Greetings!

First, I would like to thank you all for your family participation in Special Person’s Day – what a wonderful day!!  All of our children had a special someone present, so thank you to all of you for making that happen.  It is such a fun and exciting day at the school.  The children are so anxious to share works they are practicing and to just share their environment with their loved ones. It is always a pleasure to see returning guests and meet new ones.  A special thanks to those of you who volunteered your time to help prepare for the event, were here during the day to help, or made some of that delicious food!  Thanks to all of you, it is definitely a communal effort. 

On November 11th, we celebrated Diwali, Indian festival of lights.  In the days prior to Diwali the children created diyas, or small lamps, that we made from salt dough.  Ananya’s mother, Anjana, came in during Diwali to celebrate with us.  She was so beautifully dressed, and had with her an ornate tray of diyas to light for our celebration. She shared a story with us about the god, Rama, and how the festival of lights began.  I would like to wish a very special “thank you” to Anjana for coming in to share with us.

In these days prior to the Thanksgiving break, we have spent some time reflecting on the journey of the Pilgrims to America and what their first Thanksgiving was really like.  We have been discussing how it was a celebration of their successful partnership with the Native Americans. This is also a wonderful opportunity to incorporate discussions and lessons regarding geography.  Geography is an invaluable way to teach children about who they are, and give them a clear sense of order within the physical space of their world.  Through teaching geography we give the child a more developed comprehension of their spatial orientation and also encourage them to become aware of and accept other cultures through related experiences in cultural subjects.  When taught with all areas of focus, geography can be such an intriguing area for the child.  Are we not inherently interested in people and places that are foreign to us?  Questioning how and why we do the things we do, and why so many others do things so differently?  We begin to give our children a very important tool for peaceful communications with people of all places and lead them to a lifelong love of learning.

As we proceed further into later fall, it is inevitable that colder weather and snow will come to our playground.  We do try to go outside each day, and so the children will need boots and snow pants and winter coats and mittens.  It’s not too early to start practicing getting ready for going outside with these different clothes.  Putting on snow pants and zipping coats is a skill each child will have to learn.  It will reduce frustration if families practice zipping coats and putting on boots before we need to use them each day for outside play.  As a side note, waterproof mittens and gloves keep fingers the warmest.

On a school wide note, the Elementary Music Program will be held on December 14th at 2 pm. (This date is tentative at this point, and will be announced formally later.)  Our classroom helps to create the decorations for this lovely pre-Holiday event.  The children enjoy seeing their creations adorning the stage with their older friends performing amongst them.  Please join us – it’s a fun celebration!

In the next couple of weeks you will be receiving your child’s progress reports.  Please check your family mailbox for these, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

As always, be sure to take the time to talk with your child about the changes you see in your surroundings.  It helps to build a connection between them and their environment and an appreciation of their world. 

I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving and enjoy some time with your awesome children. 

Peace,

Trish