Dear Parents,

As the mornings are getting a little brisk and the days are getting shorter, I would like to send out a reminder about your child’s proper attire for recess. Please make sure your child has indoor shoes to change into, as outdoor shoes track in mud at this time of year. We have such a wonderful, wooded area for the children to spend time outdoors, but it is also a bit muddy. Please make sure your child has a jacket, hat, scarf and gloves. It is better to have them and not use them, than to not have them and be cold and miserable. It also does not hurt to send an extra set of clothing for your child, in case they get wet.

We have been watching a BBC series called, “Tales of the Green Valley”. In this program, four archaeologists live as Tudor peasants, for one year. We are watching this in preparation for International Night. The children are taking notes on what they find interesting in order to do more research on a project for this time period, in Europe. So far the highlights have been field preparation, cooking (especially the different kinds of fires for specific foods), how to slaughter (not graphic) a hog and prepare the body for storing the meat, what inedible parts were used for, gentry contrasted to peasants, and special holidays that coincide with the Christian religion. (They speak specifically about how the holidays and attendance at church were mandatory because it allowed the church to monitor if their subjects were practicing the proper religion dictated by the crown). These are just a few examples. The children are finding this time in history very interesting!

Harvest Fest for the elementary students is November 5th. We have opportunities for parents to volunteer to help with baking and the crafts that are offered on this day. The children have been planning the menu and we will be figuring out quantities we need to make of each dish in order to make the shopping list.

Other events happening in the month of November are:

November 7 -First Friday from 8:45 – 9:15
November 14, 15 – Journey and Discovery (if you have signed up)
November 21 -Special Person’s Day
November 24 – 25 -volunteer opportunities for baking for the bake sale (for the foster children’s holiday party fund raiser)
November 26-28- No school in observance of Thanksgiving

Please remember that school starts promptly at 8:45. Students should arrive by 8:40 so they are in the classroom on time. It allows them to plan their day with their work partners and allows me to give all the lessons I have planned for them.

Sincerely,
Christine