Kindergarten Turtles: January 26 - 30, 2026
Greetings, Turtle Families,
Our story, this week and last, was the Ukrainian folk tale, The Mitten. The students love this sweet and silly adventure story. We enjoyed both a puppet show and a play of our story. The children watched with rapt attention as the puppet show unfolded, each animal huddling into the mitten as it stretched… and stretched… and stretched. During the play, giggles filled the room as the students played the parts of grandmother and child, and the varied forest animals who were squeezing into the cozy mitten. It was especially fun when the bear sneezed, the mitten flew into the air, and all the animals tumbled out. There was laughter from the whole class as Nikki showed his grandmother that he still had both of his mittens, “one was the size of Nikki’s hand, and the other was the size of Nikki.”
Early in the week, ice was everywhere in our forest class! The children had fun sliding on it, breaking it, collecting it, and incorporating it into their imaginative play. They spent hours trying to extract chunks of ice from mud kitchen toys, shaving it with hand shovels and scoops to “make snow”, and creating elaborate mud kitchen recipes.
These icy conditions bring our circle songs to life. Jack Frost feels very real now, and the children love pointing out the sparkling frost on the grass as we walk to our forest classroom:
Jack Frost is very small.
I’m sure he’s out today.
He is busy pinching me
When I go out to play.
Little Jackie Jack Frost pinched my nose
Little Jackie Jack Frost pinched my toes
I ran into the house and shut the door
So little Jackie Jack Frost couldn’t pinch me anymore.
On Tuesday, we celebrated Ripley’s 5th Birthday. Ripley’s parents and little sister visited our class and shared memories from her birth and each year of her life. Classmates, teachers, and parents shared a wish for the coming year. Happy Birthday, Ripley!
Announcements and Reminders:
We hope you will join us for the Early Childhood Curriculum Morning on Saturday, February 7 th, at 11:00 a.m. We will finalize our plan, begin work on our auction project, and we will learn about the four temperaments. The Curriculum morning will be followed by the All School Meeting at 12:30 p.m. Please RSVP here so we can get an accurate head count.
Golden Knights Homework: Golden Knights practiced tying and untying knots during handwork last Wednesday. They brought their piece of yarn home with them and should practice tying knots until the string is too short to continue tying, and then untying all of the knots. Once they can tie and until all of the knots themselves, they are knot masters! Even knot masters should continue to practice, as this activity strengthens fingers and builds finger isolation, important skills needed for writing and drawing in First Grade.
February 7: Early Childhood & Grade Curriculum meeting at 11 am & All School Meeting (Spring) at 12:30 pm
February 12: Lunar New Year Performance 2:30 pm (all families welcome)
February 16-20: Mid Winter Break (No School)
February 23: Teacher in Service (No School)
Thank you for sharing your children with us and for being part of our community.
Grace and Peace
Ki Kim
