The Magic of the Montessori Way!!

At first glance the task depicted in these pictures may not seem all that "magical," but you see, that's the beauty of it all!! It took me a little while to see it myself, actually, but now that I know what I'm privelaged to be watching, I watch with awe and admiration.

First, you take a fairly common, everday task, such as cutting bread, or in this case, bananas!

Then you invite a 3 or 4 year old to cut that banana, put it on a serving tray and then offer those morsels to his or her friends!


Sounds straightforward enough - but maybe you've had the experience of cutting a banana before, you know what it feels like to use a knife, to chase a slimy piece of banana with a toothpick, to arrange them on a plate, and even to carry that plate around without inadvertantly spilling banana to the floor.

Many of our friends in our M-F classrooms are new to these experiences, and are challenged by all those steps just named! How do you hold a knife so it can cut? Which way is up? How do you keep the banana from running away from you? How do you get the banana slices from tray to serving plate? How many pieces should you cut before serving? How do ask your friends if they would like a piece of banana - and not have it sound like it's directive?!

To be given the opportunity - the space, the quiet encourage-ment, the FREEDOM - to work this out for oneself, yet with the support of teachers, and even friends if you need it, is the quiet, everyday "magic" that happens here at the Children's School. It is each child's personal experience - journey, if you will - with even these simple everyday tasks that leads them down a road of discovery, success, self-confidence and joy!

In and amongst this kind of learning, there is also a great deal of just plain fun!! Laughing at a shared joke, playing castles with princesses and the ever-present "bad guys," singing and dancing, jumping and rolling! But always with a quiet acceptance of each child's gifts and skills, a gentle encouragement to try something new, a kind and loving word of all each child is willing to share with us! Oh, the magic, oh the joy, oh what a wonderful experience for all of us!!

Meet our friend, Mrs. Allen!

Every Wednesday our school is blessed with the quiet and focused presence of Mrs. (Bev) Allen, a Montessori "guru" of sorts. She shares her time with our 3 and 4 year-old classrooms. The picture above is very accurate in that it shows the environment you are most likely to find Mrs. Allen in: on the floor, with her Montessori "tools" (or games, as the kids know them), and a clipboard not far away! Very quietly, Mrs. Allen will take one, or maybe two children at a time out into the hall or to another room, and introduce them to a Montessori tool. The one above is a tool that works with colors, challenging the children to see the subtle differences between the color shades and put them in order of light to dark, for example. The children really look forward to this special, focused time, and using the very wonderful Montessori tools. (Many of these Montessori products are just fabulous to touch! Most are made of wood, and simply feel good in your hands!) They also look forward to all the wonderful games Mrs. Allen challenges them to play. As our friend Nikola so astutely pointed out today when he had his turn with Mrs. Allen, "I don't have these games at my house!" We hope you will say a friendly "hi" to Mrs. Allen when you see her! She is an important part of the magic we call "The Children's School Experience."

Is there a Doctor in the House??

Sitting in Lunch Bunch one day with some of our 3 and 4 year old friends, Mrs. Coleman sat on the rug and announced off-handedly that she had an owie. Of course, the response from several of these friends was, "Where??" and "Can I see? Can I see?" Now this was not a serious owie, and no blood was visible, but it was a very irritating paper cut that had been bothering Mrs. Coleman on and off all morning. She chose to share this small fact out loud, with the added invitation of "Would you guys like to help me fix it?"

Suddenly, it was Dr.'s Joe, Chae, Whit and Ailbhe to the rescue!!

The first problem our team of doctors had to overcome was locating the medical kit (pictured above). Here Dr. Whit stepped to the forefront, taking very few verbal clues from Mrs. Coleman and quickly locatiing and extracting the medical kit from its "home." Having procured the kit, the team quickly got it open to admire its contents. Dr. Ailbhe was quickly in charge of the bandaid, and set to releasing it from its packaging.

As Dr. Ailbhe was working on the bandaid, Mrs. Coleman asked if maybe this owie wasn't just serious enough to require the use of Neosporin, to which Dr. Joe (Dale) jumped in with "I can do that!!" and before you know it, had just the right amount of ointment carefully squeezed from the tube and deposited on Mrs. Coleman's cut!

Bandaid in place - and a Spiderman bandaid at that!! - Dr. Chae quietly asked "What can I be in charge of?" So we quickly went through all the steps again, and the "who had done what" list. Finding the kit? Check. (Dr. Whit); finding and subsequently putting on the bandaid? Check. (Dr. Alva); finding and putting on the ointment? Check. (Dr. Joe). Mrs. Coleman quickly identified that there had been no healing kiss placed on the injured digit, and asked Dr. Chae if she could be in charge of this particular step. Dr. Chae was kind enough to place the final, and maybe most important, medicinal treatment on the injury!

I think it's important to add here, before signing off, that no help whatsoever (other than the verbal clues mentioned above) was given to this team of friends. The help they gave to Mrs. Coleman was all their own doing. They are so capable when given the opportunities to show us what they know!! And when our friends were given this opportunity to "help," not once was there any arguement amongst our friends as to who was going to do what. There was instead a great example of cooperation.

Mrs. Coleman is extremely happy to report that the aforementioned papercut has healed stupendously - you can't even see where it was!! Thank you to this great team of friends!!

Hitting the Ground Running!!

Our Pre-K friends came to school with a great deal of enthusiam, and"Knowledge!!" They are all eager to help out, and show us what they know, and we here at The Children's School are all excited to let them do just that!! In Ms. Tierney's Pre-K classroom, working with apples and sunflowers has produced some extraordinary art for us all to enjoy! Aren't these beautiful!!

The Children's School wants to introduce something new and exciting for our parents and caregivers!!

Friendly Chats with Mrs. Banks!!
(aka Lunch Bunch for Grown-ups)

The Children's School wants to offer parents and caregivers an opportunity to get together with Mrs. Banks and other staff members to discuss a variety of what we trust will be useful topics.

Our first topic will be “Getting Ready for Kindergarten!” Our target date for this first session is late October or early November – giving us all a chance to settle into our new routines. It will be offered during our normal Lunch Bunch Program hour, starting at approximately 11:45 a.m. We will be inviting everyone who participates to bring a bag lunch. We are finalizing our plans for location, working to find a space that will be welcoming to adults in conversation, and also welcoming younger siblings who may also need a place to hang out during this hour.

