Gratitude

 As we head to the Thanksgiving break, we've been talking about gratitude and the things that we are thankful for. We don't talk about the history of Thanksgiving in pre-k - as it turns out the story that we all learned as children is pretty outdated, complicated, and mostly untrue! Instead we focus on gratitude, along with the ongoing understanding that native people (Abenaki in this region) have been living in this area for a long long time. Your children have decorated a beautiful Gratitude Tree that you can see in the classroom at drop off time. 

Winter is here! Thanks for sending snow pants, warm hats and mittens, and snow boots. We'll continue to eat our snack or lunch outside as the weather allows, and will also enjoy the fun of the indoor classroom as well. 

So much has happened this week - find out more in the pictures below...

Our pumpkins are officially rotted, which means that we're ready for hammering with real wood!

One of our favorite recent books is Those Darn Squirrels! These kiddos are working on making a squirrel trap to protect their bird feeders. 

After rest time we have a short "project time." Kristine taught some kiddos how to make nests and eggs out of clay - great fine motor practice.

We've been talking a lot about shapes, with a special focus on triangles. This kiddo is hammering some pattern blocks into a cork board. 

Wednesday snow! Even though it was 38 degrees and rainy we had a great time playing outside!

Wishful thinking?

Oh boy, puddles are fun. 

These optimistic kiddos were able to make snow men!

We had a wonderful fire on Thursday, complete with sweet and salty popcorn!

Our kindness work this week focused on what to do when we make a mistake. Mistakes happen! Instead of forcing a child to apologize for their mistakes, we encourage the words "I didn't mean it, are you okay? What do you need?"

We passed an egg around the circle, and when it dropped we practiced those words: "I didn't mean it, are you okay?"

Our gratitude tree - we'll continue to add to it as the year goes on.

Cold weather means it's time to get our bodies moving, and there's no better activity for keeping warm than climbing the TALLEST mountain at Guilford Central School: Mount Everest.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but this is actually a very steep little slope.

Kids have to hold onto the rope, lean back, and walk up the steep hill.

We all take turns and cheer our friends on as they climb!

Look at these strong kiddos who made it to the top!