Another school year is coming to a close. As we watch each child leave our beautiful environment for the summer Ms. Kayser and I can’t help but remember their 1st days with us. It is always humbling to be a witness to their development.

While many of our children and families are returning, some will be moving on. To EVERYONE, regardless, we wish the best of summer and the best in the years ahead.

Thank you all for your inspiration. It is a beautiful thing to have a career and a passion come together!

With  peaceful hearts,

Samantha & Cindy

 

This is our last week of school. As always, working with the children is such a pleasure.

We wish to thank you all for the wonderful experience. We would also like to thank you for your generous gifts! We wish you a safe and happy summer!

I have worked with your flower, and helped it to grow.

I´m returning it now, but I want you to know

This flower is precious, as dear as can be.

Take care of it, and you will see

A bright new bloom, with every day.

It grew and blossomed, in such a wonderful way.

In August, just a bud, then January, a bloom, now a lovely blossom

I´m returning to you.

Remember, this flower,

As dear as can be.

Though rightfully yours,

Part will always be with me!

With all our love, Mrs. Santayana and Mrs. Simmons

 

It’s hard to believe we have completed the 2017-18 school year.  We wish you a summer filled with peace, love, happiness and the chance to make lifetime memories.  Enjoy the time with your loved ones and may you all have a chance to relax and enjoy a calmer time of year.  Thank you for sharing your children with us and thank you for all the behind the scenes help that makes our year so much smoother!

We leave you with a poem that resonates deeply with us every single year.

Whose Child Is This?      

“Whose child is this?” I asked one day
Seeing a little one out at play.
“Mine,” said the parent with a tender smile.
“Mine to keep a little while
To bathe his hands and comb his hair
To tell him what he is to wear
To prepare him that he may always be good
And each day do the things he should.”

“Whose child is this?” I asked again
As the door opened and someone came in.
“Mine,” said the teacher with the same tender smile.
“Mine, to keep just for a little while
To teach him how to be gentle and kind
To train and direct his dear little mind
To help him live by every rule
And get the best he can from school.”

“Whose child is this?” I ask once more
Just as the little one entered the door.
“Ours,” said the parent and the teacher as they smiled
And each took the hand of the little child.
“Ours to love and train together
Ours this blessed task forever.”

—–Author Unknown

 

Michelle & Sonja

Last week, the Extended Day children spent some time at Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury.

We started by taking a scenic hayride around the Nature Center. This hayride was really an outdoor classroom where the children were asked to use their “eagle eyes” and help locate the nests of a Bobolink. The Bobolink is found in large grasslands and they arrive in Connecticut typically around the first week of May. These birds like to nest in the thick grass. Often, the male Bobolink will sit on the top of a clump of grass or nearby tree and sing. This is their way of defending their territory from other males. The Bobolink is quickly becoming an endangered bird in Connecticut since landowners not familiar with the nesting birds are cutting back their hay field early in the planting season. Farming the land inadvertently destroys the Bobolink’s habitat and puts it at risk from predators. Flanders is working hard to educate farm owners and the public.

Next, we gathered our nets and took a hike through the woods to the Botany Pond. The children then had the opportunity to catch and identify amphibians, reptiles and insects. We found 9 frogs, tadpoles and salamanders.  We observed turtles resting on a rock. Eventually we released everything we collected and headed back to the Sugar House for a snack.

Walking back, several children said it was the best field trip they ever had. Flanders is open to the public and we strongly encourage you to take advantage of this amazingly beautiful nature center.

More information can be found on their website www.flandersnaturecenter.org.

Wishing you a wonderful (and dry) week!

Michelle & Sonja

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The garden soil is finally warming up! It is the best time to plant most of the vegetable seeds and flowers. We have a variety of seeds for the children to match, look at, and feel. The seeds (lima beans) that the children planted in a clear jar with soaked paper towels have started growing! Seeds were soaked in water and became soft. The children gently rubbed the seed and removed the outer layer of the seed called the seed coat. They opened the seed and inside, they found the very start of a plant. It is very little now. Isn´t that amazing? Inside every seed is a tiny plant just waiting to grow. Caring for the plants in our classroom was introduced again. We continue watering and cleaning the leaves of plants.

Thank you Sarah and Dave for helping celebrate Noah’s birthday and sharing the delicious cupcakes!

Our field trip to Sticks and Stones exposed the students to the outdoors and created an awareness, excitement, and appreciation for local plants and animals. It was a hands-on nature walk learning experience that promoted a connection to nature. It fostered cooperation with others, language development, and creative play. The children saw a cat, then chickens, skunk cabbage, brook water, llamas, thorn vines, beaver habitat, and more. Thank you to all the parents who drove and helped which made our field trip a huge success! A big shout out to Lisa Jackson who coordinated the drivers and much more.