We hope you find this new opportunity to be in conversation with Children’s School Staff Members as exciting as we do! To get started, keep an eye on our blog, and your child’s Take Home Box for our first announced “Chat Date.” We have several ideas for discussion topics, but we are also very interested in what it is that YOU want to discuss with each other and our very talented and knowledgeable staff members.

(Interested already?? Great! Drop a note or an email to Lisa Coleman at beanrhit@comcast.net. Knowing who’s interested will help us tremendously in our planning process. ©

We're Off To A Great Start!!

What a fabulous week we are having! We are singing and playing and learning! We are creating, writing, and cooperating!! Isn't it great to be back to school!
So on behalf of your Children's School staff, let me once more say "Thank You" for trusting us with your lovely, spirited, intelligent, caring, and always endearing children!
Oh! And did I mention how much we appreciate you getting back to us with your emergency packet information, profile sheets, contact information and immunizations (if you didn't get a chance to give those to us in the spring)! It's so nice to get paperwork out of the way!

WE HAVE OPENINGS!!

Do you have any friends looking for a last-minute preschool placement for their child? Perhaps you have a new neighbor who is looking for a great place for their child to start preschool and make some new friends?! Please let these folks (and others) know that The Children's School has multiple openings in our morning 3 & 4 year old classrooms, and in our afternoon Pre-K classrooms. It would be wonderful to add as many as 3 or 4 more children to each of these classrooms, so please help us spread the word! --Thank You.

What's Roofing Got To Do With It??

Our building is undergoing another structural improvement - a new roof!! This project started in late August, and is scheduled to last at least 3 months. You may have already "experienced" some of the impact this project has on The Children's School when you came to visit for your Open House. But just in case you didn't, let's take a minute and review some of the different ways this could impact your experience here at school:

• PARKING - always a "trick" at school, can be negatively impacted when the building has these big projects by the presence of additional workers' vehicles which ordinarily would not be taking up precious drop-off/pick-up parking spaces.
• NOISE - we in The Children's School are directly under some of the work being done, and can hear a great deal of pounding, etc. Most of the time, this drops into the "background" of other activity, but every once in a while, we have that extra loud drop or bang. If your child is sensitive to noise, PLEASE LET YOUR TEACHER KNOW! As the roofing company started on our end of the building, we are expecting their departure to the middle and south end of the building very soon!!
• Water - again, as we are directly under the roof, we have experienced a little unexpected water in our Rm. 340, and hallway. The roofers have been working very hard to find the source, and fix this problem. If you see garbage cans or towels in the hallway, please just walk around them. They should be gone very soon!
• Roofing Materials - One of the great things about our building management is their constant concern for their building users. Mr. Anderson has communicated to the roofers the presence of the 3 child-oriented programs in the building, and the importance of carefully disposing of roofing materials. This is particularly important in regards to their work around and over our playground. While this work continues, we ask that you be - as we at school will be - extra diligent in watching what your children are picking up off the grounds around our building.

Well, that should do it!! This should be over before we know it!!

Keep an Eye on our Blog!!

Check out the blog regularly! We are adding stuff all the time!!
There's an updated calendar for your convenience to check on dates for open houses, Lunch Bunch start date, teachers' meetings, school breaks, and SPS (Seattle Public School calendar adjustments).
We have started to add resource pages. Our first is one on good practices for saying goodbye to your preschooler. Look here for other useful information!

OPEN HOUSE SCHEDULE FOR 2007-08 YEAR

By now all of our 2007-08 families should have received a packet of information sent out in August. In that packet, each child enrolled in The Children's School starting Sept. 2007 would have received an invitation to their class' Open House. Please be aware that only 1/2 the class meets at a time. Check your invitation for your specific time! Note: There is NO PRE-3 OPEN HOUSE UNTIL THE WEEK OF Sept. 10th!
Here is the Schedue:

Mrs. Banks' M-F class has their Open House in Rm. 331 on Thurs. Sept. 6th!
1/2 at 9:00 a.m.
1/2 at 10:30 a.m.
Check for your time!!

Mrs. Jaques' M-F class has their Open House in Rm. 343 on Friday Sept. 7th!
1/2 at 9:00 a.m.
1/2 at 10:30 a.m.
Check for your time!

Ms. Tierney's Pre-K Class has their Open House in Rm. 341 on Thurs. Sept. 6th!
1/2 at 12:30 p.m.
1/2 at 2:00 p.m.
Check for your time!

Mrs. Jaques' Pre-K Class has their Open House in Rm. 343 on Thurs. Sept. 6th!
1/2 at 12:30 p.m.
1/2 at 2:00 p.m.
Check for your time!

It's Almost Picnic Time

Can you believe that we are almost at the very end of our year!!?? So much has happened, and so much is STILL happening. There was great painting with feet just today! There's been planting and singing, and worms, and airplanes and Open House, robots -- oh the places we go and the things we do here at The Children's School!!

Well, now we need to have one last great hurrah!! So mark your calendar for your class' picnic or field trip!

Here's the list:

M-W Pre-3s will picnic on Monday, June 4th at the Junior League Playground at the NW corner of Magnuson Park. Picnic Time is 10-11:30 am.

T-Th Pre-3's will picnic on Tuesday, June 5th at the Junior League Playground at the NW corner of Magnuson Park. Picnic Time is 10-11:30 am.

Mrs. Banks' M-F class will picnic on Monday, June 4th at the Matthew's Beach Playground.
PICNIC TIME IS 10-11:30 am.
Mrs. Jaques' MWF class will picnic on Monday, June 4th at the Matthew's Beach Playground.
PICNIC TIME IS 10-11:30 am.

The Pre-K Class is having their annual Field Trip to Discovery Park Beach on Wednesday, June 6th. This will be in lieu of a year-end picnic this year. Children, teachers and chaperones will meet at the Discovery Park Visitor's Center for an introduction to the Beach at 1:30 pm.

Have a fabulous summer. Keep your eyes on the blog for news and developments, and always for pictures!!

Our Hearts Doth Burst with Pride!!!

Do you recognize this tower?? This is the bell tower of our neighbor, University Presbyterian Church. If you stand in Room 341 (Mrs. Banks' snack room) near the painting easels, you will see this tower. That is exactly what our friend, Olivia, did one day. She looked out the window, and was inspired to paint this picture.....
Mighty accurate rendition, wouldn't you agree???

Kudos Olivia for your inspired work of art!

In another classroom down the hall, the T-Th Pre-3's were challenged to put together this foam puzzle of a rocket ship. Having put this puzzle together many times, our friend Gisela (2-1/2), painted this amazing picture of a pink rocketship!! Can you see it?! Genius I tell you!!

