The season is both poignant and joyful as we note the changes in nature and in our young friends here at Hazel Drive.  October was a month filled with the sights, sounds, scents and sensations of a glorious, golden autumn (with a preview of winter thrown in!)

Our garden has turned brown and drooped down, and yet more pumpkin leaves and flowers appeared on the vines, just in time to tell the children about "The Life of a Pumpkin."  They learned about the beautiful life cycle in nature by the harvesting of a pumpkin started last spring and grown in our own garden. The use of books and flannel board stories introduced by a jolly stuffed jack-o'lantern further enhanced what they'd learned from their own participation and direct observation. 

A frequent visitor to our music times was a little black cat who routinely hid herself inside Mr. Pumpkin under his hat!  No matter how many times Mr. Pumpkin "lost" his cat, he just couldn't seem to remember where she was!  The children sang "Where, oh where, oh where is the kitty cat?" and she'd pop out singing, "Way down yonder in the pumpkin patch!" How funny that was!  When it came time to open up the real pumpkin, we wondered: What will we find inside?  Do you think there is a cat in there?  The carving of the pumpkin was an exciting time of mind and senses with the discovery of the many, many seeds and the soft, squishy, slippery pulp inside the pumpkin.  Some of the pumpkin seeds were used by the Kindergarteners as they made delightfully silly, spooky creatures from play dough, popsicle sticks and wiggle eyes.  The children used Spanish vocabulary as they created. Some had tres ojos or uno ojo grande, and many dientes made from the pumpkin seeds!  The children also used the seeds for lessons in counting and numerals.  But they know the most important use of the seeds is to grow new pumpkins next year!

The colorful trees and falling leaves have provided the material for many of our projects this month.  We sing "There Are Many Pretty Trees All Around the World" as we look at pictures of trees or walk around our yard and identify various kinds of trees such as Eastern pine, white birch, oak, willow, apple and maple.The children's artwork that adorns our windows and walls includes leaf rubbings, hand print leaves, the "Colors of Fall," leaf people, and translucent collages in clear contact paper.  The older children had science lessons about leaves and trees, learning how trees create their own food (sugar) with chlorophyll.  They used tomato leaves from the garden to paint beautiful green pictures with chlorophyll.  They learned that with winter approaching, the trees will rest, and no longer need their leaves.  The chlorophyll dries up, revealing the brilliant colors that have been masked.  They become brittle, and make a show for us as they fall to the ground!  All the children sang many songs about the leaves and pretended to be leaves as they learned enriching vocabulary like "swirling" and "fluttering."  You know, leaves can dance and jump as they fall to the ground, and some have even been spotted running across the parking lot!    Happily, the leaves will grow back in the spring, teaching us about yet another cycle in nature.

As always, Halloween generates a lot of excitement.  We did our part by singing lots of Halloween songs.  We used our "big screen TV" (flannel board) and "movies" (scroll of pictures between two sticks) to sing our Halloween tales.  "This is Halloween," "The Halloween Bus," and "The Roly Poly Pumpkin" are perennial favorites.  We recited "Five Little Pumpkins."  We sang "Way Down Yonder in the Pumpkin Patch" while "hiding" behind pumpkin masks.  The teachers never seem to know who is behind each mask, and the children laughed as we got very mixed up as to who was whom!

An important piece of equipment at Hazel Drive is a spotted leopard-print box.  The children now know that this is our ABC Box.  When the box appears, we sing our ABCs.  When the box is shaken, we can hear that something is inside!  What will it be this time?  Everyone is very curious, down to the littlest Little Bunny!  First a letter comes out.  When we write words, the letter makes a sound.  Everything in the box starts with that sound!  As the objects come out, we name and sing about each one using Cookie Monster's song "C is for Cookie" and substituting the appropriate letter and object.  In October we had "B," "D," and "F" in the box.   The letters are not presented in order.  We begin with the sounds that are simplest to identify and reproduce, and later move on to vowels and consonents with multiple sounds like "C" and "G."

Another important piece of equipment showed up in our driveway one day: The hook-and-ladder truck from Hampstead Fire Department!   Accompanying the truck were two friendly firemen!  Firefighters Steve Morse and Chris Dane taught the children about fire safety.  Then the children were allowed to touch, examine and try on the firefighting turnout gear as Fireman Steve put it on piece by piece. Even when Steve was completely dressed for a fire, the children knew that there was a friendly fireman under the mask and big coat.  We then proceeded outside to climb aboard the big fire truck and even pretend to drive it!  We are so grateful to Steve and Chris for their visit and to the Hampstead Fire Department for being our partners in safety! 

We also enjoy our relationship with Hampstead Public Library!  Miss Laura and Miss Gloria have brought stories, songs and Spanish language to HPL's Story Hour, our most recent visit in October for fall and Halloween fun.  We are also so happy to have Children's Librarian Patty Falconer's monthly visits to Hazel Drive.  The children just love her books and songs!

May our lives continue to be mutually enriched by the nurturing and learning that flows from teachers to children - and back again!

