Mrs. Ross’s Kindergarten

 Over the past two weeks, the children have studied Christmas around the world.  Germany was one of their favorites.  We learned that, on the evening before St. Nicholas Day, children put letters to the good saint along with carrots or other food for his white horse or donkey on a plate or in their shoes.  These are left outside, under the bed, beside a radiator, or on a windowsill in hopes of finding goodies from St. Nicholas, the Patron Saint of Children, the next morning.  During the night Saint Nicholas goes from house to house carrying a book in which all the children’s deeds are written.  If they have been good, he fills their plate, shoe, or boot with delicious fruits, nuts, and candies.  If not, they may find potatoes, coal, or twigs.  Last Monday, the children were delighted to discover their shoes had had been filled by St. Nicholas!

They also enjoyed learning about Sweden.  St. Lucia Day commemorates a young girl from Sicily in the third century who fed and tended to the poor.  The holiday began in Sweden, but has since spread to Denmark and Finland. The holiday, celebrated on Dec. 13,  is considered by many as the beginning of the Christmas season.  Today there are many festivals to celebrate the holiday. Traditionally, thee children dress in all white and serve coffee and Lucia buns to the adults.  The kindergartners had a great time dressing up and serving this traditional breakfast to the faculty and staff of Palmetto Prep. 

Thank you so much for making the feast such a huge success!  We never could have done it without you.  The children proved to be amazing chefs.  They made the butter, corn bread muffins, and the corn casserole.  Below are pictures of the children together and pictures of our families at the feast.  Thanks again for all of your help and support!

The children enjoyed their voyage with the pilgrims to the new world and their journey through their first year at Plymoth Rock.  They also had a gobbling good time studying turkeys and learning a variety of new facts.  The children decided the coolest facts were: a baby turkey is called a poult and that wild turkeys sleep in trees.  Their favorite story was, ‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving.  In the story, the children rescue eight turkeys from becoming Thanksgiving dinner and have them as guests instead!  Finally, the children enjoyed hearing from two veterans.  One fought in Desert Storm and the other just finished a tour in Iraq.  The children had many questions and were a great audience.

Jo 'Nae, a fourth grader, reads a story to the class.

Ries makes his Native American vest. After drawing symbols, he cuts fringe on the bottom.

Brady shows off his Pilgrim hat.

Mr. Kisler served in the Marine Corp. during Desert Storm.Lt. Ben Thornton just completed a tour in Iraq.

We had a fabulous week as we discussed three Native American tribes from different regions of the United States.  We discussed the Eastern Woodland tribe, the Southwest tribe, and the Plains Indians.  The children were most fascinated by the teepee.  They thought it was “cool” that the Plains Indians made teepees from buffalo skin and were able to easily transport them as they followed the buffalo, their main food source.  Today, they were excited to design their own Native American vests and headdresses using Native American symbols we studied throughout the week.

The children loved meeting Cool Can Dan during the assembly on Monday!

We have had an extremely fun and exciting week in kindergarten.  The children have had a fabulous time dressing up, but more importantly seeing how their friends are dressed.  They were surprised to find The Cat in the hat, a rock ‘n roll star and Snow White teaching kindergarten this week, but they took it all in stride.  We spent the week preparing for our trip to the fire department by writing thank you notes to the fire fighters for all that they do, decorating treat bags, and filling the bags with goodies.  The field trip was lots of fun and the children had a great time.  Of course, the most exciting part of the week was the fall festival Friday afternoon and our Halloween party.  Thanks to all of you for helping to make all of these things happen.  Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Our favorite storybook and t.v. characters. Happy Halloween!

We have had a fabulous time learning about bats.  Did you know that bats are the only mammal that can fly?  The children experimented the meaning of the word echolocation, through a game where they had to locate a friend, “food,” using this technique.  The “bat,” one of the students, closed their eyes, spun around three times, and said “echo.”  The “food,” the other classmates, whispered “location” back to the bat.  The call and response continued until the bat was able to locate food using the echo.  The children also discovered that bats eat harmful insects like mosquitoes, drink nectar from flowers, eat fruit, and some really do drink blood from mammals.  We encountered the following new terms: nocturnal, hibernation, and migration.  Finally, we learned that even though bats are social animals and live in large groups, they do NOT nest in people’s hair!

Bats sure are yummy!How do you catch a flying bat?

I fought the bat, and the bat won!

We're batty over bats!