Welcoming a visitor!

To the delight of many, Mrs. Banks' brought a visitor, albeit somewhat uninivited, to her classroom today, via the bunch of flowers she had brought in for flower arranging.

Meet Sara Johnson, the baby slug!!

Why the name "Sara," you may ask? Because it sounded like a good name according to Annie, who took it upon herself to give our little visitor an identity. Naomi, who was right there when our guest was first discovered, was very concerned about Sara's survival, and overall happiness. Naomi wanted to set Sara free as soon as possible, but others in the class persuaded Naomi to let others see and experience Sara first before setting her out on her own in the great wide world of the playground! Naomi agreed to this, and Sara was given a temporary habitat, consisting of a blue tub, lined with papertowels, upon which Sara gifted us with a beautiful sluggie, slimy trail, and a jar lid of water. She was then toted to Mrs. Jaques classroom, where her habitiat was gifted with some leaves. After making the rounds of the morning classrooms, Sara was gently freed into the planter in the playground. She was a delightful distraction on this rainy day, and a thoroughly pleasant guest. May she live a long and productive life!

Thanks Puzzlemakers!!

Isn't this a beautiful wooden puzzle?

Making wooden puzzles from pictures that spoke to her was the brain child of Mrs. McArthur. After seeing some of the pictures that Mrs. McArthur had collected, and looking for a project that would engage her project-minded son, Mrs. Coleman created her own after-school program by combining these two needs. The following puzzle, and some others in the school, are the beautiful result.

After weeks of careful instruction and supervision, Philip has earned the privelege to "drive" the scroll saw, and help with the actual creation of these masterpieces. His instructor and supervisor (and creator of the correct sized puzzle patterns) is Philip's grandfather, John. We at the Children's School are very appreciative of these careful, dedicated artisans!

Staff Continues Work on Preparedness

It is the goal of your Children's School Staff to be prepared to care for your children in the case of emergency. What we have learned this year is a little more about what that means. Briefly it means you have supplies: food to eat, bandaids for ow-ies, lights for the dark, tools for communication, and lots of other things; you need a plan - something that covers not only where do you go, but who's in charge of what, and even what proceedures are used to release those children in your charge. It could be viewed as an overwhelming task, but the Staff has made great strides this year in all of these areas.

As you may remember, at the beginning of the school year, you were asked to participate in our preparedness by contributing to our food and first aid supplies. Here is picture of what we have done with those supplies.

In addition to the supplies, we have had 3 workshops for the staff to start to rough out our "plan." We have tackled issues such as, lines of communication, first steps following a disaster, dividing up on teams to deal with search and rescue, communicating with the other programs in the building, as well as the outside world, and most recently, what do we do to take care of ourselves and each other during those hours of post-incident activity.

Mrs. Jaques has been invaluable in tackling this last issue, and to the end of comfort and creative activity in a small, potentially dark, space has introduced the Staff to the above environment (A in-house camping experience): soft blanket to gather around, and even touch; hankerchiefs to be touched, smelled and even folded into dolls(!); chocolate (did you know that it is said to have calming qualities!!); a friendly lantern to do shadow puppets with, and keep us in the light; and any other object that could be used to ward off feelings of lonliness and powerlessness, known affectionately at The Children's School as "The Magic."

Is there more work to be done? Absolutely! There are details to work out, rituals to practice, paperwork to follow up with, personal preparedness plans to work on, and an on-going "updating" that goes on with every new school year. It can feel overwhelming, but the Staff are committed to working on this plan, this sense of being prepared. If you would like to know more about what we are doing to be prepared, contact any Children's School Staff member. If you would like to know more about preparing in your home environment, visit 3days3ways.org.

Heifer Project Update(s)

What's a good Heifer Project update without a couple of good pictures? Here are some pictures of animals that our friends Ethan and Ellis Andrews would send if they could:
Ellis would send a variety of animals if she could. Represented here are a leopard, a bird and a salmon (good PNW girl that she is!!)

Ethan, in no uncertain terms, would send everyone a zebra!



And my personal favorite -- the spotted cow, complete with label and arrow -- from my friend Ellis!!




“What animal would you send to a farm in need with our Heifer Project money?”

This was the questions posed to some of our friends in Mrs. Jaques M-W-F class during their time in music, and here are some of their answers:

Luke: chickens; they would give the people eggs.
Nikola: cow; they could give milk.
Zev: goat; Discussion revealed that goats can give milk and cheese.
Sophie: pig; Here we learned that pigs can provide bacon or a pork chops.
Mary Ellen: horses. Mary Ellen loves horses, and we learned that horses can do a lot of work; and you can ride it for transportation.
Julia: a cow for milk.

There was quite the lively discussion going on during this brief music time. It’s exciting to discover all the wonderful uses for animals on a farm. Mrs. McArthur helped out the class by pointing out that the poop or dung (a new word for some of our friends) from cows and chickens can be used to fertilize the gardens – good for growing stuff!
Teacher Cinda helped the kids know that goat’s milk can be made into something else, something we can spread on crackers and sandwiches ... When the kids tried to fill in this blank, they guessed “peanut butter? Jelly?” We all learned that what Teacher Cinda was getting to was cheese – cheese from goats??

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!

Chinese New Year, which starts with the first New Moon of the year, started this year in February! That gave us a good chance to be prepared for this marvelous celebratory time of year. Keep reading and you will be delighted to see some wonderful examples of how the Children's School helps our friends use this holiday to learn about a fascinating place in the world!


This is a table in one of classrooms which shows several different items to spark an interest in maybe asking some questions. Can you see the chinese money? The shirt? The fan? Wouldn't that spark your interest?

Red is a very important color to celebrate this holiday with. In the examples above, friends in Mrs. Banks' M-F class, red is the starting color used to create these marvelous nametags. Elsa even used cuttings from a Chinese newspaper to decorate her nametag with!
What a fun opportunity to talk about these intriguing animals. Cloth Pandas, and later Pandas in rice, make a wonderful sensory experience.
Oh! And look what our friends in the Pre-K were challenged to do! To draw Chinese characters! Aren't they fabulous!!
And what is this? Why Chinese puzzles of course! They are commonly known as Tangrams, or Brain Puzzles. The story behind them goes something like this -- A tile worker in China has an accident and drops the tile. It breaks into several pieces. His goal was to put the pieces back into the shape of the tile, but in the meantime, the pieces put together in other ways created a myriad of other things: fish, dog, penguin or bird. With these puzzles, of which our school has several versions, our friends can experiment with this mosaic making experience!

