Newsletters

10-23-26

We had another fabulous week in kindergarten exploring the change of seasons including what frost is, how it is formed and what happens to water that has been left in containers outside once the temperature dips below freezing.  We have first hand experiences about how to  dress in  layers this time of year as you want your  hats and mittens  some morning and you are down to the t-shirt layer by afternoon.  We  found more evidence of  other living things on the forest  floor right in the middle of the outdoor space (photos below of bear scat).  In math we dove into  our first lessons on addition and matching pictures to  number sentences.  For example, saying 3 and 2 is 5 will lead into the number equations (3+2=5).  Students are encouraged to use tangible items (bingo chips, little blocks in order to show the amounts.  Below is an example from this week.  

This lesson has children using and and is to  add groupings together.  As the page goes on  the child is responsible for doing more and more of the work.  This is the building blocks of addition.

In our phonics work we now have 15 of 26 letters and  all  5  vowels.  This allows us to really look closely at CVC words like:  nut, gum, hot, fit, gob, etc.  Saying the 3 letter sounds in order and then reading them all together is building  reading fluency skills.  Ask your child to  spell some CVC words using the following letters:  a,e,i,o,u,  (vowels) and t,b,f,m,n,r,s,d,c,g.  We will have all the words introduced by the beginning of December.  Our handwriting focus this week was our new letters r and e.  Many letters start with magic c- o,a,g,d so that is also a BIG letter to form correctly.  Your child should be noticing print in their environment and beginning to appreciate that print has meaning.

Halloween parade:  Join us (Rumney and Doty students) here at Rumney Campus on Friday, October 30th at 3:00.  Parents can join out back on the playground hill for a parade and then we will all circle up by the garden.  Hope to see you all then!

We are helping Miss Kristi create a pumpkin bulletin board!  So exciting.  A math game this week was Take the bear.  Each child begins  with 15 bears and then taking turns they roll 2 hex di and add the numbers together.  They take that number of bears from their opponent until someone has all the bears.  Great fun and a way to learn addition and counting on.  Try it at home with any objects and 2 dice.

Who could have left that scat??  Each week both 3/4 classes pass through our classroom as they enjoy outdoor adventures too.  The forest was full of nature treats.  Above I was served a very decorated plate of brownies!

Look at the ice that we found!  How did ice get in our pans?  Here we pose in front of frosty areas and grassy areas that were frost when we entered the forest but not on our way back out later on.

10-16-26

We had a glorious day in the forest after a whole day of rain the day before.  Our lessons was all about animal homes and we saw (or Reid saw) a gorgeous woodpecker on the way in right above us!  We all got to hear the beautiful song it made and most got to see it enough to determine it was a male Hairy Woodpecker.  Below is a comparison photo that I shared with the class to distinguish between a Hairy and a Downy.  This was an excellent opportunity to chat about bird features and how to use them to identify a bird.  Our bird unit in the spring is already primed!!

This week we had more of the band-  contractors working on the building could even hear us and commented  as we left the forest!  This week leaves were tossed, animal homes were identified (a squirrel nest, marks from woodpeckers and some holes in the ground that were not created by humans.  We observed the forest canopy  had even LESS leaves than last week and the forest floor had many MORE!

Lots of gross motor work and cooking- all sorts of things were mixed, water added from the rain storm and leaves, twigs, mud, moss-  you name it and it gets added to the "food" created!

The next step in our potato harvest was cleaning and washing.  We all pitched in to put the potatos in water and clean  them up to be sent to the kitchen for processing by our awesome cook Sabrina.  The teamwork continued as we lugged them down there in bins!!

Free explore this week had replicating patterns which is a great brain and fine motor skill for young learners.

