News from the Outdoors

The Nature Detectives kicked of the year with some exciting exploration of both the sanctuary and our natural playground! We embarked on some grand construction projects in the sand box, as well as dug for treasure with different types of tools.  Inside the sandbox the detectives even uncovered, what was dubbed, “the uni-goat,” a small, green toy goat that the kids noticed only had one horn!

The classes enjoyed exploring both the meadow and children’s garden this week! In the meadow, the detectives followed the bird boxes, noticing the different materials used to make each nest. They also experimented with measuring, finding flowers and grasses of different heights and comparing them to our bodies! We found that the yellow and purple flowers were taller than most of our heads!

On Thursday, both classes enjoyed a visit to the children’s garden to practice our Detective super senses! We learned that as Nature Detectives, the best tools we can use for exploring we actually carry with us at all times! The Detectives practiced using their owl eyes for spying butterflies, their fox ears for listening to crickets, their noses to smell the different herbs (and compost) and their hands to feel the different textured plants.

 

News from the Classroom

This week the Detectives began their indoor exploration with some cubby beautification! Each student got a chance to decorate their own Detective bag, which will come to and from school everyday, as well as paint with water colors to create their own cubby tags that will hang throughout the year.

🎶 Paint no mountain high enough 🎶

Decorating Detective bags

In the dramatic play area, the kids were able to also dress up as detectives inside, using binoculars to spy animals near and far! We enjoyed play dough and shaving cream at our sensory table, as well as splashing around in bubbles inside the lab table. The unit and half unit blocks were introduced for building this week, as well as some pattern making with butterfly connectagons. We also worked on a bug puzzle on the campfire carpet, highlighting many of the bugs we spied this week!

We also started off the year by reading, The Kissing Hand, a story about Chester the raccoon and his first day of school. At the end of the story we learned how to say “I love you,” in sign language, and each Detective got to go home with heart stamped on their palm, to make their very own kissing hand!

Books we Read

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

Bears New Friend by Karma Wilson

Weekly Top Hits

Here We Are Together

Here we are together, together, together

Here we together at the Nature Preschool,

There’s.. (child’s name) and (child’s name).. etc.. and everyone!

Here we are together, we are happy you are here!

 

Clean-up Song

We looked at the clock and what does it say,

Now its time to put everything away,

Clean up time (x2)

Now its time to put everything away

 

Goodbye Song

Goodbye, Goodbye, to you and you and you (x2)

A big goodbye, a small goodbye,

A high goodbye, a low goodbye,

Goodbye, goodbye, to you and you and you, cha-cha-cha!

 

Spoiler Alert:

Next week we are talking continuing to talk about how to be a Nature Detective!

News from the Wild: Forest Kindergarten Oaks Week 1

The Oaks class is starting their year with the theme At Home in the Wild. After a picnic lunch, we start each day at our Hilltop Home. It’s steep climb, but the Oaks get the wagon up the hill!

At the “gate” to Hilltop, mud faces welcome the children to their home in the wild. We make a circle with our tree cookie seats, the children find their name stones, and we start our day with a centering chime and then a song. This month we’re singing:

I have a friend whose name is _______,                                                                                                         And we have fun together.                                                                                                                                        We create and play and explore all day                                                                                                                  In every kind of weather!

After circle, we have story time and on Orientation days, we read the book Happy, about feelings and facial expressions. We talked about how Shannon and Chelsea’s mud faces felt (Glad and Curious), and then headed out to the pond to find some mud. Some of the Oaks were really INTO the mud, and some made their own faces. Others got busy exploring the pond and working together to catch a wood frog.

On our first day with the whole class we read the book Finding Wild, and then headed out into the woods to discover a new climbing area the children are calling the Tree Climber. Lots of climbing, balancing and digging out rotten wood ensured. We practiced using a loupe to look closely at a millipede and a cicada exoskeleton. The afternoon classes practically flew by!

Friday we spent the morning at our Hilltop Home. We read Roxaboxen, and then the children finally got to see what was in our big storage bin. They quickly got busy. The superheros (look for capes) set up a base inside our large tarp tent, the engineers worked on building stick forts to keep out bad guys, the builders drilled holes and hammered nails into fallen logs, the diggers excavated, and the chefs set up a bakery.

Next week, we’ll continue to make ourselves at home in the wild, by exploring and naming more of Woodend’s special places.

Our closing song this month is:

No one looks the way I do, I have noticed that it’s true.                                                                                       No one talks the way I talk, no one walks the way I walk.

No one plays the way I play, no one says the things I say.                                                                                          I am special, I am me. There’s no one I’d rather be!