Sloshy Day

Mud, snow, slosh, slush, splash, jump, laugh.....
It felt like the first day of spring today.
We set up a sensory table out in the grass and scooped up the snow with big shells. Then we gathered small twigs and other items to help us make little snow houses. A variety of shapes were explored as we discovered the prints that objects made in the snow. We made squares, circles, stars, crescents, and some original designs, and worked on patterns.

The children are hearing a winter story about a little boy named Henry who gets lost in the woods and stumbles upon a little house tucked away inside of a tall tree. An old forest gnome eagerly invites Henry in. Fortunately he has arrived just in time to join the gnome for some delicious hot lentil soup....

One of our current circle time activities that goes along with the story is to sing a little song that goes like this:
Hack, hack, the rocks we crack
To find some crystals for our sack
Hack, hack, the rocks we crack
To find some crystals for our sack

We "chop" and "hack" with little wooden blocks and find sparkling, shiny crystals for our sacks...

Books we have read this week include:

Little Kitten's First Full Moon
Ollie's Ski Trip
Any Room For Me?
Hush. A Thai Lullaby
Winter

Our menu has included:
Veggie burgers
Hummus and pita bread
sliced vegetables
red lentil soup
homemade bread
tacos

Today Miss Meghan came in for a visit which all the children enjoyed. She did yoga with us and helped everyone make handprint art with fingerpaints.

Please make sure your child has a full change of clothes here to stay and that they come properly dressed for the weather. We go outside most every day and everyone needs waterproof boots, gloves, waterproof pants, beanies, etc. It is no fun when little hands, feet, and legs are wet and muddy....it shortens the time we are able to be outside.
Your help with this is appreciated.

Thanks so much for all your help, encouragement, and support of our work!
With love and peace

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone!
As you are planning for the week, please remember to dress your child in layers starting with a full onesie or bodysuit that provides a full covering of chest, stomach, and trunk. We also need a full change of clothes for each child that can stay here which includes the bodysuit, long sleeve shirt, pants, socks, and jacket. Have your child's name on all clothing as well. Please also make sure your child has waterproof snowboots, snowpants, and waterproof gloves as we play outside in the snow every day...2 times.

School starts at 8:30 a.m. and your little one will get the greatest benefit out of our preschool program when they arrive on time and this will lessen the interruption to our scheduled activities.

Please be careful as you walk down the driveway to the back playroom as it can be slippery and also coming up the two steps.

In the winter garden, through the falling snow
Stars are gleaming, streaming, gleaming
Down to earth below
Deep snow, deep snow,
Through the woods we'll go

Hope you are all enjoying the freshly fallen snow with your family.

SNOW

Snow!
The children have had lots of fun these past few days playing in the snow. We made snowmen today, threw snowballs, observed animal tracks, made our own tracks, played with moonsand, and put together a long train in the playroom using tree stumps.
Singing and joyful play fill the atmosphere as everyone peacefully explores the new sights, textures, and circle times of winter...
A new year approaches and we will be moving into a full preschool curriculum using a variety of resources. We will start with a book called Before Five in a Row which is a full range of subjects including math, science, art, history, and language arts based on a story that we will read for 2 -3 weeks. Our art projects will be based first on a book titled Young at Art. Conservation Seeds is a program from the Missouri Department of Conservation that we will use for our science and nature discovery.
The three learning philosophies that provide the backbone of all we do here are the indications of Rudolf Steiner, Reggio Emilia, and Charlotte Mason. I will be sending home more information on our weekly lesson plans and also about these different styles of preschool education.
Basically we want our learning with the children to revolve around a sense of beauty and reverence with respect for each child's individual learning styles. Artistic activities will weave through all the different subjects as we integrate everything together in a chronological unifying manner.

celebrating the season

We have had a wonderful few weeks celebrating the start of winter and the Christmas season!
Our art projects have included cotton ball snowmen, Christmas ornaments, crystal making, activities with ice, ice "skating" in the playroom, and Christmas cards.
Books revolved around the current themes of light and dark, winter, hibernation, Christmas, and the tracks of various animals.

Owl Moon
Christmas Cookies
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
Winter's Gift
My Little Polar Bear
Here Comes Jack Frost
Rabbit's Winter Walk
Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree
A Wish to be a Christmas Tree
The Gingerbread Pirates
Christmas in New York
Dream Snow
Heart of a Snowman
Corduroy's Christmas

Thank you to everyone for all of the wonderful gift certificates, chocolate, books, soaps, and other goodies....these are all so special and meaningful reminders of the amazing families I am so privileged to serve. It is an honor to have you all in our lives and I wish you a very peaceful and special Christmas celebration!

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.