What didn't I capture via photos? Oh my goodness - so much! Eating rice and soy sauce or Chinese noodles and fortune cookies! Doing the lion and dragon dances in music with small cymbals and triangles, and low bows at the end! Reading the story of Ping, and then painting our favorite scenes. Listening to traditional Chinese folk music while working in our classrooms. And painting fish!!

But Chinese New Year has passed. The songs have changed, as have our stories, puzzles and art projects. Look for our friends to create things with a transportation theme, build puzzles with rockets, cars and trucks! Sing wheels on the bus, and other songs about movement! And they continue their work with the Heifer Project. Whew!! How do they fit it all in?

Eggshells and Appliances Needed!!!

Ok, so here is a strange request! We need empty eggshells and lots of 'em!! So the call goes out there to all great cooks, and egg-lovers - now would be a great time to eat up, and cook up! Break an egg, ladies and gentlemen!! The school will use these egg shells to allow the children the opportunity to first color them, then to smash them, and then to play in them. We have only a few weeks before we'd like to use these shells, so we are counting on your help!

You can learn a great deal by giving children the opportunity to create through CONstruction, but did you know you can learn an equal amount by allowing the opportunity to DEconstruct! That's right, Take Apart is just around the corner!!
And what are these? Examples of some wonderful things to donate to our "take apart" project coming up soon. Have a phone around the house that doesn't work anymore, an alarm clock, a cd player, a cell phone, a VCR, a rice cooker?? Well, bring them on over, because these are great things (often with many wonderful SCREWS) to let the kids investigate by taking them apart!!

Heifer Project Update!

I recieved another wonderful update on our on-going quest to collect enough quarters to buy an animal for the Heifer Project. This report comes to me from Katie -- friend of Ethan (M-F Class) and Ellis (Children's School Alumnus, 2006). Katie reports that she suggested to Ethan that he might want to give a look around his house for a quarter or two to bring to school and put into our wonderful clear quarter collector tubes. Well, Ethan may not have been "lit on fire" with this particular suggestion, but his older sister, Ellis, who was with us last year as a Pre-K student, remembered this project, and took on the role of lead quarter finder. She took Ethan with her from room to room looking in the "coin collection" places of the Andrews household, including her own collection of coins in her room. Through their enthusiastic efforts, Ellis and Ethan successfully collected $4.00 in quarters to bring to school to put in our quarter tubes!
Hooray for Ethan and Ellis Andrews, and to their support, Katie!! Tune in next week for more news on the project's success!

RED AND PINK EVERYWHERE!!

Many preparations were undertaken to make our week of Valentine's Day parties something special. In the Pre-3 classes decorating hearts was the order of the day, and how amazingly wonderful and individual they all turned out to be!! This bulletin board of hearts was in the Pre-3 classroom, which also serves as the snack room for Mrs. Jaques' MWF class, so these decorations were WIDELY appreciated!!

In the picture below, you can see the special care taken by Mrs. Banks' M-F students to decorate their snack room with hand-decorated table runners, and cupids, and Valentine napkins!!

Ms. Tierney's Pre-K class displayed a little more sophistication with their stunning tissue paper water color hearts, seen here decorating their name tags. Such delicate, and careful work by our sophisticated Pre-K friends!!

And here is a gift from Mrs. McArthur -- the Children's School Cafe, set up and decorated just especially for the occasion!! The table decoration even had a (battery-operated) candle in its centerpiece! How chic!! Thank you Mrs. McArthur for adding this lovely detail to our day!


What occasion at the Children's School would be complete if it did not involve play dough at some level?? Well, in this case, our friend Tyler in Mrs. Banks' M-F class, made us a whole plate of playdough hearts, arranged here so wonderfully, I could not help but take a picture of them to share with all of our friendly readers!! Thank you Tyler!!


And finally the piece de la resistance of Valentine's Day -- Fishing for Valentines!! Although I cannot show you pictures of my friends who did the actual fishing, I can show you their lovely assistants. And it will have to suffice for me to report to you that magic really does exist and if you are not a believer, you needed only see the faces of our friends who patiently waited for their turn to throw in their "hook" and see what bounty (of Valentine Love) they may recieve for their efforts! Thanks to all the loving parents who worked with our friends to share expressions of love and kindsness through the gift of a Valentine. Your efforts were so very much recieved with joy, excitement and event the smallest hint of delighted surprise!

Can you see the very tip of the fishing pole peeking up over the top of the barrier? Ms. Tierney has successfully loaded the fisherman's bag with Valentine "fish." She tugs on the line to signal it's time to haul in the load.




Mrs. Jaques was busy with her students at the opposite end of the school, here busily trying to load the fishing pole before the anxious and excited fisherman on the other side yanks back his or her bite!!

Heifer Project Update

Well, the Heifer Project with our friends at The Children's School is off to a strong start. In Mrs. Banks M-F class, our very thoughtful friend, Annie decided to take advantage of the gathering of family members at their Sunday Superbowl Party! With all those adults hanging around with change jingling in their pockets, Annie decided that would be a splendid time to take up a quarter collection on behalf of children around the world. She drew a picture of a goat (just like Beatrice!) and boldly requested her family members give up their quarters for the cause!! You go Annie!!

Dinos! Dinos! and more Dinos!

Look what we're doing at The Children's School!! We are visiting with our friends, the dinosaurs! This means that we are playing dinosaur games, digging for dinosaur bones, reading dinosaur books, singing dinosaur songs and telling dinosaur stories.





This is a dinosaur game created by Mrs. McArthur, and is great fun to play. Our friends in Mrs. Banks' M-F Class take turns playing this game, and then create their own versions!!







Here are 2 examples. What creativity by these children!!

For the archiologists in our midst there is the cornmeal and bones!! What fun to do a little diggin' around!


We even paint with our dinosaur bones!! This is an example of "bone-hopping" -- using the bones as stamps to create some name tags for our friends in the MWF class.




Using this felt board and a little imagination, the Stars Group in the M-F Class (with a little help from Mrs. Coleman and Ms. Tierney) came up with the following story:



"A long, long, long time ago, before there were people, there were giants that roamed the earth. There were purple mountains and a volcano. One day, T-Rex was out looking for coconuts to eat, when he meets Baby Stegasaurus. Baby Stegasaurus was looking for his mommy. T-Rex wants to help. So they go off looking for Mommy. When they find Mommy, she says "I love you!" When she sees T-Rex, she says "Thank you for helping." Pteradactyl flys over and sees a party going on. She flys down and says "I wanna join the party!" They offer her some coconuts. Terry (Pteryadactyl) says, "No thank you. Got any fish??" Trini Triceratops comes to the party and bends the tree down to get more coconuts. Al Apotasaurus comes by. They ask him to put his tail down. Brontasaurus helps the friends get up on Al's neck so thy can slide down. "Wheeeeee!!" But then it starts to rain. The dinos don't like rain, so they all go home. "Bye!!" The End."

