Jack Frost is very small

I am sure he’s out today.

And he’s busy pinching me

When I go out to play.

Jack Frost, he pinched my fingers,

Jack Frost, he pinched my toes.

So I ran into the house and I shut the door,

And that little Jack Frost couldn’t pinch me anymore.

-M.T.  Schunemann

 

It is official.  The Second Semester of the School Year is underway.  Things had been very quiet around Grow with Me for a few weeks (3 weeks, 4 days to be exact) since dimissing on December 9th for Holiday Break.  I had been longing to get back to the classroom with all of the children as there are just so many things to do!  We have begun a new year—2011—but a lot of familiarity is still held in our classroom for our Kindergarten children.

This Semester started on January 4th and was ushered in with a lot of sun and warmth (it was balmy compared the all of the snow and frigid weather that we had during the Holidays).  We had three new faces join us on the first day back and I am amazed at how quickly everyone has fallen into rhythm.  We revisted the verses and songs that we left off with during the last week of school in December and I was so excited that everyone had remembered the words and movement over the break! 

This week our theme was Jack Frost and the older children focused on the letter “J”…we spent our days building snowmen with our beeswax, cutting out snowflakes for our windows, watercoloring with blue (which is the color of the Jack Frost clouds I have been told), making cranberry orange muffins, rolling Flax Whole Wheat Bread  Dough into snowmen, Jack Frost clouds, and the letter “J” and then baking it all for a nice yummy snack!  I told and illustrated the old folktale of “Why the Evergreen Trees Keep Their Leaves” on the chalkboard with the children retelling it to each other on Thursday.

There are many, many things to come this Semester…it’s a new, yet familiar, start.  So many things remain the same…but, just as the outside world has been renewed with gaining light and life…we have been as well.  Here’s to a wonderful start to the New Year…may you and yours find growth within your own life light!   

Cheers,

Michelle

P.S.  For those that might be curious, here is the recipe that we used in class this week…

Cranberry Orange Muffins (family recipe)

preheat oven to 400 degrees (you will bake for 15-20 minutes)

2c            flour

3/4c       sugar

1t             baking powder

1/2t        baking soda

1/2t       salt

1c           cranberries

1             egg

3/4c     orange juice

1/4c     oil

1t           orange rind