Morning Song School, Mill Valley, Marin, CA

We thank Sasha and her family for the beautiful flowers this week.

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Our story this week was about hedgy hedgehogs early prep for his winter sleep, while squirrel nutkin decides to keep working to gather nuts even on the chilliest days so that she can store them away. We observed the changes in the sky, the feel of the wind temperature and the rain fairies bringing drinks to the earth.

Hey parents, do we really want our kids eating stone soup???? Poor little guys. We told the story of stone soup this week because out of nine children, only two brought in vegetables for the soup. Please don’t forget veggies on Thursday!!! This limits the number of helpers we can have in making of the soup because we don’t have much to do! The children are not really expected to remember, so we dont say anything to link them to not bringing anything, the story is just very inspirational and the children all begin to talk about what they want to bring next week. Here the children are hard at work peeling and cutting the one carrot and zucchini we had in the basket.

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On baking day the kids are making gingerbread muffins.

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These are the indoor play pictures. The rainbow houses were “kitty houses” for a while, and then castles. The children all played together beautifully this week, which is not uncommon at Morning song. However, this weeks games that they played nearly always included every child, whereas sometimes there are a couple of children here or there playing something else.

It was very sweet to see Saniyah pretending to paint childrens faces (see her “painting” Cammies in three photos) to get them all ready for the festivities.
They played medicine makers and took care of one another. At one point, the medicine was the shell that sits on top of the stacked blocks in the center of the children in the photos.

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We talked about many things we are Grateful for and learned a bit about Thanksgiving. We all had a chance to talk about one thing each that we are grateful for. When a child’s turn came around and
we got to hear what he or she is grateful for, we all acknowledged it and elaborated on why we too are grateful for this.

Matteo said: Plants, Cammie said: dogs, Sedona said: flowers, Sasha said: Rainbows, Sophia said: mommy, Beck said: firemen, Alana said: unicorns and Saniyah said: Chickens. So fun to hear what they are thankful for.

A very warm and loving thanksgiving to all!

Important Notes

As a reminder, when dropping your children off to always say their goodbye BEFORE opening the door to classroom. It takes 12 to 14 hours to warm the room up before school in the morning and when the door gets opened and left open during kisses and goodbye hugs, the cold comes in and replaces the warmth very quickly.

Also, please make sure children are WEARING their coats to school in the mornings, not carrying them, and we will take them off inside the classroom and hang them. Please do not take them off of child outdoors and place in cubby. We like to put warm coats on them when it’s time to go out.

Here is to a lovely November, as we think of all of the things we are grateful for across the land!

First we will start with a Thank you to Wyatt for the flowers this week. He cut all the flowers by himself from his garden.

From Wyatt Flowers

Our story is of Reuven, the stonecutter. Every day, he would climb the highest mountains and ban his heavy hammer to make stones. Then he sold these stones to the people to build their walls and houses. He feels unsatisfied with his role as stonecutter-looking for something that appears stronger than he. One day, he see’s the King come to town. He say the splendor of the Kings carriage, his glorious robes and jewels and servants obeying his every order. He said to himself “oh, how I wish I were the King” and Whoosh…..Reuven became the King of the land. He rode in a splendorous coach and wore glorious robes. However, at noon, the hot sun beat down on him, making him hot and sweaty. He said “I see the sun is much stronger than even a King. Oh, how I wish I were the sun.” And Whoosh….Reuven became the sun, shining down on the earth, making the trees and grass grow.

He journeys through various experiences as he wishes to be something different each time his wish comes true, deciding the cloud is stronger than the sun because it blocks the sunlight from reaching the earth….then the wind, stronger than the cloud who blows the cloud across the land and the leaves from the trees. Eventually the wind blows until it hits up against a mountain and cannot get through, leading Reuven to believe the mountain is the strongest – and he wishes to be the mountain, casting his long shadow across the land. Until one day….he heard the clanging of a hammer and felt something pounding on his back….and it’s a stone cutter. He discovers that the stonecutter is strongest of them all, and wishes to be a stonecutter once more. He finds satisfaction and happiness knowing that he was just right the way he was, before wishing to be all of the other things.

Here the children are enjoying the story of Reuven……

Reuven Puppet Show

We have been learning about the Autumn, the fall leaves turning from green to red, yellow, orange and brown. We are raking and singing together and observing the differences now that the weather is turning chilly. We are learning about the critters and the work they do as they prepare for the winter – singing of squirrel nutkin in her coat of brown, who is busily storing nuts away before winter comes with cold and storm. The children are having a lot of fun playing indoors together. The stories and depth of their group play is a joy to watch. Relationships are deepening and they are navigating their way through situations that are sometimes bumpy and challenging. They are learning about kindness, taking turns and respecting others feelings and wishes. We always honor a child’s request to play alone if they feel the need to. This is a great learning experience for the others who would like to play with that child, as they have to understand they are not being rejected personally and that we are just honoring a child’s need for space and time to be with him or herself.

The sunny days outdoors have been glorious, fall crisp air and still the feeling of warmth in the sun on our skin. The photos are of outdoor play, the children actively building houses and ice cream shops with the large blocks.

Outdoor Play 11/12/10

Another funny quote…..a child washing his hands got soap on his wrist. He said,” Miss Linda look, I got soap on the ankle of my hand!”.

The meeting last week was informative and interesting. It helps us deepen our understanding of the effects on a broader level, described well in this parents response “that it’s not a matter of good and bad, but to think about things like whether, for example, he is kept in a “hyperventilated” state, one of unresolved stories and overstimulation v. resolve and calm. This is true of books, TV, the stories we tell. ”
Thanks to all who took the time to attend.

Enjoy your week!

It was a festive couple of weeks full of witchy tales with ghouls and goblins, baking, carving of pumpkins and of course a very special visitor, Katie the witch.

From Halloween Classroom

From Halloween Classroom

In circle time this week, the children enjoyed circle games with the pumpkin.

Circle Time with Pumpkins

Our baking skills have advanced to pie and tart making. Here the children are hard at work creating their culinary masterpieces, “Pumpkin Pie” and “Pumpkin Tarts” with fresh pumpkin. They look like they are having so much fun. We baked a special pumpkin pie for our friend Katie the witch in hopes she would stop off and visit us at school for our party.

Baking Tarts

The children did such an excellent job carving their pumpkins. It’s amazing how they are able accomplish such a difficult task. These Jack O Lanterns turned out ghoulishly fantastic.

Carving Pumpkins

The children also finished up their jack o lantern faces to hang in the windows and scare the goblins away.

Jack O' Pictures

We were very happy to arrive at school on Friday and see Katie the witch’s shoes and broom outside the classroom!
Our pumpkin party was magical and fun, with Katie the witch telling stories about her beginning days as a young witch and learning how to make magic.
She also told us a delightful story about how she met her kitty, Shadow. We made witches brew together and sang songs. In parting, Katie the Witch shared goodie bags with each child that the Pumpkin King asked her to give to each child.

Witch Katie

It has been a very busy couple of weeks, and so much fun!

Happy halloween to everyone!

I also know that I speak for all parents in saying “Thank you Miss Linda, Chay, and Miss Christine for all the effort, love and magic you put into making our children’s Halloween so special”. It truly is magical.

Important Reminders:

The upcoming meeting is this Thursday at 4pm sharp. Miss Linda is still waiting on RSVPs.
If anyone is having a parent stay home with their children and is willing to have a classmate over to play so that other parents can attend, please let us know.

There is a growing up green week again with Sloat Garden from November 5th thru the 15th. We will receive a percentage back in a gift card, supporting our school garden. Please consider participating, it really helps our children enjoy the garden even more.