Stay Tuned, Everyone! Valentine's Day, songs about mail, pink and red, and lots of hearts are next!!

MWF Children Take Home a Friend

Meet PJ the Bear!

The children in our MWF class have recently been introduced to a very good friend of the school, Mr. PJ the Bear. PJ comes to visit every so often with the intention of getting to know some of our friends better by going on a little trip with a friend to their house. Our friends who take PJ home are then invited to write a little journal entry, maybe even with a picture, to tell us all what PJ's visit was like.

Here is an example from our friend, Mr. Luke:

"Today, I went to the "dump" with my dad and my sister, Nikki, and we took PJ with us. He got to ride in my backpack in my daddy's big truck. The dump is by Green Lake. When we got there, my daddy threw all the old pieces of our house into a big hole. PJ watched from my back pack. He was happy that he wasn't going in the hole, too. The End."

PJ is a long-time friend of The Children's School, and is very excited when he gets to go home with a friend that maybe is the sister or brother of a friend he met only a year or two before! PJ looks forward to making as many visits as he can this year. Maybe he'll be coming to your house soon!

Think Globally; Act Locally!!! (Heifer Project is Back!)

The Heifer Project is returning to Children's School! Aren't familiar with the Heifer Project? Well, briefly, Heifer International helps communities around the world help themselves through the use of animals -- cows, water buffalo, goats, bees, ducks, chickens -- whatever works best for that particular community. The family (or families) involved manage the animal(s) provided by Heifer International to provide nurishment for their own family, as well as a source of additional income by selling the product the family cannot use (milk, honey, eggs). It's really quite profound. Our school helps by collecting quarters. We will be placing quarter cylinders in the hallway in the next week. Each cylinder holds $125 worth of quarters. When both cylinders are filled, we take a straw vote with our students to choose which animal we would like to buy/donate to a community that would benefit from such a resource. While we are busy collecting quarters, we will read books, have conversations, play games, and even write stories about the Heifer Project. STAY TUNED, AND SAVE YOUR QUARTERS!!

Registration Has Started!!!

Registration for families already enrolled in our school is currently underway. Starting last Friday, Jan. 19th, these materials were put into the classroom boxes for pick up. If you have a child currently in our program, and have any questions about where you think your child will best fit for the next year, please don't hesitate to ask your teachers. We are hear to listen and want your child to have the very best experience we can offer.

1/17 - WED. WE'RE OPEN FOR LB & PRE-K

Seattle Public Schools are running 2 hours late today, so our building will not open until 11am.
There will be no morning classes; but we will be open for Lunch Bunch and our Pre-K class will meet this afternoon.
Welcome Back!

SCHOOL CLOSED ON TUESDAY

No School for Tuesday, January 16th.
The weather once again keeps us from attending school.
We will begin to make up all these missed days in February. Our school WILL BE OPEN on February 20 thru the 23rd, weather permitting of course!

NO SCHOOL FOR FRIDAY! No Teachers' Workshop

Ice on the roads have made driving dicey. The Seattle Schools are starting 2 hours late, and we, in accordance to our policy, are cancelling our morning classes and Lunch Bunch. Please stay close to home, and stay safe. We will see you next week.

Teachers' Workshop is cancelled for today. Our workshop on Emergency Preparedness has been rescheduled for next Friday, starting at noon. We'll look forward to getting together then.

SCHOOL CLOSED!!

NO SCHOOL FOR THURSDAY, JAN. 11TH.
Due to snow and ice conditions, Seattle Public Schools have closed as of approximately 4:45am this morning. Consequently, our building will be closed, and our program. Stay home. Stay safe. Stay warm!!

Check here tomorrow for an update!

YOGA IS FOR EVERYONE!!

Here's our friend Raggedy Ann showing us how to do the "Wheel Barrow" on one of our new yoga mats! Yoga is for everyone!!

When doing a position for the first time, Teacher BJ is right there to help the kids make sure their bodies are in the right position!

Here Teacher BJ shows Raggedy Ann how to do another Children's School favorite -- The Turtle!!

Teacher BJ often takes as many as 7 children at a time to go into yoga class. Each child has their own designated space using these brightly colored yoga mats, purchased at Target.

Don't forget that you can get your own copy of The Children's School Family Yoga Book, available now in the hallway, right next to the tuition basket. These would make fabulous gifts for family members, or how about as a stocking stuffer for your child who will recognize this resource and possibly start their own yoga class at home!! Any donation you can make toward this very popular program at the school would be very much appreciated. (For example, printing costs for books was $2.00/book.)

Let's Paint!!

Pre-K Lunch Bunch Paints with Watercolors

This is another example of the "magic" of our school! These are 2x3 business cards with a blank side that have been donated to the school for the purpose of doing watercolor painting on. The children are given selected colors to work with, and then asked to paint whatever strikes their fancy. The small space encourages "careful" work with a small brush! It's exciting, and as you can see, very beautiful.

TA-DA!!!!

The Pre-K Class had some real fun today!! Look at these creations! Are they not edible art?!

DOESN'T THIS LOOK LIKE FUN?? Want to try this at home? Look below at the Nov. 30th Pre-K entry for the recipe for the "frosting cement," and ask your children to show you how this is done!

MWF Learns by Leaps and Bounds

We learn through ritual!
Our rituals in November have included "Jack be Nimble" movement during music, chants about puppies, aliens and turkeys, "Going on a Turkey Hunt" during our gathering time before going outside, learning the "preschool flip" for putting on our coats, table setting, recipe writing, and practicing our good table communication - "Please pass the basket."

We learn through Montessori opportunty and tools!
Our new Montessori tools in November have included the number board, insets, and the spindle box. This is added to our continued work with water pouring and bread cutting.

We learn with the opportunity of new experiences!
New experiences in November have included learning to glue with small Elmer's glue bottles, painting with water colors, scissor work, working in teams to do sorting work and giant floor puzzles.

What will we learn in December?
We will learn the story and some of the music from The Nutcracker.
We will have the opportunity to learn the game of Dreidel.
We will make holiday gifts and explore gingerbread houses!

