by Kristin Finch
The Hawks are soaring into learning this fall. The weather has been beautiful and we have been taking advantage of learning outside at school and on various trips through our area. We have had the pleasure of learning about wild apples at Smokey House, helping care for animals at North Meadow Farms, hiking through the forest at Merck Mountain and exploring bat caves at Mt. Aeolus in Dorset. At school, we are practicing jumping on pogo sticks, walking on stilts, riding bikes, and flying kites -- not to mention all the building and creative play that happens in our wooded area, Hawgolwood (a combination of our three classroom names, Hawks, Eagles and Owls). Sticks, board, leaves, dried grass and stones have been used in structures and play areas. You can find fully enclosed shelters, stores ‘selling’ building materials, and ladders built out of logs heading up into a platform in a tree. You can even find a diner serving up the most delectable leaf salad, or mud hot cocoa, but make sure you ask for the chef’s recommendation that day: it's always good to get the inside scoop!
Our great love of nature has contributed to our school’s theme this year, which is animals. All the Hawks love animals and are happy to spend time with them around the school, where we have chickens, guinea pigs, a fish and a leopard gecko. The Hawks help to make sure everyone is fed, clean and cared for. They love to cuddle the guinea pigs and make sure they are happy and socialized. In the classroom, we have been exploring the differences between vertebrates and invertebrates, and then categorizing farther and comparing mammals and birds, or reptiles and amphibians. We are starting to talk about more less-known classifications like annelids or cnidaria. We are all excited to learn more about the animal kingdom and increase our knowledge!
We have been working on balancing some independent work time and small group work. The size of our school allows for mixing and matching students to teach them exactly where they are on the subject we are working on. Small group work helps students learn from each other while being presented with the exact information they need. In a small group, it's easier to focus and it’s the perfect time to play games and make learning fun. The Hawks love to solve word problems or riddles. We often start the morning with something to get their mind engaged. Can you solve this one, “When lying on my side, I represent everything, but if you cut me in half I become nothing. What am I?”
I will give you a hint… it’s a number.
I hope you can get it before you reach the limit of 8 guesses.
Wolfe
‘Bat Caves’
We went to the bat cave. We were learning about bats. Did you know bat guano a.k.a. bat poop can be turned into gunpowder? So can bird poop. You’re probably wondering how bat/bird poop can be turned into gunpowder. It is because of how much nitrogen is in it. This was my favorite part of the trip. Our tour guide’s name was Rachel Batz. While we were hiking, Rudy and I played D&D. It was so fun. I was in Sarah’s car with Will, Fox, Leif, Abra, and I. We hiked Mt. Aeolus in Dorset. It was a 5 mile hike. It was good exercise. We went on 11/8/24.
Sebastian
‘Hawgolwood’
I like playing in Hawgolwood with Rudy. Hawgolwood is the woods in school. We like playing on the slackline and swinging. We built a structure that looks like a diner. We have a job at the WP diner, that means the Wolfe and Phoebe diner. I am a cook and Rudy is the cashier.
Fox
‘Snack’
We eat snack in the morning every day. We bring in snack from home. I like to eat cheddar bunnies. The teachers put down the cards so we sit with different people. I like that almost every day my mom packs me different things.
Veteran’s Day
By Eleanor
For Veteran’s Day, we got to see Killian’s dad. He was in the Navy SEALS and he showed us some stuff that he used. He had a really strong helmet for bullets not to hit his head, and he didn’t have the night vision goggles with him, but he did wear those in the nighttime. Half of the time he was nocturnal, which means he was up in the nighttime and sleeping in the daytime. There were meals that you could eat that were really old that were still good. They are called MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). He ate a little bit of the beef stew and he said that was one of the best meals. I didn’t want to try it because I didn’t know if it was too old. Since he was up all night, he would sometimes eat the beef stew in the morning and also at night. He had a bullet resistant vest. There were two inserts. One was bulletproof made out of ceramic, and a second one behind it was a squooshy one made out of Kevlar. The most interesting part to me was the litter. That was the sling that a person who is hurt is carried in for a short time until they can get to a building or somewhere safe.
Explore. Discover. Learn
Some of our adventures this spring:
Start of the School Year 2024
Mountain Day 2024
Harvest Fest 2024
Elf the Snow Plow 2024
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