Apples and Pumpkins and Cider Doughnuts, Oh My!

This week has been busy with a trip with the Preschoolers to Green Mountain Orchards to take a hay ride and pick apples and the Kindergarten's performance of two poems -- one about pumpkins and one about bats.

Friday will be our day to share costumes. Students may bring them in to share, though I ask that they not wear them for the entire day, as it can be distracting. We will have a celebration with the Preschool at snack and a gathering with PreK, K, 1st and 2nd grades in the afternoon.

Happy Halloween!

Parent Letter 10/24/2010

Dear Kindergarten Parents:

The Kindergarten had a wonderful field trip to the Grafton Nature Museum to learn about bats. Thank you to Judy Wagenbach (Kemp's grandmother) and Madeline for driving. Your child might have shared with you that, upon our arrival, a state trooper was there. Sadly, the museum had been burglarized the night before, so there was some extra excitement at the start of our visit. The rest of our time was spent exploring the museum's permanent exhibits and then enjoying an informative session about bats.

This past week we spent quite a bit of time exploring two pumpkins we have in the classroom. We extracted the seeds from each pumpkin and students estimated how many seeds they thought were in each. Estimates ranged from 15 to 1,220. We then actually counted the seeds, dividing them into groups of ten. After counting the seeds by tens, it was determined that the curvy stemmed pumpkin had 470 seeds and the straight stemmed had 430 seeds. In addition, we estimated their weight and then weighed the pumpkins with and without seeds.

Students have been practicing their letters and drawing and writing in their journals. This is a time for them to explore invented spelling, as they begin to decode words by sounding them out. Students have been labeling their pictures and are beginning to write short sentences. Encouraging them to use invented spelling at home is a great way to reinforce these burgeoning skills.

On Tuesday, the Kindergarten and Preschool will travel to Green Mountain Orchard for our traditional hay ride and apple picking. All are welcome to join us. We will leave school on the bus at 10:30 and return in time for lunch at noon.

On Wednesday, the Kindergarten will perform two poems for All School Meeting at 2:15 p.m. in the theater space. Please join us if you can. One is about bats and one about pumpkins.

Finally, I want to officially let you know that Olivia is a big sister. Willa Jane Burns was born on October 14 and all are doing well. We hope to visit with Olivia this week via Skype to learn more about her new baby.

It was a pleasure to meet with you all on Thursday for conferences. This is a wonderful, curious and exciting group to work with. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Best,
Libby

Parent Letter

Greetings From Kindergarten!

It has been a busy week in the Kindergarten classroom -- learning letters, counting to 20 and beyond, making bat mobiles, writing bat books and journals, and making bags with our buddies for the Medieval Faire. We have have also been happy to have Olivia back for the week. We all missed her and were happy to hear about New York and her recent visit to a Red Sox game.

Next Wednesday I would like to take the class on a field trip to the Grafton Nature Museum for a presentation on bats. We will leave school around 9:30 and return by lunch. The presentation is about an hour long, and we will have time to explore the museum and have snack before our return. I have space for two car seats in my car so need transportation for three more children. Please let me know if you can join us and take some children. FYI, Ken and I will also be planning a trip to Green Mountain Orchards to pick apples in October. I'll let you know as soon as we have a date.

A reminder that, if possible, it would be helpful to have an extra pair of shoes or slippers that serve as inside shoes. This keeps mud out of the classroom where we spend so much time on the floor. I also want to let you know that, in addition to organic 2% milk, I now have organic soy milk available to the children each day.

Parent/Teacher conferences are Thursday, October 21. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child's time in Kindergarten. There is no school on that day. You may sign up for a conference by calling or stopping in to see Tammy in the office. Long Fall weekend follows so there is no school on Friday, October 22.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Hope to see you all at the Medieval Faire this Saturday!