October was such a fun month at BH. We had a nice time making apple crumb. The children helped to peel and slice the apples, mix the filling, and make the crumb topping. The pie was delicious.

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The children loved our visit from Quiver Farms. We were visited by a calf, a lamb, chickens, a pig, a goat, a turkey, and three rabbits. The children fed and pet the animals and had a wonderful time.

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We need parent volunteers to help us with our monthly cooking or baking projects. There will be a sign up sheet on the classroom door. Please sign up if you can help. This month, we will need several volunteers to help with our Thanksgiving feast. The children will be making dishes such as corn bread, salad, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie with the help of parent volunteers on Monday, November 21st. The children will enjoy the feast on Tuesday, November 22nd with the help of parent volunteers who will assist in serving and cleaning up the meal. We will also need each family to sign up to bring one of the ingredients needed to make the feast.

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Do you have a giant bag of plastic bags at your house? If so, we would love for you to donate some to the classroom. We are always in need of plastic bags. Don’t forget to send a backpack for your child’s paperwork on Fridays. This helps us to conserve our supply of plastic bags.

Please remember to include two cloth napkins in your child’s lunch box. One napkin is needed as a placemat for your child’s lunch. The other serves as a regular napkin.

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We are making an effort to minimize our use of paper napkins from our snack area in an effort to be more green in our classroom. We will also be recycling in our classroom and we need parent volunteers to help us. We are looking for parents that are willing to take turns picking up classroom recycling. Please let us know if you can help.

Parent teacher conference are coming up. Don’t forget to sign up for a time slot on the bulletin board in the lobby. This is a good opportunity to ask questions and hear about your child’s progress. Be mindful of the headings on the sign up sheets as I have two different conference weeks scheduled for the morning and afternoon classes. I look forward to meeting with all of you.

You should have received an invitation to Grandfriend’s Day in your child’s weekly paperwork this past week. This special day will take place on Monday, November 28th. A grandparent or grandparent figure in your child’s life is invited to visit and work with your child in the classroom on this day. This is an even that is loved by children and grandparents alike.

Many of you have questions about the celebration of life. This is the Montessori approach to celebrating your child’s birthday at school. Parent participation makes this special and it is a great opportunity to visit the classroom. We will need a picture of your child as a small baby and from around each birthday. This allows the children to see how their friend has grown with each year. Some parents choose to make a poster with the pictures. The child holds our globe and walks around a candle representing the sun. Each walk around the sun represents a year of the child’s life. This gives the children an understanding of the passage of time and the movement of the earth around the sun. After each trip around the sun we look at the pictures and discuss milestones in the child’s life. After the walk around the sun the birthday child chooses a friend to help them pass out their birthday snack. We encourage parents to bring low sugar, healthy snacks like fruit kabobs or mini muffins. While the children enjoy their group snack, the visiting parent may choose to read a book to the children and then donate the book to Bala House in honor of the child’s birthday. Donating a book is a lovely school tradition that helps us to continue building our school library. You can schedule a celebration of life with me by email or at drop off.

Thank you to everyone who braved the oddly timed snowstorm and came to our Fall Festival. The children looked adorable in their costumes. It is heartwarming to see the Bala House School community in action. I hope that everyone enjoys a safe and happy Halloween.

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Warmest Regards,

J&C