Sue Delaney's MAG

Our visit to the Connecticut Science Center provided us with a day full of questions, hands-on investigations, exploration and fun. Many thanks to our parent chaperones who helped to make the trip so memorable.

Reminder that this Friday, April 26th is our Native American Open House

The children should arrive at 8:00 to make last minute preparations.  We will gather in the parking lot circle at 8:30 to greet our guests with a group poem. This will be followed by a tour of the classroom. Your child is eager to share with you the many exciting things they have learned and made over the last few months.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Please remember to check your child’s orange home/school folder for information about our bird walk. There will also be a notice within the next day or two about the upcoming MAG trip to the Hartford Science Center.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to call or send me an email.

Despite the grey skies, spirits and energy were high for our visit to Bushy Hill Nature Center.

We visited three stations over the course of the morning, and learned a tremendous amount about the housing, lifestyle and beliefs of Native American Indians prior to European colonization. This trip really sets the stage for many of the topics we will be studying over the next few months. Your child would love to take you on a tour of these photos and share some of the information they learned today.

Bushy Hill Reminder

Tomorrow we will be going to Bushy Hill Nature Center.  Just a reminder that almost all of the day’s activities occur outside.  With chilly temperatures and possible rain showers in the forecast, please dress your child in clothing that will keep them warm and dry.  We will be walking on wooded trails so comfortable shoes or boots are recommended.

Please include a disposable lunch in a bag with your child’s name on it.

We are all very excited about our trip tomorrow and thank you for your help in making it happen.

Sue, Fatima, Allison

Despite the snow, we went on an adventure to East Rock Park today. The road to the summit was closed because of the recent bad weather, so we stopped part way up and took a short walk through the trees. On our walk we carefully observed our surroundings, and thought about what the land might have looked like five hundred years ago.

This was a great way to begin formulating questions as a starting point for our study of Native American Indians.

Dear Parents,

On

Tuesday, November 13

the kids and their teachers will travel by bus to the Bushy Hill Nature Center in Ivoryton, where we will begin our study of the Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands.

This is a wonderful day of exploration and discovery in the woods.
We will be outside all day. It is usually muddy (wear boots) and chilly (winter jackets & mittens) in the woods and by the pond.

*** PLEASE be sure your child wears appropriate clothing***

There is an unheated building with restrooms, but we usually eat lunch outside on a deck. Please send plenty of snacks and drinks but no glass containers.

Buses will leave promptly at 8:45; we will be back for regular dismissal.

Thanks. We look forward to a day full of fun!

Sue, Fatima, Allison

Dear Parents,

This last week we have been putting the finishing touches on our insect/butterfly unit. The children will begin to think and study about Native American Indians living in the Northeast prior to European colonization. We will discuss what we already know about Native Americans, and formulate some questions that we are interested in answering about during the next few months.

On Friday, November 9th we will be taking a short trip up to the top of East Rock Park. We will be leaving at 8:45 and returning to campus at 9:15. We will be looking out over New Haven, and imagining what the area might have looked like 500 years ago. We will be taking one school van and a car. If you are interested in volunteering to drive 3-4 children and staying with us at East Rock Park, we would be delighted to include you. If your child needs a booster seat, please let me know so we can make arrangements.

Looking farther ahead, we will be taking a trip on Tuesday, November 13th to the Bushy Hill Nature Center in Ivoryton. We will participate in classes investigating Native American Indian lifestyles. The sessions are conducted by Bushy Hill interpreters and will be held in an authentically constructed wigwam and in the surrounding wooded area. This trip will be a full day trip with the bus leaving Foote at 8:45 and returning to school by 3:00.

More information about this trip will follow.

What a perfect fall day we had for our trip to Whitney Pond!

We were able to observe and sketch a wide variety of plants and animals as we sat along the edge of the pond. Our trip will serve as the starting point for our study of aquatic habitats, and the springboard for many activities and discussions related to pond life.

I hope the next best thing to being on the trip with us, is to enjoy looking at the photographs that we took. If you look at the pictures with your child, I am sure they will be able to fill in all of the interesting details about our trip.

Whitney Pond on PhotoPeach

We began a new unit of study, “Aquatic Habitats” today. We had a discussion about what we already know about ponds, and I was amazed to discover how many children had ponds in their backyard. We already know that a pond is a body of still water that is larger than a puddle, but smaller than a lake or an ocean. We also know that many plants and animals live in or around a pond.

Tomorrow morning, we will be taking a short field trip to the Whitney Water Center Pond. We will be carefully observing our surroundings, taking pictures and sketching what we see. We will revisit this pond in the winter, and then again in the spring to observe how the pond changes with the seasons.

We will go by school van leaving campus at 9:00 and returning at 10:00. Please have your child wear clothing that will be comfortable for exploring outside.

This is just the beginning of what promises to be an exciting new area of study!

Tomorrow I look forward to posting some pictures from our pond adventure.