Ms. Handibode: Outdoor Fun

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

 

“There must be provision for the child to have contact with nature; to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony and the beauty in nature,”- Maria Montessori 

Every day, your children spend time learning, working together, and exploring our natural playground. Daily outdoor learning helps to develop healthy, active lifestyles and routines for the children, while providing them with hands-on experiences in our natural world. Our beautiful natural playground provides unique experiences to stimulate the children’s creativity and contribute to their appreciation of nature.

Helping children develop an appreciation for the outdoors is one of the significant benefits of regular outdoor play. The outside world is full of beautiful sounds, sights, textures, and life. Exposing children early on to the beauty of the world around them can be the perfect way to boost the aesthetic development of a child, allowing them to be more aware of all the beauty around them.

Here’s to rising temperatures, longer days, and the opportunity to spend extra time exploring the outdoors!

Wishing you a week filled with peace and love!

Michelle & Maria

Mrs. Sargeant: A Peek at the Week

Posted on by Christine Sargeant

On Monday, the Kindergarten children spent time at Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury. We took a short hike through the woods to the Botany Pond. The children then had the opportunity to catch and identify amphibians, reptiles, and insects. We found tadpoles, beetles, newts, giant water bugs, leeches and salamanders. We observed turtles resting on a rock and fish swimming but this year we searched in vain for those elusive frogs. When we were done, we released any living thing we had collected back to the pond. We also climbed aboard a tractor for a leisurely ride. We were able to catch a peek of a beaver lodge and observe a hawk flying back and forth to its nest.  It was informative and impressive to speak with a Flanders volunteer, who explained how and why the beavers dam up a culvert each night. Walking back, several children shared what a great day it was! Flanders is open to the public, and we encourage you to take advantage of this amazingly beautiful nature center.

In the classroom, we have caterpillars which we have been observing all week. Today, one has formed a chrysalis! Our young scientists are eager to see what will happen next.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week, Christine & Hailey

Ms. Marissa: Weekly Update

Posted on by Marissa Frisk

During the month of May, we’ve embarked on a magical journey into the world of pollinators and insects. The highlight? Witnessing the awe-inspiring transformation of caterpillars into butterflies—a real-life lesson in metamorphosis that has captivated every child.

Each day, the children observe our classroom caterpillars with quiet curiosity, noting changes in their size, movement, and habits.

Metamorphosis offers more than a science lesson—it invites reflection on patience, change, and the beauty of nature’s rhythms. Through this process, our young learners are not just discovering biology—they’re developing empathy, observation skills, and deep respect for living things.

We can’t wait to release our butterflies into our flower garden in the next few weeks, adding a meaningful moment to our study of pollinators and their role in the ecosystem. What a beautiful way to learn and grow together!

We hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend. We really enjoyed creating the children’s Mother’s Day surprises for you – each one is more precious than the last!

Marissa & Sue

Ms. Handibode: Fun at Flanders

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

 

On Monday, the Kindergarten children spent time at Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury. We began by taking 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 tadpoles, beetles, newts, giant water bugs, leeches and salamanders. We observed turtles resting on a rock and fish swimming but this year we searched in vain for those elusive frogs. When we were done, we released any living thing we had collected and climbed aboard for a tractor ride. We were able to get up close to a beaver lodge and get a peek at a hawk flying back and forth to it’s nest.  It was informative and impressive to speak with a Flanders volunteer, who explained how and why the beavers dam up a culvert each night. Walking back, several children shared what a great day it was! Flanders is open to the public, and we encourage you to take advantage of this amazingly beautiful nature center.

Wishing you all a week filled with much peace and love.

Michelle & Maria

Mrs. Lopes: A Look at Our Week

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

On Monday, the Kindergarten children spent time at Flanders Nature Center in Woodbury. We began by taking 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 tadpoles, beetles, newts, giant water bugs, leeches and salamanders. We observed turtles resting on a rock, fish swimming, and one person even caught a frog.  When we were done, we released any living thing we had collected and climbed aboard for a tractor ride. We were able to get up close to a beaver lodge and get a peek at a hawk flying back and forth to it’s nest.  It was informative and impressive to speak with a Flanders volunteer, who explained how and why the beavers dam up a culvert each night. Walking back, several children shared what a great day it was! Flanders is open to the public, and we encourage you to take advantage of this amazingly beautiful nature center.

Wishing you all a week filled with much peace and love.

Amanda & Hema

Mrs. Sargeant: A Peek at the Week

Posted on by Christine Sargeant

It’s always a little startling to realize that the end of the school year is quickly approaching. May is an amazing month because we look back to see all we have accomplished and take stock of what we have left to do. Each child’s learning at this point is very much cumulative and continues to build upon all of the skills that have been mastered since August. A perfect example of this is the kindergarten animal research project the children have been working on for several weeks. We start this project in late spring because we need a foundation of reading, writing, geography, science, and even math to be successful. I was ‘interviewing’ the kindergartners for the About The Author section of their books, and, as typically happens, several other children quickly wanted to be interviewed and share their future career aspirations. Their answers are sure to brighten everyone’s day.

When I am older, I want to be…….

