings on Monday & Tuesday, wet-felted tiny pumpkins on Wednesday and Thursday, and joined in some very engaging pumpkin circle songs each day of the week. Our story for this week, “The Little Hobgoblin”, also revolved around our pumpkin theme. Thursday and Friday were very special “festival” days, which included delicious homemade pumpkin muffins, lots of singing and crafting, and a very special puppet journey through our forest! The puppet journey was essentially a treasure hunt that we led the children on in search of items that the mischievous hobgoblin from our story had hidden in the forest. One by one, we discovered baskets hidden throughout the woods, along with little puppets which led us on to the next clue. It was pure magic!

This week, we look forward to observing Día de los Muertos on Tuesday and Wednesday, thanks to the generous help of our co-op parent Samantha Chavez! We also quickly approach Martinmas this week, and will be preparing for that festival as well. The theme for the coming weeks will be all about kindling our inner light to guide us into the darker winter months. The children will help to make their very own lanterns in class which they will take home to celebrate Martinmas with you all. More information is soon to come.

Gentle reminder:

-please pack mittens and hats every day. It is getting cold!

 In gratitude,

Jessica and Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: October 18 -22

Dear Joyful Families,

I want to start off by thanking you all for your contributions to our Mother Goose scarecrow! She is nearly complete, and will be on display on campus. The children thoroughly enjoyed helping to stuff her with straw, and were so proud of their contributions!

This week was filled with many other creative moments as well. The children have become so inventive with the supplies that we bring down to the forested playground each morning. One day they strung yarn between two trees to make a spider web and used an Ojo De Dios weaving as its spider. Other days they made delicious cake recipes from dirt or spent much of their play time doing “yard work” and imitating our circle. They are exercising their creativity muscle in very resourceful ways! This is exactly the type of play that we encourage in the children in our care, and it shows us that the conditions in nature are just right for fostering active imaginations. That being said, we hope to have a mud kitchen and some other great things added in the coming days, so that the children can make the most of that beautiful space!

This week, we turn our attention to Halloween! We look forward to a small, age appropriate festival day on Thursday and Friday, complete with a festive snack, a nature inspired craft, and a puppet journey through our forest. While we ask for children to not wear costumes to school, we will have a fun filled celebration around this holiday!

It’s also been brought to my attention that the children are bringing home some of their favorite songs from circle time! To help further encourage that, we will be recording these songs for you and sending them out ASAP. Please keep an eye out for those in the coming days so that you have these sweet songs to enjoy with your children.

Reminders:

-It is chilly in the mornings. Please bring gloves or mittens for your child.

Have a great week!

In gratitude,

Jessica and Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: October 11 - 15

Dear Joyful Families:

This week brought with it a return of warmer weather and we were happy to enjoy it! 

We had many adventures on our walks through the forest. We collected unique treasures such as rocks, feathers, and, of course, mud! The children filled with joy as they listened to the squishing of mud beneath their boots. An ever fun game the children played this week was pretending to be stuck in the mud, only to jump out giggling wildly as we approached them to help! We also explored the beautiful autumnal hues of yellow and red through watercolor painting. The children became so focused and centered as they created their works of art. 

Next week we turn our focus towards Halloween, incorporating a few new circle songs, and a new puppet tale into our rhythm. We also begin collecting and assembling our “Old Mother Goose” themed scarecrow! We are excited to bring her to life with all your wonderful donations. A basket will be available every day at drop-off for your items. We will gather after drop-off on Wednesday the 20th and Thursday the 21st to assemble her. Please stay to help if you can!

A few reminders:

In gratitude,

Ki Jessica & Ki Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: October 4 - 8

Dear Joyful Families,

Our unofficial theme for this week was mud! The teachers and co-op parents who joined us watched on with glee as the children sloshed their way through puddle after puddle. A sweet and surprising highlight of the week was when one of the children fell face first into the mud and, instead of eyes filling with tears, their face lit up with the muddiest, lighthearted smile. Another highlight was witnessing two of the children adorn themselves with mud pie hats! Our outdoor time was spent with so much laughter and playfulness this week. 

We started a new story this week about Mother Earth’s Autumn blanket that she busily weaves to keep her children warm during the colder months. We also built upon our Autumn circle, adding songs to further support the change of season. It was such a treat to see the children fully engaged with our circle, including imitating some of our songs during free play. This week was rewarding for all.

Gentle reminders

- Please pack two changes of clothes and one change of shoes

- Please sign up to donate flowers if you have not done so.

- Our class will be doing a scarecrow build this month! Stay tuned for an email from our class rep, Brittany, regarding this.

