Parent Letter May 27, 2011

May 27, 2011

Greetings from the preschool,

It’s been only a week since we started observing tadpoles right in our classroom, but already they’ve grown significantly bigger. There are still quite a few frog eggs in the pond, and lots of tadpoles now, too. And on our hike to the garden this week we found two large frogs living in the small pond there. Leelee brought in a beautiful frog from home as well, one with gorgeous leopard-like patterns on the skin. We talked about how frogs actually breathe through their skin, so it’s a good idea not to handle them too much.

We had a terrific visit to the Putney post office with the kindergartners last week. I hope you all received the cards we made at school, which were mailed from the post office. It was fun to see the process of what happens to letters once they are mailed.

Thanks to all of you who were able to come and watch our production of Abiyoyo at Grandparent’s Day last week. We had a great time both practicing for the play and actually performing it on stage! Thanks to all Grandparents, too, who made the trip for this special day here at TGS. I think we broke all records for attendance. I enjoyed reconnecting with familiar faces and meeting new Grandparents, too.

Our end-of-the-year trip to Spofford Lake with the Kindergartners, 1^st, and 2^nd graders is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7^th (rain date is Thursday, June 9^th). It’s a fun outing at Weir’s Beach, with lots of sand, play equipment, cookout facilities, and – of course – water! All parents, and siblings, are invited.

Thank you all again for all your contributions toward the preschool gift baskets for last week’s Spring Auction event! I enjoyed seeing many of you here at school for the festivities. What a wonderful evening it was! Thank you, Jane and Jay, for organizing the preschool contributions. They were spectacular!

If you haven’t already done so, please join me in making a contribution to the TGS annual fund. Our goal is 100% participation, which would dramatically open up significant avenues of funding for the school. There’s not much time left before the end of our fiscal year, so please consider making a gift – of any amount, large or small – soon! Thanks.

We continue to be vigilant about checking for ticks here at school after outdoor recess, and I encourage you to do the same before bedtime at home. We have found several ticks in the past few weeks.

Note: No school this Monday (5/30) – Memorial Day! And Move Up Day is Wednesday, June 8^th! It’s a special moment in the morning when the older children get to spend some time in the kindergarten class with Libby, in anticipation of their upcoming roles as kindergartners next fall – some at new and different schools around the area.

As always, thanks for the privilege of caring for your children!

--Ken and Leelee

TGS Preschool lets out for the summer.

Have a great summer. Enjoy plenty of family fun and adventure, and we'll see you in the fall!

Parent Letter May 16, 2011

Greetings from the preschool,

With roughly 18 days of school left, it feels like there is barely enough time for all the things we want to do.  We’re hard at work practicing our play for Grandparents’ Day, and at the same time making cards to mail home from the Post Office later this week.  We are trying to finish our biography books, and fill the last six empty spaces on our seed chart 3.  There are frog eggs in the pond that we’ll bring inside so we can observe them hatch into tadpoles.  And we’re eager to explore the trails in the woods, play in the Secret Hiding Place, and challenge ourselves on the ropes course now that these areas are accessible again.

Please remember to do a brief tick check on your child before bedtime each night.  We have found several ticks already just from our playground occasions.  Leelee and I check for ticks after recess, but these inspections aren’t as thorough as the ones you can do at home.

This Thursday (May 19) we are planning a field trip with the Kindergartners to the Putney Post Office.  We’ll take the bus, leaving school around 9:30 and returning by 11:00.  As always, all of the children – and their grown-ups! – are welcome to join us. 

Our end-of-the-year trip to Spofford Lake with the kindergartners, 1^st, and 2^nd graders is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7^th (rain date Thursday the 9^th).  The preschool class is responsible for bringing desserts this year (more on this trip later!). 

This Friday we are please to welcome all Grandparents and other special visitors to TGS.  As part of the entertainment for this event, the preschoolers will perform Abiyoyo – A South African Folk Tale in the gym: a not-to-be-missed theatrical extravaganza! We will also be joining the Kindergarten, 1^st, and 2^nd grade chorus in the performing of a song we learned from Alli.

