- Curriculum Overview
- After School
- Events and Celebrations
- Service Learning and Partnerships
- Special Assemblies
- Mini Courses
Take a Look at Kindergarten
How many kindergarteners does it take to surround a big tree?
How many kindergarteners does it take to surround a big tree? Look around to see that three children are not holding hands, and remember that two children are absent today. How could we find out? Pack up snack, epi pens and walkie talkies. Use the bathroom and tie on orange vests. Find litter bags and remind children of our community service as the litter brigade. Several children have not remembered extra shoes or boots, so remember not to go near the water because, guaranteed, they will be the ones to fall in. Try not to let any children feel alone, or any children feel divided ten ways. Encourage the stragglers to keep up. Encourage the roamers to stay with the group. Encourage the advanced guard to slow down. Encourage a moment of quiet so that we can listen to the sounds of the woods. Begin a hiking song. Stop to smell the air. Look closer at a leaf bug, a secret hideaway, a hollow log, a tulip poplar leaf, a red berry. Ask questions. Return to the classroom for writing workshop. Decide to write a book about our hike. Ask children to remember what they saw, heard and smelled. Encourage invented spelling, encourage sounding out the word, remind children of letter formation, ask questions, discuss ideas, locate more paper, find a seat with a friend, find a seat where you won't be distracted. Keep up with the advanced guard, slow down for the dreamers, and gather in the roamers. Ask more questions. Admire illustrations. Celebrate sentences. Celebrate memories. It takes more people than you think to surround a tree.
