THANKFUL

Today we made a turkey poster and collected pictures of things for which we are thankful. The children really participated well in this activity. We also took a walk and were able to spend some time watching construction going on across from Phelps Grove Park...this was a highlight of course.
Our main meal today was teriyaki stir fry with broccoli, carrots, and tofu over organic brown basmati rice. Another wonderful day spent peacefully outside enjoying the many gifts nature so graciously gives.

Late Autumn Circle time:

The wind is blowing to and fro,
The leaves are falling down,
The winter's snow is on its way,
The light of day is gone

I'm the wind, I breeze and blow, Mm...Mm
Listen, listen, how I whisper,
In the tree, listen to me

Here comes the squirrel on scampering feet
Looking for acorns and nuts to eat.

Little chipmunk scurries away
Through the leaves so red and gay
Where will he go for winter's rest?
In his cozy little nest.

In the autumn garden, whirling winds a blow,
Leaves are dancing, prancing, dancing, sink to rest below
Sleep now till the spring time brings new birth

Green Day

Today was green day.
Thanks to everyone who brought in green fruits and vegetables.
We had a good assortment including kiwis, pears, broccoli, celery, and zucchini!
Other activities included cleaning up trash, playing color I Spy, hanging an Earth poster in the playroom, starting felt balls, and designing with connectors.
These days have been full of lots of outside work times.
Stories include The Story Quilt
The Napping House
Baby Bear's Big Dreams
All the Colors of the Earth
We are focusing on thankfulness these next few weeks and trying to encourage a heart of gratitude and giving. We will be making family trees, a blessing basket, and collecting pictures of things for which we are thankful. Our story times will reflect these themes as well and we'll start off by working with the story The Giving Tree.
Thankful for all of you....

Lantern Walk Highlights

Our Lantern Walk was a very special evening of gathering together with the children that is sure to be remembered for a long time. We started outside in the backyard with singing and eating warm pumpkin bread and quietly watched a mini play on the deck about St. Martin. Lantern songs followed and then each child carefully walked up to put a little candle in their lantern and we were soon off on our walk around the neighborhood. What a joy it was to watch these dear friends riding together in strollers, then take off side by side to run through the leaves along the sidewalk. Our time ended with many big jumps into the leaf pile in the front yard, a huge ring-around-the-rosy, and our goodbye song.
Thankyou to all who joined us and if you were lucky enough to catch any photos, please email them to me so that I can post more here.

Apples and Chickens and Pumpkins

We have had a full week here with our apple theme which was a huge success.
Friday's events included visiting the chickens in our next door neighbor's yard, bringing banana bread to our neighbors, walking to a nearby pumpkin patch, and starting our lanterns for our upcoming lantern walk on November 7 at 5:30 p.m. Hopefully you will all make it over for an evening of singing, warm snacks, and walking around the neighborhood with lanterns aglow.
Last year's lantern walk was a wonderful time of connecting with all of our children and families and sharing a night of warmth together. We want our home to feel like home to all of you as well and our vision is to create a deep sense of community among everyone.

There are new health procedures in place effective Monday morning as we are striving to keep everyone healthy. Upon entering, we will be having everyone use a natural hand sanitizer from Mama Jean's before walking through the gate. We hope this helps to eliminate bringing any new germs into the house. We will also be using this throughout the day in addition to our normal hand washing routines. It would be a good idea for you to purchase this as well to keep with you when you have your children out in various places.
We will also be taking temperatures throughout the day.
According to the parent handbook, no child will be admitted who has a fever, who is vomiting, or has diarrhea. If one of these develops once the child is already here, we will call and ask you to take your child home. A child must stay at home for 24 hours after the fever has gone away and/or after the last episode of vomiting or diarrhea. This is so important in keeping the other children from getting sick as well. If your child has any of these symptoms please keep them at home. Many of us have been getting ill these past few weeks and it can be very frustrating. We are doing all we can here to prevent future sickness and we appreciate your help and cooperation.
Our recipes starting this next week will be taken from the book SuperImmunity for Kids...what to feed your children to keep them healthy now and prevent disease in their future. I would highly recommend this resource.
One of the most important supplements to be giving your child on a daily basis is cod liver oil.
This has multiple benefits. It provides a barrier of warmth, keeps skin smooth and moist, and helps boost immunity against many illnesses. I have noticed lots of dry, itchy, scaly skin that happens a lot during winter and is also a sign of a lack of essential fatty acids in the diet. It's very simple to add to the daily diet in pasta, smoothies, etc. Nordic Naturals is a brand we use in our family and is available at Mama Jean's also. There are many great children's vitamins there that are invaluable during this season.

We will be exploring pumpkins this next week!
Activities will include a trip to the nearby pumpkin patch, sensory experiences with the insides of the pumpkin, roasting pumpkin seeds, and a variety of art projects. Our new weekly lesson plan will be available on Monday. I will send home a copy for each family and it will also be posted on our bulletin board by the door.
Our books this next week will revolve around the theme of pumpkins, fall, and leaves and some titles I have presently are:

Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor
Let's Look at Fall by Sarah L. Schuette
Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jean Titherington
Autumnblings by Douglas Florian a book of poems and paintings
All the Colors of the Earth by Sheila Hamanaka

We will also be earnestly working on our paper lanterns this week, learning our lantern walk songs, and joyfully participating in new harvest and pumpkin circle times.
Thankyou for sharing the children with us.

