Fall really burst through this week with sweaters, raincoats, boots, and crisp fall weather. We loved the return of mud to our playground.
The Honeybee’s Monday book was Kitten’s Autumn, and we read about what animals do when fall comes. We played with Fall Zen gardens, and our sensory bins were dirt with pumpkins and vines. We fingerpainted with rich fall colors this week, printed orange pumpkins with halved tiny pumpkins, and later in the week made self portraits with our new super smooth tempera sticks.
On Tuesday we went on a collecting walk in the cool clear morning down under the pine trees. We had circletime under the pines and smelled the fresh pine needles. We collected a big wicker laundry basket of pine cones and talked about how to grow a pine forest. I think we are going to try!!!
We painted pinecones with glittering paint this week and talked about the life cycle of a pumpkin, returning again to the role of the honey bee in helping create the pumpkin. This week we’ll learn a pumpkin song, carve a big pumpkin, collect and count the seeds, and read a story about decomposition.
Please remember that Tried Stone does not want us to celebrate Halloween in any way in our school, and they have asked that the children not wear any costumes to school during this season. We’ll hold space at school so that you can have all the spooky fun at home. On Friday we’ll have our sweet simple Fall Festival this week. All of the children are welcome to come to school on Friday, and we’ll have Fall games and a few fall flavors to enjoy after our pumpkin hunt and pumpkin roll. We’ll rotate through all of the classrooms together for fall sensory fun, pumpkin bowling, pin the stem on the pumpkin, and a fall themed visual scavenger hunt.
By the end of the week I’ll put up a sign up sheet for fall conferences. While I’ll send out a writeup for each student, conferences are optional. I do always say that if you really needed a conference then you have probably already had one. I always want you to feel that you can come and talk to me about your child at any time.
Housekeeping: Please have a water bottle for your child every day. It is getting cooler, so make sure your child has a jacket each day. You may want to check your child’s spare clothes and change out shorts for long pants and long sleeved shirts.
Thank you for all that you do to keep this little hive running smoothly.
Sally and Lauren
