Preschool

Dear Families,

Thinking about winged beings, we have also thought of the air they fly through.  I asked the children, “What is air?” They told me, “Air is  everywhere. ”  “We breathe it.”  “It makes a sound like the wind going, ‘Woo. wooo!'” We took straws and blew through them onto our arms and knees.  We felt the air! We spent two mornings blowing air into plates of soapy water and were amazed at the huge bubble domes that formed. “It’s like an igloo.” “Inside is air and if you touch, pop, the air goes.” “Where does it go?” “It goes everywhere again.” “I’m breathing it into my body right now.” We made prints of the bubbles to hang on our walls.

 We also made simple kazoos.  When we blew air into the tubes, we could feel the air vibrating across the wax paper, tickling our fingers and making funny sounds.

We continued watching the transformation of creatures in our class and seeing up close details in videos – caterpillars emerging from translucent butterfly eggs and the amazing long, thin proboscis that butterflies use to drink nectar.  We decided to make our own nectar and become butterflies one day. We squeezed lemons into a pitcher and filled it with agave and water.  We put the nectar in cups covered with flowers and pretended the straws were proboscides.  The children used scarves as wings and flew around and around until they found their flowers.

The children have been looking closely at the insects in our class and drawing what they see.  One day I put out clay and challenged them to create an insect with this medium. After seeing the art show in the gym, the children wanted to make an art show of these insects in our class.  Each child was interviewed about their creation – please come see their work and words,  which will remain in our class all week.

On Thursday, the children participated in the lower school’s compassion assembly.  Each child spoke clearly, sharing their ideas about compassion and singing a song about the compassion we feel for the beautiful world we live in. The children felt so proud of themselves and it was lovely to hear older students congratulating them and affirming their accomplishments!

On Friday we took a long walk in the woods to visit our special trees, look at the brook rushing by and  pick wildflowers,which we later placed in our butterflies’ tent.  At the beginning of the year, some children were fearful about our trips into the unknown.  Many children would get tired and ask to be carried.  Yesterday, I kept calling out to them to wait for me! This seems a perfect metaphor for this time of the year as they get ready to move ahead and for all they have accomplished during this year of turning four. They have become confident leaders and trail blazers.

In other news of the week – we picked mint and made delicious mint tea with honey for after our chilly walk. We baked white pizzas.  Our woolly caterpillars are getting sewn together and our butterflies are now attached to the top of their tent.

On Tuesday the 28th,  the children will have lunch with Mrs. Atwater, as they get ready to become the new Pre-k class. We continue to talk about the great plans everyone has for summer and how exciting it will be to be the big kids in the fall.

On Wednesday, the 29th we will have Field and Fun Day.  Please have your child bring a bathing suit – they can wear it under their clothes, a towel, water shoes, sunhat, sunblock (please apply in the morning and I will reapply as needed), water bottles and snack.  We will enjoy a cookout for lunch. Everyone is invited to stay for the full day!  If the weather is inclement, we will postpone to Thursday. The following week is our last week of school!

Closing Ceremonies for the entire school will take place  on June 7th at 11:30 am in Fitzpatrick Hall.  The  All School Family Picnic will begin at  noon.  Families should  bring their own picnic and beverages and blanket.   Ice Cream Sandwiches will be handed out by Mr. B and Mr. Lee.  Children will be dismissed to parents or designated adults at 12 noon.  If you cannot make it to the picnic and your child rides the bus, please let me know.   Buses  depart at 1:00 pm.

Wishing you all the best for a lovely Memorial Day Weekend!

Sarah

Next week we are going on a special field trip to experience more evidence of the shifting season.  The sap is running and on Wednesday we will attend Darrow School’s Maple Festival! We will leave BCD promptly at 8:30 so we can enjoy a pancake and maple syrup breakfast.  We will see how trees are tapped, sap is collected and boiled and enjoy hayrides, a bonfire and games. At 11:30 we will return to school for lunch.  If anyone would like to take part in this wonderful trip, please let me know. The grounds may be muddy, so please dress your child in warm clothes and bring good boots for tromping through puddles.

Our field trip last week to the Berkshire Museum was great – we learned about dinosaurs, dug for bones, learned about bats, saw photos by Ansel Adams and Andreas Feininger and looked at all sorts of interesting collections and creatures that live in the museum, like turtles, frogs, and snakes.

I am available after school for conferences on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and can also come in early to meet with you at 7:30 any day next week. Another possibility is during the school day when the children are resting, sometime between 12:30 and 2:00. I am sorry for the inconvenience of needing to reschedule, but look forward to getting the chance to connect, hopefully before our break begins.

One other exciting piece of news: The B3s have been invited to be the featured artists at Ralph’s Pretty Good Cafe on Main Street in Chatham, New York! Their show will be up from April 15th until May 15th. I would love to have a celebration/opening party of some sort at the cafe and will figure out details soon. No cheese and wine, but Ralph has a lovely selection of food, like wraps, salads, soups, quesadillas, mac n’cheese, bagels, etc.

All the best,

Sarah