FAMILIES GIVING TO FAMILIES!! (A Holiday Project)

The Children's School has a long tradition of participating in the greater community at this time of year by supporting one or more families in need during the holidays. The program is called "Christmas Families." This year the School will sponsor 2 families, each with nine children or more. Each of these children has submitted a wish or a need (and sometimes both) for the holiday season. We can help out by choosing a child, and helping to fill that need or meet that wish.

There will be informatioin about the families and the children in the Hallway of our school starting the week of Dec. 5th. Once you've had a chance to look over what's there, feel free to ask your teacher any additional questions you may have. Judith Knowles has lovingly volunteered to coordinate this project for us again this year and she would also be happy to answer any questions you may have. She can be reached at jlknowles2@comcast.net.

Your gifts for these children need to be returned to the Children's School by Friday, Dec. 15th. We hope you and your families will enjoy this wonderful experience of sharing.
Happy Holidays, Everyone!

YOGA TO SHARE!

The Children's School presents The Family Yoga Book: simple yoga, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques, which can be taught by your child. This is for the whole family. This fun book would make a great gift for grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins, mom or dad.
Available in the hallway starting the week of Dec. 5th.
Donations to offset printing costs are welcome!

NEW YEAR BRINGS BIG THINGS FOR THE PRE K

January 8th: more wonderful woodworking with teacher BJ!

January Project: The class will create individual telephone books. Answering the telephone will be included along with permission from mom or dad. We will also use the keyboard. Does anyone know how to do VOIP?

PRE K- JOKE BOOK- Mrs. Jaques has assured me that she will make a Joke Book with this year's group of JOKESTERS. Start saving jokes with your child.

THE NORTHWEST PUPPET CENTER
9123 15th Ave. NE This theater is one of Seattle's finest, and we do so enjoy visiting regularly with your children. Our next couple of visits will be on:

January 25, 2007. " Crane and Turtle: Images of China" performed by Dragon Arts Studio.
12:15pm show time.
The Pre K class will enjoy drawing a series of events in the play and describing their pictures.

March 15, 2007 "Puss in Boots" performed by Oregon Puppet Theater
12:15 show time.

March 2007 also brings a project on behalf of Heifer International. We will be collecting quarters to buy a Goat or Water Buffalo. We read books and play games to share a little of the Heifer Project experience with the children. The next time you're at your local library, see if you can check out one of the books we'll be using entitled Beatrice's Goat.

March Hands-on Project: The "Take-Apart Experience." Our wood projects provide terrific creative "construction" experiences, but "Take-Apart" provides the equally important opposite side of that coin by giving our children a safe "deconstruction" experience. We need things to take apart. Small household appliances such as rice cookers, old telephones and answering machines make excellent "subjects."

April will bring our ever-popular Robot Construction Project. These fabulous creations are made out of recycled things. You can help by saving small things; they help add personality!

PRE-K PLANS FOR AFTER THE BIG STORM

Monday December 4th, we will start the Graham Cracker House Construction!


Frosting Recipe:
1 egg white (room temperature)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until it is very thick and holds a shape.
Add 4-5 cups confectioners sugar sifted to the egg mixture until it is very THICK and holds its shape.
Frosting cement is enough for 1 small house.

Friday December 8 The kids, families Ms. Tierney and Mrs. Jaques will be going to the Pacific Northwest Ballet production of the Nutcracker organized by theSterk family.


We love games and here are a few:
The gangly Hotch Potch Doll from the www.williamsburg.com will twist into any letter your child commands. first published in London in 1782. The classroom has a set of 3 comical Hotch-Potch dolls, the kids have enjoyed making uppercase letters while learning their ABC's

Filler, Up by www.gamewright.com The Service Station problem solving game as each crisis is solved. Pat's Pump and Pay, Sam's Super Service,Gasoline Annie's team will reply to their customer "Happy To Help", another fun game.

Cool Cash www.learningresources.com, players learn to identify coins and sort into the different sizes. The Children's School famous TAKE AWAY or I SPY GAME game will have Nutcracker and Hanukah items during December.

We have also found that the kids love to make their own games and we will share these with you from time to time.

The Children's School Experience

The Children's School Experience things I have learned, things I have heard and read over the better part of a lifetime. Mrs. McArthur

www.deltasand.com
Specially selected grains of sand coated it is non toxic and always ready to use. We have it in room 341 if you would like a child to give you a demonstration. I have purchased more so the rest of the school can have a turn.

This tactle experience is a little different and fun to make and use.
4 cups dried coffee
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
2 cups cornmeal

Mrs. Banks has bought us Cranberries we will use them in water with a variety of utensils for lifting and pouring at a table for 2.

This Week in Our T-Th Pre-3 Class....

Weeks of Nov. 6th, 13th, and 20th!

Where did all that time go??!! And what have we been doing? Well, it’s not that much time – really. Really, that was only 5 classes. But in that time, we continue to be such a wonderfully, busy group of children!

Part of our big fun in the last couple of weeks has been the new stuff we put into the sensory table – CRANBERRIES! Oh, such fun! Did you know that cranberries float?! They are just the best fun to put into a big tub of water, and chase around with a variety of scooping objects!

Now, if you read our little blog on any kind of a regular basis, you should be able to guess which of our friends you can find here! Yes, that’s correct. This is one of Aidan’s favorite spots, especially once our friend Joe Keaton returned (complete with a handsome tan) from Hawaii. Those 2 boys certainly do enjoy each other’s company! Also, Ciaran and Jo-Jo find time to spend here, always happy and excited to check out what’s hanging out in our tub.

Art projects included making turkeys using our hands and some fun feathers, and continuing our experience with glue while making trees with fall leaves on them. We have spent some time at the easels with markers, crayons, and on some days, some paint. Emily continues to enjoy her time on art projects with Mrs. Jaques, but also does some very wonderful independent work at the art easels. And Mrs. Jaques’ art projects seem to also very much speak to our friend, Cecilia, who enjoys starting her days now by checking in with Mrs. Jaques first. This is so exciting!

I find it would be remiss to just end my comments on our art projects here, because what we are seeing more and more of in this classroom is consistent use of art time by all of our friends. Aidan, Michael, Cairan, Gisela and Jo-Jo all consistently check in at the art table to see if the project speaks to their artistic souls. It’s so exciting just how much of the time spent doing art is real interest expressed by so many of our friends! Sometimes, though, there is just so much else going on that we can’t do everything in one day, so we simply don’t have time to get to the art table!

