This past week we studied Chili...we drank some latin america hot chocolate which has a little bit of some pep to it with chili powder and cinnamon! We made our Chilean rain sticks that we will be using in our music show on April 22 and we painted our own maracas!
This week we will be learning about Easter Island which is off the coast of Chili. We will be making our own Easter Island statues with some clay and paint. On Monday we will be parading through the school wearing our sombero's, Chamanto's for the boys and shawls for the girls and using our maracas to make some fun music.
Some info about the Chamanto
The
Chamanto is a traditional Chilean garment that people of both genders
can wear at any time of the day. It is a very colorful and attractive
poncho that is woven using a very difficult type of weaving, which makes
it very hard to
make. The Chamanto is usually made of silk or wool and has ribbon
throughout the whole poncho, which is what makes it so beautiful,
complex, and original. Another aspect of this poncho that is unique to
the Chamanto is that it can be wore on either side, including either the
side with darker colors which is worn during the daytime, or the side
with lighter colors which is worn during the night time. To decorate the
Chamanto and give it the individual style, people add picture of things
from nature like flowers, birds, and crops. This represents the ethnic
composition of Chile now because it is a very patriotic piece of clothing and it is very comfortable and resourceful garment that can be worn when doing physical labor, which a majority of the population does.
On Wednesday we will be having an Easter Egg hunt. Please bring in a bag of filled Easter Eggs for the children to hunt for outside. These need to be at school by Tuesday so we will know if we have enough for each child to have a bunch of eggs. Also, please bring a bucket or basket or bag for your child to put the eggs in while we have our egg hunt. Mrs. Lovenda and I will provide the food for this party! :)
Please keep Brenna's mom and their family in your prayers as they head to the hospital on Monday to have baby John be delivered.
We are having a lot of "girl drama" in the classroom and it involves girls intentionally leaving other girls out of their play and telling them they can't or won't play with them, telling some girls they can come to their house or birthday (or anything else) and telling the other girl they can't come. They will move their chair at meals away from a girl they don't want to sit with (at that time), they will tell be friends with one girl for 5 minutes then decide they don't want to be with them and want to be "friends' with another girl. There is a lot of intentional words being used to hurt other girls and this is causing a lot of hurt feelings and it has become an all day everyday problem. I have also heard some of the girls tell one or two of them they will pick them first for questions (when it's their leader day) but make so and so go last and for that reason I will be only having the boys be leaders this coming week...with the exception on Monday Brenna will be the leader because her mom is having her baby brother. Please talk with your girls about being kind to everyone. I tell them they don't have to play with everyone all the time but they don't have to be unkind about it and can tell their friend they will play with them later. It is not happening just once in awhile or a few times a day...it is now happening all day and I cannot allow this behavior to continue in the classroom. If you have any question or concerns regarding this issue, please let me know.
Starting this coming week there will be some afternoons during rest time where I will be in other classrooms working with teachers and also working on gathering resources and information for our playground renovations. Those afternoons I will still be on the property and Mrs. Erin (our school age teacher) will be covering me and she can reach me if necessary.
Our playground will be converted into an outdoor learning environment where children will have multiple areas to play, explore and connect with nature. The existing play equipment will stay but we are enhancing several areas, adding raised beds for the kids to grow plants, enhancing the hill area, adding some bushes and trees. This will be done over a period of time with help of staff and volunteers. I am really excited about this project. I started the art show 4 years ago as a way to raise money for playground improvements but we weren't getting enough money to make a difference. We now have the spaghetti dinner and auction to help raise more money to fund the playground improvements and other areas in our center. We have technical and design assistance from Natasha Bowden from Smart Start of Buncombe Co and Janelle Midgett from Jackson Co Department of Public Health and they have gone through the design assistance training from the Natural Learning Initiative from NC State. If you would like to see the architectural drawings for the playground, please let me know...I have a copy in the classroom!
Leaders for the week of March 21st-March 25:
Monday: Brenna
Tuesday: Jacob
Wednesday: Trenten
Thursday: Brandon
Friday: Closed
Upcoming Events:
Friday March 25th: We will be closed in observation of Good Friday
March 30th: I will be touring Verner Learning Center in Asheville to learn how they use loose part, get some outdoor storage ideas and tour their playground. (our playground renovations will soon be underway) I will be out most of the morning. Mrs. Judy K will be covering me
March 31/April 1st: I will heading to Charlotte to help Bobby move into his new house! Mrs. Judy K will be covering me
April 22nd: Spaghetti dinner/auction/art show/music program. Info will be going home soon regarding this big event!
Have a great week!
Mrs. Wendy
a few pics from last week:
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