One week down

After enjoying a day off for the holiday (during which I had the pleasure of running into K at the Middetown fireworks), our Kickstarters arrived this morning excited for another day of school. And exciting it was: today was our very first FIELD TRIP!

On our walk, we all held a long blue rope to be sure that we stayed safely on the sidewalk. We saw a grocery store, a police car and officer, an ambulance, a church, a fire truck, and a mail truck. We practiced looking both ways when crossing streets (which proved to be important because apparently drivers around here aren’t the least bit intimidated by a 15-foot string of 4-year-olds) and we ALL pushed the button for the crosswalk.

Finally, we arrived at Russell Library. Ms. Kitty was waiting for us, and she led us to the children’s room—where, we learned, we can talk and touch anything we want. We saw the computers, the audio books, CDs, DVDs, and finally the kids’ books. We even learned how to match the letter on a book to its corresponding bookshelf so we can return each book to its place. After the children’s room, we toured the rest of the library silently (we taught Ms. Kitty the sign for “voices off!” – thanks Sim and Sam).

Back in the reading room, we heard a story about a giant turnip that had to be pulled out of the ground by an entire family. We pretended to dig holes, plant seeds, and water our own turnip plants. We created our own turnip stews with lots of vegetables.

After a hearty thank-you to Ms. Kitty, we walked back home to Macdonough for some free play, lunch, quiet time, and a belated circle time.

Beautiful artwork today by A and D. The kids had a great time at the library. J has been a little weepy at times (I think he might be sick) and L had a very pitiful moment of missing her grandma during quiet time the other day, but generally everyone is happy and learning. A and I did math today, at her request—we added and subtracted and she was FANTASTIC. She also wrote a sentence: “The cat went meow, meow, meow.”

The end of our week was just cute overload: we had a 4^th of July parade with the flags we made during art centers. The kids marched around the school singing the songs we had learned and wearing clothes from our dramatic play center. Photos to come. I’m telling you, so, SO cute.

Week two, here we come!