- Fall Conferences are fast approaching.  Please see the link in the main section of the Monday Messenger.

Warmly,

Jessica and Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: September 20 - 24

Dear Joyful families,

It’s been a very inspiring week in the Joyful Beginnings class. It feels as though the children are really starting to form a harmonious group, where relationships are strengthening, and bonds are forming. We enjoyed the first days of fall with seasonal circle songs that reflect Mother Nature’s sudden change of pace. We jumped in puddles aplenty, collected autumn nature treasures, and explored different art mediums throughout the week. We closed with a most magical Michaelmas inspired Day of Courage, which had the children making golden crowns of courage, feasting on dragon bread, enjoying a special story about an exiled dragon, and hunting the forest for tears the dragon left behind! All in all, it was a wonderful week.

I hope you all enjoy fall break! If you plan to stay home during the break, I encourage you to keep a consistent daily rhythm with your child filled with lots of moments of warmth and magic!

Gentle reminders:

- As the mornings grow colder, please dress your children in several layers.

- Keep an eye out for a sign-up page to contribute flowers to our classroom each week.

- School resumes on October 4th

- Enjoy your break!

Thank you everyone for making these past few weeks so special.

In gratitude,

Ki Jessica & Ki Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: September 13 - 17

Dear Joyful Families,

We were blessed with another beautiful week in the Joyful Beginnings class. Initially, the heat was a force to be reckoned with, but by the end of the week, the children were fully enjoying their time outside in the wetter, cooler weather. We had our first rainy day of the semester on Thursday, and it was such fun to watch the children splash, stomp, and squelch their way through our muddy forest. These children are on their way to becoming expert puddle jumpers!

Next week, we welcome the addition of our wonderful Co-op parents, and the official start of Fall! We also look forward to a very simple Michaelmas celebration on Friday, complete with an age appropriate story of courage, a dragon tear hunt, and freshly baked dragon bread! Stay tuned on Transparent Classroom for more darling pictures.

Some gentle reminders:

- Bug spray every day

- Pack rain gear if there is a chance of rain; we recommend sending it daily

- 2 changes of clothes is ideal

- This Friday, 9/24, is 12:30 dismissal for all students

- Next week, 9/27-10/1, is Fall Break, there is no school that week

In gratitude,

Ki Jessica and Ki Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: September 7 - 10

Dear Joyful Families,

Each day this week we spent an hour exploring our forest. The children challenged themselves physically, and explored the environment using many of their 12 senses. Senses such as touch, movement, balance, smell, sight, temperature, hearing, speech, and thought were all engaged while outside. Nature truly helps to hold the space for them to explore these senses freely. A highlight of our week was when on a nature walk, a child said, “Stop! I have to dance” and proceeded to do a little happy dance in the woods. Joyful is indeed the right name for our class! We were also able to visit the farm each day this week to meet our animal friends and feed them lots of foraged greens.

Next week, we look forward to another birthday celebration on Tuesday for our classmate Lilia, and more opportunities to move comfortably into our daily rhythm. We work each and every day with the children to help them grow accustomed to what to expect in our class, and they are adjusting with much ease as we sing and move gently through our morning. We will also continue to offer the same puppet story this week, Frog and Rose, a sweet summertime nature story about a tree frog who helps to lull tiny rose bud babies to sleep with his song.

Please remember:

  • Apply bug spray every morning. It helps tremendously!

  • Dress your child in rain boots if possible, especially if it rained recently.

  • No marketed media/character depicted on clothing or gear, please.

  • Send snacks which include protein to help to sustain your child until pickup.

Thank you all for another beautiful week!

In gratitude,

Ki Jessica & Ki Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: September 1 - 3

Dear Families,

What a truly wonderful first week of school for the Joyful Beginnings class! The first few days were all about learning- learning about each other, our routines, and our surroundings. We learned how to participate in circle time, how to enjoy snack together, and even how to take turns by allowing one another a visit with our Garden Fairy and Busy Bee. The children easily transitioned from one activity to the next, and respected the boundaries that were put in place by their teachers. But most importantly, many moments of friendship and compassion were witnessed between these young classmates. It was truly a gift to behold!

At the beginning of next week, we look forward to a birthday celebration for our classmate Frankie, and hopefully some visits to the farm to feed the chickens! Our renewed goal this week will be to spend as much time in the forest as is reasonable for the children. We envision taking our art into the woods, and more muddy play! That being said, here are a few reminders to help keep the children comfortable, and help our morning run smoothly:

-please dress your child in rain boots in the morning, if possible

-please apply bug spray every day! (pants or leggings may also help prevent mosquito bites)

-please label everything, including lunch boxes

-pack a hat!

