Please sign up for your conference now. Sign up started on Soup Day and ends Mon 12/5 at 3pm.
Thank you all for your support for a successful soup project. The children enjoyed planning, working together, and sharing soup with their guests. As they return now after the holiday break, we see a new sense of belonging, of being part of their school group, perhaps due to that visit to the school from special people in their lives.
PLAY IN NOVEMBER:
November has been a time of much practice and progress in self-help skills, as children work at getting in and out of an increasingly complex amount of outdoor clothing. Your child may be coming home with the words and techniques we use at school. Please let your children practice this independent dressing at home because it helps them feel more confident/capable when they can dress themselves to go out to play.
OUTDOORS IN DECEMBER:
Each class will get to the Turtle Pond to discover a sheet of ice that is covering the pond. Along with the visit comes a discussion of thin and thick and safety of playing on ice. We will read Hamilton Duck, who made a similar discovery as he approached his own pond to go swimming one late fall day.
We also plan to expand our recollection of nature hikes, using group-generated maps and group stories as children learn to plan, think, and review the routes they have taken. We see this as an excellent thinking exercise, and leads naturally to some pre-reading and pre-writing activities such as making your own maps, writing names on places, etc. Try it at home; your child may like to make a map of the back yard or the way to Grandma’s house.
Favorite Pumpkin Muffins from our patch:
Bake 350 for 15-20 min
1 c white flour
1 c whole-wheat flour
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 stick butter
1 c milk
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
2 c pumpkin (mashed and frozen earlier by kids!)
Gift Idea
Children’s Farm t-shirts ($12), sweatshirts ($20) and hats ($15) for sale inside the school. Stop in if you are interested in purchasing one for your child or yourself. (Great for gifts!)
DECEMBER INDOORS:
We recently changed the classroom into a tent/camping area. The canoe creates much talk and creative problem solving as children debate which way to paddle and how to prevent tip overs. Children will fill backpacks, set up picnics, “cook” over the bonfire, and settle down with a sleeping bag in the tent. The realistic, wild, stuffed animals are lots of fun to snuggle. We will learn many new camping books and outdoor songs. In mid-December our classroom will be transformed into a Pizza Restaurant. The children can take turns writing orders, prepare the pizza, or serve it to the diners. Complete with red-checkered tablecloths, we hear a lot of conversation about how much to order and “I don’t like that on MY pizza, but my dad does!” December plans also include thinking about some of those outdoor wild animals, making bird feeders, and learning about birds in winter. In addition, we’ll be making orange juice and baking some special breads. Collage, glitter, stapling, cutting with scissors and gluing will increase in complexity and creativity.
Favorite camping books:
One Dog Canoe
Henry the Explorer (3 books in the series)
When Daddy Took Us Camping
Favorite camping song:
Raccoon’s got a bushy tail; possum’s tail goes bare. Rabbit’s got no tail at all, just a little bitty bunch of hair.
Rabbit likes to run and hop, possum likes to climb. Raccoon doesn’t move too fast, he likes to take his time.
Hum a verse singing, “Do do do….”
(Repeat tail verse)
CALENDAR REMINDERS:
December 6-9: Conferences – Please call or email to schedule your conference. (NOTE: Regular classes on these days)
Dec. 21- Jan. 2: No School: Winter Break (Classes resume on Jan. 3)
PARKING LOT SAFETY:
Please be sure to follow the “Single Lane” signs and wait for OUTGOING and INCOMING traffic especially with snowy, steep ditches. DO NOT pass other cars on the driveway. Have patience with people buckling children in and do not go around them. Please pass this along to your children’s drivers. If the circle looks full from 30th St, please wait on Norman Rd. across from our driveway for it to clear. Go to the end of Norman to turn around. If your child does not have snow gear on when arriving, please pull over and park to help your child dress or ask us to help your child. We do not want to hold up the line if we can help it.
REMINDER:
The Children’s Farm follows CLOSINGS according to the Stillwater Area Public Schools, in case of extreme temperatures or snowstorms.
THANK YOU
We appreciate you telling your friends and neighbors about our program, as our best advertising is word of mouth. People can call us or send us their name and address to receive registration materials or to arrange a time to come and to visit a class.
