A full week

What a treat it is to have a complete week of school - our irregular schedule has been a bit wacky for everyone! This week Joan Carey from BEEC (Bonnyvale Environmental Ed Center) will start spending a bit more time with our class on Thursdays, thanks to a grant from the Henderson Foundation. We'll be taking kids on some "expeditions" out of our woods during this time. This means we might hike a little bit farther, like down towards the Broad Brook, or over into different parts of our woods. You all have signed Walking Field Trip Permissions, sent home at the beginning of the year. We will always let the office at school know when we leave our school property, but please let me know if you'd also like me to let you know when we leave school property on a walking expedition. We'll always have a radio, first aid kit, and cell phones with us when we hike.

On a different note, there are a few items we're adding to our wish list. If you have any of the following kicking around your house, or you want to get a donation for the class, we would be so grateful!

Outdoor thermometer for our outdoor classroom
bird seed
game camera (I know, a long shot, but you never know what’s lying around the basement!)

Finally, we don't have anyone signed up for fire tending after this Friday. If you're interested in coming to build and tend a fire in our outdoor classroom we'd love your help. Repeat volunteers welcome!!!

Self Care Tip - Starting the Day

Your children do a great job of taking care of themselves while they are at school by putting on their own shoes and hanging up their own jackets. It’s a great time in the year to help them become even more independent with these self care tasks by letting them take on more steps of the morning routine. Let your child complete the parts of the arrival routine that they are able to on their own, and if you’re pressed for time let Erin or I know and we can step in!

Can you believe our ground looked like this just last week?!

Fun with friends in the snow.

These guys created a fun game trying to balance on the slippery log - what great turn-taking!

We've added some plastic animals to our playground time, and the kids love making homes for them in the snow and ice.

Examining some field guides

The snow was perfect for building on Monday

This week we've been learning about birds in winter. We made bird feeders on Tuesday and Wednesday and today when we went out to the woods half of them were gone! It's perfect that we're reading a book right now called Those Darn Squirrels!