December 2024

Winter Solstice Chant

By Annie Finch

Vines, leaves, roots of darkness, growing, now you are uncurled and cover our eyes with the edge of winter sky leaning over us in icy stars.

Vines, leaves, roots of darkness, growing, come with your seasons, your fullness, your end.

School Festivities

PLANT PROJECT EXHIBITION

Kindergarten through fifth grade have been working hard on their plant projects to share with their school community. The best way to integrate what is learned is to teach it back to someone! This is where our community comes in. We need caring parents and friends to come loaded with questions and curiosities to meander through the children’s projects and support them in all they have learned about Pacific Northwest Plants. There will be warm tea provided- bring a mug!

WINTER PARADE IN WEST LINN

Down to Earth is going to be in the City Of West Linn’s Winter Parade. We will need LOTS of kids to join. This is one of the ways we can get the word out about our school - and it’s fun! Details below.

GIFTS GO HOME AND MAKERS MARKET

Students will be wrapping up the last of their gifts to go home, and making winter centerpieces to go home as well. The centerpieces will not be all that stable so be ready for a big pile of handmade crafts going home plus the maker’s market.

We are going to have a Maker’s Market. All kiddos that have something they make and want to sell, this is open to you! If you would like to sell your wares please contact Ms. Heidi as she has a list of things you will need to have for a booth. Please invite friends and family to come peruse our market and support our student’s creativity. This is a great opportunity for kids to make and buy things from their peers to use as gifts for the holidays. Remind your kids to bring their jars of change, we greatly appreciate using real cash and throwing a little mental math in there.

Clan Updates

Water Clan - We have a few hesitant kiddos who are still a little unsure about coming to school. Creating a drop-off story story with your child can help them feel in control, anticipate what is going to happen and grow to trust the adults around them. Making drop-off as quick as possible is also very helpful. The longer a parent stays at school on a day a child is unsure the less likely the transition will be easeful. It is important for a child to feel in control of what’s happening and working to understand what their needs (fears, hesitations) are around drop off (or any hard time of day) can help create a better drop off rhythm. If your child knows ahead of time what you’re willing to do and not do can help prepare your child to know what to expect. For instance, “Tomorrow is a school day, and I will walk you to the shelter and we can do our special good bye, then I will be there to pick you up!” or “First you get your shoes on THEN we can talk about what to make for snack time” or “First clean up the legos and then we can read a book.” First -Then, one of the best tricks of Positive Discipline! My favorite book is Positive Discipline for Preschoolers.

Earth Clan - Hello earth class families, December is off to a bright start. These sunny crisp days show the magic of forest school. Recently, the kiddos have been focusing diligently on their plant projects. They have shown great growth using complex strategies and skill sets. I am eager for you all to see their final showcasing of their plant projects next week!

Air Clan - Can you believe we are already into December, this year is flying along! The Air class has been working hard on their plant projects and are excited to share them with you next week on Wednesday. Thank you for doing a great job with returning homework, we’ll continue to send it home once a week so you can see what the kids are working on in their academic areas. Reading and Math groups have been going well and as our plant unit comes to an end, we look forward to our earth studies/geology unit when we return from winter break. Please keep sending those layers, gloves, and hand warmers. It has been a cold December so far! Please reach out with any questions and see you Saturday the 7th from 9-12 for our volunteer SOLV project. Happy December!

Fire Clan - It’s been a busy month for the Fire Clan so far, and will continue to be so until Winter Break! They’ve been working tirelessly at school and home on their Native NW Plant Projects and we all hope you can come learn from them next Wednesday Dec 11th from 1:30-2pm as they and the Earth and Air Clan share their hard work.

WARM GEAR AND FOOD PSA

One of the best ways for kids to stay comfortable in the forest on cold and/or rainy days is to have the appropriate gear and food. We talk about it a lot with kids and parents, but want to make sure everyone is clear that the time is now! Sending kids with the following items to school every day will make their days more enjoyable and comfortable:

  • Mittens, hat, warm base layer, warm mid layer, warm heavy layer and rain layer.

  • Warm boots with wool socks. (Please pack extra socks for kids everyday in their backpacks) Also, please send a smallish hand towel for each kid to help clean off muddy wet hands.

  • Hand warmers (many options - disposable, rechargeable, Hot Snapz)

  • Warm food/tea - Warm food and tea helps kids to keep warm from the inside out!

DONATE TO OUR SCHOOL

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. If you are looking to make a tax-deductible donation before the new year we have already accepted a few donations from families’ workplaces. Please remember us if there are giving options available through your place of business.

Heidi Mckay