Joyful Beginnings Hummingbirds: May 11-15, 2026

May 14

Dear Joyful Beginnings Hummingbirds Families,

The end of the 25-26 school year has been full to the brim with sunshine and gratitude. As the children prepare to depart from the forest for summer, the story of the hummingbird nest has held their little hearts. Without need for any explanation, the children feel the significance of the story. One child asked each day since first hearing the tale, “Do we get to hear the hummingbird nest story again?” - sweet confirmation of the deep inner resonance they experienced with the theme of some birds flying up, up, and away, while others stay a while longer, all with the assurance that the nest remains despite any distance.

These final days offered a few opportunities for novel experiences as well, including the children squeezing paper pulp in their hands before sifting it through screens to make their very own paper. Thank you to Rosemary’s family for the time and care it took to bring this beautiful activity to the Hummingbirds.

The children also enjoyed a “fancy” tea party by the pond, complete with an antique silver teapot holding blooming litchi tea that we watched unfurl in the warm water, along with fresh flowers, bread, and honey butter. After a year of contentedly making mud pies, breads, and cakes with whatever treasures the forest offered (be it pinecones, dry dirt, sticky mud, or pine straw), the children enjoyed elevating their culinary creations with special ingredients such as dried roses, fresh flowers, glitter, and candles. All of this, topped off with homemade strawberry sorbet and their beloved stuffies along for the ride at school, has made for a school year finale that has been every bit as whimsical and wondrous as the Hummingbird children themselves.

Before we depart, we must offer a most heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you for making this school year so full of life and love. Thank you for encouraging and supporting us as teachers, for finding childcare and showing up for community events, for partnering with us through the ups and downs of your children’s development and needs, and for helping make the Hummingbird class community such a warm and welcoming place to be.

We also thank you, Tricia, from the whole class community, for your fearless leadership as class representative. Not one bit of your heart or effort went unnoticed, and this year would not have been the same without you. We appreciate you and your lovely, growing family.

Lastly, Ki Angela and I truly cannot thank you enough for sharing your children with us. The privilege of knowing and guiding them during these most tender days is not lost on us. They are joy and wonder and goodness, and we carry each of them deeply in our hearts as they journey onward. Have a love-filled, light-filled, laughter-filled summer.

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