It is hard to believe that these students have made it through 100 days of school. They have learned so much in that time and we celebrated in a big way. Everyone came to school dressed like they were 100 years old. There were a lot of giggles at the costumes! We really got into character by playing bingo and eating hard candies. We counted to see how far 100 steps would take us on our way to PE and did 100 exercises while we were there.

That afternoon we split into our groups for 100 Day stations. We’ve learned that 10 groups of 10 makes 100 so several of the stations reinforced that concept. The students made trail mix with 10 different snacks and filled a stamp book with10 sets of 10 stamps. They experimented to see if 100 licks was enough to finish a sucker, built creations out of 100 Legos and 100 marshmallows, and tried to build a cup tower with 100 cups!

100 Day is such a special memory for the students and a good time for teachers to notice how far they have come.

We had so much fun making hot cocoa in kindergarten! The students read the recipe and we talked about any unfamiliar ingredients or tools. We discovered that some ingredients like cocoa powder and vanilla smell delicious but don’t taste good until they are mixed with everything else. Each student had a turn to add and mix. After cooking all day it was finally ready to taste! Not every student feels comfortable trying new foods and that’s okay. Sometimes participating in creating the new food is enough for a child with food anxiety and we celebrate that win just as much as a food adventurous child!

Kindergarten stayed busy in December! We decorated cookies, searched for elves, and welcomed some very special visitors. This age still loves the magic of the season and makes being in the classroom so much fun.

Kindergarten has been learning all about pumpkins! We started off our unit with a trip to the Middle School Pumpkin Patch where we were able to see pumpkins at all stages of their life cycle! We saw beautiful pumpkin blossoms, tiny pumpkins growing where the blossoms were wilting, and big green pumpkins that were just waiting to turn orange. It was so exciting to see the hard work of our older students. Next, we went back to the classroom to learn all about the stages of the pumpkin life cycle and taste some roasted pumpkin seeds. The book Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell was a sweet way to reinforce that learning. On Friday we carved our own Pumpkin Jack and made “pumpkin pies”. The students have been checking our pumpkin every morning for signs of decomposition and we finally saw some! Pumpkin Jack was carried out to the edge of our playground so we can continue to watch him decompose all winter. We love pumpkins, whether they are yummy or gross!

We love our STEM Fridays in Kindergarten! The students are put into groups and given a box of materials along with a “building challenge”. They come up with a plan then work together to execute that plan. As scientists, the students often find that their original plan doesn’t work the way they thought it would. Initially frustration can set in but as the year progresses the students become better problem solvers and ask important questions like, “what went wrong”, and “how can we improve on that step to make sure it doesn’t happen again”. They think they are getting a fun afternoon off of their work but we know they are doing the most important work!