-please refrain from marketed media/character clothing 

Thank you for a fantastic first week!

In gratitude,

Ki Jessica & Ki Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: First Week of School

Welcome Joyful Beginnings Families!

Wednesday is our first day of school and we are so excited to get started! We have been busily preparing for our youngest students, and anticipate it to be a very vibrant school year filled with lots of joy and wonder.

As a reminder, we will be spending much of our days outside, so please be sure to pack a full change of clothes for your child, weather appropriate gear, two full bottles of water, and a nutritious snack each day. 

Drop off and pick up will be located at our outdoor play yard. You are welcome to park right in front of the yard and walk your child to us.

Our daily rhythm will be as follows:

9:00 drop off 

9:30 circle time

9:45 forest walk & story time

10:30 bathroom & snack

11-12 free play & craft

12:30 pick up

See you all soon!

In gratitude,

Ki Jessica & Ki Gabby

Joyful Beginnings: June 1 - 4

This is our last Monday messenger for this school year! Another successful year has come to a close. As you know, I will be taking a sabbatical leave during the next school year. I will miss seeing my students as they grow and flourish. 

Thank you, parents, for all the support and assistance! Thank you for bringing your children to school prepared to be outside, rain or shine! Thank you for being with us through the year and all it held for us as a school community!

The last theme that we covered focused on the sea and a starfish. Our story was about a star who wanted to live on the earth. The Moon helped her to fall into the sea and become the starfish. 

We also sang a song, A Big Sea Star, about the starfish:

A big sea star, a big sea star

Little cuddle clam, and a big sea star

A pufferfish, a pufferfish, 

Little cuddle clam and a big sea star

A pufferfish, a pufferfish, 

Little cuddle clam and a big sea star

A big sea star, a big sea star

Little cuddle clam, and a big sea star

On Wednesday, we celebrated Elijah's early birthday. Happily, we had his mom and sister with us already:). We had an intimate celebration.

We finished the week with a Joyful Beginning field day and a picnic. I was so happy that everyone came together to have fun for one last time before the summer. We played a parachute game and knocked over a tower of tin cans with a sponge. We dipped sponges in water and threw them around for lots of wet fun! Finally, we made a bubble wand that the students decorated with beads. Then, we spent time chasing soap bubbles and popping them before they hit the ground.

After school, we went to Ebenezer Downs Park for a picnic. Victoria’s mom had brought everyone ice cream and cupcakes. We finished the day with more soap bubbles, games, and fun.

Enjoy your summer!

With love,

Ki Ieva and Ki Brittany

Joyful Beginnings: May 24 - 28

We are getting close to the end of the school year and share both excitement and sadness as we think of it. This week we had fewer students than usual though we still had days full of fun and adventure! We continued with our theme of the pond. We had a new story, “The Little White Duck,” and a new song, “Slippery Fish.” Both will be added to our Google Classroom.

We ended up spending more time than usual around the garden where the children have such a lovely time. We were lucky to see a duck near the marsh and turtles in our little pond. As we were watching them, turtles were observing us back. During the week, we also spotted a frog. While playing near the garden, one of our students came across a rat snake, a usually helpful friend to have in a garden. The student who discovered it is fine; however, he did sustain a bite on his hand from the snake as it was hiding in the grass and bit him as it was accidentally frightened. Keeping our students safe is a priority, and therefore we will limit our play this last week of school to more wide-open, easy to observe areas.

Fishing poles still capture the children’s imagination and keep them happily engaged for long periods.  To this end, they made new fishing poles to catch the imaginary fish that abound on campus. In our art corner, we mixed two different media: crayons and watercolor. We drew crayon fishes on the paper and then covered them with the watercolor waves. This allows the fish to show through the paint, thus delighting the children. On Friday, we celebrated Paloma’s early birthday. Paloma’s mom helped us to celebrate her special day. We gathered at the picnic tables to hear our birthday story and crown our special student. 

Kindly,

Ki Ieva and Ki Brittany

Joyful Beginnings: May 17 - 21

Joyful Beginnings made the most of the beautiful weather this past week. We enjoyed our stories and circle time, as well as many outdoor wonders, as we continued exploring our pond theme. We had a new song about fishes and students worked on creating fishing poles. They had to find a long stick, and we prepared a rope. With help, the children tied their rope to their “poles” and then attached a large pine cone to the end. Now we were ready to go fishing!

Monday was class picture day. All the children were nicely dressed, and the girls were discussing their beautiful dresses. Everyone was excited to have their pictures taken. Our garden trip was more special because we were all so jazzed up. We had a pleasant surprise as Ki Derek was already in the garden and shared the animal feed with us. 

