Dear Sunflower Garden Families,
Thanks to all of you for supporting these first two weeks of me back in the classroom. All is going well, and I thank you. Keep reinforcing good manners at home… “I want…” is an expression I would love to banish from our garden. “May I please…” is so much finer. I have come to say, “There is no ‘I want’ crying in the Sunflower Garden.” Please reinforce this at home by listening for and expecting words like please, thank you, no thank you, I’m sorry, and you’re welcome. Thanks!
This week we did an outdoor obstacle course on Monday, which will be our Monday tradition. It involves hanging from a high bar and dropping (holding up and catching one’s own weight), going across monkey bars, balancing on stumps, climbing, sliding and skipping. Some Might Oaks need to work on monkey bars and skipping, so have some fun at home!
These past eight days of school have been all about our work and daily rhythm. We’ve had lots of reverent moments and joyful, giggly ones as we painted, hiked, grinded grain, modeled beeswax, churned cream into butter, and made bread and soup. The children have been great about pitching in to clean up the room after play time and transitioning to the next activity. The 3 R’s of early childhood: rhythm, repetition, and reverence! The children have very much enjoyed the African tale I've been telling "Akimba and the Magic Cow."
Mighty Oak 6 year old activities for home: jumping rope, using scissors to cut, tying bows/shoes, finger-knitting, monkey bars, skipping, and playing rhyming games, and doing CHORES. Please get your Mighty Oak at least one pair of shoes that must be tied and work on this skill. There are YouTube videos for you to reference for ideas to teach shoe tying (note that the videos are for you, not for your child). Any imagination of butterfly wings or bunny ears will do. These are all skills that show a readiness in fine motor and gross motor activity…ability and command of one’s movements.
Donation~ I am seeking a few simple, small, stackable tea cups with no handles that can be used in the classroom for sip and sup in the event a water bottle is left at home. Thanks.
Miss Donna