DISCOVERY CLASS NEWSLETTER: OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017

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1 NEWSLETTER: OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017 DISCOVERY CLASS TEACHERS: MS. MARY ELLEN DEMPSEY & MS. BRITTANY NUNLEY In October, the children celebrated Sukkot. Our discoverers learned some Israelite history through books and the building of a sukkah, which they decorated with paper chains and paintings they made themselves. For the occasion, they made their own lulavs which they shook around the room to celebrate the ending of Sukkot. Fall is also the season of the pumpkin! And our class had fun with real pumpkins and ones they made themselves out of construction paper. One day we had to figure out how to open a pumpkin: the children knocked, hammered golf tees, and carved with a butter knife. No candy was found, only wet, slimy, sticky seeds. Finally, when you get a chance, ask your little one what happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar in a pumpkin?

2 Painting pumpkins required several life skills from your child: FOCUS they used acrylic paint that required them to pay close attention and be very careful; CONCENTRATION they had to be sure their little hands didn't get too close and touch the paint; and PATIENCE (the hardest of all) they had to wait a few minutes in between each color. This was a very good fine-motor activity to help your child develop strength and coordination of the hand muscles as they squeezed the bottles (some were pretty tough to squeeze). THE END RESULT? The smiles on their faces said it all!! Each child experienced satisfaction and excitement as their little hearts filled with pride when they saw the final masterpiece!! And the last treat of this month was Halloween: with witches brew mummies, Jack-o-lanterns, and spiders for snacking! In November, the children learned about the Native Americans. The children made headdresses, Indian vests, necklaces, and rain-makers. 2

3 They built and painted the Mayflower with their handprints to explore the new land like the Pilgrims. They also made Pilgrim hats and their own tee pees. Our non-traditional Thanksgiving tradition is always a hit when the children get to bring their favorite food to share with their friends. TAG ALONG CLASS TEACHERS: MS. CARRIE MAUZY & MS. EM HOLLEMAN The Tag Along Class also experienced sukkot, by creating indoor and outdoor sukkah. 3

4 And Halloween! Can t you just see the giddy anticipation in the pictures below? The children read lots of Halloween stories, learned new songs, made decorations, and conducted science and math experiments with the many beautiful pumpkins they brought from home. 4

5 We also celebrated El Dia de los Muertos with some beautiful face paintings and stories: 5

6 The Tag Along began a unit on numbers to strengthen their arithmetic through dice games and picture-matching games. They also worked on activities to improve number recognition, and counting items in a set. Playing path games and other turn-taking games are great ways to strengthen this area of math literacy. These are foundational skills on which to build concepts of addition and subtraction. And here s our class enjoying their Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Tradition Feast: ADVENTURE CLASS TEACHERS: MS. CHRISTIE PIERCE & MS. NATASHA MCDANIEL During the first week of the October the children studied about the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. They read lots of interesting stories and looked at pictures of the moon to see what they could see. They also tasted a special moon cake, which got mixed reviews. Fall was in the air and with it came the excitement of pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, and Halloween. Our Adventurers learned about the life cycle of the pumpkin by conducting experiments on the pumpkin s physical properties: How much does it weigh? Will it sink or float? What is its circumference? 6

7 Ms. Monica from the Stevenson Public Library invited us to participate in a pumpkin bookcharacter contest. The children cast their ballot in a secret vote to decide which character they would use: the witch from Room on the Broom. They were so proud of their Most Creative trophy! Our Adventurers also got to shop in The Witches' Supermarket set up in the home center; this activity was based on a book of the same name. They got to purchase batwing brownies, eyeballs, creepy crawlers, and witch costumes. So much learning going on in the supermarket! We celebrated Halloween with spooky stories, special snacks, and trick-or-treating in downtown Sewanee. In November, the conversation turned turkey! The children were like little sponges soaking up knowledge about Thanksgiving. They created the Mayflower in the block center, a Thanksgiving feast in the dramatic play area, and in the writing center they worked on their all-important grocery list. 7

8 We said farewell to November with painted rocks that we hid all over campus. The children partnered up and came up with a plan. So be on the lookout for some really cool rocks. And here s the Adventurers version of the SCC Non-Traditional Thanksgiving tradition: 8

9 ENCOUNTER CLASS TEACHERS: MS. MAYA JORDAN & MS. SANDY GLACET 9

10 Thank you, CONTACT INFORMATION Sandy Glacet Director, Sewanee Children's Center 216 University Avenue P.O. Box 268 Sewanee, Tennessee