Solstice Stroll
We braved the cold and illuminated our path through town for another successful Solstice Stroll! Thanks to everyone who came out to join us last night, we hope you enjoyed the songs, giant snow hill, accidental carolers, and the potential Santa sighting. Winter now is here!
Holiday Closures
One additional reminder of our holiday closings:
Closed Wednesday December 24th, Thursday December 25th and Friday December 26th. We will reopen on Monday the 29th as usual.
We will close once again on Thursday January 1st to celebrate the New Year, we will reopen the next day, Friday January 2nd.
Creativity: The Missing Link?
Your weekly food for thought comes to us via blog entry by Nuria Perez Paredes. We all want our children's creativity to flourish, but what are the best ways to allow for brazen, unfettered creativity? Check out her piece here.
We appreciated the focus on mindfulness and kindness, and maybe most importantly the idea of doing things because they are enjoyable. Sure, teaching responsibility is an important aspect of what we do here at school; we ask the kids to complete tasks that benefit the community (think: cleaning up spills, helping feed the bunnies, assisting with the laundry) and we believe that children can and should feel the value in chores. But there is the potential for kids to be creative in all aspect of their lives, if we only let them. From art projects, to imaginative play, to putting away socks in the sock drawer…the possibilities for fun can be endless, if we follow the child's natural propensity towards ingenuity, imagination and wonder. Maybe a reminder we could all use at this busy time of year!
Classroom Happenings
Infant I: There have been numerous art projects this week, and work with both glue and paints. (Talk about creativity!) In the classroom, the babies had fun with large boxes they could crawl into or on top of. Overall, the class seems to be enjoying the time outside a bit more and becoming more acclimated to the cold and wet weather.
Infant II: A goal for the students in Infant II is increasing self help skills. One way the teachers have been promoting this is with independent hand washing. A way that parents can help with these self help skills is at drop off time. Before entering the classroom, the teachers ask that your child put on their indoor shoes, and then proceed to the bathroom where the child should independently wash their hands. If you have questions about this procedure, don't hesitate to ask! The Infant II crew also enjoyed the textures of a fallen pine branch on the front playground. They felt the sap, branches and bark, and wanted to protect the branch from harm.
Toddler I: Hooray for mittens! Hannah and Melissa want to give a huge shout out to parents, as all of the kids have great mittens that are staying on and keeping hands warm. The children were happy to paint and prep their Solstice Stroll lanterns in class this week. Outdoors, the youngest children are getting better and better at balancing and walking on the ever-changing snow conditions on the back playground. AND, we are happy to report that 100% of the class can flip their coats to put them on, and point their toes to put their boots on. Ask them to show you!
Toddler II: The children embarked on a multi-day art project in completing their Solstice Stoll lanterns, a newer concept for them in taking a project from the starting phases to completion. New dress up clothes have arrived in the classroom including skirts, hats, scarves, ties and some small cameras. These have been a BIG hit. As heard while playing with the cameras: "Say cheese, I love you!" The kids also did a bit of an experiment with pinecones they collected. They exposed the pinecones to heat and talked about what changed. (Ask them what happened!)
Pre-K: In preparation for the Solstice, the class did a lot of talking about light, winter, and how the seasons change. They also worked hard on their winter songs. But, lest you think they class has forgotten about beavers…well, I'm here to tell you, they have not. This week the students completed the final section of their KWL chart, which is what they have learned about beavers. Did you know beavers have two sets of eyelids? One for swimming and one for sleeping. Jen is working on putting all the beaver basics into a book for the class.
As Seen at MVS
Thanks For Reading
See you on the playground for our short week! -Sam
We braved the cold and illuminated our path through town for another successful Solstice Stroll! Thanks to everyone who came out to join us last night, we hope you enjoyed the songs, giant snow hill, accidental carolers, and the potential Santa sighting. Winter now is here!
One additional reminder of our holiday closings:
Closed Wednesday December 24th, Thursday December 25th and Friday December 26th. We will reopen on Monday the 29th as usual.
We will close once again on Thursday January 1st to celebrate the New Year, we will reopen the next day, Friday January 2nd.
Creativity: The Missing Link?
Your weekly food for thought comes to us via blog entry by Nuria Perez Paredes. We all want our children's creativity to flourish, but what are the best ways to allow for brazen, unfettered creativity? Check out her piece here.
We appreciated the focus on mindfulness and kindness, and maybe most importantly the idea of doing things because they are enjoyable. Sure, teaching responsibility is an important aspect of what we do here at school; we ask the kids to complete tasks that benefit the community (think: cleaning up spills, helping feed the bunnies, assisting with the laundry) and we believe that children can and should feel the value in chores. But there is the potential for kids to be creative in all aspect of their lives, if we only let them. From art projects, to imaginative play, to putting away socks in the sock drawer…the possibilities for fun can be endless, if we follow the child's natural propensity towards ingenuity, imagination and wonder. Maybe a reminder we could all use at this busy time of year!
Classroom Happenings
Infant I: There have been numerous art projects this week, and work with both glue and paints. (Talk about creativity!) In the classroom, the babies had fun with large boxes they could crawl into or on top of. Overall, the class seems to be enjoying the time outside a bit more and becoming more acclimated to the cold and wet weather.
Infant II: A goal for the students in Infant II is increasing self help skills. One way the teachers have been promoting this is with independent hand washing. A way that parents can help with these self help skills is at drop off time. Before entering the classroom, the teachers ask that your child put on their indoor shoes, and then proceed to the bathroom where the child should independently wash their hands. If you have questions about this procedure, don't hesitate to ask! The Infant II crew also enjoyed the textures of a fallen pine branch on the front playground. They felt the sap, branches and bark, and wanted to protect the branch from harm.
Toddler I: Hooray for mittens! Hannah and Melissa want to give a huge shout out to parents, as all of the kids have great mittens that are staying on and keeping hands warm. The children were happy to paint and prep their Solstice Stroll lanterns in class this week. Outdoors, the youngest children are getting better and better at balancing and walking on the ever-changing snow conditions on the back playground. AND, we are happy to report that 100% of the class can flip their coats to put them on, and point their toes to put their boots on. Ask them to show you!
Toddler II: The children embarked on a multi-day art project in completing their Solstice Stoll lanterns, a newer concept for them in taking a project from the starting phases to completion. New dress up clothes have arrived in the classroom including skirts, hats, scarves, ties and some small cameras. These have been a BIG hit. As heard while playing with the cameras: "Say cheese, I love you!" The kids also did a bit of an experiment with pinecones they collected. They exposed the pinecones to heat and talked about what changed. (Ask them what happened!)
Pre-K: In preparation for the Solstice, the class did a lot of talking about light, winter, and how the seasons change. They also worked hard on their winter songs. But, lest you think they class has forgotten about beavers…well, I'm here to tell you, they have not. This week the students completed the final section of their KWL chart, which is what they have learned about beavers. Did you know beavers have two sets of eyelids? One for swimming and one for sleeping. Jen is working on putting all the beaver basics into a book for the class.
As Seen at MVS
Thanks For Reading
See you on the playground for our short week! -Sam