  • Anaya–       I just want to drive a car.
  • Arsalan–    a police officer
  • Ava–            a spy ninja
  • Cameron– a superhero with Matteo, or work at a school and make sure people are being good
  • Eliot–          an artist
  • Ethan–       a worker at a construction site
  • Luke—        working with my Mom and helping her to make her recipes
  • Katie–        an animal trainer
  • Matteo–     a scientist
  • Olive–         I don’t know; maybe a dancer.
  • Olson–       a chef at home
  • Hayes—      I don’t know yet–doing work
  • Rayna–      I want to go outside.
  • Emma—     a vet
  • Divya–        a princess
  • William–   I want to read.
  • Ivy–            a builder of castles and houses, and a Mommy
  • Oscar–       a dentist doctor
  • Eliana–      a ballerina
  • Otto–          a kidney doctor
  • Lucia-          a Mom

“Thank you” seems so little to say for the outpouring of love and kindness during Teacher Appreciation Week. We felt the love all week long and count ourselves truly blessed to have the relationships we do with each of you.

Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love!

Christine & Hailey

Mrs. Lopes: A Look at Our Week

Posted on by Amanda Lopes

It’s always a little startling to realize that the end of the school year is quickly approaching. May is an amazing month because we look back to see all we have accomplished and take stock of what we have left to do. Each child’s learning at this point is very much cumulative and continues to build upon all of the skills that have been mastered since August. A perfect example of this is the kindergarten animal research project the children have been working on for several weeks. We start this project in late spring because we need a foundation of reading, writing, geography, science, and even math to be successful. I was ‘interviewing’ the kindergartners for the About The Author section of their books, and, as typically happens, several other children quickly wanted to be interviewed and share their future career aspirations. Their answers are sure to brighten everyone’s day.

When I am older, I want to be…….

  • Amelia– an everything princess who tells the other unicorns what to do.
  • Arhan–  a dentist and clean people’s teeth.
  • Arian–  an astronaut and I will go to space to see planets.
  • Ben–  a policeman and trap people in jail.
  • Brisa– an animal doctor and take care of snakes and guinea pigs.
  • Brooke– Elsa and I’ll pick up toys and give them to my baby sister.
  • Casey– a finger knitter and make a yarn mouse and yarn hot dogs for my stuffies.  I also want to be a person who studies space and black holes.
  • Declan– a farmer.  I want to have all the animals and grow corn and pumpkins.
  • Elanour–  a gardener and I would plant broccoli and potatoes.
  • Enzo– an inventor because I have a lot of great ideas for new things to help people.
  • Evie– a farmer and I want to have many chickens, cows, horses, and goats.
  • Fiona– a police woman and catch the bad guys so everyone is safe.
  • Helena– a grown up and eat candy all the time.
  • Kaiah–  a dinosaur and stomp around.
  • Kimberlin–  a dentist because I want to check people’s teeth.
  • Love–  an astronaut and go into outerspace on a rocketship.
  • Nicolas– a builder and build big rock buildings
  • Olivia– an animal doctor because I want to take care of real animals.  I also want to be a swimmer by myself and a real super kitty.
  • Ryder–  a digger because I’m going to dig deep underground to find the mummies in the tunnels in Egypt.  I’m also going to be a superhero and defeat the bad guys.
  • Sadie– a mom and have 60 kids.
  • Scotlyn– a princess and go to fancy parties.
  • Zion–  a dinosaur and roar really loud.

“Thank you” seems so little to say for the outpouring of love and kindness during Teacher Appreciation Week. We felt the love all week long and count ourselves truly blessed to have the relationships we do with each of you.

Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love!

Amanda & Hema

Ms. Handibode: The Future Is So Bright You Have To Wear Shades!

Posted on by Michelle Handibode

It’s always a little startling to realize that the end of the school year is quickly approaching. May is an amazing month because we look back to see all we have accomplished and take stock of what we have left to do. Each child’s learning at this point is very much cumulative and continues to build upon all of the skills that have been mastered since August. A perfect example of this is the kindergarten animal research project the children have been working on for several weeks. We start this project in late spring because we need a foundation of reading, writing, geography, science, and even math to be successful. I was ‘interviewing’ the kindergartners for the About The Author section of their books, and, as typically happens, several other children quickly wanted to be interviewed and share their future career aspirations. Their answers are sure to brighten everyone’s day.

When I am older, I want to be…….

  • Arya–           a doctor so I can help old people.
  • Connor–     a doctor that helps people when they get boo-boo’s.
  • Ella–             an artist who paints pictures of animals all over the world.
  • Hadley–      a princess because you get to go to dances and wear beautiful dresses.
  • Hannah–    a pet doctor who visits sick animals and gives them medicine to drink.
  • Harper–      take care of children in a school or in a park and then take them to school. I’ll teach them things too.
  • Jacob—       a Police Officer who stops people from robbing banks.
  • Jaxxon–      a worker who goes to an office.
  • Joseph–      a garbage man because it’s important to pick up garbage so it doesn’t get too messy.
  • Maayan–    a teacher that teaches reading, addition, subtraction and multiplication to twelve children.
  • Melina–      a toddler school teacher so I can teach little kids how to color.
  • Morgan—    a construction worker that builds houses.
  • Oliver–       play for the United States Olympic soccer team.
  • Reagan—     a dancer because she just wants to be a dancer.
  • Remi–         a race car driver that drives really fancy cars.
  • River–         an engineer who builds houses for people that don’t have a place to live.
  • Ryan–          a dentist because I could keep some of the toys that I give to the kids who come to the office.
  • Tommy–     a kindergarten teacher because I will be so good at it and the kids will always listen to me.
  • Wilder–      an astronaut who looks for aliens.
  • Zaki–           is unsure of his future career aspirations.
  • Zion–          a Superhero who can fly and save people.  The plan is to bring the bad guys to Jacob so he can arrest them because he is a police officer.

“Thank you” seems so little to say for the outpouring of love and kindness during Teacher Appreciation Week. We felt the love all week long and count ourselves truly blessed to have the relationships we do with each of you.

Wishing you all a week filled with peace and love!

Michelle & Maria