10-9-26

Burrrr!  This week gave us a real sneak peek into the cold temperatures ahead.  I have some extra hats, mittens, layers and rain coats but please pack these daily.  Wednesdays are our days to go outside in the morning for 1.5-2 hours.  This week a few children learned that not taking mittens meant having to huddle their hands under layers to warm up.  We had a solid 12 minutes in our sit spots, just listening to nature sounds and observing both the forest floor and the canopy for changes- and boy there were many from last week.  The forest floor was beautiful leaf confetti!  Our math content this week is 3D shapes otherwise known as solid shapes (children should be able to identify:  sphere, cone, cube, cylinder, pyramind and prism (rectangular).  We did a solid shape hunt  around the school.  We found several spheres, cubes, cyinders and rectangular prisms (books, boxes, etc) and very few cones and pyramids.  This concept will be reviewed as the year goes on.  The big concept that is tricky for them to understand is that we can hold 3D shapes in our hand but not 2D shapes like circle, square, rectangle, triangle, etc.  The math unit also focuses on the concepts of heavier and lighter.  We found objects in the forest as well as classroom and compared them using these words and pan balance scales.  Think feather  versus bowling ball!  Our new letters this week are a and g.  We also found out that our Discovery Dairy cow is a Holstein from Addison county, VT named Maple.  Each child is bringing home their fact sheet all about Maple this Friday.  This program allows us to track our cow- height and weight as well as learn about the dairy industry in general.  This program is always a kindergarten favorite and we love getting our monthly updates with photos.

Our science unit about the Circle of Seasons had us discussing how animals give birth to their babies (in this case birds) in the spring.  We brainstormed all the reasons new births happen in the spring and why that would allow the best growth potential for wild animals.

A brown bag bird nest, children acting out the way animals find their food, a favorite part of the morning for me is the conversations at the breakfast table and I put out several fine motor activities to strengthen finger, wrist and had muscles each week!

Camoflauge in the forest this week taught children that the colors they were wearing made it super hard to see them or very easy depending on what they wore and what part of their body.

A big job to clean out all the leaf litter from our sand/gravel box area!

The forest classroom space encourages risk taking with climbing, crawling, navigating over stumps, logs and tree climbing to a safe height.  Exploring and challenging your body really helps with life skills and safe decision making and trusting that you can do hard things!

This group of kindergarteners got to harvest the potatos that were planted in the spring by the current 1st grade class  (when they were in K).  More to come on what we learn about cleaning, storing and how to use the potatos  here at school.  A fall harvest was so fun!

10-2-26

What a busy fall week!  On Tuesday we made applesauce with freshly picked apples from my yard.  Each child was responsible for cleaning, cutting and helping use the food mill to create  the gorgeous pink  sauce.  No sugar or cinnamon added-  just Vermont  goodness.   Even friends who said they didn't like applesauce tried it and were pleasantly surprised.  It tastes different than commercial applesauce.  Success!  On Wednesday we took a nature walk on the trails beyond our forest classroom.  We went past the older student's spaces and found our way back.  In total we looped around about a mile to prepare for what we would encounter on our hike Friday.  In math we are using comparing number "more, less, equal to" for numbers 0-5.  We spent a large share of the time practicing our number formation as that can be very tricky at first.  In language arts we added the letters c and o.  These letters are formed from the plane line to the grass line in a curved manner.  We now have enough consonants and 3 vowels (i,u,o) and can form many CVC words like: but, ton, nut, not, fun, etc.  We also make "nonsense" words like: tib, boc, tof, etc. as these words help us recognize the sounds in words even if we cannot use context clues.  Many students borrowed rain coats today and I have several rain pants, but please pack outdoor appropriate shoes on Wednesdays as we are outside for almost 2 hours.

Today the Merlin app helped us identify the pretty birds in the canopy on our practice hike.  Above, a cool iSpy that I created where you move the glass around and find the fall pictures as a scavenger hunt.  We also are using these 20 photos as a "write the room" activity where they are posted and need to be found and recorded on a recording sheet.

Math games are the center of our learning with our hands and friends in math class.

Cutting apples, and using the food mill after.  Many didn't understand how the peel, cores, stems and seeds were going to stay out of their applesauce!  Plus, good arm work outs.

End of the day snack and our homemade applesauce.

Forest classroom adventures and hiking on the nature trails.

Teamwork with the big sticks and always moving safely in the forest.

