WINTER STARS

I stood beside a hill
Smooth with new laid snow
A single star looked out
From the cold evening glow
There was no other creature
That saw what I could see
I stood and watched the evening star
As long as it watched me

Sara Teasdale

Wishing you warmth and peaceful holiday celebrations...

A GRAIN A DAY

Here's a copy of our new weekly menu which may include some or all of the items listed for each day:

Monday
grain: rice
color: purple
rice cakes, almond butter, grapes
steamed rice with beans or tamari
rice cereal with maple syrup

Tuesday
grain: oats
color: red
oatbars, apples
oatmeal with strawberries
oat bread or muffins
red bell peppers, tomatoes
chips and salsa

Wednesday
grain: millet
color: yellow
millet squares, bananas
fresh baked bread, butter, raisins
Dr. Sears fruit smoothie

Thursday
grain: barley
color: orange
stone soup day with vegetables and barley
cantaloupe, oranges, carrots with hummus

Friday
grain: rye
color: green
rye crackers and cheese
pears, kiwis, grapes
celery, broccoli, green beans with veggie dip or peanut butter

We give our children a special gift by introducing them to whole grains, especially in a simple cooked form.
Beginning in January we will be reading the story of Stone Soup. Thursdays will be soup day and each child needs to bring in a container of their favorite vegetables to add to the soup. We will all be making the soup together before lunch.

NEW DATE FOR LANTERN WALK

NOVEMBER 21 IS THE NEW DATE FOR OUR LANTERN WALK.
FRIDAY EVENING BEGINNING AT 6:30 WE WILL HAVE SNACKS, FOLLOWED BY SINGING AND A WALK WITH OUR LANTERNS.
I HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THEN, HOWEVER, IF YOUR SCHEDULES ARE CONFLICTING, PLEASE KNOW THAT THERE WILL BE AT LEAST ONE GET TOGETHER LIKE THIS EVERY SEASON.

MONDAY MUSIC

Mondays are music day and the children enjoyed a variety of musical instruments including drums, tamborines, shakers, mallets with clacking blocks, maracas, and more.
We also set up an arrangement of blocks angled in different ways to explore the many notes and sound possibilities that happened when we hit them.

What we listened to today:
Putumayo Presents Latin Playground
Lullabies of Latin America

Books we read:
I'll Always Love You by Paeony Lewis
Brian Wildsmith's ABC
Daddy's Lullaby by Tony Bradman
Baa Baa Black Sheep by Iza Trapani
One Grain of Sand a Lullaby by Pete Seeger

We worked with the soft shape sorters and talked about circles, triangles, and squares.
Hiding small stuffed animals around the living room, we played hide and seek asking "Where is the puppy?" and then it would come out and "say" its sound.
We rolled ping pong balls through paper towel tubes, arranged felt shapes onto a flannel board, crawled through "tunnels" made from big cardboard boxes, stacked paper cups on top of each other, and watched the effects of different colors in buckets of warm bubbly water with a variety of sponge shapes.

Do you have an idea for a special activity or seasonal celebration?
Your suggestions are always welcome here.
Lantern songs were practiced and new fall circle songs were introduced as well.

With warmth....

It Feels Like Fall

It really feels like fall today!
We enjoyed many new fall songs, balls rolling down wooden ramps (which Luna especially liked), walking and stomping through the crunchy leaves, and rolling the ball back and forth to each other. Lying on our backs for a few minutes in the grass brought mesmerized wonder at all the breezy wind blowing the leaves down. We talked about soft leaves, crunchy leaves, rolling the ball slow and rolling it fast, still quiet and blustery loud.

One is a giant who stomps his feet
Two is a fairy so light and neat
Three is a mouse crouched down real small
And Four is a GREAT BIG BOUNCING BALL

Having fun as always with these wonderful little souls...

THE APPLES

"What hue shall my apples be?"
Asked the little apple tree
"That is easy to decide;
Have them green," the grasses cried.

But the crimson roses said,
"We should like to see them red,"
While the dandelions confessed
Yellow seemed to them the best.

When the apples were all ripe,
Many wore a yellow stripe.
Some were red and some were seen
Dressed in coats of softest green.

Lee Burns

What we ate today:

Baked apple pancake
Peanut butter, crackers, cheese, and cranberries
Minestrone soup

Thankyou to Amy and Beth for donating new books for our reading enjoyment this week.
Moo, Baa, La La La
Everyone Poops
What Shall We Do With the Boo-Hoo Baby?
The Very Busy Spider

We played in the rain today, made apple tree pictures, built many towers and knocked them down, sang our lantern songs with the piano, and held Luna cat.....a lot.

WELCOME AUDREY AND NEW BABY COLIN

Audrey is our new helper who has just started this week. She will be here from 9 a.m until 12 noon every day and is a wonderful addition to our daily life!
Katie has returned with her new and quite adorable baby brother, Colin.
Please bring in any extra leaves you find as we are collecting them for upcoming projects in the next few weeks.
Here is a poem we are learning:

Way up high in the apple tree
Were two red apples and
They were smiling at me
So I shook that tree
Just as hard as I could
And down came the apples
Mmmm they were good

Hopefully everyone received the copies of the lantern songs we will be singing on November 15

Have a peaceful weekend.

