Hemlock Class

Fall is officially here. There are so many fun subjects for us to explore in the classroom related to this season. The classroom works have changed and we added polishing to our Practical Life area this month. First the children learned to polish a mirror, then wood and next is silver polish. We started this month off with the study of apples. Apple art, apple puzzles, apple counting and so much more lined the classroom shelves. Parts of an apple, apple dissecting and apple tasting and the “Apple tree” song were just part of our circle activities.

Next we dove into the world of bats. The history of bats and types of bats, their foods and habitats and environments as well as the parts of a bat have been filling our classroom with a bat buzz (or we could call it echolocation).

Next we take a look at spiders. How are they different from insects? We will learn what kind of arachnids exist and which ones live around us. Do you know the “Itsy bitsy spider” song? Now you can learn it from your child. On Thursdays the Hemlock class will start to bring in either Yoga or Science experiments during our circle time. Fridays remain our “Show and Tell” days where every child can bring one object from home to present and talk about in class during circle time. Should you forget to bring something, we will make sure to ask each child to come up and share a little “Tell”. Some children are not big on sharing and that is ok as well!

The Nature Walk on Tuesday am and Thursday pm will now include new students and you will be notified on Pro Care in case your child is going. Sometimes a student is absent or does not want to go. Then a present child can fill the spot and we will not have time to let you know before the walk but since everyone is usually ready for Washington’s outside play time anyways, appropriate clothes are usually no issue. Most children have a water bottle to refresh here, too.

Alongside all these fall lessons we are getting ready for our Halloween fun day by learning the “Witches Brew” song as well as the “Five little Pumpkins sitting on a gate” song. On the day of Halloween the children can come in costumes. The two classrooms will meet on the playground to share a big circle for songs and a costume parade. Then when we are back in our individual classrooms, we will share a spooky snack and have some more class appropriate fun! It is all organized and taken care of by the teachers. It would be nice if your child wears a bathroom friendly costume. FYI our school is free of any type of guns! Please be mindful with masks, some children scare easy (it also hinders their safe outside play).

One more housekeeping item:  we conduct regular Fire and Earthquake Drills as per DSHS regulation. That means we are leaving the building asap, rain or shine and if your child does not have indoor shoes in school, they are outside in true fall fashion with very wet and dirty socks.

So please remember to refresh their extra clothes as soon as laundry comes home. Thank you!

Hopefully we will have more nice weather so the children get to enjoy our outside toys a little longer.

All the Hemlock teachers are looking forward to meeting with you for our upcoming conferences, thank you for signing up and making time in your busy schedules!

Buckeye Class

This October we introduced easel painting which has been very popular with the children. Once the children are finished with their paintings, they lay them out to dry then clean up the easel with a sponge so that it is all clean for the next child to use.

On Indigenous People’s Day we discussed how Christopher Columbus thought he had found his way to India and that is why some people call Indigenous Americans Indians, but he was wrong! He was in what we now call America, which had already been occupied by Indigenous people. We celebrate the people who were here before us.

As we settle into autumn a bit more, we learn about the parts of an apple as well as the life cycle of an apple and had an apple tasting where everyone was offered different types of apples to taste! Spiders and pumpkins have also been big topics lately. We learned about the parts of a spider and parts of a pumpkin. We dissected and carved a pumpkin at circle and had the opportunity to try pumpkin seeds.

We have been singing lots of Halloween themed songs this month. A favorite song is the five little pumpkins:

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate

the first one said oh my it’s getting late

the second one said there are bats in the air

the third one said but we don’t care

the fourth one said let’s run and run and run

the fifth one said isn’t Halloween fun?

then wooooo went the wind

and out went the lights

and the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight

During this song we have a child turn out the lights and the teacher rolls five little pumpkins to the children. This is very exciting for the everyone.

We are continuing are nature walks twice a week. Lately we have noticed many different kinds of mushrooms along the trails.