Week of 9/17
Happy Friday Wonderforest families!
Field Notes is a weekly newsletter sent by Sara Stokes and Jules that highlights our explorations outside of Wonderforest and a lens on school wide nature explorations. We look forward to connecting with you all through this newsletter each week.
It was our first full week of school and each class worked on getting into their routines and gaining familiarity with their classrooms and community. After settling into school, classes were ready to put on their walking feet and explore the neighborhood as a class.
Classes practiced important street safety skills like holding onto the walking rope, giving the street space, and staying together as a group. To help us remember how we walk as a group outdoors, we sang some catchy tunes that you might hear your little one singing this weekend!
"With one hand on the rope
And the other by our side
We walk with our feet and
We look with our eyes
We're on an adventure
So let's enjoy the ride
With one hand on the rope
And the other by our side"
The neighborhood was full of exciting things to discover with all of our senses. Weekday mornings are busy with construction workers to say hello to. We noticed lots of work happening on Dean St, which tools were being used, and that a big hole was being dug, inspiring wonder and questions about the project.
Across Dean St, we are lucky to have the local firehouse which can cause quite a stir among the kiddos as the doors open and the trucks come out. When the doors are closed, kiddos ask "Are they out helping?" Or "Are they sleeping"
We may live in a big city, but nature is all around us, and already the children were keyed into observing the nature in our neighborhood. As one friend shared, "It's so fun outside because there's lots of plants!" The windy weather this week started loosening leaves and seedpods to the ground and we found special treasures like honey locust pods, Kentucky coffee beans, sweet gum pods, and a variety of leaves. As we widen our zone of exploration, our nature collections will continue to grow.
After mastering safe walking around the neighborhood, a few groups felt ready to take longer outings to Pacific Park for snacks and playing. Kiddos enjoyed playing with chalk, skygazing, and rolling in the grass. We counted neighborhood dogs in the dog park and observed bumblebees visiting the flowering pink echinacea. Our curious explorers also could not help but notice the many spotted lanternflies that were hopping around. Some children shared what they knew about the bugs:
"They are bad for trees!"
"We have to squish them because they are bad bugs!"
"They're scary!"
"They are red with dots."
For our older students, the insects inspired conversations about caring for the earth and whether or not to squish them. This blog from the Miquon School has been an interesting piece for considering how to discuss lantern flies with children and navigating this complex topic with young learners:
After a full week of local outings and neighborhood walks, we are excited that park trips will begin next week for our 3s and 4s classes. One eager group of seasoned Wonderforest students headed out to Prospect Park on Thursday to scout out the scene for our explorers next week. We noticed how dry the park was and that some of our favorite spots looked different. "That hole used to be really MUDDY!" one friend shared about our local mud pit, which was more of a desert during our visit. We searched for honey locust seed pods and most importantly a full search time set out to find BIG STICKS. The adventurers returned with a huge haul of tree limbs that were used for digging, measuring, and crafting.
Thank you all for an amazing first week! We look forward to more outside adventures to come this school year.
With gratitude,
Sara & Jules