Miss Laura, Miss Gloria, Mrs. Shirley, Miss Donna and Miss Michele 

September was a busy month of getting to know each other, learning routines, and enjoying the beautiful experiences of early childhood!  It is wonderful to see the children's happy faces as they arrive at school, and to say "Good morning!"  We have many delightful ways of saying "Hello" and learning each others' names.  Our hello songs include the words "Hello," "How are you?" "Fine" and "Thank you!"   We even sing these words in Spanish!  One of our favorites is "Hola, Hola, Como estas?" in which we ask the question, "Cual es tu nombre?"  Even our littlest bunnies know to respond with their names, and everyone cheers! Another song says "We're fine, and how are you?" and we ask each child that question.  Everyone is "good," "fine," or even "awesome!"  The children think they are just having fun, but are also learning social customs and good manners.

Our most important goal this month was to make each and every child feel comfortable being at school, to go home happy and to look forward to coming back. That is what September is all about!  This was readily accomplished with lots of interesting toys and activities, tender care from teachers, and positive outlooks and trust from loving parents.

The children have enjoyed playing and pretending with a variety of toys and games: stuffed animals, baby dolls and puppets, puzzles, big cardboard "bricks," foam blocks, small animals, dress-up and housekeeping, trucks and cars, and manipulatives such as Duplo, gears and nuts & bolts, just to name a few!  Mix them all up with imagination and there are endless opportunities for fun, learning and social, emotional and physical growth. 

Outdoors on the playground there are many engaging activites as well.  The children love to climb the ladder or climbing wall, slide down the big slide, throw, kick and chase after balls, pretend in the play house, dig and create in the sand box, or just run, run, run like the wind!  They are learning the joy of working cooperatively as we use the parachute.  We play "1 - 2 - 3 - Hello!" where we lift the parachute on the count of three and shout to our friends on the other side.  We have made a gentle breeze, a mild wind and a hurricane by shaking the parachute accordingly.  We've placed a ball in the center and observed with delight how our various actions affect it.  And we've made the parachute go around and around like a big wheel. 

Some months are seasons in and of themselves.  Our Season of September has influenced our curriculum in the areas of art, science, literature and music.  We have observed the changes in nature, with the already turning leaves, the ripening of apples, and the maturing of our sunflowers in the Hazel Drive Garden.  Our rascally woodchuck had a taste of our garden pumpkin, and one morning we observed six turkeys in our driveway!  One of Hazel's bunnies has also been spotted scampering around the yard.

Our musical games and songs have been enjoyed by all the children. Each child runs up to the friendly tree on our classroom wall to the sound of a glissando running up the piano keyboard as we play "Picking Apples From the Tree."  Jump, jump, jump, fill your basket with apples, run back...How many apples do you have?  Let's count!  We sing "Falling, falling, falling, autumn leaves are falling..." and pretend to be the leaves falling to the ground.  How else can the leaves move?  Fluttering, jumping, twirling, dancing - we even saw some leaves running across the parking lot!  It is a musical game that is rich in language, motion and imagination.  We have also sung a song about a "fur, fur, furry squirrel with a bush, bush, bushy tail..." Have you heard it?  It was taught to us by our little friend Gray Squirrel who also introduced us to all his friends of many colors in the song "Where is Gray Squirrel?" 

Eric Carle's book The Tiny Seed was the springboard for science and art lessons.  The little children used bottles of paint to dot up their cheery sunflowers.  The older children cut on the lines to form sunflower petals, and the Kindergartners also drew leaves and stems for their sunflowers and cut them out.  The flowers were assembled and the many seeds in their centers were represented by dried lentils glued into place. We visited the garden to stand beneath our very, very tall sunflowers.  One of them came to visit us, bending down low to reach over the playgound fence.  The children picked the seeds out from the center, and many were split open to reveal tiny caterpillars inside having some breakfast!  Fascinating! 

Why do leaves change color in the fall?  Children listened to a book by that name, "painted" with chlorophyll from the tomato plant leaves in our garden, and made beautiful fall trees especially suited to each age group.  Leaf rubbings showed the textures and colors of the season, with the Kindergartners turning their leaf rubbings into apple trees.  We printed in red and green using neighborhood apples, read Ten Apples Up On Top and glued and counted the apples up on top, and balanced bean bag "apples" on our heads!

The children are learning math concepts and numeral recognition with counting games.  They count objects, and match them up with the corresponding numeral.  Clipping numbered clothespins on the big Number Wheel is another fun way to learn.  The Kindergarteners are using dominoes to learn counting and adding.  And of course, our daily updating of the calendar reinforces numerals, counting and one-to-one correspondance.  Geometry is introduced with the learning of shapes with books, matching games, Color Shape Bingo, and our funny guy with the big ojos, nariz and boca, whose head (cabesa) can change from a circle, to a triangle, to a rectangle because it is made out of a long piece of yarn!

We will continue to enjoy the changes that nature brings us, and the joyful changes in the children as they learn and play at Hazel Drive!

