Autopilot
Your children are masters in the Orange Classroom. They kept doing their thing, running on autopilot while some of their teachers were away. I was on a long roadtrip and Mrs. Dotivala went on a roadtrip to bring her daughter home from college and had to miss another day for expected jury duty. But your children didn’t miss a beat with a reduced number of teachers in the classroom. Though I missed three days, the other teachers kept me up to date. On Tuesday the children had their last music class with Mrs. Wada for the 2023-2024 year. They ended the year using a large parachute, always a favorite way to end the year.
The weather turned quite hot and the children like having their water bottles on the playground. I like it too because the children are encouraged to have a drink before returning to the building and therefore we avoid hearing a chorus of “I need some water” when we return. Some of the activity choices this week were:
Mrs. Arsenault’s class has been fortunate to have one of their caterpillars form a chrysalis and then a butterfly (we have not been so fortunate). She brought the butterfly to our Circle Time before releasing it and all the children were able to see it spread its wings.
Each week we have Movement Class in the Purple Classroom (Rm. 15). The loft area is always covered with a large blue tarp. Today, I lifted the tarp and for the first time the children were able to see what is there. It is used as a storage place for the tables and chairs that are used in that room weekly and other toys that need a place to be. We were surprised to see two barbecue grills behind the tarp. I took one out, everyone sat on the rug around it and we proceeded to have a cookout. The children were careful to sit a ways back to not be too close to the heat, I put imaginary hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, potatoes and corn on the grill. When they were finished cooking, I tossed some to all the children who all agreed that we had the most delicious cookout.
On Thursday, your children made beautiful sculptures which are drying over the weekend.
On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, a friendly Bumble Bee visited Circle Time. On Thursday, we made a surprise discovery - it’s not a Bumble Bee, but rather Winnie-the-Pooh in a Bumble Bee costume!
The Friday group had a day at the spa. The children, along with me, all had our hair cut and blown dry. We also used both the safety razor and electric razor to shave. We had so much after-shave lotion put on that we’re going to smell wonderful for weeks to come!