*Hi!* -Toddlers

We have been busy in the toddler room this month! Talking about snow, learning new signs, and also exploring our sense of taste!

Our favorite book this month is Snowballs by Lois Ehlert. It is everyone’s number one choice at story time! The story is about making a snow family and using dried fruits, nuts, and seeds to create faces that also serve as a winter feast for birds, deer, and small animals. We are patiently waiting for a heavy snowfall so that we can create our own snow man using our very own list of materials inspired by the story. We hope that when cleaning out your cupboard you can bring us some of these items! The list includes seeds, shelled peanuts, dried fruit, cereal and bread. Thank you for any donations you can provide!

The toddlers have been very excited about learning new signs. A lot of my friends fluently use
the sign for more, all gone, all done, and water during our day. During a time when their vocabulary and speech is growing, signs give them confidence and empowerment to communicate their needs with me and their peers. Please check in with me if you’d like to learn the signs yourself so you can practice at home!

Starting next I am going to start bringing international food for my friends to try. We will talk about key words like, spicy, sweet, hot, cold, and learn some of the signs for them. If you would like to bring in a food for us to try please let me know!

Thanks for reading!! -Dawn

*The leaves are falling because it's Fall!!* -Julianna 4

Our letter of the week is Bb and the Spanish words for the week are calabaza/ pumpkin and adios/goodbye.

Did anyone else see September? It was a bit of a blur on my end. I suppose that is what happens when you are having too much fun with your friends to notice. Last month we got back into a routine, created agreements that keep us safe in the classroom, and talked about what it means to be a good friend. We also made new friends! We’d like to welcome Leo and Gavin to our school!

October is one of my favorite months! We are talking about our bodies and the physical aspects of what they can do. My friends and I have been discussing our five senses. There are lots of fun experiments that we can try using our senses and we can’t wait to get to the taste experiment! Today we talked about how we use our skin to feel/touch things. We also made ink prints with our hands and used a magnifying glass to look at our fingerprints and the funny shapes they make.

You may have noticed some painted paper with your child’s name taped to their cubby. Sometimes I forget to check in about something that happened or something we were excited about so I have been writing small notes about your child’s day. I hope they give you a little insight to what’s happening at school.

I know that the afternoons have been a bit tricky as far as where your child is napping. Lately to maintain ratios and appropriate staffing it has been beneficial to combine for nap. We do separate classes for our morning lessons and social times. Providing your child with developmentally appropriate experiences is a priority for us and we do not wish to compromise that. Thank you in advance for your understanding and please be sure to check in with Stephanie or I if you have any questions.

Thank you for reading!

-Drea

SUMMER FUN AT SYCAMORE RUN!!

"Summer afternoon... the two most beautiful words in the English language."~Henry James







What a terrific summer it was at Sycamore Run! The spring renovations gave us new floors, a new chalkboard wall, and fresh paint upstairs.

We were thrilled to have Gildy back in our school this summer, she took a break from her busy life as a High School Spanish teacher (in Vinton County) to play with us. She spent the month of June preparing for the first annual kids’ art at Casa Nueva show!! The exhibit included community canvas painting, "barn art" tiles, and several products of our photography day (thank you Jason Bash for photography instruction and support!!).

The art show was a tremendous success, thank you to all who showed their support. We plan to make this event an annual tradition, and are already looking forward to next July!

After the art show, Gildy helped the big kids make traditional Puerto Rican masks, thereby wrapping up a wonderful few weeks of artistic exploration. Science activities were also a favorite this summer, with each upstairs class experimenting with making and “erupting” volcanoes!

The garden grew beautifully again this year – we are excited to harvest and eat the popcorn we grew!! We have been harvesting and freezing tomatoes for our entry in the Chili Bowl Cookoff (coming this October), as well as drying herbs and garlic. And, lucky us, we already got to harvest pie pumpkins, and made a pie from scratch!!! Believe it or not, it tasted every bit as good as it looks!!

Everyone enjoyed participating in several walking trips to the library, including seeing a story teller, african drummers, and checking out books.

Though we all wish it could last forever, we bid a fond farewell to summer at Sycamore Run.

Stay tuned, as fall renovations include new paint downstairs and the completion of our snack kitchen!!!

