Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Breakfast	Pancakes Pears Milk	Oatmeal Raisins Milk	Cereal Orange juice	Toasted bagels Applesauce Milk	Pumpkin bread Apples Milk
Morning snack	Celery sticks w/sunbutter	Carrot sticks Cheese sticks	Corn muffins Juice	Vegetable juice (made w/fresh veggies) Crackers	Veggie kebobs Cottage cheese
Afternoon snack	Yogurt Granola	Egg salad  Sandwiches	Scrambled eggs Toast	Broccoli Corn muffins	Sunshine muffins (w/melted cheese and raisin smiles)

 

Starksboro Cooperative Preschool Newsletter - November 5, 2011

Aides in the AM - Jill/Vicki/Melissa/Beth/Daniel

Aides in the PM -  Ann/___/Heidi

 

This week, the Harvest Area theme will continue.  We will also visit Lewis Creek Farm on Tuesday and Wednesday (morning class), and on Tuesday with the afternoon class to further highlight the theme.  We will add in some cooking projects featuring seasonal veggies throughout the week that we will also enjoy at snack and mealtimes. 

 

Parent conferences were held last friday.  If you were unable to make it and would like to schedule a conference after (or possibly during) school hours, please let me know!

 

Cooperative Responsibility Information:  

I have identified a new family job that will need some action right away; see below.  Also we still have a high need for parents to sign up for aiding.  Please stay in touch with me about this if you are planning to buy out of this responsibility.  I will be contacting parents who have not yet signed up or stated their buy-out preferences to check in during the next week or so.

 

New Family Job - GARDENER -  this will involve working on the preschool’s community garden space right behind the building.  You will be able to work on it anytime you want, which is a plus for the busiest parents.  We have already cleared much of last year’s growth away, but it needs some attention before the whole garden is fertilized and turned over next weekend - so a visit will need to be made some time during the week ahead.  Future tasks will include helping make a preschool garden sign, and helping us out next spring when we (the preschoolers) get ready to plant, as well as  helping us mulch the entire space before school ends for the summer.  I have been doing this myself for the last two years with some help from parents.  A big part of the gardener’s job will be to enlist other parents to help out over the summer.  In the past,  I have asked returning families to each visit once over the summer  to make sure the rows are clear and the plants are doing well.  Our super mulching really works to keep the summer work down.   This past summer, I was unable to keep up with the whole project, so I am hopeful that the addition of a parent to organize this effort, we will help us have a super garden experience in the spring!  Email me if interested for more details!

 

Parent Aiding Update:  I have highlighted all names in yellow on the aiding sign-up sheet posted in the classroom, that are aligned with the website calendar.  I will then be able to keep track of any new sign-ups and update the website - please continue to sign up to help us out - we really need and appreciate it!

 

Something we need right away - FABRIC! 

Fall/Winter weather is here, and it is time to “button up” the building as best we can to save heating costs and increase our comfort!  We will be constructing curtains for the parlor and some “draft dodgers” to keep cold air out along the baseboards.  Does anyone have yardage to contribute?  Colors and patterns are not that important - please bring in what you have, or email me if you have questions about this.

 

Weather related info:

•    Now that we are heating the parlor space, it is important to remember that the heat is on, and to keep the doors closed during the day.  If it warms up and the burner is off, we will surely open the windows and/or doors for fresh air. 

•   Dress your children warmly!  Although this week’s forecast is for warmer temps, the cold is lurking!  Warm clothing, which includes mittens (better than gloves), warm waterproof boots, snowpants and jackets and a neckwarmer or scarf will be needed very soon.  We have a few extras here to help when children get wet, but if you have good waterproof gear, they will have time to dry out in between our trips outside.  Let me know if you are in need -  ex-preschool parents will often donate their outgrown items to us.  Good places to shop locally are Once Upon a Child, the Rugged Bear, and  EMS.

This Week at school, we will discover what cars, string, balls, balloons and potatoes have in common.  Have you guessed? We can paint with all of them!  We will do just that each day: paint with one of these items, which in turn will serve as inspiration for that day’s theme.  In our small groups we will continue to explore scientific concepts:  this week it will be sink and float.  We will also continue to obtain self portraits from each child, and practice letters and name writing.  In the Garden:  Last week we dug up the potatoes that were planted last spring - a beautiful and bounteous crop of purple, red and yellow spuds!  How amazing to dig them up and wash them off -  and now we will be eating them!  French fries this wee; after that, stay tuned!  Speaking of food, we will be making Stone (vegetable) Soup on Friday.  Friday parents: please have your child bring in something from home to add to our pot - soup from a stone, fancy that!  Suggestions are: carrots, celery, onion or potato; a can of broth, some barley or other grain, ; but really any other interesting ingredient that you can think of!

