We have been so lucky, this year, to have two parents participating in the 4-Winds project. Two weeks ago, Jen (Brendan’s mom) took us on a spider hunt and this morning, Adina (Elyiss’s mom) did a puppet show and read us some books about very interesting spiders.
Adina brought some really fascinating books about SPIDERS!
We even got to look at some live spiders!
Thanks so much Jen and Adina!
We introduced the P4 buddies to Elizabeth’s 5/6 grade buddies this morning. The kids, big and little, played together in the classroom, made and shared some apple sauce and did finger weaving together. I think these buddy groups will be very important throughout the year, and, possibly, beyond!
Rose and Anna are now good friends with Warner.
Fiona and Liza got to know each other.
Cadence, Mary Grace, and Austin had a lovely morning playing together.
Caroline played with Sophie and Holly.
Abbie and Brooke spent the morning getting to know Noah.
Eve and Cailin enjoyed each other's company.
Cameron, Brendan, and Aiden cuddled in the sofa...
...and then things got goofy!
Isley, Jurni, and Ilyana enjoyed time in the classroom library
Elyiss and Colden shared a snack of apple sauce.
A few children were absent this morning but will be included in the next post. Be sure to ask your child about his/her Buddy!
I’ve mentioned my mom before wanted to introduce you, formally. Fran joins our class every Friday and has, over the years, become an integral part of the P4 experience. When she arrives, occasionally, to substitute for me or Julie, the kids often ask, “Is it Friday?”
Fran almost always does Meeting on Fridays. She teaches us the songs she’s gathered from her 50 years of teaching, and often brings a book from her own large home library. Last week was no exception.
Fran read an Eric Carle book and talked about artists and illustrators.
It’s wonderful for the children to have an opportunity to get to know a new personality and to explore the things that a true expert can bring to the class.
I have an unlimited source for fabric loops.. The Cabot Sock Factory, just up the street from me, graciously allows me to dumpster-dive and we’ve been making use of an enormous bag of multi-colored loops I brought to school a week or so ago. This morning, while applesauce-making was going on at the art table (food is art, right?) a group of children learned to finger weave. I didn’t expect them to learn this lovely craft as well or as quickly as they did, but, as you can see, with some patience and persistence, progress was made.
Liza gives her loop a twist
Noah concentrated hard
Finger weaving
Samantha checks the loops
When you get going, the weaving starts to "grow" down the back of your hand!
This activity was a lovely way for me to check hand dominance; you weave on your non-dominant hand. It was good practice for isolating fingers and controlling the muscles of the hands.. all important skills for writing. We were able to transfer the weavings onto chopsticks so the children can continue to work on them. If your child would like to continue to weave at home, we have plenty of loops. Simple instructions are available here.
Yesterday the Warren Fire Department visited the Warren School. Our class had a chance to meet the fire fighters (one of whom was a student here a long time ago!) and go into the Fire Safety House.
The Fire Safety House
The kids learned about dialing 911 in an emergency and were even allowed to climb out the window!!
Warner prepared to leave the building.
Liza waited for her turn.
We even got to climb around inside of a real fire truck!
Thank you to those of you who sent in your street address. We’ll help the children learn them and you can also help by asking them where they live, now and again. My own mom bribed me with a penny each time I could spell my whole name and remember my address.
We have continued to work hard in order to make enough applesauce for all the hungry people who will be at the Community Dinner tonight. We even wrote a recipe so you can make some at home.
We rode on a school bus
We picked apples
We washed the apples
We carved some of the skin off
We pushed the apple corer
We cut the apples
We put them in a bowl
We cooked the apples
We turned the crank on the food mill
Many of the children noticed that the word “we” showed up at the beginning of each sentence (and also shows up on the Morning Message each day).
Caroline used the food mill to separate the seeds, skin, and cores from the applesauce.
Christopher, Brendan and Julie worked with a special tool Brendan lent us.
Molly stayed to help. Noah, Ilyana, and Cada cut up so many apples so we could cook them.
The apples smelled so good as they cooked in the pot we borrowed from Claire.
Ask your child to read this and tell what it's for.
We hope to see you this evening at the Community Dinner! Make sure you taste some of our delicious applesauce!
With the Community Dinner fast approaching, the P4 class had some work to do. We took the fruits of our labor (pun intended) from last Friday’s trip to Happy Valley Orchard and started to make applesauce. Apples were washed and cut (using very sharp knives!) We cooked them (the room smelled so good) and tomorrow we’ll use a variety of tools to make applesauce.
Slide show below! (click on the pictures if they aren’t rotating for you!)
What a weekend! What a work crew! What a wonderful new structure we have in the Preschool Playground! Thank you to everyone who lent a hand to put our new Castle (as some kids dubbed the new structure this afternoon) together. (and for those of you who couldn’t make it, never fear, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to help make Warren School an even more special place for your kids).
Many boxes needed to be carried from the parking lot to the playground.. 47, to be exact!
Sometimes you've just got to use your head!
The kids who came were wonderful! They played together and helped when asked. There was little arguing or whining. What a bunch of troopers!
Reuben labeled boxes with precision while Felix watched.
And the pieces came together.
More pictures to follow!
It was beautiful in Middlebury, this morning. We left school at about 8:15 and, with Lloyd at the helm, steering us over potholes and bumpy roads, making sure the alarm on the emergency exits stopped yelling at us, and the dozen or so ,”Are we there, yet?”s, we arrived at happy Valley Orchard in just over an hour.
There were many varieties from which to choose and the children picked galas, mac, macouns, and honeycrisps. We had a lovely snack-in-the sun of cider and donuts from the orchard’s own store, as well as the cheese and crackers that Caroline provided 
The ride home was smooth and everyone had a great time! Thanks Tammy, Kevin, Jen, Patty, Mande, Susan, Fran, and Lloyd for joining us!
Lloyd had an audience as he made sure the exits were all secure.
When we went outside this morning, we were greeted by the exciting view of an ENORMOUS truck in the parking lot! Our new structure was being delivered, just in time for the kids to watch all of the boxes being unloaded.
The boxes were HUGE! (boy, is Lloyd strong!!)
Everyone wanted to watch.
We hope lots of people will come on the weekend to help put the new climber together so we can play on it next week!
