November 2014

Thank you to all the parents who helped with our Halloween Celebration, it was a blast!!

A Peek into October and November

Scooping out the Pumpkin seeds

Estimating the Pumpkin Seeds (there were 517 seeds in the pumpkin)

Graphing and Voting for the eyes, nose and mouth for our Jack O lantern

Lifecycle of the pumpkin

Studying how apple trees grow,  and the parts of an apple (stem, skin, flesh, core, seeds)

Counting, voting for the favorite apple and cutting apples for the Applesauce

Tasting the roasted pumpkin seeds and applesauce

In Geography we began visiting the continents starting with North America, the children were introduced to the countries of North America.

In Zoology, we began our study of mammals; the children had a lesson on the Bats and Parts of a Horse

Other popular works have been corn tweezing, sunflower tweezing, hammering tees on a pumpkin, and pin-punching the world map.

Next Week

We will be making stone soup (taken from the story,’ Stone Soup’) and fresh butter next Wednesday, November  19, 2014 with the class, so we will need some ingredients to be brought in. To be sure we get all the ingredients; I assigned certain items to each student. The children will wash, cut and prep the vegetables to make the soup on Wednesday and on Thursday we will eat our soup for snack.

If there is a problem bringing in any items, please let me know and I can take care of it. We need all these items by Tuesday, Nov 18, 2014 except for the bread if we can have it on Thursday morning that would be great!!

Ingredients

3 year old boys- one potato each

3 year old girls- one carrot each

4 year old boys- one celery stalk

4 year old girls- one small zucchini

Kinders-

Vivienne- can of black beans

Mia- veggie broth

Miles- 1 small bag of frozen green beans

Josiah- can of tomatoes

Campbell- 1 small bag of frozen corn

Maddox –1 small bag of frozen peas

Zach- an onion and a couple of garlic cloves

Giuliana- heavy cream (quart)

Tesla-Loaf of bread

Dylan-Loaf of bread

Large Movement in the classroom-

 Turkey Pokey

(Hokey Pokey)

You put your right wing in

you put your right wing out

You put your right wing in

And you shake it all about.

You do the turkey pokey

And you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about.

Add'l verses:

Left wing

Drumsticks (legs)

Stuffing (tummy)

Wattle (head)

Tail feathers (bottom)

Turkey body (whole self)

Although we enjoy very well equipped classrooms we are always looking to add to our collection of cultural materials from around the world. Since many of our families are world travelers, we have created the following ‘wish list’.

·         dolls from around the world

·         child-sized shoes, hats, clothing, instruments or cookware from different cultures

 As the snow begins to fly remember to send your child with boots, jackets, hats and mittens each day since we will be going outside on all but the most severe days.

·         All belongings should have names in them.

·         A pair of tennis shoes in their lockers to wear in the classroom.

·         Please check the Lost and Found lockers periodically.

Health and Wellness

Please be guided by your child, as the season of flu, fevers & other contagious illnesses continue. Children who have had fevers must be fever-free for at least 24 hours before returning to school. However, if your child is showing signs of lethargy, crankiness, has greenish discharge, or any other symptoms, please keep them home! Childhood

illnesses are typically very contagious, and your child will not love school if they are not feeling 100%. Please be sure to call the school to report absences.

Reminders-

·        Parent-Teacher Conferences - Nov 13^th to Nov 19th

·        Soup ingredients needed by Tuesday Nov 18, 2014

·        Wednesday, Nov 19 - Thanksgiving Luncheon

·        Nov 24^th   to Nov 28th-Thanksgiving Break

·        Monday, Dec 1^st- No School for 3 and 4 year olds

·        Monday, Dec 8^th- Winter Concert, only for full day students

Classroom Pet Sitting and Rugs Washing- Please let me know if anybody is interested in taking care of our classroom fish and if anybody is willing to take the classroom rugs home to launder during Thanksgiving Break.

Have a wonderful November!!!