Love,

Miss Laura, Miss Gloria, Mrs. Shirley, Miss Donna and Miss Michele

Things are humming as we complete the second full week of school at Hazel Drive Early Childhood Center.  When children are introduced to a bright, colorful, inviting environment full of appealing toys, they just want to be everywhere at once!   During these early days of the school year, children are becoming familiar with schedules and routines, while making new discoveries and having fun.

Our children are divided into two groups as of now for their morning activities:  Little Bunnies and Big Hoppers!  The Little Bunnies are ages from Almost Two to Three and a Little Bit.  Our Big Hoppers are ages Middle Three to Four.  After our morning arrivals, happy greetings and a little play time in the front room, the children pick up the toys to our clean up song, and then we gather to sing our "Hello" songs.   The Little Bunnies then hop into the yellow room to play with toys and work with play dough, art materials or water and bubbles at the water table.  The Big Hoppers hear a story and then proceed to the big room for Circle Time.

At Circle Time, the children use name cards to mark their seats in the circle.  A helper holds up the big American flag as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  Then everyone holds and waves a small flag and we sing "You're a Grand Old Flag."  Even the Little Bunnies, who are nearby playing, join in the flag waving and marching!  We update the calendar (adding a number, counting, singing the days of the week, checking the weather).  The children then use their name cards to choose centers in which to play.

After Play Time, it is time for snack.  The Big and Little children take turns washing up. The little ones return to the yellow table to find it set up with the delicious snacks you've provided.  Our big guys get their lunch boxes from their cubbies and enjoy their snack at the red tables in the front room.  After snack, the Big Hoppers have art and selected activities in the front room and the Little Bunnies have toddler music with the guitar or a game like "1-2-3...JUMP!" and then more play time in the pretend kitchen and with toys in the big room.

Then it's "All Aboard the Line-Up Train" as we head outside for fun on the playground.  Balls, sand box, the climbing wall and slide, and a big green lawn for running!  Back inside, we wash up and meet for music with the Rainbow Piano.  We sing familiar songs, learn new songs, sing songs in Spanish, do active songs and quiet finger plays.  Often the instruments come out to add to the joyful noise!  Sometimes a little friend comes to sing with us.  This week it was a furry gray squirrel who taught us two new songs!

In the afternoon we welcome our noontime arrivals, and then the children have lunch together.  The little ones have their naps in a quiet and soothing environment and our Kindergartners head to the front room for their enrichment activities, which have so far included many creative projects for learning and fine motor development, Spanish, music, games and play time, and even a piano lesson!  With the addition of our new flag pole, the children who are with us at the end of the day can participate in the lowering and folding of the American flag.

It is just wonderful seeing our returning students and getting to know our new young friends.  As Hazel Drive grows, so does our staff.  We are so pleased to have a wonderful team of teachers who are tenderly caring for your children.  Our names are all signed below, and we bid you "Welcome!"

Love,

Miss Laura, Miss Gloria, Mrs. Shirley, Miss Michele and Miss Donna

This summer was filled with picture-perfect days of sunshine and the purest of childhood joys, with no batteries required!

Bare feet, bubbles, mud pies, singing, laughter, dress-up, popsicles made with cups of juice and wooden sticks.  Outdoor art and shouts of "I want to do a project!"  Cutting, snipping, stenciling, gluing, drawing, coloring, fingerpainting.  Brightly colored chalk, water colors, tempera, collage, dotty bottle paints and lots of imagination.  Beautiful work by true artists!  Playing in the Hazel Drive Band (which is the very best band in the land!), "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt," "Three Blue Pidgeons Sitting on a Wall."  Eleven "reallys" for a really, really, really...big push on the swing; swinging and shouting "THE BEST DAY EVER!" The chicken dance and riding horses, play dough creations, baby dolls and pretend picnics.  Spiders, grasshoppers, butterflies, beetles, even an occasional garter snake, and what about that rascally woodchuck who finished off our green beans!?  Playing the Rainbow Piano and all the instruments.  "Tap, tap, tap your spoons, tap-your-spoons-Stop!" Running and running, making rain and fireworks with cups of water and everybody getting wet!  Holding hands, sharing, silly jokes, being friends. Little animals, trains and puzzles.  Duplo creations, gear toy creations, Lucky Catch and theTeddy Bear memory game.  Singing with gusto: "Hola, Hola, Como Estas," "Ring Around the Rosie," and would you believe "Santa Claus is Coming to Town?!" Sand box volcanoes, rivers and lakes and holes to China (almost!)  Visiting the garden to check on our tomatoes and eat green beans, move dirt, pull weeds and give our plants a drink.  A green baby pumpkin getting bigger and bigger.  Tall, tall sunfflowers with big, big leaves.  "Duck, Duck, Goose," and "What Time is It, Mr. Fox?" Water table with scented bubbles, "Boomboom, boomboom, All Aboard the Line-Up Train!"  Everyone learning the Spanish Colors Song and the Rhyme! Guess How Much I Love You, Good Night Moon, and The Cat in the Hat.  And the walkiest walkers in the whole walky world!

All summer long, the air was filled wih the unique and beautiful sounds of happy children at play! It was a summer to be treasured in our memories!

Love, Miss Laura, Miss Gloria and Miss Hannah