We have been busy! During the last two weeks, the Pumpkin Fairy visited us, we celebrated Halloween, we had a Mexican Lunch Bunch, and we started a new unit! And the month ahead promises to be just as busy, with Friendship Lunch, a trip to the Dakota Restaurant, PS and K’s Food Drive, and BCD’s beloved Thanksgiving Soup. Here are some details:

To help the children understand how the holiday of Thanksgiving came about, we’ve begun learning about Native Americans and the earliest English settlers. There are many excellent books that we use a basis for discussion. Closer to home, we learn about the Wampanoags, the tribe that lived in this area (Massachusetts and Rhode Island). Next Tuesday we’ll take a class to the Dakota Restaurant to hear a presentation and to see a wonderful collection of Native American artifacts (much of it on loan from the Andy Warhol collection). We’ll also eat lunch there, courtesy of the Dakota.

We will also have two communal meals this month. The first is a Friendship Lunch with the PreSchool. The children will prepare much of this food themselves. This will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 16. The following Tuesday, Nov. 23, we will attend Thanksgiving Soup with the whole school. Kindergarten children are asked to bring in a head of celery on Monday, Nov. 22. We’ll chop it up first thing and add it to the soup. Then we’ll celebrate school-wide on Tuesday. Yum!

Our Food Drive will be held the week of November 15. You’ll be receiving more information about that shortly.

In handwriting, we’re moving into the final third of the alphabet, and in math, our unit on Patterns is almost done. The class has done a wonderful job with this unit, and many of them have become quite skilled at creating intricate patterns. The children’s individual books should be be completed this week.

We had a wonderful Lunch Bunch earlier this week. Wendy O’Neil and Paige Orloff created a true Mexican Fiesta for us, complete with rice and beans, cheese quesadillas, and guacamole and chips. For dessert, we had Rice Krispie treats (not Mexican, but so good!) The class loved the meal. Muchas gracias, Paige and Wendy!

Enjoy the weekend!
Andrea