That’s great! That means that there is something else interesting going on! Maybe it’s a puzzle. Aidan is always helpful with a puzzle, as is Gisela, Cecilia, and Michael. Maybe it’s something new in the classroom! This will always be found by Gisela and Michael, and then, by the rest of our friends.

Last week, our friends found babies in the classroom. This was of particular interest to the girls. Mrs. Coleman, who loved her baby dolls as a little girl, was in a space of pure joy as she played babies with Gisela, Cecilia and Emily. This was the first time we could remember the girls in our classroom playing with the same thing all at the same time. I am excited to put the dolls back in the classroom again!

Story time continues to capture everyone's attention! We love things that rhyme, or have rhythm in the language. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! for instance is a perenniel favorite. 10 Little Dinos Jumping on the Bed keeps us all focused as we count backwords, and help Mrs. Jaques with the language that is repetitive. Delightful! Their involvment has us so thrilled!!

Snack time brought us treats last week as we celebrated Aidan's birthday with chocolate cupcakes and purple frosting! Cupcakes are messy; there's just no way around it! But boy are they good! Always interesting to see who can peel off the wrapper, who just goes for the frosting, and who is truly a cupcake conneisseur! We are consisently using some great language in our snack room ("May I have some more please?") and being helpful by taking good care of our own spot (what goes in the garbage can, what goes on the counter).

Music has been sketchy as we have been having a very good time playing in our second (snack) room. These are toys we don't all that much exposure to, so on those days when the kids are really involved with what's there, we don't rush to move them on. But trust me, there is still alot of singing! We sing going down the hall; we sing getting our coats on; we sing to line up! If you haven't heard the Paw Paw Patch song, ask your child if he or she will sing it to you! Ciaran has started to take it upon himself to help Mrs. Jaques sing this to get his friends all lined up for snack! (It's just the best!)

What's coming up?
More art -- now with a "winter" theme.
Stories to talk about snow, and some about Christmas and Hannakuh.
A little Christmas Party. Watch for a notice outside the classroom!

Thanks for your wonderful children, and for all of your support! Have a great week!

Respectfully,
Lisa Coleman

Week of Oct. 30th

It's hard to believe that we have already finished with October and all the stories about pumpkins and costumes and other related Halloween things, and that we are now in the month of November; but it's here, and we are moving forward, full steam ahead!!

This week found us replacing our water in the water table with some rice work. Another "something" to get our hands in. There is such value in getting our whole hands into these different sensory experiences. Our friend Mrs. McArthur had put in some very fun silver pitchers to try pouring the rice back and forth with! Ciaran, Aidan, Joe and Gisela wasted no time in trying this new experience.

Now, with rice (as with sand and water!), we can experience an abundance of enthusiasm! So Mrs. Coleman has introduced a tool to the class, called a broom. (Just to see if there was any interest.) Well, lo and behold, not only did our friend, Aidan, show interest, he showed incredible talent!! Mrs. Coleman has decided to just "park" the broom and stand-up dust pan next to the rice table, so that it is readily available to our friends should they want to use it. Aidan uses it consistently, and has made it an object of interest to his classmates!

We introduced some animal matching cards to the class, and found that several of our friends could do this using multiple cards at a time! Although almost everyone has had a turn with this game, Emily and Cecilia in particular enjoyed an extended turn with Mrs. Jaques and all the challenges this game provided.

Jo-Jo continues to work on his good-bye ritual with the support of his teachers and his mom. This includes saying "good-bye" to everyone when we leave a room, and "hello" when we return to the room. Jo-Jo and Mrs. Coleman also had a very good time this week building some roads for the animals to walk on. Building blocks are great things, especially when we have someone to build with!

Mrs. Coleman introduced markers to the easels this week for the first time. Emily, our "artist in residence" found these quite useful, creating a picture with multiple colors and shapes! She spent a good deal of time happily involved in this endeavor. Michael was the other person that Mrs. Coleman specifically tried to introduce to this different kind of easel work; and found that Michael enjoys doing drawing work with a friend! He and Aidan created a wonderul work of art together, covering most of the paper, each with their chosen, preferred color! We also discovered that Michael enjoyed using the markers for a little bit of body art! Truth be told, Mrs. Jaques and I heard that Mrs. McArthur might be doing some finger painting in one of her classrooms. I wonder if we might be able to see if Mrs. McArthur might want to "spread the love," so to speak, and bring her desire to finger paint into our class?? My guess is Michael and Mrs. McArthur would have a meeting of the minds.... or would that be fingers?! Stay tuned, 'cause this feels like a good idea, and I'm guessin' the results will find their way to our bulletin board!

Ciaran loves to sing, and has learned many of our little songs already. His ever-present enthusiasm for singing, and music in general, make the whole process of learning and singing that much more enticing for his friends! Thanks so much for your help, Ciaran!

Thanks to all of my students, and also to their parents! The joy I feel in this classroom is unparalleled! It is a privelage to work with children, and a blessing to work with your children. Your trust in me is something I hold dear, and do not take lightly. I hope I remember to thank each and every one of you.

Respectfully,
Lisa Coleman




Week of Oct. 23rd

Well, you heard that our little artists were busy with bats! They have also had fun with decorating pumpkins and ghosts with glitter, giving ghosts faces, and making spider webs with marble painting!! This is truly a creative lot! (Though I believe we have seen enough orange and black to last us at least another 12 months.)

When we are not sitting at Mrs. Jaques' art table, what are we doing?? Well, Cecilia found the sand bucket this week, when Mrs. Coleman invited her to come over and see if she could find the things (little white spiders) that were hidden in there.

Ciaran found the vegetable cutting, and the sand bucket.

Michael, Joe Keaton and Emily did some animal matching cards.

Many of us have been trying out different kinds of peg boards -- most recently, the one with golf tees! That's fun.

My friend Aidan is working on sharing, and he is working hard! He also has shown us that puzzles are great fun, working with Mrs. Coleman on Peter, Peter Pumkin-eater many times!

Jo-Jo and Gisela discovered that Mrs. Coleman replaced the stuffed bunnies in the playhouse with some bears, and they both had great fun -- sometimes separately, and sometimes together -- showing those bears around the room!

We had a fabulous Halloween party on Thursday with some very yummy cookies, pretty napkins, cups and flowers! It was nice to have something special with our friends.

Poem of the week:
5 Little Pumpkins

5 little pumpkins, sitting on a gate.
The 1st one said, "Oh my! It's getting late!"
The 2nd one said, "There are witches in the air!"
The 3rd one said, "I don't care!"
The 4th one said, "Let's run and run and run!"
The 5th one said, "Time for Halloween Fun!"