Apple Days

We are having so much fun with our apple theme this week!
Thankyou to everyone who brought in apples, applesauce, muffins, and more to share with all the children.
Tuesday morning we started out with a hunt for hidden apples that we colored the day before, we made apple prints with colored tempura paints, read Our Apple Tree, by Kristina Naslund (a Swedish author), and made an apple crisp using a recipe from the book sans the sugar.
Today we read more stories about apples including:
Out and About at the Apple Orchard by Diane Mayr

Other books we are reading this week are:
We Gather Together : Celebrating the Harvest, by Wendy Pfeffer
Fairy Houses by Traci Kane
Living Alphabet
One Green Apple
The Apple Pie Tree

Smiles and laughter filled the backyard as the children attempted to take bites from apples hanging on a string from branches......without using their hands.
Hilton was determined and followed the apple around as it swayed.
Addi found the easier way to get that apple and quickly decided to hold onto it and eat it.

This morning we took a walk and toured the art museum. Quietly, the children discovered many wonderful paintings including new fall exhibits made with felt.

Our new class/play/art room is slowly transforming into a magical place for the children who are adding lots of creative touches with their artwork, nature mobiles, and posters.

Tomorrow a new magnetic board will be installed for lots of open-ended play opportunities with magnets, storytelling, and design.

Starting next week I will be sending home a weekly plan sheet that will include all the activities for the week so the daily reports will only have basic information on them such as eating and sleeping times.

If you are not already, please make sure your child brings appropriate clothing for outdoor play.
Warmth is very critical for the developing nervous system in young children. Dress in layers with undershirts, tights, etc. Make sure there is something to adequately cover the head with a beanie that will not come off easily. Nova Natural Toys has wonderful wool head coverings that fully cover the sides, ears, and neck. Hanna Anderson also has very good head caps, slippers, rain boots, coats, and pants.
The children need all of these for their time here as we go outside every day.

Happy Birthday to Finn who has just turned one!!

Thankyou also to everyone who brought in tomatoes, peppers, garlic, zucchini, and cucumbers from their gardens to share with us!!

Having a wonderful time.

Leaf crowns and pinecone people

We have been finding and collecting such great treasures this week outside and on our daily walks. Today the children helped to make leaf crowns and pinecone people. Yellow and golden leaves have been gathered in the backyard to make artful designs in between clear contact paper to hang in the windows. Working, shoveling, arranging rocks, watering plants, and riding new tricycles have been favorite activities as well. Several tea parties and picnics on the grass are taking place many times and go along perfectly with our new circle time themes.
Important learning happens all the time as new discoveries and observations are made in the garden, watching the chickens, finding bugs, designing treasure maps, collaborating with friends on the details of fort building, gathering and sorting branches, sticks, and rocks, arranging by categories such as size, color, and shape, and creating original pieces of art. The children get a deep feeling of satisfaction when they are allowed the time and space to carry an idea through to a finished product of their own making. These are the daily celebrations that bring beauty and a sense of wonder to all of our lives. We are reminded again of the gift and honor of having these young ones with us.

Circle time:
Let's go on a picnic - the sun is shining bright
Let's go on a picnic - the weather is just right

And let's call our pony so strong and so true
He'll pull the wagon, that he can do
But look, he comes limping so slowly along
Let's look at his foot and see what is wrong

My little pony needs a pair of shoes, how many nails must I use?
One, two, three, tie him to a tree
Let him have a bag of hay
Then he will not run away

Pitty patty polt
Shoe my little colt
Here a nail, there a nail
Pitty, patty, polt

And what shall we pack in our picnic basket
To take on our picnic today?
How about some apples

Rosy apples grow Rosy apples grow
Pick them, wash them, rub them, shine them
See how red they glow

And we put the apples in our basket."

Regarding the importance of circle times:
"One of the great gifts we receive as teachers is a deepening and enriching of the experience of the course of the year. For busy adults, it is all too easy to become caught up in the pressures of "clock time". Through singing and moving with the children in these seasonal circle plays, we nurture their natural, heartfelt participation in all that lives in the world of nature. At the same time, we rediscover our own connection with that world and the spirit which weaves in and through it. With the children, we enter the realm of the natural cycles of time, as experiences in music and movement. This experience is nourishing to both children and adults, and helps to create the mood of joyful serenity which we seek in the preschool.

There are several festivals we will be having over the course of this new school year and our first one will be happening on Saturday, November 7. Please join us for our second annual Lantern Walk. We will gather for some fall singing, warm cider, homemade baked treats, and a walk around the neighborhood with lanterns aglow. Check out older posts for some words on the importance of festivals. Looking forward to sharing the evening with all of you.

NEW FACES

Greetings.
There are many new faces here and lots of changes going on and I am so thankful for your patience and support during this transition.
Our new teachers are Meghan and Tesa and they add such inspiration to our day
The group is growing and this is so exciting as it makes for many new opportunities in our creative play, friendship possibilities, and circle/story times.
A new play and art space will be ready within 3 weeks and this will allow us extra room for more activities and a special place for age appropriate learning and discovery.
We have been enjoying the weather these past few days and spend most of our time outside. Picnics on the grass, parachute play, hoola hoops, observing creatures with magnifiers, making paper airplanes, collecting walnuts in buckets and then setting up "stores" are just a few of our recent adventures. It is so fun watching and listening to the children negotiate, plan, and carry out their own ideas with each other and involving the younger ones in their scenario.
Having a wonderful week....