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Solstice Stroll
Happy Winter Solstice everyone! 

Friday we had an incredible turnout for our annual Solstice Stroll. It was great to see all of the children and families out to parade around town on a fairly "unwinterlike" evening. Lanterns lit the way for another moment to connect with the MVS community. Thanks again to all for coming out to join the fun.



Did you catch a glimpse of "Pearl?" She was the official lantern to memorialize the late Goalie Sticker Fish, the Pre-K Beta fish who passed away last month. 


Upcoming School Closures
As holidays approach, we have a couple of school closures to plan for. 

This week we are closed on December 24th and 25th, reopening on Monday December 28th. 

Next week we are closed on Friday December 31st and January 1st, reopening Monday January 4th. 

Happy holidays to all who celebrate. We hope you enjoy the time with family and friends. 

Classroom Happenings
Infant I: A classroom with lower attendance last week allowed for even more one on one time with the children, which we really enjoyed. We spent time painting and prepping lanterns, which was a great sensory experience. The class continues their trend of lots of socialization, they are certainly interacting with each other at a much higher rate than the teachers, which is new! Overall in terms of movement and mobility, we are observing the children utilizing the whole of the room, and even trying out the larger climbing structure in Infant II.

Infant II: We were in a full focus on Solstice Stroll last week between talking about the parade, painting lanterns and practicing songs, it was all we could think about! But, in other news, we spent extended periods of time playing with the sand in the sensory table. Additionally, we are seeing greater independence in the children dressing themselves in their snow clothes! We are hearing a lot of "I got it" and "I did it." The younger children are really studying the clothing items and investigating the process of getting dressed.

Toddler I: We spent last week breaking into small groups with one group outdoors and one group indoors, with a mid-morning rotation of those groups. This has helped keep a calmer tone for the day and allowed for more personal interactions with the teachers. We have also focused on the tasks and jobs of our room in the past week and will continue to do so. Some examples include: proper hand washing procedures, putting things away, sitting on the potty, and putting out our napping cots (the children do this independently and with great teamwork!). Last week we also talked about the changing seasons and created our lanterns.

Toddler II: The class worked hard in contributing to the construction of "Pearl," seen above. The children collected the sticks for the frame and bent the wires to hold it together. There were a few times in the week where independent free play was exceptionally engaging, and we opted to skip circle because of that focus. In the classroom, our winter conversations have played out as the children stand atop the wooden blocks and pretend to ice skate. In the sensory table, pom poms, small bottles and tongs provided opportunities for the children to solve problems and experiment independently. Outdoors, a lot of time was spent balancing high up on the new ropes near the back hill. 

Pre-K: Business is booming in the MVS Pre-K Hair Salon. This area of the room continues to be of high interest for dramatic play. We worked on prepping lanterns and practicing the songs for the Stroll (and it really paid off!). A lot of children have been spending time up at the mountain for ski and snowboard lessons, and we are talking a lot about this activity. We are reinvigorating our mantra of being kind and gentle to everyone and everything. We've seen a slight uptick in pushing among the Pre-K, and we are focusing on kindness and respect/safety for our fellow classmates. 

As Seen at MVS





Thanks for Reading!
-Sam 

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