SHOW AND TELL
Bring a pinecone to make a thankful turkey.
Topic: Pilgrims
A time to give thanks for our abundance
The value is wisdom, which is the ability to judge rightly and follow the best course.
For manners we’ll talk about table manners, how to set a table, receiving gifts, and making introductions.
Outside we’ll do a turkey roundup.
The songs we’ll be singing are It’s a Small World, We Shall Overcome, High Hopes, Happy Talk, and Ten Little Indians. We’ll also practice patterned singing, clapping, and breathing.
For creative dramatics we’ll act out Indians and pilgrims.
Our art activities are corn prints, thankful turkey, pumpkin pie, yarn turkey, and Indian headbands.
For motor development, we’ll work on coordination with Indian trails and bouncing beach balls. For bilaterality we’ll hop on one foot and then on the other, play hot potato, use the parachute, and play hopscotch.
CELEBRATE!
The weather is crazy and we’re all adapting to the time change. Holidays are coming, and there are a jillion things to do. There’s a stomach virus going around that if we haven’t gotten yet, there’s a good chance we’re going to get it. WHOA!
This is the time of your life that many people consider to be the best of their lives, the time when their children were little. So why don’t you feel the best you’ve ever felt? Maybe it’s a matter of perspective. We get so focused on the downers that we forget all the great things in our lives. It’s like making a 93 on the test and focusing on the 7 we missed. In those 93 right things are things your children will remember about their happy childhoods. Here are some tips from Marge Kennedy’s book 100 Things You Can Do To Keep Your Family Together.
- Let your child overhear your bragging about him. A direct compliment feels good, but a brag on the telephone or to your neighbor that he overhears really has a special place.
- Record a day in your family’s life. Take snapshots, collect souvenirs, write down a quote from one of you, and put it all in a scrapbook on a page labeled “The Jones Family on August 20, 2017”.
- Start a family foundation. Everybody put their loose change in a jar and ever so often chose a charity to which you can donate the money.
- Adopt a neighbor. There’s no way to judge the impact senseless acts of kindness have on people. It’s also a great role model for your children. You’ll find they will do the same thing to you eventually.
- Take a leisurely stroll. Pick a regular time of the week for a stroll with your kid (without the cell phone). Walking can put you in touch with your surroundings, especially with a young child. Conversation will be uninterrupted, and as a special touch, walking naturally encourages hand holding.
- Share potluck with another family. An occasional evening with another family adds spice to a simple meal. In your home or at a park, it helps to hear about others in similar situations to yours.
- Play hooky with your kids. The earth will not stop revolving if one morning you go to the park instead of to work, or one afternoon you go to a movie. Done infrequently, this slacking off can pay big dividends. There have been families who make it a tradition, like on the first day of fall.
There’s so much for us to celebrate. Like Thoreau, I don’t want to come to the end of my life and find I haven’t lived at all. Seize today!
On the Calendar
Thanksgiving Holiday – Be reminded that the school will be closed Wednesday, Nov. 22, through Friday, Nov. 24, in gratitude for all our abundance.
About Gifts – A fantastic resource for truly authentic gifts for our children is Montessori Services’ catalog For Small Hands (forsmallhands.com). You might want to pass the tip along to grandparents who sometimes struggle with finding good ideas.
Giving Project – Every year our school has a giving project where were collect items for families and children if you have a suggestion for this year’s giving project please let us know.
Harvest Festival – On Friday November 27, you can drop off your food in the morning and we’ll do the rest then join your child and our school family for lunch. We’ll begin at 11:30 ending by 12:30. If you can spear another 30 min or more please hang around and help feel to-go-containers with the leftover food that will be given our cities homeless and hungry. Don’t worry about making too much nothing will be wasted. If you drop off dishware you can retrieve it upon pickup.
CLASSROOM NEWS
Charles E. jumped into action after lunch was over he took it upon himself to grab a broom and the dust pan and clean up the mess that was on the floor, after filling up the dust pan he gently takes it to the trash can trying not to spill any along the way and dumps it in the trash can. He repeats these actions until he is finished. Austin uses some of his class time working with the geometric block stack and sort work. This work offers interactions with shapes, colors and counting numbers 1-4.
Recent Comments