OH MR. SUN

Here are the words for one of our favorite morning songs in which the children have been expressing quite an interest:

Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun

(e f # g# a c# b c# b a f#)

Please shine down on me

(c# c# c# b a)

Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun

(e f# g# a c# b c# b a f#)

Hiding behind the tree (cover face with hands)
(c c c c c b) c#

These little children are asking you (pat legs with both hands)
(c c b# c b a c b g e) c#, g#

To please come out so we can play with you
(e c c c b a c b g e) c# g#

Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun
(e f g a c b c b a f) c# f# g#

Please shine down on me
(c c c b a) c#

Nancy Cassidy has a CD with this song on it published by Klutz Press

The notes for it are in the key of A so there are 3 sharps - c#, f#, g#
Play only the notes in parentheses

I will have copies easier to read and follow on Monday for anyone who wants them.
There are also two Lantern Songs we will be starting to learn and I will have those ready for you this week so you can begin singing them with your children as well.
Happy singing!

THE IMPORTANCE OF CELEBRATING FESTIVALS

In recognition of our harmonious connection to all living things we embrace the significance of festivals. Festivals can bring us consciously to what we all experience instinctively in our daily lives, the awareness and wonder of the changing cycles of the seasons and of life itself. Festivals can become a source of healing for the individual and society.

Through festivals, we acknowledge and celebrate our communion with and our responsibility toward each other and the world. Observing seasonal turning points is one way we establish a yearly rhythm for the children.

Festivals of the year are celebrated as conscious nourishment for the soul expressed with beauty and reverence through art, music, stories, and poems.

Some festivals may be celebrated as school wide events, while others take place in the classroom. Teacher and students may observe festivals that arise out of their study of the different cultures of the world and possibly those that reflect the traditions of the families within each group.

November 11 marks the celebration of Martinmas, in honor of a Roman soldier elevated to sainthood for his selfless kindness.
Legend says that one wintry night he met a poor beggar, half naked and freezing. Martin removed his cloak from his shoulders and, drawing his sword, cut it in two and gave half to the beggar.
Martin became the patron saint of beggars, drunks, and outcasts dedicating his life to assisting pariahs and was known for his gentleness, his unassuming nature, and his ability to bring warmth and light to those who were previously in darkness. Celebrating Martinmas serves as a reminder that each of us has a divine spark that we must ferry out into the world and share with others. On the evening of Martinmas, Martin's deeds of goodness and acts of kindness are remembered with singing and a festival of lanterns. Children carry handmade lanterns as they walk into the cold, dark evening. A story recognizing "the light" of another gives the children the experience of caring and sharing as we move towards the darkness of winter. The children hear the story of St. Martin, sing songs, and as darkness falls,venture out into the night with their lanterns walking along a path lit with glowing luminaries carefully carrying their lanterns in a mood of quiet reverence. This symbolic act brings home the deeper truth, in the words of Siddhartha Gautama, (563-483 B.C.) "There isn't enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle"

LANTERN WALK

Mark your calendars for our first event on Saturday, November 15 around 6:30 p.m.
It's called a lantern walk because the two weeks prior we will be making special paper lanterns here. We will all gather together for a special walk around the neighborhood followed by cookies and warm apple cider.

IN AND OUT

Today the children were focused on putting things "in" and "out" of the little metal lunchbox, empty oatmeal containers, and the block bucket. If you have similar items at home, we are collecting empty boxes of all shapes and sizes, cardboard containers, empty egg cartons, etc. These provide many moments of exploring the concepts of opening, closing, filling, and emptying....very fun and satisfying work for the toddler.
The children are paying more attention during our circle times and copying hand motions excitedly.
We blew bubbles outside, climbed up and down the deck steps, had a picnic lunch on the grass, watched the dogs next door, filled buckets with water, fed the chickens, sat in the hammock, rode in the wagon and stroller, read many stories, watched and listened to the birds, touched leaves and branches, ate banana bread, apples (thanks Amy), peanut butter, applesauce, waffles, rice, black beans, blueberries, grapes, and broccoli!

FALL DAYS, BUILDING RAMPS, HAMMOCK RIDES

It's officially fall and we have been enjoying even more time outside.
These photos were taken last Thursday when we worked very hard to build ramps for little cars. Lots of time was spent in the hammock as well and you can tell that Roman is quite happy there. The children like the soothing motion of the swing and being able to lean back under the trees to look at all the leaves and the sky.
Today we had oatmeal for snack at 10, peas & brown rice for lunch, and carrots, pita bread, & hummus after nap.
We sang "The leaves are green, the apples are red, they hang so high above my head. Leave them alone 'til the frosty weather, and they'll all come down together"
Ring Around the Rosy is a favorite circle time song presently and we add two more verses after the first...." The cows are in the meadow eating buttercups. Ashes, ashes, we all stand up"
"The birdy's in the steeple, singing to the people. Ashes, ashes, they fly, fly away" and we all fly around the room or outside flapping our wings like little birds and sometimes waving colored silks around the air...or other precious faces...and then playing peek-a-boo.
I hope you all received the flyer about Richard Louv coming to speak at the Expo Center. If you don't already have his book, The Last Child in the Woods, I would highly recommend it.
Also, if you notice books, flyers, articles, etc. in your child's diaper bags...they are always for you to keep and just my way of sharing wonderful information that I have found helpful or inspiring and hope you can enjoy as well.

BUBBLES, SWEET POTATOES, & WAGON RIDES

We enjoyed bubbles during our circle time this morning and sang "The Leaves Are Green", Oh Mr. Sun, Good Morning Mary Sunshine, Row Row Row Your Boat, and Ring Around the Rosies.
Oatmeal for morning snack and sweet potatoes for lunch were both enthusiastically eaten followed by wagon rides outside and feeding the chickens.
Books we are reading this week:
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Caps for Sale
Animal Signs
Goodnight Moon
Mary Wore Her Red Dress
Little Fur Family
Today was a great day....

Welcome to Apple Blossom

I thought this would be a good way for all of us to stay connected, get to know each other, and keep up with important news. It is truly a joy to have your special little ones here with me as we celebrate the natural wonders of childhood.
Thankyou for blessing my life....