Happy Halloween Everyone! Be safe. Be warm. Bee-e-e-e-e-e-WARE!!! BOO!

Respectfully,
Lisa Coleman

LUNCH BUNCH COMEDY!!

It's so much fun to tell jokes! It's a common practice in our Lunch Bunch Classrooms.
Here's some from Mrs. Bank's 3-4 yr. old Lunch Bunch Room:

Zev: Why is a seagull called a seagull? It flies over the sea. When it flies over the bay, what is it called? A bagel!! (Bay-gull!)

Stella: What is a ghost's favorite pie? B-0-0-0-0-0 berry!

Dahlia: Knock, knock.
(Who's there?)
Boo.
(Boo Who?)
Don't cry!!

Stella: What does a fish wear to work? A swim suit!

Annie: What does a witch put on her hair? Scare - spray!!

This week in our T-Th Pre-3 Class....

Week of October 16th

This week saw a big change for our class -- we added a new classmate! The T-Th Pre-3's are happy to welcome to our class Mr. Ciaran Walsh! (and the crowd roars!!) Ciaran is a happy child who comes to our class with great language and curiosity. He is a friend to Cecilia, but had no trouble going beyond that connection to saying "hi" and doing his best to make connections with the other students in the class.

In addition to welcoming Ciaran, we have been very busy with our work! Aidan has been washing pumpkins and other gourds with great enthusiasm, and lately involving our friend Joe Keaton in this work as well. In fact, the enthusiasm was so great that it, umm, "spilled" shall we say, over into other parts of the room, and Mrs. Coleman "put the lid on it!" But we will continue our pumpkin washing as we move into a new week, because with energy around a project like that, you can't just suddenly put it away all together!

Our friend, Michael is working on his language skills, with the help of his family, his teachers, and also his friends in class. He made some great strides in answering questions last week, and making new efforts to be involved with those around him! You go, Michael!! And a special thanks to Ciaran and Joe Keaton for their help in modeling good language for their friend!

Mrs. Jaques continues to bring wonderful surprises into the classroom for those interested in the "fine arts!" Although Miss Emily is always the first one to find her way over to Mrs. Jaques' table, many of our class find their happy way there, and so we have much to show for it! Make sure to take a peek at our bulletin board in the first classroom to see some of the Halloween fun being created by both of the Children School Pre-3 Classes!

Song for the week: Five Little Leaves (to the tune of 5 Little Ducks)
5 little leaves so bright and gay,
Dancing on the tree one day;
The wind came blowing through the town,
And one little leaf came tumbling down.

Now there's four... (Sing and count backwords)

See you in the classroom!!
Respectfully,
Lisa Coleman

Week of October 9th

In only a few short weeks, this class has shown an immense capacity for settling in and taking advantage of all that we offer them. Between myself and Mrs. Jaques, we strive to make sure that we are identifying what "it" is that really turns each child on.

For Miss Emily that is anything in Mrs. Jaques' magic black bucket -- "ART!!!" The first time we put out an art project, Emily simply lit up! We are challenged now to find things for Emily that will involve cutting, gluing, and creating on a regular basis.
For Lady Gisela it is variety! She enjoys water, painting, sand, puzzles, and the other children. She also enjoys our little playhouse and has learned not only to share it, but to enjoy playing there with her new friend Jo-Jo.
For Mr. Joe K., our quiet but very capable boy, it is things he can manipulate. Several things fall into this catagory - the pumpkin people in the sand, the puzzles, the cars. He is very helpful, and often is the first to respond to my request for helpers, setting an excellent example for his friends.
For Mr. Michael - he has surprised us with his acceptance of us as his teachers, and this new environment. He is happiest if he has something on the floor to go to. That does not mean that Michael stays there, but it is a good place to go back and forth from. He has thoroughly enjoyed the sand and the rice. He loves to play playdough, especially if Mrs Jaques stays to play too.
Our friend, Mr. Aidan has just come back from vacation, so is getting back into the routine. He has successfully stolen my heart, as Aidan not only likes to sweep with our new child-sized broom and stand-up dustpan, but his first question everyday is "Are we going to have music!?"
For Miss Cecilia, it is having a safe place from which she can keep an eye on the rest of the room. She sits on her cushions and watches, sometimes pulling something off of the shelves to play with by herself, and sometimes waiting for story time before she will join the others.
For Mr. Jo-Jo, "it" is the success found in saying good-bye and staying at school. We are touched by his sadness, and moved by his bravery! Jo-Jo always has a good time once we have "mourned" the leaving of MOM. A good fishy cracker goes a long way towards moving forward with the day.

We are wonderful story listeners, and enjoy a good story! We are proving to be patient listeners, who often have comments on the story to share! We are looking at a new book that requires we wait for our turn to touch all the special pages, but it's worth it!

We all like to go to music! This is great, because I love to sing, often to the frustration of my co-workers as I break into song which may or may not use the same words I used just the day before! We sing as we are... getting in line, going down the hall, going out to play, just about anytime. We are learning to sing some songs together in the music room.

The Stretching Song
Stretch your hands up in the air (reaching for the ceiling)
Find your toes; they're way down there (bend over and touch toes)
Stretch your arms out to the sides, a-a-a-n-n-n-n-n-n-d-d-d-d-d FLY (GLIDE, DIVE)!!

Depending on the choice of flying, gliding or diving, we can be jet planes, birds, pteradactyls, or even whales. We follow each other around in a circle making the motion we have chosen, and sometimes discuss what we see while we are ... diving for instance. (We often look for buried treasure when we are being whales deep below the sea!)

We are also learning:
I'm a little Scarecrow (to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot")
I'm a little Scarecrow stuffed with straw (pat tummy)
I wear a hat (hands on top of head and up to a point)
And I stand up tall (bring hands down, so standing like a "t")
When the birds come over (wave arms like a bird)
I scream and shout, "Away from my garden; now you get out!" (Point as if pointing at birds to warn them away.)

We are a busy class, but more importantly, we are a happy class!! We hope you will stay tuned here so that we can share more of our news with you!

By the way -- have you seen our bats hanging in our snack room??

Respectfully, Lisa Coleman

Our Preschoolers Say the Darndest Things!!

Friday, Octerber 6th

"I have been waiting all day for you to give me my name so that I could go see that record player!" -- Christopher, MWF Class, to Mrs. Coleman when she was passing out tickets to go across the hall for some marching music.