We have been as busy as busy can be this week! We began with our first sharing basket , provided by Alex. Alex and his family put both the bag and sharing basket together according to the sharing directions. Then Alex shared something about himself and his family each day. He brought a gift for the classroom of a beautiful natural science poster purchased at a U of I science event. We have hung it above our own natural sciences shelf. The poster is a representation of living things that make their homes underground. He also presented our class with an African Violet, which his great-grandmother loved. We found a special place to display our beautiful new plant. He provided us with a bunch of bananas for practical life. Through the week, we read Alex's favorite book, we displayed photos of Alex on our bulletin board, and talked of a photo that represented a trip he took to the ocean. His special object was a blue ball, that his daddy purchased for him while he was still in his mommy's tummy. What a great sharing week Tracy Family! THANKS!!

Alexander Tracy

...and here is Miss Ella Claire cutting banana

Dalton has created a tiny lake and a tiny island. A lake is a body of water surrounded by land. An island is a body of land surrounded by water.

At circle we made a large mountain out of brown clay. We inserted our mountain into a big glass cookie jar. We poured blue water into the jar, and slowly our mountain was almost covered by water. We observed the mountain under the water. We poured water till it came just to the top of our mountain, and a bit of land just looked like it was floating on top of the water. (But it was not floating...it was the top of our mountain.) What did we make???

Simon is making cherry pie. Why do you think that this particular activity would be important for a three or four year-old child's early development?

The question will be answered and acted out at our first parent workshop. (late Oct. or November early)

JACKSON DEAN STONE HAD A MUCH-ANTICIPATED BIRTHDAY.

His mama read his story. We laughed because we knew Jackson even when he was in him mama's tummy.

Jackson and Mrs. Stone made his years around the sun five times.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKSON! WE LOVE YOU!

AND THANKS TO DADDY FOR BAKING!

SARAH has a lesson with the golden beads. (decimal system)

OUR FRIDAY WALK WAS ONE OF THE BEST EVER...we headed east into the neighborhood of Lone Beech. We talked about Mr. Abbott and his work. We kept seeing corn husks on our sidewalk. We decided that the wind had blown them there. Into the collection basket with them. Then we saw the actual cornfield. We could see corn, but many kernels were missing. Hmmmm. That's a clue! We saw a For Sale sign at the field, and we thought it was sad that our fields in our community are being sold. Then we saw something very, very, funny! All around the sycamore tree were kernels of corn...AND partially-eaten corn cobs! We knew right away what rascals have been stealing that corn. Those squirrels have been storing corn up the tree for winter. Smart little rodents aren't they?

On our walk we HEARD:

PLANES AND TRAINS

CARS GOING FAST AND SLOW

BIRDS SINGING

SQUIRRELS SCOLDING

WIND

On our walk we SMELLED:

Many breakfasts cooking!!!

BACON

SAUSAGE

PANCAKES

PINE TREES

On our walk we SAW:

MANY SEEDS ON TREES FALLING TO THE GROUND

FALL COLOR

KATE BAKER'S HOUSE

CHI AND ADDIE'S GRANDMA'S HOUSE

JACKSON'S HOUSE

AND a friendly by-passer. We all introduced ourselves of course. His name is Mr. Henderson. He walks everyday to Kirby to visit his wife. He lives at Tatman Village. We enjoyed shaking his hand so much! We hope we see you again someday Mr. Henderson! (Please note the calmness, the respect and self-control these children are obviously showing to this man. These are all vitally important skills that so many American children have lost in this "toxic" culture." Expect these attributes from your child...they are becoming...

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MEMORY FOR US ALL

LACI LYNN HUISINGA'S BIRTHDAY

Laci's daddy read her story.

The earth has gone around the sun four times since Laci was born.

Laci's mommy came to our school, then Laci's big sister, Natalie, and now Laci. Isn't that great?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LACI! WE LOVE YOU!

Please check out our kindergarten SANGAMON RIVER field trip that was presented to us by Mr. Fran Harty of the Nature Conservancy.

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CHILDREN'S T-SHIRTS AT Montessori 2-A-T