Winter Solstice Festival

Mark your calendars! Come join us under a beautiful Texas sky to celebrate the shortest day of the year! The festival offers a time to reflect, enjoy the rhythm of drums and spend quality time with your loved ones. Bundle the kids up and join us for a great evening!

The Good Earth Day School will open up the farm on Sunday, December 21 from 6 pm—9 pm.

Activities include:
· Labyrinth
· Story telling
· Fire Dancer
· Drumming

Hot beverages and snack items will be available for sale.

Price is $6 per person, children 1 and under are free.

Parking available at the farm with overflow parking available across the road at Wiley Middle School.

Stay tuned to the blog for additional information regarding this wonderful event.

Monday, 11/17/08

We are fortunate to enjoy these big, beautiful trees each day! Today, Mr. Jamie made a little roof for us to pretend under at the base of the trees. We were all excited to see its progress throughout the day!

School Announcements: Please remember your nap items and water bottle each day! A reminder that our school will be closed on Wednesday 11/26 through Friday 11/28. We are closed 11/26 for staff development.

Highlights from the Infant Room: Jack enjoyed playing with a silk cape on, and we were glad to see our friend Ali back after leaving early on Friday. Both children enjoy outdoor time with Miss Caprice, and are so attached to her!

Highlights from the Toddler Room: Watch for Miss Lacey more as Miss Janie takes a break with preliminary contractions. Today our friends Luke, Kai, and Gavin enjoyed wagon rides with Miss Lacey, climbing on the play structure out front with Miss Caprice, and books with Miss Janie.

Highlights from the 2s Room: Everyone enjoyed a walk with Miss Mandy to say "good morning" to the animals on the farm. Capes were a big hit, made by Isaac's grandmother in North Carolina! It was a great day to paint outside with green and white! Pouring and scooping beans at the picnic table was a fun activity at the picnic table. Feel free to bring items from nature to display on the classroom nature table. Items the 2s found last week are currently on display.

Highlights from the PreK: At morning community time, everyone enjoyed Miles' "three pigs" book! The class took a walk to give Mr. Jamie some seeds for this week's plantings. Everyone is getting really good at setting the table. Inside the classroom, friends enjoyed the puppet stage, pretending to be teachers, and dressing up is always a huge hit--especially with some new fluffy scarves from Miss Lacey. Outside, the class painted with green and white and enjoyed dancing and flying with capes on! Mr. Jamie kept everyone busy with animal care, practice nailing with a hammer, and an obstacle course with hoops, a balance beam, and jumps.




AM Snack: applesauce, cinnamon graham crackers, water

Lunch: homemade vegetable soup with pasta, crackers, cheese, water

PM Snack: pretzels, organic apple juice

Friday, 11/14/08

Painting outside is a good idea!

An early morning visit from Mr. Frog. . .

School Announcements: Have a great weekend! Don't forget your nap items and water bottle on Monday. We have a new see-saw on our playground!

Highlights from the Infant Room: Watch for a revised infant daily note form on Monday that makes liquids and solids easily distinguished. Jack and Caprice spent the day together today playing with silks and doing foot/toe rhymes from the book Infant Massage: A Handbook for Loving Parents. Jack enjoyed being outside very much!

Highlights from the Toddler Room: The toddlers enjoyed lots of time outside this morning and enjoyed watching all of the animals. Puzzles and bean bags were favorite activities. Several friends surprise us each day with a new clear word! This morning, the class made fruit smoothies for their AM snack.

Making smoothies! Can two year olds use blenders???

Highlights from the 2s Class: Mandy's class loves nature walks and added things to their collection bags today. Mandy found a frog outside early this morning and the kids loved it! This morning, the class made fruit smoothies for their AM snack. Friends helped Leslie make English muffin veggie pizzas. Asa, Jaden, and Isaac helped Grandma Rice shredded carrots with a rotary cutter. Maksim and Gabrielle loved digging in the dirt, and Isaac, Asa, and Jaden loved to chase a ball that Jamie threw for them this afternoon.

Highlights from PreK Class: Today PreK enjoyed a visited from a friend named Micah! During community time Miles' "real" story of the big bad wolf and the three little pigs. They sang "Skunk in the Barnyard". PreK took a walk around the farm to say "good morning" to all of the animals. Everyone worked on English muffin veggie pizzas. Some friends finished a painting project. The animals were fed by the PreK. Free play indoors included Legos, making pipe cleaner bracelets, and dressing up to play house. In the afternoon, they sang "Happy Birthday" to Landon and celebrated, enjoying blueberry muffins from his mom!

AM Snack: PreK: fresh oranges, dry cereal, water. Toddlers, 2s: fruit smoothie

Lunch: English muffin veggie pizzas (tomato sauce, shredded carrots, spinach and garlic, mozzarella), tropical fruit salad, milk

PM Snack: cheese cubes, Triscuits, water--also blueberry mini muffins for PreK

Thursday 11/13/08

I've got my eye on you, pig. Love, Abby the Mini Donkey

Who you lookin' at? Love, Lucy Pig

Working hard in the morning is a good thing!