Yesterday we watched the lift-off of the Space Shuttle Endeavour (live-stream from the NASA website).  It was very dramatic and exciting!  Several of the children wanted to make rocket ships, and we now have a terrific collection of cardboard spacecraft.

Thank you, everyone, for your wonderful contributions toward the preschool gift baskets for the Spring Auction event this weekend.  These are very nice theme baskets that are sure to attract bidders at the action. And thank you to Jane for organizing the preschool contributions!  I hope you’ll all join the fun at this weekend’s 50th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, right here at TGS (tickets available from Tammy in the office)!

In appreciation of your children,

--Ken and Leelee

Parent Letter May 5, 2011

Greetings from the preschool,

We’re hard at work finishing up our (surprise) Mother’s Day cards – and they are beautiful!  I hope all of you enjoy a special Mother’s Day at your homes this weekend.

We are also busy practicing for our Grandparent’s Day performance on the stage.  The children decided that they wanted to act out one of our perennial favorite stories, Abiyoyo.  We are in the process now of getting used to the roles, figuring out the action on stage, and practicing lines and movements.  It promises to be a terrific skit, and I hope you’ll all be able to join us that day (Friday, May 20).

Please remember that ticks are increasingly present now that the weather is warmer, and we are spending more time outdoors.  Our school nurse recommends using insect repellent, in addition to wearing long pants and shirt sleeves, especially when we are in the woods and on the hiking trails.

Some of you have responded to Jane’s request regarding the baskets we are putting together for the Spring Auction event.  If you have not yet taken a look at the sign-up sheet over the cubbies, please check it out – and choose an item(s) that you would like to contribute to the baskets.  I believe that the organizers of this benefit would like to have these baskets finalized as soon as possible.  Thanks you!

Today we will join the other grades for a special percussion workshop offered by The Wanmu Percussion Trio and Yellow Barn.  We’re looking forward to learning about rhythms, patterns, tempos, and more – and to banging on some big drums.  We’ll have a performance at this afternoon’s All School Meeting.  Should be fun!

I’d like to call your attention to a special film being shown at The Putney Public Library tonight, Mother Nature’s Child, from 7:00 to 9:00 (including discussion led by the film maker and producer – more information from Transition Putney and the Putney Public Library).  This wonderful film promises to spark some great dialogue regarding children’s development.  A description from the director reads:

Mother Nature's Child explores nature's powerful role in children's health and development through the experience of toddlers, children in middle childhood and adolescents.

We’d like to make a couple of requests that would make life a little easier here in the preschool: 

First, children are bringing lots of items in for their special sharing ritual, which results in a much longer sharing time and a loss of attention on the part of the audience as the sharer takes a long time to set up all the items on the stage.  Please help your child select one, two, or three items to bring in for sharing.

Second, the whole issue of desserts in the lunchbox has become something of a struggle.  Our approach is to save these treats till the end of lunch.  That doesn’t mean that ALL the other items must be eaten first – but we’re looking for a reasonable effort towards eating some healthy foods first.  It would be great if you could reinforce this practice at home, or at least reiterate what our expectations are here in the preschool.

Third, all the preschoolers should have a pair of indoor shoes or slippers to change into after going outside.  This will go a long way towards helping to keep unwanted dirt and grit out of the classroom.  Thanks!

Our annual Spofford Lake outing is scheduled for June 7^th.  This is a fun end-of-the-year trip with the kindergartners, 1^st grade, and 2^nd grade to swim, play on the beach, and have a cookout at Weir’s Beach on Spofford Lake.  There’ll be more information to follow!

That’s all for now!

