Pumpkin Day

Pumpkin Day

On Friday, October 31st ,we will celebrate Pumpkin Day. We have been learning about pumpkins and their life cycle this week and will conclude our studies with Pumpkin Day.  Please help your child dress in orange-colored clothing on this day to celebrate!

We will not be having a “Halloween” party or be changing into costumes. Please do not send your child to school with costumes or masks, etc.  Halloween can be a controversial holiday and many of our school families do not choose to participate in its festivities.We will be doing many fun math, science, and art activities with our pumpkins. We will be weighing, measuring, rolling and floating our pumpkins. We will also be doing art projects and other fun activities!

You can help make our learning engaging and hands on by donating a miniature (ornamental), small, or medium-sized pumpkin for your child to use. If you would like to donate a pumpkin to our class as an extra, it would be appreciated.

Please send to school by Wednesday, October 29th

ECO in the Rain? YES!!

ECO Science Outing is Tomorrow!

We will have ECO tomorrow (Wednesday- due to conferences).

Please make sure that your child is prepared with:

• walking/hiking shoes or boots
• sweatshirt or fleece layer
• coat or hooded jacket (if needed, weather dependant)
• water bottle (if your child doesn’t have one at school)
• back pack
• raincoat & rainpants ( the forest is very damp- even in afternoons)
• hat/sunglasses (personal preference)
• extra socks

Thanks!

Heart Words

Heart words are words that kids learn" by heart". They are able to recognize these short sight words, and use them in writing too! Here is our current list, with a new word added each week!

Ask your child about "Word Bird"!

Fire Safety

We enjoyed a visit from the Montpellier Fire Department last week. Firefighters advised kids to stay clear of hit objects like candles, stoves and matches.

They also explained that kids should "Get low and go" if a fire ever happened at home. A family meeting space outside the home is also a good idea. Kids practiced getting low to avoid smoke.

Groups also practiced rolling out flames on clothing. Kids got to see what fire gear looks like, and enjoyed seeing Firefighter Pete with his gear and breathing mask.

Many thanks to our Montpelier Fire Department!

Cozy Day is coming....

Kindergarten Cooks

On Friday we did some cooking together in our classroom. We used the apples from Liberty Orchard, to make applesauce. Step one involved using a special tool to peel and core the apples.

Then, we put them in the crock pot with a touch of sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon, and some water.

 

After cooking for about 3 hours, the applesauce was ready to taste. 

Servers helped to pass out this treat! It looks like the kindergarten food critics give this recipe a two thumbs up!!

Sing- a- long

All kindergarten classes gather monthly for a group sing- a- long. Our first song was about the butterfly life cycle. We even made special headbands to wear. We plan a "show" in April to share all of our learning and songs with families!

Outdoor Learning

At ECO today, we started our learning time in Harrison Forest.

Groups had a chance to make some "Nature Art" and to do some hiking in the forest.

Later, groups rejoined for "Thanksgiving Circle" and made some clay medallions using nature imprints. The final part of ECO involved field exploration time before heading back to Union School. We even had a special visit from Aubree's daycare kids!

Thanks to Emily for joining as an ECO parent!

Reading Buddies

Today we practiced partner reading. Partners took turns reading to each other. The listening partner had to really think about ways to stay focused, and ways to compliment the reader!

Wowza!

Kevin Companion visited UES today with his prizewinning giant pumpkin! We got to go for a quick visit this morning. The class is wondering how many kindergarten kids it would take to balance with a 1300 pound pumpkin!!

ECO THIS THURSDAY

We have ECO again this Thursday. How lucky to get to learn outdoors on these lovely Autumn days. Please check your schedule to see if you might be able to join us for several hours (12:15-2:30) on Thursday afternoon.

Parent volunteers help make our ECO days run smoothly.  If you are interested in helping out with any of these days, please let me know.  If you do plan to volunteer, we ask that you leave younger siblings at home so that your total focus is on the kindergarten kids.  Thank you for understanding!  We hope you can join us on one or more of these days.

Oct. 9th- with Mrs. Dostie's Class
Oct. 23rd-with Mrs. Wrigley's Class
Nov. 13th-with Mrs. Dostie's Class
Dec. 11th- Winter Outing for ALL CLASSES

Apple Tasting

Today each kindergarten kid got to taste three different kinds of apples. We had a red apple(Macintosh) a green apple(Granny Smith) and a yellow apple( Golden Delicious). Everyone then wrote down their favorite color apple using the sentence frame " I like ______apples." Ask your child which apple they liked.

Open House- 6:15 Thursday

We can''t wait to show you all of the things that have been happening in kindergarten. When you come to Open House, don't be surprised if your child acts as a "tour guide" and shows you all around our classroom, and the school. We will have your clipboards ready for an exciting evening!

Apple Picking at Liberty Orchard

We had a stellar day for apple picking. The orchard was open for just our group, and the weather was just perfect. We were able to explore the orchard, see some signs of fall, learn about apple trees and then go off to pick apples!

 

Thank you for your help, Elizabeth!

Super picker!

 
 

Mr. and Mrs. Brees love kindergarten visitors!

Thank you to Nana Pam for helping on this trip!

Many thanks to Emily for helping on this trip!