We had a small class all week as some of you recovered from a cold. We missed you if you were gone, but we said your names and wished you well at circle time each day. We’ll catch you up on our butterfly projects when you return.
We are spending lots of time getting to know each other and finding new friends. I think that as a class we are feeling safe and are ready to sink into the things we love. This class loves to read books, and they always want to paint. We are falling into the rhythm of our days together, and I love it when they don’t want to leave our sweet nest.
These big painted panels are about to turn into giant community butterfly wings that we can pretend to “wear” while we take pictures with ourselves as the body of the butterfly.
This the the Bluebird classes first butterfly release and we were invited to join them with our beautiful monarch wands. (If you were out we’ll make them this week) All week we have seen monarchs flying up out of the meadow and over our school. Today we talked about what a group of butterflies is called… a FLUTTER… and we talked about where the monarchs are going as it starts to get cold. We learned the word MIGRATION. One of my friends said that the butterflies are definitely headed for the beach. I told them that the monarch migration goes all the way to MEXICO.
Here we are taking a very close look at our original very TINY caterpillar who is so big now. It was pretty interesting when I set the habitat on the shelf but did not zip it up. Overnight, this caterpillar built a chrysalis on the outside of the mesh. So, now we have three chrysalis’ and we are waiting for our butterflies.
We are still learning to navigate toys and materials in our classroom. So many of us are in school for the very first time, and we are learning how to get what we want and need in a group setting. Our simple rule for toys is that if it is in one child’s hands, that child can play with it for as long as they want. They can say, “You can have it when I’m done.” We have many choices in our room, and the kids quickly adapt to this simple way of sharing. Yes, kids can play together, but not everyone is ready for that. Catherine and I help all the kids with this and model these words.
Tomorrow we are headed out of the playground on a gathering walk in the meadow, and we’ll make some art with our findings when we get back. Thursday and Monday we’ll circle back to fall apples and make applesauce. I have one of those peelers with a crank, and they will chop with some Montessori child safe knives. We’ll add cinnamon and a tiny bit of organic sugar… I picked these apples and they are pretty tart. I’ll cook it in a pressure cooker out of the classroom, and we’ll have a taste at snacktime.