9-25-26

This week we reviewed all the letters that we have covered and their sounds (t,b,f,m,n,u,i) and introduced  the letters: c and o.  Children should be able to name these letters and tell you the sound  that they make.  In math we completed our unit on  the  numbers 0-5.  Writing these numbers is the trickiest.  Each child counted many different objects, including playing a game in the forest classroom where we were animals preparing for a storm and collected leaves, sticks and tree cones.  We will practice writing these numbers as we begin every single day.  The trickiest are 2, 3 and 5.  We completed a Mystery Science unit called Wild Weather.  This explored different kinds of storms (hurricaned, tornadoes and blizzards).  We made Wind Buddies that can be used to see that the wind is a part of our weather system.  Children loved this hands on task and it required both direction following and careful attention to detail to make the wind buddy.  We observe and record the weather daily so that lesson was an extension of what we already know.  To date we have had the most sunny days in September followed by partly cloudy and cloudy.  We create a bar graph and use math words (most, least, more than, total, less than, equal) to discuss the data.  In art class they brought home their paper glasses and this week was filled with colds, stuffy noses, sickness and all things that we experience during the first weeks of school.  Both Andrew (the PE and health teacher) and I always focus on hand washing and how to stay clear from germs- but alas they still find their way here.

Making and playing with wind buddies during our Wild Weather unit!

Free explore allows us to each work where we feel comofortable, confident and have fun.

More free explore centers and look at our great class leaving art class with our glasses.

The mornings were brisk, but when the sun was out we had snack outside while we still can.  Children created a boat with a motor and paddles.  Below there is a fisherman casting off the  boat, mining for green treasure stones and a daddy long legs that took a ride in cupped hands.

9-18-26

It was wonderful to see everyone at our school open house.  Allowing the kindergarteners to share what they do at school everyday is a joy for everyone.  We finished another week of learning about letter names, the sounds they make and math concepts of sort, count and compare.  We have complete unit 1 in math and we will be moving into a unit all about the numbers 0-5 next week.  Next week will be a letter review for naming and saying the sounds of: t,b,f,m,n,u,i.  If your child needs some extra practice with this skill, I will work each day with them and will send home those letters in a pack for them to do once at home  each day as well.  The letters u and n are confusing as they look like one another upside down!  Children need repeated exposure to "see" the letters as having meaning and not just shapes on paper.  We had a wonderful week of exploration in the outdoor classroom.  Each lesson begins  with a group activity and this week children look in nature and found objects that met a color sort.  We collaborated, sorted and shared out.  Every week we then sit in or sit spots to listen, look smell and enjoy the natural world.  We hear human sounds too like dump trucks, traffic noise and regular sounds from a neighborhood.  We are learning to record what we see, hear and feel.  Finally we had forest choice and I expanded our boundaries to the other side of the walking path- a HUGE advancement for so early in the year, but this group is ready.  They were cooking and also whipping up some poisonous food in which I had to taste and pretend to not feel well- lol  Enjoy photos from our week.

Nature color sorting.  We looked in the garden, bushes, grass and even under the apple trees.

The restaurant, tree fun and below you will see kindergarteners greeting the 3rd and 4th graders as they pass through on a nature walk.  Also, pill bugs large and small in the fry pan.  We found them under logs and pieces of rotting wood.

Free choice explore is everything from legos to dressing up.

9-11-26

This week we enjoyed more time in the outdoor classroom where we each picked out sit spots.  Our individual spots allow us to settle into the routine of a nature visit by using our 4 senses (sight, vision, hearing and touch) to connect to the natural world.  This week we each drew what we saw as we sat and observed from our spots.  As the year progresses, we will write and use the journal to record data and make many observations.  Our math lesson matched great to the "supplies" that we have in the forest.  We compared many objects to a stick that was about 18 inches long.  This week we explore long, longer, short, shorter,  tall and taller.  These position words were used in sentences like "my leaf is shorter than the stick."  Next Thursday, September 17th from 5:00-6:00 is our Rumney Campus open house!  We hope to see you and show you all the things that we have been doing in kindergarten

When children are given tools and space, they will create amazing  things.  Enjoy the forest BAND.  This went on for over 20 minutes with lots of movement and energy.  They changed out their instruments occassionally and I can only imagine that the forest animals were confused.  We also did a really  fun science  experiment  called "Magic Playdough".  Children are given a  yellow ball of playdough and once they squish it around it changes  color.  Ask your child all about what they learned.  In both math and literacy we  worked on independent centers.  Math centers were all about measuring and comparing  lengths and heights.  All literacy centers were practicing the letters:  t,b and f.  This week we focused  on the nasalized (produced  with air in the nose) letters:  m and n!

