Wow! Last week’s Egg Hunt was Egg-stra-ordinary! We tallied up the attendees and we had approximately 170 Garden Community members here on campus! The sun was out! The bunny was funny, and the staff was thrilled to see so many smiles and new friendships being made. Such a fun day! 

Since Conferences, we’ve heard of so many playdates, and other suggestions from the teachers coming to fruition. We see the difference! Do you guys? We see kiddos becoming more verbal, more social and more interactive with their peers. We love it! 

This week in all three classes, we started learning special songs and poems that we will sing for the Butterfly Teas that are coming up the week after Spring Break. Each child is practicing a solo recitation, though we meet each student where they are. The Butterfly Tea parties are such a sweet event where we celebrate the special person that our students bring, with songs, recitations, and a lovely tea party on the deck and the playground. Where the Leprechaun Days are full of tricks, the Butterfly Teas are full of tributes. Giggles abound on Leprechaun Day, sweet tears of pride are the norm on Butterfly Tea days. 

This week, we had a fun visit from alum Mom, Jody Mull. Jody’s three girls are all in their late twenties and early thirties, and she brought us some wonderful arts and crafts supplies and some nostalgic Garden auction purchases. You may have noticed the fun wood art next to The Garden front door of a bear family skipping through the meadow, as the words, May the long time sun shine upon you”. This was purchased as a twin bed headboard, and Jody thought that we might enjoy it around campus. There was a dresser, the full length mirror that is in our back classroom, and some fun lamps, etc. – Can you imagine a complete bedroom set for your little Gardener? That was a team project back in the day. This year, we have some very fun team projects and live auction items for our annual Auction on May 1st! Hope you have your tickets purchased, your fun outfits planned and your co-bidders organized for group outings and special purchases. The auction is the best place to be on May 1st! Hope to see you there!

Happy Easter! Chag Sameach! Have a wonderful weekend! 

Ladybugs

The Bugs made some adorable bunnies to bring home. We also started our Peek-a-Boo books of “Rain, Rain, Go Away”, and we started using a microphone to practice our solos at circle time. We are really getting excited to have our Butterfly Tea Party! 

We had fun working with water colors and reading lots of stories at circle time. 

Crickets

We kicked off the week with such a sunny day! We loved hearing the Crickets’ news about the Egg Hunt and their weekends. We started some cute watercolor bunny paintings to take home. We hope you like them. The children are beginning to practice their recitations of nursery rhymes and songs, that they might choose to do at the Butterfly Tea Party. 

Theo brought in a great “W” sound basket and we talked about all the words that we could think of that started with a “W”. “W” is a tricky letter for littles, as they think that it makes the ‘duh’ sound. 

We had some fun with watercolors and eye droppers to make cute bunny art to bring home. Along with their cracked eggs from the Egg Hunt, you guys should have some adorable decor to use year after year. 

We made our April calendars and can’t believe that we only have two months of school left this year! 

On Wednesday.  Lochlan’s  mum, Alyssa, helped  us out in class. It was so  fun to have her  with us.

Honeybees

So much fun to welcome the Bees back to school on Monday with a sunny day on the playground! We loved hearing the Bees’ Egg Hunt news and sharing in their excitement of all the eggs that they found and how much they enjoyed eating different colored carrots! 

We started a cute little water color bunny art project to bring home this week. We hope you enjoy them. 

Our World Culture Reports continued on, with Coco taking us to Brazil, Madison taking us to France, Oliver taking us to China, Sloane taking us to Germany, Quentin to Madagascar, Camden to South Africa, Max to New Zealand and Presley to the Galapagos Islands. We never

get travel weary with the World Culture Reports. We hope you guys are as blown away as we are by the report videos. We are so proud of these 5 year olds!

We have started to practice our Solo Poetry recitations for our Butterfly Tea Party, and still fitting in our daily curriculum as well! The Honeybee classroom is a busy classroom! We did our April calendars and can’t believe that we only have about two months left in this school year! 

Next Year’s Kindergarteners!

This week, this final section of the Mousehole is specifically for families who have a kiddo starting Kindergarten in the fall: 

“Hard Truths Preschool Parents Need to Hear”, written by a Kindergarten teacher. 

1. Doing everything for them doesn’t help them. It makes September harder, for them and for us.
2. Independence matters more than academics. If they can put on their coat, open their lunch, and use the bathroom independently, they’re already winning. 
3. Kindergarten teachers don’t expect perfection. If you want to expose your children to letters, numbers, shapes and colors, great! They don’t NEED to know all of the letters, numbers, or how to read. That’s literally what the kindergarten teachers are here for.
4. The first few weeks can be emotional and that’s very typical. Tears happen. Clinginess happens. It doesn’t mean they’re not ready, it means they’re humans experiencing change.
5. Social skills are everything!!!! Sharing, taking turns, using kind words instead of hands…this is the real kindergarten curriculum and this starts at home with you!
6. This one is BIG! They need to be able to speak up for themselves: Teachers can’t help if they don’t know. If they are hungry, need the bathroom, feel hurt, or something’s wrong – they need to be able to tell the teacher, even in simple words. 
7. They will be okay, even if it doesn’t feel like it at drop-off. The hardest part is often for the parents. Children usually settle faster than you think, and the teachers will update you with any concerns. Promise. We care for your children as if they’re our own. 

Sending your kiddos to kindergarten this fall? Some things to do this summer to prep them – not worksheets, not flashcards, but learning how to do simple tasks by themselves: 

Opening lunch items

Putting on shoes

Washing hands

Managing their backpack

Cleaning up after themselves

2 step directions, like “Put your shoes by the door, then come wash hands.”

“Hang up your backpack, then sit on the rug”

Learning that school is full of moments that do not go their way:

Things like:

Waiting

Losing a game

Making a mistake

Hearing “not right now”

Trying again

Practicing simple everyday interactions:

Saying hi

Asking for help

Taking turns

Joining in play

Using words with peers.

In the first few weeks following Spring Break, we have invited a few 6 or 7 year old Garden alums to visit our Honeybee closing circle to talk to our students and answer questions that our Bees have about Kindergarten. In the past, we have had questions like, “How many teachers do you have?”, “What is your favorite playground activity?”, “”Do you have a bathroom in your classroom?”, “How many kids are in your class?”, and other questions that are so immensely important to 5 year olds, that adults often do not anticipate.