Hi Everyone!
Last Friday we celebrated our very last Star Day! Neal’s mom, Krithi, and his dad, Vikas, joined us for his very special Morning Meeting. He also has a two year old sister, Neha. To make it more festive, we invited the Beginner Threes and Kindergarten. We learned that when Neal was a baby, he loved playing with trains. Now that he is five years old, he continues to enjoy playing with trains, but he also likes to play a game called “Race Wheels,” when he is at home. We know that Neal also likes to move really fast. While he was at Disneyland in California, he really enjoyed riding on the Roller Coaster. He said that it was scary, but he was brave. Neal’s favorite food is his father’s Red Chicken. Neal’s Star Board is decorated with pictures of Neal as a tiny baby and Neal growing up with his sister. It also included two different trips to a Thomas Show; Neal and his dad at a Tiger’s game and Neal, his mom and Neha under a boardwalk at the beach. Krithi read us the story,”Happy Birthday Thomas!” Neal may soon be able to read this story on his own. This has been a favorite story of his, especially on his birthday, for years. Neal brought cookies with rainbow sprinkles and delicious mini cupcakes for snack and dessert, after lunch. Thank you, Neal! Happy Star Day and Happy Birthday!
Butterflies, Dragonflies, Beetles, Bees, Ants, Grasshoppers and Crickets, to name a few of the insects we have been studying. Outdoors, we make close observations of insects we spot with our magnifying glasses. The children collect insects, place them in the insect houses designed to hang around their necks, like necklaces or screened in carriers held by hand. After adding some grass or a dandilion and watching it for a short while, the insects are returned where the children find them, so they can return to their colonies or families. During the past few weeks, we talked more about butterflies and bees. We learned the life cycle of the butterfly and some of the special features of the butterfly, such as how it uses its proboscus to drink nectar from flowers. Butterflies also have symmetrical wings. We discussed what it means for something to be symmetrical, then we painted half of a butterfly and folded it in half. The children were very surprised when they opened the wings to reveal an imprint of what they had painted on the blank half of the wings. We also talked about the life cycle of bees and we learned that, just like ants, there is a queen bee who is the largest bee in the hive. She lays thousands of eggs. The worker bees in the hive have many jobs, such as feeding and tending to the larva after they hatch from the eggs. Other bees go out and hunt for food. We watched a video that showed how bees communicate with one another by doing different dances! If food is found close to the hive, they show others by doing the “Wag-Tail” dance. If the food is far away, the bees will show their co-worker bees by doing the “Round” dance and pointing in the direction of where the food is located. As the bees gather nectar, they also gather pollen in sacs on their legs. They lift the pollen from one flower and bring it to another flower so that new seeds will be produced. At the same time, the bees are making honey. which will be fed to the larva and other bees, in their bodies. The bees also make beeswax and form hexagon shaped cells, in which the Queed lays her eggs in some and food is stored in others. The children tried on a bee costume, complete with a bee mask, as they learned the “Wag-Tail” dance and the “Round Dance.” Last week we had insect snacks as a special treat. Using strawberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, cream cheese, celery sticks and cucumbers, we made ants on a log, ladybugs and spiders. Yummy!
We know that the children are learning the basic requirements of an insect. Drawing the names of various insect body parts, the children worked together to create a new insect! It has a pink and yellow square thorax, a round blue head with large yellow eyes, rainbow legs, colorful wings and a black stinger. We saved the papers so that we can do it again! We’ve posted our creations in the Art Area. The children also drew the habitats of insects they were thinking about with markers. Using their fingerprints, they added a variety of insects to the scenes. Flowers were often added so that nectar sipping insects would have food to eat.
In the interest of Math, the poll at the end of one of our Morning Messages read, “Think…What color are your eyes?” After marking what color eyes each of us had, the children took it a step further and wanted to chart the color of their friends’ eyes in B3s and Kindergarten. Once all of the information was placed on the chart, the children counted how many of their peers have blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes, hazel eyes, and even turquois eyes.
On Wednesday, May 15th, the 3rd, 5th and 8th grade students worked together in teams to participate in a Bio-Blitz in conjunction with the Berkshire Museum. There goal was to take an inventory of all plants on the BCD Campus. This prompted a discussion of the plants in our classroom. The children determined that there are 9 different kinds of plants. They also decided to count the number of “not real” plants, such as the silk flowers, their artwork and other pictures. They also made guesses regarding how many plants the teams would find outdoors. Neal guessed 2,000,000; Duncan guessed 100,000,000;Vincent guessed 105; and Sadie guessed 100.
It is hard to believe that we only have one-and-a half more weeks of school. Today, all of the children had lunch in Kindergarten with Mrs. Patel. She read them a story, they had the opportunity to look around the classroom and then they all had lunch together. They also enjoyed popsicles and ice cream sandwiches for a special treat.
As I shared in an e-mail, Field and Fun Day has been postponed until Thursday, May 30th, due to the weather. On this day, children are invited to wear their bathing suits under their clothing. We will have some fun in a preschool size water slide and pool after lunch. Earlier in the morning, we will play games and do crafts with the entire Lower School. Children can wear sneakers in the morning and flip-flops for when we play in the pool. In addition, please send in a towel and clothes to change into before rest. We will have a group snack, but please send in drinks, water bottles and extra snacks if your child will not eat what is offered. There will also be an all school cookout. This is a very fun packed day! Let me know if you have any questions.
Closing Ceremonies for the entire school will take place on the last day of school, Friday, June 7th, at 11:30am in Fitzpatrick Hall. The All School Family Picnic will commence at 12noon. You may want to lay out your picnic blanket a bit early to claim a good spot on the lawn. Families should also bring their own picnic and beverages. Please do not forget to send in a water bottle and snack for the morning. Ice Cream Sandwiches will be handed out during the picnic, as always, by Mr. B and Mr. Lee. Children will be dismissed to parents or designated adults at 12noon. If you cannot make it to the picnic and your child rides the bus, please let us know. The buses will depart at 1:00pm.
****Dr. L has requested that everyone check their home collection of books for books from the BCD Library. I will provide you with a list of books which seem to have been checked out by your child. We thank you for your attention to this matter.*****
Important Reminders:
- Preschool goes outdoors each day. Please be sure to send boots, if it is muddy and an appropriate weight jacket for playing outdoors in the morning.
- Please replenish extra clothes when necessary. Children should have a full set of clothing, including socks, undergarments, shirts and pants.
- Leaving a sweatshirt or sweater for days that may be chilly indoors may help your child feel more comfortable.
- Please be sure to send in a refillable drink container for us to fill with water. In our efforts to be green, we try to refrain from using plastic cups.
- Please be sure to send appropriate flatware in your child’s lunch.
- Including a variety of snack items is encouraged for young growing children.
- If your child needs to have an item warmed up, please be sure it is in a microwave safe container.
- Open-toed sandals and Crocs sometimes lead to injured toes and spills. Sneakers or other sturdy shoes are much safer choices for playing on the playground.
- Please return Library books on Wednesdays.
Dates to remember:
Thursday, May 30th, Field and Fun Day, Dress to get wet! See details above.
Friday, June 7th, Last Day of School, 11:30am~Closing Ceremonies; 12n00n~All School Family Picnic. Bring a blanket and a picnic lunch for your family to share on the grounds of BCD’s campus. Dismissal is at 1:00pm.
Warmly,
Ellie
