Kindergarten

I love this time of year.  The weather is crisper and colder and seems to bring a renewed focus in the classroom.  The children are working hard at mastering letters and numbers, giving a lot of good thought and creative energy to the broad idea of cooperation, and learning about the history of Thanksgiving.

The class has now completed learning how to form all numerals.  Next week each student will practice writing (and memorizing) his or her own phone number.  They’ve also completed the Frog Jump capitals and are onto the next grouping, Starting Corner capitals.  Independent writing continues to develop well, with recent writings on Charlotte’s Web (we finally finished reading it) and a paper entitled, “It’s Important to Me!”  When we return from Thanksgiving break, we’ll begin our book making unit.  It’s an exciting time.

Next Monday, the class will present their projects on Cooperation at an assembly for students from B3-Third Grade.  We’ve completed two projects – a class mural using a crayon resist technique, and a paper patchwork “quilt” where individual kindergarten students teamed up with Preschool and Lower School students, working together on their drawings.  A lot of fun happened around these projects and the finished results are lovely.  Come a take a look next week – they’ll be hanging in our room!

We’ve been reading books and talking a lot about the history of Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims who came here, and the Native Americans who helped them.  As many tribes excelled at weaving, we are also trying our hand at that, and the children are learning to weave using a table loom and smaller potholder looms.  (I promise to post photos next week.)  We also have discussed the meaning of gathering as a community and next week we’ll join with the B-3’s and the PreK to create our annual “Friendship Lunch.”  We open up all three classrooms and the children make the majority of the food themselves.  Then on Thursday, we’ll sit down to enjoy our meal.  If there is a kindergarten parent available to help next Thursday from 10:45-12:15 or so, please let me know, as extra hands are definitely welcome (and needed!).

Thank you all for meeting with me last week at Parent-Teacher conferences.  I always find it to be such a valuable opportunity to focus on each child and share their progress with you.  And as always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Reminders:

Book orders are due back next Wednesday, Nov. 20.

Please remember to send in one bunch of celery on Monday, Nov. 25.  This will be used for Thanksgiving Soup.

Have a great weekend!

Andrea

Ghosts, Goblins, Skeletons, and Wild Things!  The class has had a great time using their imaginations drawing, painting, making collages, and writing about all of these scary creatures.  We’ve learned Halloween songs and poems and read book after book.  We spent time exploring and sharing with one another the things that are easy for us to do, things that are hard to do, and things that frighten us.  By expressing fears and vulnerabilities, the children realize they’re not alone in having these feelings and they learn to be empathic with one another.  What I love about this particular class is that they all get along easily and really try to support one another.

We’ve celebrated our first birthday this year when Libby turned six on Tuesday.  Libby’s mom and third-grade brother were able to join us for stories and lunch.  Lauren read two of Libby’s favorite books from home to the class.  One of our kindergarten birthday traditions is the creation of a “Book of Birthday Wishes” by the rest of the class, and these wishes were read aloud by each student to Libby as well.  We ended the meal with delicious cupcakes.  Thank you, Lauren and Jack, for helping to make Libby’s birthday a special one!

In math, the class has nearly completed their Patten Books.  In handwriting, we’ve now completed the first group of uppercase letters called “Frog Jump” letters.  I will show these to you next week when we meet for Parent-Teacher conferences.  Please sign up online if you have not already done so.  Also, please remember that there’s no school on Friday for B3-Grade 3 due to conferences.  You will get a chance to see these book, as well as other work that the students have done so far this year.  Please bring any questions or concerns, as well as your “Hopes and Dreams” for this school year.  I look forward to our conversations!

Tonight at 7:00, and again tomorrow at 3:00 and 7:00, the Upper School Theater Ensemble is presenting Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Redux.  Come if you can!  And if you do, don’t forget to bring the “golden ticket” with you that your child brought home earlier in the week.  It should be a terrific show – don’t miss it!

Enjoy this Halloween slide show!

Andrea

Today in the library, Kindergarten took a trip to Mongolia! We were excited to host BCD friend, Sasha Sicurella, Director of the I AM Foundation, who recently returned from a trip to this distant country The I AM Foundation encourages works of self-expression for children of all ages, using a variety of media, including painting, drawing, photography and collage. Sasha generously shared pictures of her work with children who live in the Gobi Desert, as well as souvenirs from her trip. We explored self-portraits made by the children, miniature gers (yurts made out of wool that nomads live in), beautiful carved, wooden instruments, Mongolian money newspapers, artwork and toys. We also watched a slide show of Sasha’s work with the children in Mongolia.

What a great week we had preparing for Grandparents and Grand Friends’ Day!  I have a shelf of books reserved for this event, and last week we read them all.  The class also created their own book about the many things they enjoy doing with the grandparents, aunts and uncles, and this was read aloud to our special guests.  Each child had also made several hearts out of Sculpy (a sort of plastic clay), and young and old alike enjoyed using beads to make their own heart necklaces.  The class had learned a new poem that we recited at the morning gathering – here are the words:

WHAT ARE GRANDPARENTS FOR?
Grandmas are for stories 
about things of long ago.
Grandpas are for caring 
about all the things you know.
Grandmas are for rocking you
 and singing you to sleep.
Grandpas are for giving you 
nice memories to keep.
Grandmas are for knowing 
all the things you’re dreaming of.
But the very most important thing?  Grandparents are for love!

This week we also had our first fire drill.  Everyone remembered what to do and were great listeners.  We also discussed fire safety and everyone practiced the technique “Stop, Drop, and Roll.”  I encouraged the children to go home and ask their parents to check that the batteries in the smoke alarms were current, and also to make sure to come up with a family plan, in case they ever have a fire at home (and we also discussed how unlikely that is it to happen!).  Today Chief Cardillo of the Stockbridge Fire Dept. came to talk about fire safety, present a fire fighter and demonstrate his gear, and brought a fire truck for children to look at.

Mountain Day was our other highlight this week.  Yesterday, along with the rest of Lower School, strong kindergarten legs hiked a total of 2-1/2 miles in Kennedy Park.  At the top, all enjoyed a variety of nature games and activities and had a picnic lunch together.  I know there were some very tired children last night, but they did a wonderful job!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Andrea