Comparing objects with the stick for  our math  outside and sit spots.  The yellow journals are for the forest to keep track of thoughts, draw, record and write what we  notice.

Our yellow playdough turns green!  How did  that happen?  They had some great ideas.

Our partner math games had us tracing  our feet and then  measuring  objects around the classroom compared to our feet.

Each partner rolled a hexahedra di 3 times, build a tower with that number of blocks and comparwd to see who built the TALLest tower.

Our All About Me bags provided the opportunity to learn more about our favorite things.  Children practiced using "loud and proud" voices while they presented.  The listeners got to ask questions and make comments after each friend shared their special items!

The current 1st graders planted potatoes in the spring.  We get to weed the very overgrown garden and help the potatos grow a bit more.  Some potatoes are coming to the surface and we learned that weeds can really hold on tight.  Nice job making our garden look a little better.

9-4-26 

This full week of school focused on meeting our Music teacher, Mr. Kirk, having our first day of ECO (educating children outdoors) in the forest classroom, starting our Fundations program and completing our first unit in math (all about position:  above, below/under, next to/beside, behind, in front of, etc.).  Music class discussed our 3 Cares- care for yourself, care for others and care for our school.  We continue to discuss this in our kindergarten class as well.  Our first trip to the outdoor space was incredible.  We learned our safety boundaries, stick circles, using and caring for tools, using the swing, cleaning  the  sandbox and tidying up the U-shaped trail.  Children explored, had a snack and spent most of the time doing forest choice.  We chose forest animal names this week and will continue to learn about Vermont animals all school year.  Our major vocab words for ECO were:  safety, boundaries, canopy, nature and collaboration.  In math, we used the classroom and outdoor space to practice positioning instead of math workbook pages.  For example, "stand beside something red" or "hold a leaf abovee your head, etc."  We completed a weekly unit quiz that I  refer to as a "show what you know".  This formative assessment gives me information to gear the next week's  instruction.  Our topic next week will be length and height comparisons.

The forest always brings out the best smiles.  There were many happy faces and great temps.

The swing, some TLC for the sandbox after a few months, group gathering for snacks.

Every time we enter and  leave the forest we say "thank you forest".  This allows us to be mindful of how  fortunate we are to have this resources and builds a respect for what nature provides each of us every day.  We had so much fun and look forward to next week.

Morning breakfast is becoming quite the social event.  They chat, nibble and get a healthy start to the school day.  Their conversations always make me giggle.  We released more butterflies this week for a total of 6.  Each  child  gets to name one.  More morning snack and fresh air!!

8-28-26 

Welcome to the first week of Kindergarten.  We learned so many routines this week, spent time learning names, had health, art, library and PE classes too.  Please enjoy some photos from our week with descriptions of what we were up to.

We enjoyed sunny and hot days to learn all about the new playground.  This group is brave and independent already.  The explored, climbed, jumped, played with sticks and ran in the new wood chips.

One of our first cooperative projects was a group Monarch puzzle.  Many puzzle experts had solid strategies for how to approach our task.  We worked together and had success.

Building, digging and pouring and finding comfort in the book area.  This week we opened the dramatic play area, the blocks, the rice table and the art explore area.  Everyone was very excited to choose where they went to learn and collaborate.

Using mirrors to draw our faces to show how we looked on the first day of kindergarten.

Running, jumpinig, climbing, balancing and all things playground!!

Until the snow arrives we have outdoor snack as much as possible.  Thank you sunshine!

We have released 3 male and 1 female butterfly to date.  They have been named:  Flap, Flower, Pretty and Buzz.  Watching this transformation never gets old.  We are talking about life cycles and what all living things need to survive.

All indoor centers are now open.  Ask your child where they like to explore the most.