School Announcements:

Today was our first visit by the farrier. She was there just a few minutes trimming Abby and Lily's hooves. She doesn't do pigs, however, so Lucy will have to wait for her pedicure for a little while! Mr. Jamie things he can do it . . .more on that later!

Highlights from the Infant Room

Jack and Ali enjoyed reading a texture book with Miss Caprice. They ran their hands over various textures. In the afternoon, they both enjoyed the great outdoors.

Highlights from the Toddler Room

All of the boys in Miss Janie's class love to stop by the book shelf and "read" throughout the day. They love the backyard, especially spying on the animals through the fence. Balancing bean bags on heads was a fun game that made everyone crack up! The class is really coming together as everyone relaxes and gets to know one another and Miss Janie better.

Highlights from the 2s Class

Miss Mandy's class enjoyed going on a nature walk and collecting pine cones and other items in small brown paper bags. While out on their walk, they stopped by to see Lucy, Abby, and Lily Belle. Inside at morning snack time, Asa, Jaden, and Isaac enjoyed using the crank apple peeler to peel apples and give them a taste. The apple peeler makes the cut apple look like a corkscrew! After all of the activity, the boys enjoyed a very good nap!

Highlights from PreK

Uhh, Matt, you must've drawn the short straw on where to stand in this picture!

Colton, Saxon, and Wacy check out Lily.

After arriving today, the PreK class had community time outside where they think they may have heard Silvia squirrel (from the Grandmother Wind story) chattering in the trees. They sang some favorite songs, including "Skunk in the Barnyard, P.U." Next they enjoyed a nature walk to collect a large bowl full of pine cones for a future project. The kids also helped Mr. Jamie with a trench and worked in the greenhouse. Inside, the PreK class establised a nature table that will change with each season. This is a small area where natural items are displayed on a silk. Children may bring items from nature to add to the nature table. Fine motor work included making pipe cleaner necklaces and bracelets and building towers with Montessori columns. Several friends helped assemble ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. In the afternoon, the children enjoyed playing a game with Mr. Jamie that involved hitting a ball with a large stick.

AM Snack: oats and honey granola bar, water
Lunch: grilled ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread, peaches, corn, milk
PM Snack: peanuts, craisins, water

Wednesday, 11/12/08

School Announcements:
*Watch for a notice that an item is missing from your child's file. Tina will be passing these out this week. You have one week from the day notice is given to provide the missing item without having to miss school.
*Don't forget that we are happy to award a $50 referral fee to families who refer a new client. Thank you all for passing on the word about our school!

Highlights from the Infant Room
The infants enjoy outside time so much--today Miss Caprice wheeled them out to the front walkway in one of our cribs. Ali enjoys watching the leaves overhead. Inside, our friends enjoyed music and clapping hands. Jack is learning to crawl, so Miss Caprice moved some things around in the room to allow even more space for Jack to practice! Both Ali and Jack have formed a bond with Miss Caprice--they smile when she enters the room and leaves the classroom!

Highlights from the Toddler Room
Today our friends enjoyed playing with bean bags--placing them on their heads and laughing wildly when the fell off. Luke laughed so hard that he snorted! Kai and Waylon like to transfer items from one box to another. Miss Janie talked about colors and shapes with a fun book, sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes", and helped the kids stack nesting cups. Luke loves books! Kai can never wait to get outside, and Waylon doesn't know a stranger. All of the big kids enjoy finding him on the playground.


Highlights from PreK and the 2s Class:
Today we baked bread, worked outside with Mr. Jamie digging, wore boots to squish in the mud from last night's rain, and raked hay to place in the wagons for wagon rides.

The 2s class enjoyed a visit from a new friend, Liam, who will start in our class next week. Pouring and scooping beans, hooking together tractors, and "sweeping" with wooden rollers are always favorites. Our new friend Kaleb had an awesome day! Everyone loves Miss Mandy's circle time in the little "cave", especially the apple song. Gabrielle loved digging in the mud outside today.

PreK:
Community: read Thanks for Thanksgiving and Bud, sang and danced to "Oats and Beans and Barley Grow", recited the apple rhyme, when through the alphabet and made up phonetic songs for friends' names and objects for each letter
Gross Motor: movement class with Miss Ashley, working on a path with Mr. Jamie

Fine Motor: poured water from pitcher to pitcher, transferred glass marbles with a large spoon and with wooden tongs, Legos, building a race track

Cooking: baked bread to take home tonight

AM Snack: apple-cinnamon bread, water
Lunch: Asian noodles with peanut sauce (roast chicken, garlic, peas, broccoli), fresh pineapple, milk
PM Snack: pretzel sticks, raisins, water