Last week, Hazel’s mom Lauren helped the Tuesday class make their own bread.  It was a fabulous experience and worked oh-so-well.  Thank you Lauren!  She has passed her recipe along for us to use at school and for you to use at home.  You will find it at the bottom of this newsletter!

Afternoon Class Notes:

The afternoon children have been busy getting to know our two new classmates, Zoe and Anya, and having fun learning each other’s symbols. This week, we will be taking advantage of the great weather forecast ahead, and will have special projects outside each day.  We’ll be exploring oobleck, bubbles and mud in the afternoon sunshine! We will also enjoy Animal stories, songs and activities each day.

 

Can anyone donate or lend the following:

a cd player

a pumpkin (we would like to end up with several to cut open and explore!)

a vacuum cleaner to lend; ours is in the shop getting repaired!

 

Also, for an upcoming Gas Station/Garage Learning Center, we need:

a tall, narrow cardboard box that will become a gas pump

a piece of hose for the same project

small pieces of clear plumbing hose and funnels

goggles, gloves and caps

work aprons and coveralls that will fit preschoolers (a little bigger is fine)

small tires and wheels

tape measures and small tools that kids can play with

steering wheels of any size

small wooden wagons or other wheeled toys to be  “repaired”

pictures of cars and trucks or magazines with cars/trucks pictures in them that we can cut out

 

Health Alert!

A parent notified me today that one of our students has unluckily picked up the dreaded lice, probably from a sibling.  This can happen to anyone, and in this case, it is unlikely that this child has infected anyone at our school.  Even so, please check your child’s hair to be sure.  We have washed all cloth bedding and dress up items at school as per our policy.

 

Flower Power Spring Bulb Sales: Thank you, Star, for heading up this fundraiser! I placed my order this morning; have you visited your link yet?  Please let us know if you have any trouble.  We will have paper materials early this week to give to those who would rather take orders this way.  Please let Star or I know if you would like those materials placed in your mailbox.  This really is a super easy way to earn money for the school; please talk to us if you don’t understand how things work or with any fundraising questions.  Thanks for your help!

 

Flynn Theater:  we will be taking our first bus trip to Burlington to the Flynn to see Sylvester and the Magic Pebble on Monday the 17th.  There are two more performances we will attend during this school year.  Unfortunately for many of you, all of the performances are on Mondays.  I am sorry we can’t spread the fun around for all.  We’ll be riding a school bus from Betcha Transit -  sure to be exciting and fun!  Monday parents:  the cost will be $20.00 per student, and will include the Flynn ticket and the bus ride.  Please bring the fee into school this week.  Let me know if you have any questions!

 

Have a great week - Susan

 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Breakfast	Granola Raisins milk	Couscous Clementines milk	Yeast rolls Applesauce Milk	Squash Bread Kiwi Milk	Quesadillas Pineapple milk
Morning snack	Rainbow coleslaw Crackers	Cucumbers Pretzel/cereal mix	Bean dip Celery	Crackers Juice	Cheese sticks Golden raisins
Afternoon snack	Scrambled eggs Milk	Salad in pita bread	Oven baked fries cheese chips	Egg salad sandwich	Veg soup with crackers

 

Lauren’s Bread Recipe

 

3 cups Lukewarm Water

1 1/2 Tablespoon active dry yeast granules

1 1/2 T Kosher Salt

2 T Maple Syrup

 

Whisk these four ingredients together in an xtra large tupperware

 

Add 6  cup King Arthur Bread Flour

1/2 cup wheat germ

 

Mix until uniformly sticky throughout.  Set on counter 5 hours.  

Put in fridge for up to 2 weeks.  (flavor develops as dough sits in fridge)

When ready to bake.  Take out desired quantity of sticky dough. On floured surface add flour until dough is not sticky.  Shape into desired shape.  Allow to rise 1 hour.  Bake in 450 degree oven.  Time changes depending on size of loaf.  Occasionally sprinkle cool water on loaf for crispy crust.  (average baking time 30 minutes)

 

**At School we added cinnamon, dried cranberries , currants, raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and raisins before and after shaping the dough. -