Summer Field Trippin!!

The school age class enjoyed a GREAT ending to a terrific summer - we spent our last Friday before the new school year EATING!!!

A big thank you to CASA NUEVA (especially Sarah Slater) for giving us hairnets, a kitchen tour, and allowing us to make our very own quesadillas!! YUM!!

We went for a short walk uptown after eating lunch, and then went on to FLUFF BAKERY to decorate cookies and cupcakes! Thank you Jess for the tour and the super yummy treats!

Indeed, it was a most delicious end to a fantastic summer. Thank you to our friends for opening their kitchens and filling our bellies!!

Welcome Back

Summer is in session and we are excited to be back at school! Take a walk around to see all of the changes such as the new tile in the loft room, bathroom, and back door as well as the new paint jobs in the classrooms.

Timarie and I are looking forward to spending the summer with the younger school-age group. The summer’s curriculum starts with community so our first week is all about bringing our group together and learning a little about each other. Our first Creation Station project was creating a self-portrait puppet for our mantle above the block center. If you have a chance please take a look at them, they turned out wonderful! For future projects please take a look at the calendar board in the classroom above the book area.

We spent two hours outside early this morning hiking the trails, climbing trees, catching bugs and discussing building a bridge to cross the wetlands that border the back of our property. Our main goal this summer is to learn new things about our environment, our community and conservation. If you have any questions or concerns please check in with us.

It is very important to provide your children with the following:

*LABELED WATER BOTTLE

*Spare clothing

*Water Play clothes/Towel

Wish List

Bleach Wipes

Bean/Climbing Plants

Water Balloons

Slip-N-Slide

Again welcome back and we look forward to a fun filled summer!

-Timarie and Drea

*Make sure to eat your greens!*

The day is turning out to be quite lovely! These little snippets of spring are a real teaser huh? With a new season upon us now is the time for planting seeds to start yummy veggies, herbs, flowers, and fruits. Our garden is mixed with organic soil, worm castings from our own worm bins, and compost from our lovely left over lunch scraps. This year's garden might be the best yet.

Speaking of fresh gardens, all that we harvest here at Sycamore Run the students get to chow down on which might explain the incident we had today. After snack time I noticed something a little strange. My friends began to grow. I'm not talking about an inch or two, I mean they SHOT STRAIGHT UP! I know you think I'm exaggerating but I have proof. I grabbed the camera and instantly started to snap some shots of this incredible transformation!

It all started with Christopher. There he was playing with the trains after eating some snap peas then BAM! He grew as high as the tallest part of the window, but most impressive were his muscles!!

Then I turned around and there was Miles sitting in his seat relaxing after munching on some sweet carrots when he began to grow almost too big for his tiny preschool chair! Oh My!

Our school age friend Charles also fell vicitim to the epedemic. After chowing down a banana he almost went through the ceiling!

I was beginning to get nervous. Was this happening all over the school? I had to investigate. I went downstairs to visit the toddlers and to my surprise there stood Calla. "Hi Ray Ray!" she squealed as she crouched down to greet me after slurping down her berry smoothie.

Last there was sweet little Kai! Only he wasn't so little anymore. After devouring his fresh puree'd sweet potatos he grew as tall as the fridge. I mean look how he's handling that car he picked up from the road!! The next question is what am I going to do with them for nap time?! Surely the cots will not hold these healthy giants! :) Have a fantastic weekend friends and remember eat your fruits and veggies! -Drea

*Its a gerbil not a mouse Kitty Cat* Calla 2 years old

This post is pure cuteness for the end of your week. As many of you have noticed we have had a frequent visitor in our classroom, a cat named Le' Beef. He is not new to the school by all means we have had him since he was a kitten. He usually hangs out in the parking lot but he has become part of the room. He doesn't mind lovin' from the kids and its a great opportunity to teach about being gentle with animals. Most times he lays on our gerbil cage dreaming about who knows what. ;) It is very entertaining and the kids love when he comes in to see us :)

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Parker and his family for bringing us fun presents from COSI. Today we planted some Aloe Vera seeds. The kids were surprised at how small the seeds are.

Have a great weekend everyone! -Drea

*Increase the Peace*