What a wet and nasty day it was today!  It was clear that the weather would pose some challenges to our group of kiddos who are accustomed to spending lots of time outside every day, so Peter and I planned a super exciting project: painting pumpkins!  And while our Tugboats loved painting pumpkins, it just didn’t get out enough of our body energy.  So we decided to go for a short walk around the block.  On our way, we found some fabulous puddles in the lot behind school, and well…

HCS Puddles

It was the best morning ever!  One thing I love about teaching preschool is how contagious their excitement is.  Much like the day we encountered the firetruck, I found myself getting totally caught up in their enthusiasm.  I’ve never loved jumping in puddles so much!  We had a blast, got soaking wet, then came inside and changed into dry clothes.  There’s never a dull moment here at Harbor City School!

I am so excited to begin incorporating parent teachers this month!  After our first full month of operation, we feel ready to welcome our parent/guardian helpers into the classroom.  There are many reasons why a co-op model of early education can be effective; one of the most important is that it allows families to play an active role in their child’s education.  It also enables other children to experience families beyond their own, which is enormously valuable.

Our first parent teacher joined us today and what a treat it was!  The children were overjoyed to welcome Ana to the cozy corner and read books.  They eagerly sought a seat near her at Circle Time and were excited to share their favorite songs.  Ana came prepared with a cooking project, which we have yet to try here at Harbor City School.  It was a resounding success!

Below you’ll find the recipe we modified to make our Pumpkin Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting.  This children practiced taking turns, following directions in a sequence, and even got some exposure to fractions as we worked together to mix the ingredients.  We also got a little taste of Gigi’s life outside of school: she loves cooking projects with Mom!

Pumpkin Cake

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 15 ounces of prepared, cooked fruit (can be canned or home-made)
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• spices of your choice

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Pour batter into a microwave safe dish (9×9″ square) and microwave for 15 minutes.  The cake should still be moist, but pull away from the edges slightly.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• splash of lemon extract

Warm cream and sugar in microwave; stir to mix.  Warm cream cheese in microwave, then add sugar and lemon extract.  Spread over Pumpkin Cake (or animal crackers!) and enjoy!

The Tugboats really enjoyed both of their special treats today: eating delicious Pumpkin Cake and spending the morning with Ana!

Harbor City School was recently featured on the Wheaton College (Norton, MA) website!  Click here to read all about how the development of the school has been a long time in the making!

We’ve begun our alphabet unit here at Harbor City School!  Peter and I have noticed how excitedly our students respond to anything having to do with the alphabet.  They love finding the letter that begins their names when we write them on the sidewalk, as well as using the magnetic letters to spell their names on the white board.  In response to this, we’re implementing a 26-week program (eep!) wherein we’ll study one letter each week.  We’ll begin the week with a book that prominently features that letter, use stencils to paint the letter of the week, and post our weekly letter on the wall.  At the end of each week, each child will have family homework for the weekend: creating a letter collage!  As we move through the unit, if it feels like one week is too long to spend on a single letter, we’ll quicken the pace.  Some days will focus more heavily on the letter of the week, while other days we’ll have a different small-group project with less alphabetic emphasis.

Today we began our study of the letter A.  We read a new book called Amanda and Her Alligator, which also featured our classroom puppet, Chuck!  We noticed that we have 1 friend at school today whose name starts with the letter A, and many of us have the letter A somewhere in the middle or end of our name.  We made giant A stencils and found items around the room that begin with the letter A.  We also jazzed up the ABC Song and sang it together as we walked to the park!

Twice a day, we visit the Bremen St. Park here at Harbor City School.  We line up along a crack in the sidewalk, face the school, then hold hands to “make a caterpillar.”  We then inch along as we cross busy Bremen St., where the children all raise a hand and thank the traffic that has stopped for us.  Once we reach the park, we drop hands and walk in a regular line, but the kids know that The Caterpillar is an important way we follow our #1 Rule:  We take care of ourselves.

Many days one or more of the cars that has stopped for us honks a horn or rolls down a window to let us know just how adorable and well-behaved our students are.  Of course, this is not new information to Peter and me, but we love hearing it nonetheless.  This morning, as we returned from the park, who should stop at the crosswalk for us but a local firetruck!  Fortunately, the crew was not on their way to an emergency.  They smiled and waved at us as we crossed.  Suddenly, the children started shrieking and jumping for joy.  I looked back to the firetruck to see that the driver had turned on the lights for us!  Fearing that the siren would be too loud (I imagine), they then honked the horn for us as well!  As excited as they were, the Tugboats continued their Caterpillar walk across the street.  Once we reached the sidewalk, we all dropped hands, jumped up and down, and shouted a hearty “Thank you!” to the fire crew.  It may have been one of the most exciting adventures we’ve had yet at Harbor City School!

Perhaps there is a field trip to the local firehouse in our future?