--Ken and Leelee

Parent Letter April 28, 2011

Greetings from the preschool,

Welcome back from vacation!  We’re happy to have a stretch of warmer weather these days.  Yesterday we took our first hike of the year: past the Secret Hiding Place, across the Troll Bridge, up to the garden, and around the fox’s den.  We found strawberry plants coming up in the garden, and frogs swimming in the pond.  We’re happy to be in the woods again, and there are plenty more trails to explore.  We’ll also be checking out the ropes course, Four Corners, and the “bear trap” that we set in the fall. 

We’re back to our two recesses per day schedule (mid-morning and after lunch).  In addition, I am trying to end the day outside on the playground—so that’s where you’re likely to find us at 3:00!

Yesterday we added to our collection of “L” words.  We now have lists of assorted B, S, M, T, and L words.  We’ll gradually make our way through several more consonants in the weeks to come. 

Today and tomorrow we will be making cookies to sell at the Kindergarten-Preschool Bake Sale to benefit the Red Cross of Japan.  This was Ibby’s idea, and we are all pitching in to help with the project.  We’ll sell healthy baked goods at snack time on Friday, and desserts after lunch at Work Day this Saturday.  If you’d like to contribute some baked goods for the fundraiser, please contact Libby or me.  Thanks!

Please don’t forget about the Work Day this Saturday, from 9:00 till noon with a cookout lunch (and spectacular Bake Sale Fundraiser!) to follow.   For more information, check out this week’s Wednesday Notice.  I hope to see you there!

As always, we are grateful for the privilege of caring for your children!

--Ken and Leelee

Parent Letter April 14, 2011

Greetings from the preschool,

Just a day-and-a-half till our April vacation, and the signs of spring are all around us.  No more snow on the playground, the crocuses are coming up, birds are singing, and the sun is warm and inviting.  We’ve started back on our normal two-a-day recess schedule, going outside following snack in the morning and again after lunch.  Our goal for the end of the day is to be outside on the playground as well.  When you arrive for pick-up at 3:00 (weather permitting), that’s where we’ll be! 

Our glitter glue artwork is up on the wall in the preschool.  These abstract squares are lovely, with a wonderful shimmer when the sunlight catches them.  I hope you’ll put yours in a sunny spot when it comes home.  We also made colored-noodle and pasta alphabet sculptures with William on Tuesday.  And yesterday, Chris—our social skills facilitator—joined us to read a story about friendship, and do an activity at the big table.  And perhaps best of all, Mousie has returned from her long vacation (she had been lost in the preschool for some time)!  W’e heard all about her trip to South Carolina to visit with her family there.  Welcome back, Mousie! 

Tomorrow (Friday) is a half-day, with pick-up at noon (we’ll have snack, but no lunch on the schedule).  The afternoon is reserved for optional conferences—and then: happy vacation!  I hope you have plenty of opportunities for some family springtime fun during the week we’re off from school.  See you on Monday, April 25 when we return from vacation.  Earth Day falls on Friday, April 22 this year, and I’m hoping that we’ll do something fun and meaningful for Earth Day after we come back.  And don’t forget about our annual Spring Clean-Up Day scheduled for Saturday, April 30 from 9:00 to noon, with lunch provided afterwards.  Hope to see you there!

In appreciation of your children,

--Ken and Leelee

Parent Letter April 6, 2011

                                                                                                             

Greetings from the preschool,

April has arrived, and with it comes rain, and mud, and flowers!  Our grass continues to grow, and we may even need to “mow” it before long.  Last week we enjoyed Pajama Day and a yummy pancake snack using the delicious syrup we got at Hannah’s farm. 

We had SUCH a wonderful visit to Hannah’s farm!  We’re making a list of everything we saw, including the three magnificent draft horses, the four very pregnant pigs, dozens and dozens of chickens, and calves, cats, and dogs.  We emptied some sap buckets from the big sugar maple right in the back yard, and brought them to the sugarhouse where Hannah’s grandfather was busy boiling sap into syrup.  What a sweet, foggy atmosphere inside the sugarhouse! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful farm and house with us, Seth and Caitlin and Hannah and Sophie!

