Hello there,
This week, we had several discussion times, talking about why we are thankful for our moms. The kids worked throughout the week on making a gift for their moms along with some some songs to sing to their moms for “Mother’s Day Tea Time” on Friday.
We still managed to fit in some lessons here and there such as Montessori sound boxes, working on balance by taking turns walking carefully around a rug, and what it means to be a good citizen. 
We read educational books like “Being a Good Citizen,” by Mary Small, “Watch Over Our Water,” by Lisa Bullard, and “Kids Talk About Bravery, ” by Mary Small. Their favorite book this week was one that Carrie spent several different sittings on: “Zodiac: Celestial Circle of the Sun,” by Jacqueline Mitton. The kids were so intrigued by the historic stories of the sky, and enjoyed the bright and magical illustrations of the Zodiac constellations. We haven’t made it through the entire book yet, so I imagine we will continue this one next week.
Mostly, they practiced singing a lot, learned some basic sign language to the song, “Stand by Me,” along with practicing some other songs of their choice for our Mother’s Day celebration. After a brief lesson about how elephants are seen as a symbol of wisdom, strength, loyalty, and good fortune, we worked on making “lucky elephant art” for the moms. In many cultures, mainly traced back to historic India, it has been said to be good luck to receive an elephant as a gift, so we thought we would send some good energy to the moms. We decided on a framed image of an elephant, and they started the project by painting a wooden frame.
Next, they decorated a paper elephant in the style of the Indian elephants in Kerala festivals.
Before we framed it, they chose a craft paper as a decorative backdrop to glue their elephants to.
The elephant art all turned out so nice! They were really proud of their artwork. We hope you enjoyed them!
The kids were a little shy with their first performance of the year, but they were all so well behaved, cute, respectful, and excited to be singing to all of you moms. Below, are some photos of the quality time they spent with you all afterward. Thanks for coming, and if you weren’t able to make it, we are happy to share with you a video of the kids singing.
Have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend. Dads, we hope to see you next week!
P.S. Thanks to all the parents and kids for all of the teacher appreciation this week . It was unexpected and very meaningful to Carrie and I. All of that support means the world to us!