DECEMBER NEWS
he reigns with cold and freezing hand.
He makes Jack Frost touch nose and toes,
and gives our cheeks a shining glow.”
December can be unpredictable with an 80 degree day followed by a bitter cold morning barely above freezing. I know this weather can make it tricky to try to dress your child appropriately but we do ask that children wear layers (long sleeves, long pants, coat/jacket, etc.) as the open field behind the farm subjects us to cooler temperatures.
THEMES
The Saplings are discussing shadows and light as we countdown to the Winter Solstice on December 21st! They will enjoy a number of seasonal stories and activities as Winter approaches. Ms. Melissa and Ms. Barbra would appreciate donations of Baskets of any size for materials stored in the classroom.
The Treehouse students are enjoying the Tales of Jack Frost and The Tomten and look forward to making paper snowflakes, cranberry garland and butter cookies. Ms. Janie and Mr. Robert have been working on offering wet on wet watercolor painting on Monday/Thursday and Handwork, Bread Baking, Beeswax Modeling or Drawing on Tuesday/Wednesday.
HOLIDAY SEASON
We know that for many children the holiday season is a busy and exciting time of year! We have a diverse community of families celebrating everything from a traditional Christmas to Hannukah to Advent and many other winter holidays. Out of respect to our families we choose to focus on slowing down and observing the changes in nature as winter approaches and the warmth of time with friends.
CLOSURES/EVENTS:
WINTER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION
Friday, December 21st, 6:30-8pm
This celebration is open to students and their immediate families and will include crafts, cookie decorating and an opportunity for children to meet King Winter while enjoying time together. We will once again be looking for volunteers to bake un-iced sugar or gingerbread cookies for decorating at the celebration. Please see Andrea for details.
NOTE: Those with special dietary needs/allergies should arrive with their own cookies for decorating at the event.
WINTER HOLIDAY CLOSURE
Monday, December 24th- Friday, January 4th
NOTE:The Parent Society Meeting previously scheduled for December 18th has been cancelled in order to allow us to prepare for our Winter Celebration later that week. Please check the calendar for upcoming meetings and events in the New Year!
PARENT CONFERENCES
Parent-Teacher Conferences began last week and only a few slots are remaining as conferences continue over the next 2 weeks. If you haven’t already signed up for a conference we will have another opportunity for you to sign-up after our Winter closure in January.
These conferences are an opportunity for us to touch base with you regarding our observations of your child’s development. We set aside 20 mins. for each conference and ask that if you feel you require additional time to please let us know via email and we will schedule time accordingly. As always if you have an issue or concern please bring it to us at anytime and don’t feel you need to wait until “conference” time as we are happy to schedule either a phone or in-person conference to discuss your child.
MENU
Our lunch and snack menu was scheduled to change this month but we have had so much success with our current menu that we will be continuing it through this month and reveal a new menu in January! As a reminder we do have to make substitutions for some snacks on occasion and so our teachers have set aside a special area to store shelf-stable snacks for all children with special dietary needs/allergies.
We are looking forward to lots of warm winter cheer at the farm,
Leslie, Janie, Andrea, Melissa, Barbra and Robert