Our own sap buckets were overflowing last week.  Maybe we can boil some sap right in our classroom to make a little syrup!

The Spring Green-Up and Work Day date has been moved to Saturday, April 30 from \\9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, with a community lunch to follow.  I hope you’ll be able to come and help spruce up the school and grounds, and at the same time get to know other TGS families a little better. 

Sarah Baker has joined the preschool to take Leelee’s place while she directs the upper school musical preparations.  Sarah is right at home here, having been the preschool assistant teacher for a couple of years not too long ago.  Welcome back, Sarah!

Here’s an important note regarding the Conferences scheduled for Friday, April 15.  (It’s a half-day, with school ending at 12:00 – no lunch – and conferences scheduled from 12:30 – 4:40.)  These conferences for preschool parents are optional. I will be here to meet with anyone who wants to talk about the progress your child is making, address any questions or concerns you might have, and share a conversation about how things are going – but I would like to leave that choice up to you.  Often we are able to catch up regarding specific questions and concerns in the moments before and after school, and I have recently spoken with some of you in this manner.  For those of you who already feel up to date vis-à-vis the preschool and your child’s progress, please don’t feel obligated to come in for a conference next week. 

This year’s preschool group has been particularly interested in the spring Musical that Leelee and the 7^th-8^th graders have been busy rehearsing, especially since four of our own preschoolers have a small role in the play.  If you are planning to see a performance of Once On This Island (jr.), tickets are already on sale (and seats are being reserved) for the 4 performances: Wednesday, April 13 though Saturday, April 16.   

Happy spring!

--Ken and Leelee

Parent Letter March 17, 2011

Greetings from the preschool,

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  We’ve been working on making special cards to mark the occasion, with shamrocks, gold coins, and plenty of green.  We have also started a list of “Signs of Spring” that we are beginning to see all around us.  St. Patrick’s Day is certainly a sign of spring!

Speaking of signs of spring, we have already managed to collect about two gallons of sap from our sugar maple tree.  Cold nights and warm days really make the sap run – so we’ll see how much we collect on Monday.

We’re continuing to work on our biography books.  The children have painted lovely covers to their books, and we’ll start adding their narratives and pictures soon. 

Here’s a reminder that there’s no school tomorrow (Friday) due to the scheduled teacher in-service day.  I’ve been invited to observe at the Walpole Valley School for the day.  I always find these visits to other schools valuable and invigorating.  Thanks for your support in this effort!

There is currently a case of pinworms here in the preschool, and I mention this because it is fairly easily transmitted.  While having pinworms isn’t dangerous, it causes uncomfortable inching and a potential rash.  Please be on the lookout for the telltale itching and discomfort associated with pinworms, and treat accordingly.

I’d like to welcome Ginger to an additional day here in the preschool!  Ginger will be coming on Thursdays now in addition to her regular Wednesday and Friday schedule.  We’re so happy to have her for three days a week!

We are experiencing a shortage of spare clothes here in the preschool.  If you have a surplus of size 3-4 pants and boys’ underwear especially, we could use some.  To a lesser degree, we could use socks and long- and short-sleeve teeshirts, too.  Please take a moment to make sure that your child’s spare clothes are sufficient as well.  Thanks!

You’ll be receiving a brief “progress report” sometime around the end of the month.  These short narratives will highlight the progress your child is making here at school.  As always, please bring any questions, concerns, or helpful information to me or Leelee as soon as possible. 

Our “Lost and Found” continues to overflow!  Is any of it yours??

In appreciation of your children,

--Ken and Leelee

Parent Letter March 10, 2011

Greetings from the preschool,

The big preschool news is that Teddie is a big brother!  Congratulations to Teddie’s mom Jenna and dad John on the healthy arrival of their new son Finch!  And if you’d like to contribute a dinner or dish for the family, it would be greatly appreciated.  Please see or email Jane with any questions you might have, as she has been the main organizer for this effort.  Thank you!

