Kindergarten News - Week of November 17th

  We have had 57 days of school!

November Birthdays: We couldn't let the month slip away without celebrating our November Birthdays! So, on Thursday we celebrated Nova (Nursery), Nicholas' and Ghalia's birthdays with cupcakes. How Mr. Daniel wasn't made to wear a crown and sit on the wall, I don't know! But of course we wish all of our Birthday people a fabulous new year to do amazing things!

Global Perspectives: 

We had two more wonderful presentations this week. Talia and her mom got the week started with Talia's partial family tree (she said there are many more family member, but no space on her tree!). It has somehow 

become customary now to end the presentation with,"Let's eat!" and so they did. Talia's mom treated the class to some delicious chicken andJohnny Cakes from Chicken Shack - a great representation of their Crucian culture. A couple of days later Isaiah presented his "Zoo" family tree. His parents were on hand, but Isaiah did a great job remembering names all on his own. He answered some of his classmates questions and ended with "Let's eat!" Isaiah's favorite treats, fruit snacks and butter "Flower" cookies made the class very happy!

A Special Visitor: At the beginning of the week, there was a turkey - a real live turkey - on campus! The class went to visit Tom, the turkey and were curious aboutthe red thing on his beak and on his neck, so we did a little research and learned that the one on top is called a “SNOOD” and the one on the neck is called a “WATTLE” AND that only male turkeys have this. Mrs. Coles was prepared to answer all the questions, including "How did you bring him here?", which she was able to answer by showing them the large crate. The class, of course, then wanted to feel how heavy the crate was and find out how many of them would fit inside. I think Tom was grateful for the quiet that followed our visit!

Thursday Celebration: The day started with a Moko Jumbie dancing on the Lower School quad! The children watched in wonder and finally couldn't help but get up and dance! At lunch time we had a very simple, but special lunch in celebration of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Thank you to the parents who contributed to this occasion.

Wishing everyone a very happy and restful Thanksgiving Break!

Kindergarten News - Week of November 10th

  We have had 53 days of school!

Veteran's Day: We were so grateful to have Isaiah's uncle John come visit our class on Veteran's Day. Former United States Army Specialist John Canegata talked to the class about what it means to be a veteran. The class explored a compass, his dog tags and an artillery shell, which was very heavy! As uncle John talked about his experiences training to be a soldier, the class was suddenly inspired to do push ups! Of course, before he left the class made sure to thank him for his service.

Show and Tell - For our last show and tell of the First Trimester, Nylah and Isaiah brought some of their treasures. Nylah brought in three items...she was allowed to show all three because she was brave when the small snow globe that she brought fell and broke. Nylah showed what was left of the snow globe, and then showed some crowns which she decorated, as well as a tiny suitcase that belongs to her Barbie doll, containing some bracelets. She even gave classmates the opportunity to wear the crowns and bracelets at the end of the presentation. Then it was Isaiah's turn. He is passionate about animals, so he chose to show the class a stuffy of Seaweed the Seahorse, who he got on his trip to Spain. Isaiah told the class all about Seahorses and their babies. He told the class that Seahorses are marsupials, just like Kangaroos and it is the male seahorse that carries the babies. How cool is that?

Social Emotional Learning (SEL):

For this months lesson, Ms. Bird focused on 'sharing'. She read the Mo Willems' story "Should I share my Ice Cream?" and led the class in a conversation about what things should NOT be shared (toothbrush, underwear, food - unless you're at home). After, everyone practiced with pretend ice cream to ask politely and share.

Garden Time! Kindergarten always has fun when Ms. Christina comes to do some gardening with them. This week they noticed that the cucumber plant was
gone, but that a type of string bean was growing! After doing some watering, the class focused on the 'Bush Tea' garden and several cuttings of plants that are used in Bush tea. After putting everything in a pot, Ms. Christina magically produced a bottle of bush tea for everyone to try! Thank you, Ms. Christina!

Global Perspectives: We were so happy to have Brooklyn present her family tree along with her parents. Brooklyn knew names of people in her family and her relationship to them. Great job! She's especially fond of her two "baby" cousins. To top off the presentation, Ms. Keely served a delicious Peach Cobbler, made from a recipe that her own grandmother used to make. What a delicious treat!

Kindergarten News - Week of November 3rd

  We have had 48 days of school!

Star Student: Our star student is Nicholas and his birthday is tomorrow!

Nicholas' favorite color is green and his favorite foods are pizza and fish. He is an avid and experienced fisherman and he hopes to be exactly that when he grows up. Aside from fishing, Nicholas enjoys riding his dirt bike, using his hover board, and playing soccer - his favorite sport. Happy 6th Birthday, Nicholas!

Welcome to Isaiah Evans and his family. Isaiah presented his family via photo and then it join our family display. So glad the Evans family has joined our Kindergarten family!

Butterfly Countdown: This week we read two stories that helped us understand the concept of subtracting (taking away) and adding. As the class listened to the stories, they either added or subtracted unifix cubes from their ten frames. We also introduced two new Work Places - Butterfly Countdown and Spill Ten Beans.

Global Perspectives: The fun continued this week with Ghalia and

Olivia's family tree presentations. Ghalia, with her mom talked about her Palestinian and Puerto Rican heritage. The class has now gotten into the habit of asking where people in the family were born. We are realizing that many family members in Ghalia's family as well as our other families that were presented, were born right here on St. Croix. Ms. Jasmine (Ghalia's mom) showed the class a beautiful Henna dress which was handmade by a group of ladies in Palestine. Even at this young age, the intricate stitching details were really admired. The next day, it was Olivia's turn! She came prepared, dressed in her "Crucian" t-shirt, as was her mom. Olivia pointed out each family member and knew their names! It was exciting to see how deeply rooted in our community Olivia's family is. Once done with the family tree, Olivia and her mom talked about Olivia's favorite time of year - Christmas! Olivia enjoys

participating in all of the activities, including being woken up at 2AM to catch up with Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights during the traditional Christmas Serenade. Ms. Laurise (Olivia's mom) came prepared to play some Stanley for the class and of course they danced. Then they sat to try one of Olivia's favorite treats - Red Grout.

Leaf prints - Having read "The Leaf Thief ", everyone loved the idea of working with leaves today. They ran out on the playground and searched for 'just right' leaves (the ones that weren't too crunchy and dirty). Everyone had to practice and learn how much paint their leaf needed to create the desired effect. It was a little challenging and pretty messy, but everyone had fun!