Yee Haw! And Ho Ho Ho! Here we are in December! How can that be? The little elves are busy practicing their dances and making their family holiday gifts. We have moved from our Gratitude Circles to our discussion of family and friends that we are grateful for and love spending time with during the holiday season. 

We are celebrating our sweet friend, Brin’s birthday today, and we are trying to stay warm in these chilly days at The Garden! 

All three classes have started learning and practicing their performances for The WInter Celebration that is not to be missed, next Friday evening at Issaquah Middle School. Bring the whole family for this moment in time, memory making special event. Father Christmas is rumored to be making an appearance, and the children are invited to wear their special occasion clothes. 

Read on for class news. 

Ladybugs

We welcomed a new Bug just before Thanksgiving, Ophelia, or “Phee” Hamilton, and her family, Ben, Erin and Honeybee brother, Quentin. Please introduce yourselves the next time you see them in the Gazebo or movement room. 

We switched the sensory table over from fall leaves and woodland animals to winter snowballs, ice cubes and arctic animals. We are learning and practicing a beautiful dance to share with you at the Winter Celebration next Friday evening. We hope you can attend and watch your littles as they circle dance and even let go of hands for a minute or so and twirl on their own! It’s very exciting, and we are so proud of these kiddos for trying this out. 

We celebrated Sean’s birthday circle on Thursday and made some adorable peek a boo books about Jingle Bells! Kali helped us with a new seasonal art project. We love to see the courtyard change through the seasons. It was super cold this past week with the possibility of frost and snow greeting us every morning. It’s a magical time, here at The Garden.

Crickets

Oh! What a fun age to spend time during the holiday season! These crickets are chirping, and enjoying punny jokes and sharing all the excitement that December brings. 

We had fun exploring the sound of the letter “M” this week, and Marley brought in a super fun sound basket, complete with her home made muffins! We practiced writing the letter M, and are preparing to do a review of letters in the next few weeks of the first half of the alphabet. Still practicing our namewriting and pencil grip, we are getting comfortable with using our letters and knowing their names. 

We are working on an extra special family gift this week and next, and we are learning and practicing a dance and a dramatic re-enactment of a beloved story for our Winter Celebration next Friday. The Crickets are practicing their sewing skills to make a beautiful keepsake that you (and they) will treasure for years to come, and we are having fun, just enjoying the light and joy of the chilly month of December. 

We celebrated Lily’s birthday circle on Friday, and had a ball building with blocks and changing the sensory table over from fall leaves to snowy puff balls and arctic animals. 

We made our December Calendars this week, and drew our monthly self portraits for our portfolios. 

Honeybees

How can this be, that these kiddos, who, just yesterday were Bugs and Crickets, are working on the complex “Troika” dance for the Winter Celebration?!? Believe it or not, we are almost half way through their final year of preschool!

The Bees started a 4 page story this week, writing about a subject, and illustrating the subject doing something that they always do. We hope to send home their 4 page stories over the Winter break for you to share with your family. 

Our “All About Me” reports and presentations continued and we are blown away by the confidence and ‘crowd control’ that these Bees have. “I will only call on those with quiet hands”. “Hey, Honeybees, Please sit up and turn your eyes to me”. We love it. 

We are learning two dances for the Winter Celebration next Friday night. We hope you can join us and bring the whole family to watch this celebration of such a magical moment in time. Father Christmas is rumored to be making an appearance, and the candlelight processional is not to be missed. 

The Bees started making their wonderful holiday family gifts and we know that you are going to treasure them. 

Enjoy the season! See you Monday!