On Wednesday, we celebrated Asher’s birthday; happy birthday! It had been some time since our last birthday party. Asher’s mom joined us for our regular birthday ceremony. On our nature walk, a child from the kindergarten gifted Asher a bouquet of leaves that she had collected. That was a lovely, unexpected Garden School birthday surprise.

Friday, we had a small group of three students.  We had fun with our usual plans, though we missed our classmates.  We had planned a class picnic off-campus that day which we will now schedule for another day. The children who were able to join our class had fun playing together,  something they had not done as often.  It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know each other better.  Together they made a delicious chocolate soup with red chocolate. Yummy!

Next week, our routine will change a bit. We will have a daily visit to the farm. You are welcome to send an animal-friendly snack with them each day for the remainder of the year.  The animals love the fruits and vegetable treats (as do the children!), and feeding the animals is always something the class enjoys.  Thank you for your help!

Kindly,

Ki Ieva and Ki Brittany

Joyful Beginnings: May 10 - 14

Rain and puddles were our special Joyful visitors throughout the week. Thank you to all our families for sending your child/ren ready to tackle the weather. When the students come ready for anything, the days flow smoothly and joyfully.  The rainy weather’s many little gifts also helped the children enjoy our theme of the week - Ponds. We learned a new song about the speckled frogs which the children enjoyed very much. We also added a new story about the frog who was so deep into her play that she lost her way back home. This is a longer story for our class and we will continue to retell it into the next week. 

On Monday, we went on our usual walk to the garden to start the week. As always, we fed our farm animals friends and had some snacks for ourselves. This visit came with an extra adventure! As we were leaving the fenced area, one of our donkeys escaped along with us, apparently, she wanted to join our class too. The students started running about with our donkey which made things even more exciting (especially for the teachers!). Finally, we collected ourselves with the directions of “Stop, sit, wait”.  Once the class was sitting calmly, the donkey followed suit and went back into her enclosure. Looking back, this was a funny adventure for all involved. School is an adventure even for the teachers on certain days. :)

On Wednesday, we had a special puppet show about spring bunnies from a visiting teacher. It was a beautiful experience for our class. In our art classes, we were working with clay this past week. We needed some inhabitants for our pond. The students happily made five clay ducklings from our last week’s poem to swim on our pond. 

On Friday, our class had a lovely day together. Our day began with outside activities, then moved indoors for story, snack, and playtime, before taking a nature walk to finish our day.  We are already anticipating more fun next week!

Kindly,

Ki Ieva and Ki Brittany

Joyful Beginnings: May 3 - 7

Our weather played games with us this past week, and in turn, we played in all it offered in return. We also spent time working with the clay. During this activity, we listened to our Rainbow story. All the children made Sunshine fairies, Rain Cloud fairies, and Rainbow babies. Each student made a rainbow as well. You will be able to find the story in our Google Classroom soon. During the week, we started to transition from our Rainbow theme to our Pond theme. We had new poems about the ducks and garden snails.

We spent Monday inside our classroom, safe and snug from the thunderstorms.  We sang songs, listened to stories, and played games.  We missed our outside time, but certainly had fun just being together. 

On Wednesday, we went outside to take inventory of the thunderstorm. The students found puddles that seemed as big as small oceans to them. Everyone put their explorer hats on and waded into the waters. We were wet and happy! Thank you rainstorm! During our outdoor walk, we also found little snails. The children started building homes for these new little friends. We also found an earthworm and we made a home for the worm as well.  Helping those around us, even the smallest of creatures, is a wonderful experience.

We ended the week full of fun and sunshine.  It was our half day, and while we skipped our nature walk, we spent most of the day outside in our sweet, little playground. The children climbed, swung, sanded rounds of wood, used the disks for many imaginative games, picked the wild flowers in reach, and enjoyed a happy, peaceful end of the week. 

Our school auction, Hope Blooms, was a wonderful experience for all involved.  Thank you to all of you for donating, participating, and helping to make it a success both in-person and online!  

Kindly,

Ki Ieva and Ki Brittany

Joyful Beginnings: April 26 - April 30

We had an exciting week. The theme is still Rainbows which will be our longest-running theme this school year. Our week was as colorful as a rainbow! The only thing missing was seeing a rainbow in the sky, but with such sunny weather, how can we complain! :)

The week started with a new attraction - a big puddle in our playground. We got wet and dirty straight away! Unexpected puddles can bring so much joy and fun!  Later, we went to feed our animals. Our new goats are becoming much bolder and are not shying away from us. This week we saw them standing on their hind legs and munching on the leaves from the lower branches. The class watched with full attention and found that quite funny! 

