What a wonderful and exciting first week of school this has been! We have loved meeting your children! They are sweet, eager and curious, and are already developing friendships with one another and with us.
Our week has been low-key as we get to know one another and our routines. In addition to morning meeting (circle time) we have talked about what goes on in a day, and what our chores will be. We have already invited the children to be thinking about activities they would like to do.
Your children have been introduced to their Specials teachers. In library they sang a song and read a story. In music the children sang songs and played some games. During PE we went on a hike through the trails of the campus. Older students had made troll houses and, as we walked, we looked for these and when we found the houses, the children placed trolls in them.
A Reggio concept that we fully embrace is the importance of relationships – with ourselves, one another and with our environment. We will learn about ourselves this year – our feelings, likes and desires, and our physical selves. The water table has been a good way to explore properties of water and to learn about our senses in relation to the changing possibilities of the water. One way we build on relationships with one another is during snack and lunchtime. We all sit together. We stay at the table. No one is rushed. We eat and talk. We will learn that this is a special time to nourish our bodies and our souls.
We have begun establishing a relationship with the environment, as well. Thank you for sending in plants with your child. These play an important role in giving children some ownership of their classroom. In addition, they provide a healthy, aesthetically pleasing, and rich environment that will be conducive to many levels of investigation. They will also be springboards for developing responsibility and compassion as the children care for them.
We are all fortunate to have the beautiful campus at BCD as an outdoor classroom. We will end our week with a trip to the pond on Friday afternoon (we are writing this Thursday night!) We will see where our curiosity takes us – playing in the sand, in the water, collecting pebbles and/or building something! Be sure to ask your child what s/he did!
Lastly, we ask that your child bring in some more stones on Monday. These can be 1 – 5 inches. We would like each child to bring in 10 stones.
Enjoy your weekend. We look forward to seeing your children on Monday!
Ms. Kane and Ms. S