This month's newsletter topics

May – Show and Tell – Garden and Insects – Community Helpers and Safety –  Graduation and Carnival

May

Wow! Is it really the last month of school? Our students have grown up so much this year and our kindergartners are ready for their next adventure! We have 17 children graduating this month! All of our returning students will enjoy being the big kids next year, and will help welcome many younger siblings and new families to Hands On!
 
We have lots of fun things planned for May. Gardening projects, watching our butterflies take flight, show and tell, musical guests, a visit from the fire station and for those taking Miss Rachael’s dance class there will be a recital.  We also have our own carnival and graduation party Friday, May 24th.
All the kids love having special events and guests.   Everyone is welcome to join us this month when Red Yarn, the firefighters, Chuck Cheesman and Bobby Torres visit.   Station 9 will bring their truck and give us a lesson in fire safety.   Look for sign-up sheets on the door to help at these fun events. As with all of our events, everyone is welcome, siblings too.  If your child doesn’t attend school on the day of the visit feel free to join us and plan to stay with your child during the visit.
If you have a job, volunteer, or another skill that helps our community, we would love to have you as a special guest in our class. Please let us know if you would like to visit our class and tell us how you help our community.

Themes this Month

• Show and Tell
• Garden and Insects
• Community Helpers and Safety
• Carnival and Graduation

Show and Tell

For the kids in our class that love to bring things to school and tell their friends all about them, this is their special time!  Everyone can bring 1 item to school each day from May 1-May 10th.  We will have show and tell everyday!  Please don’t bring in anything too special or small that may get broken or lost.

Our Caterpillars

Our caterpillars arrived and our students have enjoyed observing them, watching them grow and are excited to see them turn into butterflies.  We will release a few of them over the week so each class has the opportunity to see them fly away. We love watching the kids realize that they are real and really growing, they have so much fun learning about them.  Ask your child to tell you the difference between a moth and a butterfly.

Sunflowers

Our class planted sunflower seeds and we have also been taking care of them by watering them every day and watching them grow.  We will send some home and save some to plant at school.  We have been getting our garden beds ready and enjoy the sunshine in the garden area.  The kids made hopscotch, collected flowers and learned about our rain barrels that we use to water our garden.
 

 

Circle Time

In April we learned about the life cycle of a butterfly.  We learned new songs that helped us understand the stages they go through to become butterflies and we also did many art projects from caterpillar to butterfly.  We also discussed Earth Day and why we celebrate it.  The students enjoyed coming up with ways they are helpful, such as using reusable water bottles every day and recycling.  It makes them feel good to see some simple task they can do to help our Earth.
In circle time we are reading lots of books and playing many alphabet games.  In the pre-kindergarten group we have been introducing  little books that we read together.   The students are doing a great job sounding out and reading some new words.
All of the students worked on group poems and their own poem about themselves.  Some children even included self portraits.   When we work on the “I am from” poems each child has a turn to tell about their favorite foods, places to go, special stuffed animal, what they are good at doing and what makes them special.  The poems and portraits will be sent home soon!

Visiting Artist

Last month we enjoyed so many different guests!  We heard bagpipes with Micah Babinski,  played drums with Zazzy Zoe,  danced with Tallulah’s Daddy  and worked on mindfulness with the Brazillian happiness coach Rodrigo!
On May 1st we will be treated to a music class by Bobby Torres.  May 7th Chuck Cheesman will join us and Monday, May 13th Red Yarn will join our class!  You are welcome to join us for any or all of these classes.  The last week of May we look forward to a visit from Fire Station #9,  day TBD.

Yearbooks

In a few weeks we will be ordering yearbooks, every child that attended Hands On during the school year will be included in the yearbook.  Our yearbook is our only fundraiser and we use the funds for the playground.  This year we are hoping to raise money for some new playground toys as well as cedar chips that really freshen up the playground! Yearbooks will include graduation and be available in late June.  They are $30 each, and examples of yearbooks from the past are up on the shelf by the calendar.
If you want to order a yearbook, please sign up and pay $30, check or cash by the last day of school, May 24th.

New Teacher in May

In addition to our regular teachers we welcome a senior from Catlin Gabel for the month of May,  Claire Miller. Here is a little bit about Claire and why she is joining our school this month.
Hello! My name is Claire Miller and I am a senior at The Catlin Gabel School. I will be helping out during the month of May for something called a “senior project”. It is an opportunity for me to experience work in a field that I am interested in but not necessarily pursuing in the future. I have taught swim lessons to very young children in the previous years and I absolutely loved it! I can’t wait to work with the kids! I am also interested in babysitting, even before May, so you can text or call me if you need a babysitter.

Dates to Remember

May 1- 10
Show and Tell Week – Children may bring one item each day to show friends and share with the class during circle time. 
Wednesday, May 1- Bobby Torres Latin Jazz
Tuesday, May 7th-Chuck Cheesman
Monday, May 13 at 11:45 am – Red Yarn and his puppets!
TBA-Firefighters will visit.
Friday, May 24 -11:30 AM Dismissal- Last day of school, graduation and carnival upstairs in Parish Hall. 

Graduation and Carnival

Friday, May 24 -All Hands On students and families are invited to the carnival.
We will have games & prizes, and a graduation ceremony. Plan on bringing a picnic lunch or eating after the carnival. Please sign up to help work a game station. A sign-up sheet will be on our classroom door.
11:30 School ends* and carnival games begin.
If your child attends Friday, please pick your child up form the classroom then join us upstairs.
11:30 Carnival
12:00 Graduation
12:30 Picnic on the playground
*All children must be picked up from the classrooms at 11:30, and then go upstairs with their families.