Hello everyone!

Our weather has been so lovely lately – we are thankfully getting to spend more time outdoors playing and exploring in the environment.  Our surroundings and environment have been a point of focus for us in the last few weeks.  Back in March, Olly’s dad, Bob Montgomery, and two of his colleagues at Michigan State, Arthur and Tutilo, visited our classroom to share their research with us about giraffes and lions.  A few weeks prior to that, they had traveled to Uganda to transport giraffes to protected land.  They discussed with us their love and admiration for these beautiful animals and the need to protect their existence.  We watched a short video about their mission in Uganda, Arthur and Tutilo read us a story and then, we danced!  Thank you so very much to Bob for coming in and sharing with us about the important work they are doing.

In preparation for Earth Day we spent time discussing ways that we effect our environment both positively and negatively.  We talked about planting seeds for growing our own fruits, vegetables and flowers, planting trees, throwing away litter, and a HUGE part of our discussions focused on recycling AND reusing items that might otherwise contribute to increasing space in landfills.

We played a recycling game where all the children had to decide if their piece of “garbage” was recyclable and if so, in which group of recyclables it would go: glass, plastic, metal/aluminum or paper items.  They got everything sorted!  I strongly encourage you to have your children help with recycling at home.  It is one of the best Practical Life/Science lessons we can teach them:  Caring for the Planet.

Our Earth Day celebration was a wonderful day for the children.  In the morning Robbie Ratan, Thelo’s dad, came into the classroom to talk with the children about rhyming.  He talked about coming up with words and phrases to create rhythm poetry- one of the greats…”Queen Elizabeth sits on her throne and she can’t throw her phone” — thanks for that one, Olly!  Thanks to Robbie for coming in and sharing one of his favorite hobbies with us!

Later in the morning we went outside and worked on the area right in front of the school building- removing leaves and debris from the winter months.  In the afternoon the Kindergartners planted some spruce saplings along the western fence of our playground with the help of Davis, the school’s maintenance manager.  The children were very proud of their efforts and especially enjoyed planting the “baby” trees   On our outings I heard some of them talking about how the earth was “waking up!” from its long sleep, and they were observing small plants sprouting and buds forming.  You can see them putting together the concepts of growth in relation to our sun and how important a healthy planet is for our own well-being.

In the classroom we are in full spring mode!  The children will begin to do some individual seed plantings that they will be bringing home.  The seed planting is a work on the shelf that allows them to construct a pot out of newspaper, fill with soil, plant the seed and take it home with them to watch it grow!  If anyone is willing and able to bring in some simple potting soil and newspaper, we would greatly appreciate it!  We will be able to supplement their plantings with some of our very healthy worm castings from our worm condo in the classroom.  The children have been so attentive and nurturing to our worms and the growth in population is the evidence- we have baby worms galore!!  Ask your child to show you sometime — it is so cool.

We are in the thick of preparing for our biggest event of the year, International Night.  The P3 community is Europe this year.  We have already learned a good deal about the countries and people, and our kindergarten students have been doing research.  It’s so exciting to watch them put together the ability to read and their interest in the world.

This year, International Night is Friday, May 13, from 5 to 7 p.m.  Please sign up to help within the school, using ivolunteer, or to bring a dish to share in our international food court.  Our school has so many impressive cooks and the celebration of our school’s international culture in food is one of the great joys of International Night.

If you have anything at home to help us represent our continent, please let us know. We are looking forward to the transformation of our classroom into the continent of Europe, and, as always, let us know if you can help in any way.

Here’s to celebrating these longer, warmer days-

Peace,

Trish