We celebrated Leelee’s birthday on Monday by making a batch of brownies – yum!  And tomorrow, Ben turns 5!  He has requested a rather unusual and creative birthday treat: banana ice cream sundaes!  The kids will have fun putting together their own personal sundaes.  We’ll have vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, bananas, and even cherries for the top (modest quantities, of course – don’t worry!).  I can hardly wait.  Happy birthday, Ben!

We’ve enjoyed having Samantha and Emily in the preschool on those occasions recently while Leelee has been overseeing the upper school musical preparations.  Sarah Baker will fill in for Leelee in a few weeks when the full-time intensive rehearsals start.  Leelee reports that the four preschoolers involved in the play are enjoying their roles, are engaged and attentive, and taking their responsibilities seriously.  We’re looking forward to seeing them on the stage! But in the meantime, we are trying not to talk too much about their experience in deference to the other preschoolers who are not involved in the play.

Our seed chart is slowly filling up.  Yesterday Niavh brought in popcorn seeds from home!  I’m sure there are lots of other possibilities to add to the chart.  Take a look and see what we’ve collected so far, and what we’re missing.  Our grass is growing well, and it’s nice to have something green as a sort of jump-start to spring!  There have been several warm days recently, and the kids have enjoyed making dams and streams in the roadway.  It won’t be long before we’ll be watching water run in the stream again.  I wonder when we’ll see our first frog swimming in the pond? 

Katherine prepares to hang a bucket on our freshly
tapped sugar maple tree.  The sap is running!

We’ll put up our sap buckets today (if I can find where I stored them last winter…) on the sugar maple tree just off the path to the upper school.  I’d like to take the class to a local sugar-making operation this spring.  We’ve gone to Harlow’s in the past, as well as some smaller, family-oriented operations.  Does anyone have a suggestion of a sugarhouse that would be nice to visit?

We’re continuing to work on our biographies.  I’ve been recording the children’s responses to specific questions in order to arrive at a broad, personal “sketch” of each child’s unique-ness.  We’ll put these in a book format and have something beautiful to bring home when they’re finished!

Here’s a reminder that we have no school on Friday, March 18 (teacher in-service day).  Also in the “nuts-and-bolts” department: The Lost-and-Found is beginning to fill up with items.  There are a couple pairs of very nice adult (women’s?) mittens that have been unclaimed for quite some time now.  Also: thank you for you ongoing efforts to keep contributions coming into our food collection box, and for involving your children in this important community service project, too.  And: remember that pizza slices ($2 each) are available every Wednesday for lunch.  This is an on-going fund-raiser for the upper school.

That’s it for the present.  As always, thanks for all you do!

Best,

--Ken and Leelee 

Parent Letter February 17, 2011

Greetings from the Preschool,

We had a wonderful get-together with the kindergartners on Monday for Valentine’s Day.  Maybe you heard about the heart-shaped toast we made, sprinkled with cinnamon & sugar – or the favorite Valentine’s stories that Libby read – or perhaps the occasion itself for mixing together with the bigger kids.  All together it was a lovely way to celebrate the day.  Earlier that morning all the preschoolers exchanged their Valentines, and I could not help but notice what efforts your children put into making these beautiful cards and expressions of friendship.  They were exquisite!  Each child brought in something uniquely different and wonderfully creative – and they clearly spent a significant amount of time putting them together. Thank you, parents, for your efforts at facilitating this considerable effort at home.

We’re coming up to our February vacation (no school Feb. 21 – 25).  I hope you’ll all enjoy some fun family time during this break.  My hope also is that the weather will warm up enough to melt the ice and hard, slippery snow that have forced us to be so cautious at recess time.  We haven’t yet been able to trek into the woods for our tracking activity – the snow is just too deep – but as soon as the snow melts and compacts a bit, we’ll be able to walk on it.

