This week in Mountain Laurel Cottage….

The children have planned a Winter Gathering to occur in Mountain Laurel Cottage on Thursday, December 17th from 3:00-3:45 PM. There will be hot chocolate served afterwards. All of the children have chosen Holiday songs to sing, poems to recite and instruments to play. We look forward to having you join us for this special occasion. The children started practicing on Friday in the afternoon for the event. We will send home individual music lyrics in case it is needed.


Also, our community will have a pizza, pajama board game party on Friday, December 18th. Children are welcome to come in their pajamas and bring a few board games to enjoy with others. Please do not bring anything that is an electronic device. We will have pizza together on the half day as part of our lunch. The children are excited about the upcoming pizza, pajama board game party in our community. Please return the envelope sent home on Friday with $3 as a donation.  

This week the children will begin making scarves for the homeless. We will donate the scarves to the Woman’s and Children’s Shelter. Also, the children will begin making ornaments to help support Ms. Rhonda’s family, whose home was destroyed by the floods a few week ago. The children will have the ornaments available to purchase next week.

Our community will attend the Ballet on Tuesday, December 8th to see the Nutcracker Act II. The children enjoyed listening to the Docent, who visited our school last week. She shared with us the art of ballet with a presentation of pictures, videos and props. The children loved learning about the purpose of a ballet shoe vs. pointe shoe. We look forward to attending the ballet this week at the Long Center.

This week in the kitchen we will be making pumpkin bread and deviled eggs. The children went to the grocery store last week and decided to make oatmeal bites vs. smoothies since it has gotten chilly outside. We had hot chocolate last week when it got to 45 F. We look forward to warmer days ahead after the winter season has passed.

We are learning about lines of latitude and longitude this week and how to find locations using the coordinates. We will also visit perpendicular lines and how the rays strike the earth in relation to the sun. Then we will follow-up with the season’s chart exploring the zones and learning more about climate. Recently, the children are fascinated with understanding where particular animals and plants exist. We will explore the various habitats and then compare and contrast.

The children have been reading outside using the large bean bag chairs we have in our classroom. Many of the children are beginning to read “Magic Tree House” or the “Benedict Society”.  The chairs are great for instilling concentration and at the same time encouraging reading.  If you need any suggestions for books please let us know!

Lastly, as a reminder, arrival is between 8:10-8:20 AM. When the children arrive they collect their journals, record the date and begin their lessons independently or with each other. Unfortunately, it can be hard for the child if their work partner has not yet arrived to connect and follow-up on a lesson or begin a new project.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Warmly, Mountain Laurel Cottage ☺