Dear Parents,
This week we cooked every day preparing for our feast. On Monday the children washed the sweet potatoes and took turns going down to the kitchen to watch the potatoes boil. When they were soft, we rinsed them in cold water and peeled the skins off. Everyone got to add tiny bits of brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, and milk. Then we took turns using the hand mixer to blend the ingredients. We put them in the fridge and went to play in the big room to work on our gross motor skills: climbing, running, and tricycling.
On Tuesday we washed our cranberries and put them in a pot to boil. Everyone touched a cranberry to feel how hard they are. We cut one open to see the seeds inside. We used a hot plate in the classroom so we could get a close up view of the berries bursting when we added heat. The children noticed the difference in the hard berries before heat, and the soft berries after. Someone said, “It looks like blood.”
We made a list of words that start with the letter C: Chiara, cranberries, cookies, cake, cucumber, cow, cat, and many others.
On Wednesday before the feast, we made cornbread muffins. We made a list of things we felt thankful for- love and wallets were on the list.
We played in the big room while waiting to eat. When families arrived, we sang Way Down Yonder By The Willow Tree, while everyone hung their catkins on the tree. We were thankful our feast was delicious! We ate most of it.
Have a grateful weekend,
Therese
The Fruit Doesn't Fall Far
Dear Parents,
This week we worked on our family tree again. We twisted and scrunched long pieces of brown paper to make branches. Everyone cut up a storm, making small, long leaves for our willow tree. We glued the leaves to the branches.
We looked at pictures of what the fruit of a willow tree looks like, and then everyone got similar shapes to paint green. We mixed two colors to get our green. We all used our fine motor skills to snip the edges of the fruits. Finally we glued our family photos to the fruits, also known as catkins.
During circle we read Me and My Tree. We looked at the picture of us under our summer tree, and compared it with the new picture of us under our fall tree. The class noticed that the leaves that had been green were almost entirely yellow. We hung them beside each other in our classroom.
We read several books about fall leaves. We continue to compare the leaves in our yard and try to figure out which tree they fell from, and whether two leaves came from the same tree, or not.
We looked at all of our family photos and guessed which season each picture was taken in. The children noticed fall trees in many pictures, and summer shirts in others. We went around the circle and everyone told us who was in their photograph.
Yoga with Tasha was calm. Children were seen doing poses and lying quietly on their backs.
On Friday we made butter for our upcoming family feast. We poured heavy cream into clear jars and shook them high and low. We played music to help with the shake, shake, shaking. One person asked to turn out the lights while we danced and another said we need a disco ball.
Our feast will take place on Wednesday November 22nd at 11:00am. We will begin by singing Way Down Yonder By The Willow Tree while everyone hangs their fruit on our willow tree. Afterwards there will be eating and drinking and merrymaking.
There is a magnificent willow tree in the community garden on 6th Avenue and 15th street, if anyone wants to take a walk to see it.
It was lovely speaking to everyone about your offspring!
Have a willowy weekend,
Therese