As the upper school musical begins to gather momentum, I’d like to inform you all that there will be four preschooler cast members this spring.  These four – James, Ben, Isabelle, and Niavh – have small parts as children in the performances.  They’ll have a minimal amount of rehearsal time with the big kids, who are being tutored regarding how to be positive and inclusive role models for these preschoolers.  It is, of course, exciting for these four to be part of such a big group effort, but we plan to be appropriately circum-spect here in the preschool as there is potential for envy and disappointment among the others.  We just won’t be talking about it that much.

We’re continuing our occasions of inviting the older preschoolers into the kindergarten, and they clearly enjoy these chances to participate in some of the things that the bigger kids are doing.  When we return from vacation, we’ll organize a schedule for including these children in the kindergarten Morning Meeting in addition to the PSD ski time that they currently enjoy.

Have a great vacation!  (Please consider checking the Lost and Found before the weekend!)

--Ken and Leelee

 

Parent Letter February 9, 2011

February 9, 2011

Greetings from the preschool,

It was nice to see some of you at the Grammar School Open House this past weekend. What a nice crowd of visitors we had! I always enjoy the opportunity to show off the preschool and all the wonderful projects your children are engaged in these days.

With just five days until our Valentine’s celebration, our attentions have turned to pink hearts, red hearts, purple and blue hearts – and the children have been creating fabulous Valentine artwork. On Monday we will have our annual get-together with the kindergartners, celebrating Valentine’s Day with some special games and activities, stories, and healthy treats that we will create ourselves. Yummm! All children are welcome to join us for the morning even if it’s not your scheduled attendance day. We’ll exchange Valentines just among ourselves (preschoolers – not kindergartners), and children should be making these at home with your help. Here’s a list of all 16 children that are currently in the preschool:

Katherine
Niavh
Ben
Chip
Isabelle
Natalie
Sadie
Maxine
Charlotte
Caroline
James
Hannah
Aiden
Ginger
Teddie
Margaretta

With the addition of all the snow lately, we’ve been enjoying our sliding hill on the playground. We dug some tunnels into the snow banks, and shoveled around the swings, too. It’s fortunate that the children are able to walk on top of the snow and can get around on the playground. (I have to watch out not to hit my head on the swing set’s top bar!) We are planning an animal tracking outing with the kindergartners soon. There are usually a variety of prints along the stream area near the garden. We’ll let you know what we find!

The self-portraits are nearly finished, and we are about to start on our individual biographies. These will include interesting information unique to each of us: where we live, whether we have brothers and sisters, how old we are, and more.

Our daily specials (Art, Music, Library, French, and PSD with the kindergartners) continue to be special occasions that preschoolers eagerly look forward to. We recently switched French (now on Thursday) with Library (Ponnie now comes on Wednesday) to give more preschoolers exposure to these specials. We’ll try to do the same again when the schedule makes it possible, perhaps this spring.

Our seed chart has been filling up, thanks to the interesting seeds that children are finding in their lunch items, or bring from home. We now have kiwi, clementine, apple, pear, pickle (!), banana, strawberry, and grapefruit seeds – and Katherine brought in an avocado seed that we are trying to sprout! We’d love to have more seeds – here’s a great opportunity to talk about what seeds your child might like to bring from home.

We are fortunate to have two enthusiastic and professional substitutes who will begin to spend some regular time in the preschool as Leelee assumes her responsibilities for the upper school musical production this time of year. If you don’t yet know Samantha and/or Emily, I hope you’ll take a moment to introduce yourself and welcome them to the program when you have a chance.

Reminder: winter vacation is coming up – February 21 – 25 (no school!)

Thanks, as always, for your continuing efforts at filling our Food Collection Box in the hallway. We’d like to make another delivery to the Putney Food Shelf before our weeklong winter vacation starts (Feb. 21).

Thanks for your enthusiasm and support for the Grammar School Preschool. And thanks for letting us care for your terrific children.

--Ken and Leelee