November 22

We began our week by having Scotia Glenville, a traveling museum, visit our kindergarten classes. The program that we saw was called 'In Days Gone By'.  We learned about what it would have been like to live at least 100 years ago - what jobs children would have had, what toys and games they would played with, and what a child's home would have been like that long ago.

Although the Pilgrims lived much longer ago, it still gave our children a bit of an insight into how different their life was.  The children enjoyed the program VERY much and had a wonderful time playing with the games that the presenter brought.  Enjoy looking at more pictures at the end of this blog.

Listening to Mrs. B. as she explains 'Days Gone By'.

Hailey is grinding cinnamon stick.

Demonstrating how to use a wash board.

The day that we have been preparing for finally arrived today!  We 'mingled' with the other children in our class to play games that the Native Americans and Pilgrims may have played on that very first Thanksgiving.  One of the games that we played was called 'Peach Pits'  The children took turns spilling 'pits' out of a cup.  If there were more than 5 red pits showing, everyone gave the roller a pit.  At the end of the game, whoever had the most pits was the winner.

Another game that the children played was called 'Hide the Stone'.  This is a game that I am sure we have all played at one time or another!  Each child had the opportunity to hide a 'stone' under a cup and then move the cup around with several other cups.  When finished, the other children, who had been covering their eyes, uncovered them and took a guess as to which cup the stone was under. Such a simple game but the children LOVED it!

Once our games were over we had our Thanksgiving 'Feast' in our classroom. Some of the children wore Pilgrim hats, some wore Native American headdresses, and the children had the opportunity to sit in different seats while partaking in our 'feast'.  We ate corn muffins and popcorn and drank juice.  We even made butter yesterday that we spread on our muffins!  We used the placemats the we wove on Friday for our celebration and wore the wampum that we made last week.   Although we did not feast as long as the Pilgrims and Native Americans did on that first Thanksgiving (3 days!), a great time was had by all!  (Be sure to look closely at our Native American headdresses when your child brings his/hers home.  On the actual band there are Native American symbols that tell a story.) Many thanks to all who sent goodies in for our 'feast'!  Also, thank you to all who were able to come in to help with our festivities.  We appreciate your help very much.  I am truly thankful for such a wonderful class and their terrific parents!

Since we have been reading so many stories about turkeys we were inspired to write our own recipe of how to roast a turkey.  I am sure that it will be helpful for those of you that are cooking on Thursday!

HOW TO ROAST A TURKEY      

Although we celebrated Slingerlands 75th birthday back in September, the school's real birthday is on November 24th.  Today the entire school had an assembly to sing Happy Birthday and look at pictures past and present of Slingerlands School.  It was interesting and fun!

Now that the colder weather is here the children will be wearing their heavy coats everyday.  Please have your child practice putting their coat on by themselves and zipping it.  I know that in our busy lives it is easier to do this for them but they need to learn how!  Many of the children are not able to do this independently at this point in time.  Thank you very much for your help!  

Looking Ahead:

• Someone Special Reminder - Amanda Carsello
• Letters reviewed next week - Qq, Quincy Queen; Uu, Uncle Umbrella

I hope that everyone has a wonderful, restful Thanksgiving!  If you are traveling, be safe!

Enjoy looking at some pictures from our Thanksgiving celebration!