Klahanie School
May 2018 Newsletter
I’m not saying we need to save the trees. I’m saying that we need to not overlook their
capacity to save us. Put it in your yard and watch it for a while. And pick it carefully because it’s hard to get a tree going. You know if every seed turned into a plant, we’d be living in a very different world. So choose well and open your eyes to give it everything.
Hope Jahren, NPR interview April 29th, 2016 “Lab Girl”
April 2018 Reflection
Our class has leaped into the spring with enthusiasm and creativity in imaginative play and classroom material exploration as well as amazing recycle and earth conscious exploration through our own choices. The garden has taken new shape and inspired creativity in exploring play in the space as well as respect for the garden; hosting habitat to many insects (we have created Insect Hotels), arachnids, Earth worms, beetles, garden snakes and birds. We began planting seeds and discussion of plant life cycle and plant care. With the increase of imaginative role-playing during garden time we will be introducing more performance encouragement on the garden stage and puppet shows.
Ending our month of Earth focus, we encourage you to listen to Hope Jahren’s NPR interview from April 29, 2016 as well as look into her memoir “Lab Girl” focused on her geo-biologist quest described in a deeply poetic and inspiring way.
We all have different gifts, so we all have different ways of saying to the world who we are.
~Fred Rogers
May Curriculum Topics
Butterfly Song
Ten little eggs all in a mound.
Out they will crawl, crawling around.
And then they will sleep and we know why, out they emerge as butterflies.
Butterfly, butterfly what lovely wings.
Flutter by, flutter by how my heart sings.
Butterfly, butterfly I’d like to know, when it rains, when it rains where do you go?
Niche In Nature
I’ve got a Niche in nature, no matter what you say.
I’ve got a niche in nature and it’s going to stay that way.
We’ve each got a niche in nature, whether we’re big or small.
If niches are protected then there’s room enough for us all!
Bend and Stretch
Bend and Stretch, reach for the sky.
There goes Jupiter, there goes Mars.
Bend and stretch, reach for the sky
Stand on tippy toes oh so high.
- Butterfly life cycle and habitat: egg, larva (caterpillar), chrysalis (pupa), butterfly. Our painted lady butterfly larva will be observed through the cycle in class until ready for release.
- Class chosen focus: Garden Snakes, Beetles, Ants and exploration/naming of shells
- Amphibians: the amazing world of amphibians and habitats.
- Large and Whole Body Art (please dress kids in clothes you do not care about getting dirty or stained the month of May)
- Friends, Our Neighbors: creating empathy development extended fun and introduction to Teamwork through carving opportunities in the garden and some clapping-drumming, story add-on games.
- Serving Tea to Friends: harvesting herbs from the garden to dry and later invite and serve tea to a friend.
- A bit of baking: brown buns, we use a sweet little song to illustrate subtraction and thought a fun move to make our own for class to share. We use the vocabulary "subtraction", "addition" and "remaining."
5 Brown Buns in a bakery shop
5 Brown Buns with the sugar on top
Along came (child name) with a quarter in her hand and she grabbed that bun and ran as fast as she can.
...repeated
- Continuing the gift of Listening awareness and practice
Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.
- Karl Menninger
Reminders, Thank-Yous, Dates to Save & Changes
- Tie Dying: Please send one or two pre-washed white tee shirts or other garments to school by the second week of May. We want to have help silk screening our school logo on shirts before getting our tie dye on the last week of May.
- SAVE THE DATE: Saturday September 29th Pie Auction at Nashi Orchards! This is our annual scholarship fundraiser and all adults welcome and encouraged to help create some memorable fun! Thank you Pacific Crest Farms, Jen and Bob Keller for being liaison for this magical opportunity at beautiful Nashi Orchards.
- Please look for upcoming emails from me or Jordan to purchase photo Year Books for this amazing 2017-18 school year.
- Thank you for spreading the word for next year enrollment, only a few spots remaining! Would be great to enroll two three year old girls to balance out our multi-age class ratios.
- Two spots remaining for our summer sessions, thanks for spreading the word.
- Thank you for the play dough donations and a massive thank you to parents who volunteered time to help in class during teacher sick days.
- Thank you Ara Lee for coming in and teaching singing!
