Every week our teachers summarize the classroom’s activities in a note home to parents. These excerpts from a few of our teachers give an idea of learning and classroom activities at The Little School.

Barbara’s Class (3’s)

Dramatic play in our class has taken a turn toward babies. Babies being fed, rocked, taken to the doctor, and chased. The latter is a very popular pastime and one that the children are excellent at executing. One can tell by the speed they crawl that they too were babies in the not so distant pass! The class eagerly gathers for our Thursday trips to the garden. Lisa has introduced us to how and why leaves change color and to the little critters called moles who are making the interesting mounds of dirt on the big field. The children like to check on the squashes, beans and the flowers that continue to bloom. Some have even tried chewing a small blade of fennel.

Kathi’s Class (3’s & 4’s)

Thanks to all of you who were able to help us with our mitten tree today! Yesterday we read “The Missing Mitten Mystery” by Steven Kellogg, which featured a beautiful mitten tree that we decided to replicate. It was a wonderful opportunity to extend the book while developing pencil and scissor skills. If you aren’t able to stop by the room in the next few days and add to our tree please have your child help you draw an outline of your hand (fingers together, thumb out) to bring in and we’ll add it to the tree for you.

Melissa’s Class (4’s & 5’s, full-day)

Last week we spotted a huge banana slug out on the hill near the sandbox. Many children huddled around to observe it creeping along, leaving a shiny slime trail. I could hear some children saying, “Don’t touch it! It wants it’s life!” or “It wants to find its home, lets give it food.” Or “Ewww! Let’s cover it with dirt, then it will stop.” A couple children remained interested for quite a while, and made a “pathway” of leaves and sticks leading the slug to Jackie’s lettuce pots in an effort to make sure the slug would not be hungry. How about those tender hearts! I have to admit, I was swept up in the scientific process myself, and was curious to see if the slug would follow the path or go its own way. For a while, it seemed to creep along the leaves, but eventually veered off into the dirt. The children exercised sustained patience, waiting to see where the slow creature would go. Where do you think it ended up?

Joyce’s Class (5’s & 6’s)

The fall equinox was Tuesday and we used the globe and a light as a model of what was happening. While the specifics of the equinox may not have been understood, it provided for a focus on the changing of the seasons and the changes we are beginning to see outside the classroom as well as a chance to talk about space, set the obs up as a solar system and listen to songs about the sun and planets. With the light and the music it didn’t exactly turn into disco, but it came close a couple of times and a good time was had by all. The songs were on a CD Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants. This was one of several items brought in recently for sharing and that has generated a more general interest in bringing things for sharing.

Steve’s Class (6’s & 7’s)

This morning we made our November calendars which your child should have brought home to share with you today. You can ask your child to read the days of the week, count all the numbers, talk about the special days and holidays, show you their picture and read the words they wrote about it, etc. Last month during our morning meetings we worked on figuring what each day’s number could be divided by. For example, on the 10th we figured that 2s and 5s work, and on the 12th we figured out 2s, 3s, 4s, and 6s all work. We also figured out that on the 15th, if 5s worked and we used 3 bunches of them, then 3s will work if we use five bunches of those. We also had found out what it means to be a prime number. Part of this exercise was to give us practice in counting by the various multiples and laying the groundwork for future multiplication and division activities and another part was to highlight the elegant symmetry that is such a wonderful part of mathematics. Feel free to try this exercise at home if you and your child are so inclined.

Alice’s Class (9, 10 & 11’s)

The class has been listening to the story of Odysseus this week, and today we spent a good part of the morning shading and labeling maps of Greece with many of the islands, seas, cities and landmarks that Odysseus encounters on his journey. We also “flew” from Bellevue to Ithaca (Odysseus’ home island), and Ithaca to Troy, using Google Earth, zooming in and out along the way. Many of the students are eager to explore more places, near and far, using Google Earth at home and at school. It may be fun to download it on your home computers (it’s free) and explore with your child.

We kept the early Greeks in mind, as well, when we cooked some Mediterranean beans, which were likely a staple food in that culture. After boiling and straining them we mashed them and seasoned them with other ingredients that the Greeks may have used: olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, mint and fennel. Almost everyone tried some on a cracker at the end of the day. “It tastes okay,” or “Not bad,” was the lukewarm, but polite description that most of them gave.