Our last week was full of energy and excitement.  We made good use of our time outside; running, digging, playing ball, and spending time with our friends.
For Monday art the children painted on flat, round objects, placed them on their paper, then turned them to blend the paint, making colorful circles.
There was stamping available at the circle table, and the students made animal track prints, letters and numbers, and artistic designs and patterns. In the sensory table the children had a lot of fun with water beads!
For the last week we brought out some favorite activities from the year . . .
the play dough dentist set,
the magnatiles,
and the puppet theater.

We read the story Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, about a girl who grows up with three goals: 1. to travel to far off places, 2. to live by the sea when she is old, and 3. to make the world more beautiful.  We also read Because Amelia Smiled, about how a little girl’s smile sets off a chain of good deeds.

We had a special visitor on Tuesday.  Lyn’s father, Roger Irwin, who is a nature and wildlife photographer, came in to talk about moose.  He showed us some moose pictures.  He talked about antlers and how they start growing in the spring, then fall off in the winter, and everyone had a chance to try to lift one up.  They are very heavy!  They also learned how the antlers act like an extra ear to help funnel in sound.  He demonstrated moose calls, both cows and bulls, which the children had fun practicing.  Did you know that a bull moose can hear a cow call from a mile away!? He also told us how a bull moose will create a wallow and pee in it then roll in it to attract a cow.  The children loved that information!  Then everyone got to smell some “moose pee” and decided that it was not particularly appealing.  We also got to smell the base of the antler, which smelled like evergreen trees, as moose will rub on them.  It was a fun and informational visit. On Wednesday we had our field day with an obstacle course.  The children had a lot fun hopping through hoops, jumping with sacks, throwing bean bags into buckets, walking a balance beam, crawling through a tunnel, hopping on a hoppy ball, spinning on a dizzy disk, kicking a kick ball, and playing toss.  Some children repeated the course over and over and over again. Zeanny came in for the final Spanish class on Wednesday, and she taught the students how to make tortillas, which they mixed, cooked, then ate together. Thursday morning was busy making sure belongings were packed to go home, spending time with friends, dancing, and celebrating a final birthday.  We counted as the newest five-year old circled the candle sun with the globe, then we sang the “Happy Birthday” song before enjoying some tasty lemon cupcakes.
Everyone was anxious for our performance and graduation.  The students did an amazing job singing and doing their presentations about the people in our community.  It was hard to say goodbye.  It was such an incredible year and we so loved spending our days with your children.  We truly do have the best job in the world!  Thank you!