- An Enchanting Russian Story, Told by Dr. L.
It was such a pleasure to meet the children’s Grandparents and Grandfriends on Friday. When our guests first arrived, they joined Pre K in the Library with Dr. L., who has been exploring the country of Russia with Lower School during the month of October. She read them the Russian story “Babushka Baba Yaga,” by Patricia Polacco. She also donned a Russian costume for the day. In addition, the Library is decorated with Russian folk art pieces for the children to explore. Once she read the story and one other story, the Pre K students and their guests were invited to make a book mark, color in a related coloring packet or explore the Library and check out a book. Everyone returned to the classroom and re-grouped at the meeting rug. Back in the classroom, the children were invited to give their guests a tour of the classroom and spend time playing. At the Art Table, the children and their guests were provided materials to make fall wreaths by gluing paper leaves and tissue paper on pre cut oak tag hearts. After lunch, we all gathered in the gym for a choral presentation and the BCD song. Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered and everyone else who made this such a special day.
Monday we celebrated Clever Cat by cooking Chocolate Crunchie Candy. Ruby’s mom provided us with the supplies and we all took turns with mixing and measuring. We shared the yummy candy after lunch. Mondays smell so good in Pre K, and we all are learning how to keep our hands clean when we cook. As we make our way through the alphabet, we will continue to cook each letter! Yum, yum.
The students spent most of Tuesday playing in the two classrooms after we had our pictures taken. We traveled over to the Band Room and sang songs while we waited our turn to have our picture taken on the stage. As it was raining, we had the welcomed extra time to explore the various learning areas in the room during our regular Outdoor Time.
Wednesday, the children celebrated fall by making leaf crowns. Each child selected some colorful paper leaves to glue onto a green crown. This was great practice with the glue sticks. In addition, the children needed to decide what color leaf and what type of leaf they wanted to put on their crown. Some chose to make designs and some created repeated patterns. Everyone enjoyed wearing their crowns all day! We also met “Dippy Duck,” from Letterland. As we shared last week, Dippy lives at the Letterland duck pond. He has a “D” shaped door on his house and he loves to dip into the water in the duck pond. He also grows daffodils and daisies around the duckpond. Among his other interesting friends are dinosaurs and donkeys. There is usually a doll dressed in a dress, which may be donning a diamond! This week, we will meet “Eddie Elephant.” He is an extraordinary elocutionist.
On Thursday, we celebrated Ruby’s Star Day. It was also her birthday. Her mom, Wendi, her dad, Matt, and her older sister, Emme, joined us for Morning Meeting. We learned that she has three pets and her favorite food is CHOCOLATE! When she was a baby, Ruby liked to play, and now that she is five, she likes to play Star Wars and go horseback riding. Her Star Board was beautifully decorated with big letters reading “RUBY 5”. It also included a beautiful black and white family photo, pictures of Ruby when she was a tiny baby, of Ruby all bundled up in her snowsuit, lots of pictures of her snuggling with her family and one picture of Ruby playing the guitar with her dad. For a special snack, Baker Matt baked us some yummy vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Happy Star Day and Happy Birthday, Ruby!
Also, on Thursday, we drew our second self-portraits. We have posted this next set of drawings on our “Self-Portrait Bulletin Board.” We wanted to make sure we had them up in time for Grandparent’s Day. Please be sure to take a peek at them. We notice subtle changes each time we do this interesting activity. We also made a welcome sign for our special guests on Friday.
On Friday, before our guests arrived, we took some time to tidy our classroom. We wanted it to look nice for our company. During Morning Meeting, we revisited the children’s Hopes and Dreams and we took a look at the rules that they listed last week. We turned them into positive phrases and we posted our three most important rules:
We Take Care of Ourselves
We Take Care of Each Other
We Take Care of our World
Books We Read Included, but Were Not Limited To:
- Let It Fall, by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
- We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt, by Steve Metzger and Miki Sakamoto
- Shades of People, by Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly
- What Grandmas Do Best and What Grandpas Do Best, by Laura Numeroff and Lynn Munsinger
Important Reminders:
Important Dates:
- Tuesday, October 19th, Field trip to Ioka Valley Farm with B3’s and Kindergarten. Depart from BCD at 8:45a.m. Return to BCD ~ 12:30p.m. Please do not send in peanut butter, peanuts, tree nuts, or pesto or heat ups for lunch or snacks. More details to follow!
Hope you had a nice long weekend!
Joni and Ellie