We also worked to expand our playground garden. The students got their hands dirty planting sunflower seeds. We will add them to our collection. Our strawberries are already starting to appear on the plants. The class is having to be patient and let the berries ripen before they can eat them. Since there wasn’t enough water coming from the skies this past week, on Friday we watered the garden ourselves and had fun doing so. 

Please join us this Friday if you are able. We are looking forward to seeing you on Friday evening to preview all the wonderful items that will be auctioned. You can purchase your tickets here to pick a time slot. All participants, whether joining us in person or online, will require a ticket to bid! Bidding starts Friday at 5:30 PM and ends Saturday at 12:00 PM. The proceeds benefit our school and therefore our entire school community.  Your participation in our first annual school auction is boundlessly appreciated!

Kindly,

Ki Ieva and Ki Brittany

Joyful Beginnings: April 19 - 23

The weather continues to treat us nicely: not too hot, not too cold. It’s been wonderful to be at school together!

We are continuing with our Rainbow theme. There are so many beautiful songs and poems about Rainbows that this kept us from moving on to our next theme. We introduced a new song and movement poem this week which will be posted to our Google Classroom. We also have new Rainbow decorations in our indoor classroom. For our art project, we used crayons to draw lovely rainbows. As always, the students enjoy outlining their cute hands. 

We introduced a new activity this week on Monday and Wednesday. We now have a box of wooden disks and have begun using sandpaper to sand them until they are smooth. The children enjoyed this activity. It is a fun way for them to exercise their small motor skills and all the students loved the smooth surfaces of the sanded discs.

We continued with our assigned class chore - watering the plants in the garden at our farm. While watering, we noticed that our strawberry plants already have few berries on them. The berries are still green, so we have to be patient and wait until the berries ripen.  

Thank you to Ki Derek for fixing our rocking horses.  The horses are in high demand and all enjoy riding them. This gives us another great opportunity to develop our patience as we wait for our turn to use the horses.

The students love feeding the animals, however, they also seem to love feeding themselves at the same time!  Growing bodies are hungry bodies and we have noticed the students want to eat the treats for our farm animals right along with them.  Going forward, we are asking families to please pack their child a small Monday snack for our animal visit. Ideally, this snack is something that both your child and our animals would love. Packing fruits and vegetables have the benefit of satisfying your child’s hunger in a healthy way and the leftovers can be shared with the animals. We will be sure to wipe our hands clean before our snack. 

Friday, May 7th is our school auction, Hope Blooms.  Please buy your event ticket at www.fundraiser.support/hope to bid on the many wonderful class projects and donated goods we will have to offer.  You may join us in person that evening.  Bidding will take place online, so if you are unable to attend in person, there is still an opportunity to participate.  We hope you can join us to support our wonderful school!

Kindly,

Ki Ieva and Ki Brittany

Joyful Beginnings: April 12 - 16

Spring is in the air!  All the students were happy to be together each day. It was easy to see their happiness! There was so much excitement in our classroom. The weather was beautiful and our outdoors had blossomed during our break. Overall, the whole week had almost perfect weather: not too cold, not too hot. We shall see how long it holds before the sun’s rays become stronger. Every day we started by watering our plants and flowers. As the week progressed, we also started watering each other.:) We should be growing tall as sunflowers after all this fun.

The theme of the week is "Rainbows". Our story was about a very special cat who had colorful spots on his fur. These spots were changing after each pie the cat ate. Our rainbow song had rain, sun, and the rainbow itself. By the end of the week, we were accompanying the song with the musical sticks.

We started the week visiting our animals on the farm. Over break our students had missed our sweet, young goats and the goats had missed them. The goats are still a little shy, but our class compensates by being bold and welcoming. On Wednesday, we spent some time in our art pocket. The children used crayons to explore part of the Rainbow pallet. What lovely and colorful drawings they created. This Friday, we pulled out our watercolors which we hadn't enjoyed for some while. We used yellow and blue to paint our pages. As we painted them, the pages turned into green grassy meadows for our special white sheep.

We have begun the process to find our new Joyful teacher for the coming school year. Our candidates first spend time observing our class and getting to know our students and our rhythms. Next, there is the opportunity to join us again and lead and guide our class with their current teachers alongside. The search for our new Joyful teacher is endeavoured with care, thought and patience to find the right candidate for our school.

This was a very lovely week in our Joyful class. Everything was humming along nicely!

With kindness,

Ieva and Brittany