Is it backwards day? Yes!

Almost daily both Sam and Ines are asked, "is it backwards day?"
​It always feels good to be able to answer, "yes!"

Pool Noodles and Giggles 

We spent tons of time playing with "new" toys outside this morning. We discovered that the pool noodles (which we have seen before, but have never really taken the time to play with) are really fun! They started out as their intended purpose - for swimming. Then, they turned into bumper car like devices and also bumblebee stingers! 

Bea and Lily also designed with the pool noodles!

More outdoor Friday fun ... 

We're starting to take on more challenges in the outdoor classroom.
​Climbing up the wobbly rope ladder, testing out the climbing wall, and discovering new parts of the play structure to climb/hang on. 
Hugh's first attempts to reach the hanging bar did not look this confident. He was first feeling pretty nervous about getting down and was afraid to let go. When he did let go, he fell on the ground without being able to catch himself or land on his feet. Through trial & error and learning from his first experiences, he soon was confident in his ability to "land on his feet"! He persisted through his fears and seemed quite proud of himself for doing so. 
Watching their peers face new challenges encourages other children to do the same!

---

A Gift / Message for Victor 

Are you aware of our friend, Victor? He is the extremely talented handyman who helps take care of, build, and fix things here at St. John's.
Sam: Who remembers who Victor is?
He fixes everything at school. - Finlay
He fixed the go round thing outside. - Bea
Blink, Blink, Blink. He fixed the light. - Lucas
Victors mother, Lucilla, typically is in charge of cleaning and caring for the environment at our school. This year, Lucilla felt it was in her best interest and the safest decision to stay home instead of coming to work. Therefore, Victor now took over his mother's responsibilities and is doing the work of two! What would we do without Victor? Not only have Sam and Ines asked for his assistance many times this school year, but some of the BR children have also left Victor messages when they have noticed that things around the school environment need to be repaired. 

We asked the children to create a holiday gift for Victor. We suggested a "message" that best represents how Victor helps us here at school and provided a large hardware assortment to add to the message. 

If you want to use these, guys, (a variety of nails) you can choose any color.
​Grey, black, silver. Anything! - Lily
I think this is interesting. (a long silver chain) - Bea
You could use this to hang the message up! (small metal clips) - Finlay
Oh! I need a lot of glue for that! (a large Allen wrench / hex key) - Lily
It's like I build a house. Like the book "I build a house" at my house. - Wilder
These are the doors. (placing screws standing up on the board) - Wilder
This looks like a hook. - Lily
We're all working on it! - Lily
I'm putting tools on this because it's for him. (Victor) - Bea
When it's done, he can hang it up! - Finlay

---

We miss you, Daniel. 

We reminded the children that we would be delivering all of the messages they made for Daniel to his house today. 
Hugh wanted to take the opportunity to create one more message for his friend to add to the collection. 

He used both his symbol (the "present") and Daniel's (the bumblebees) to inspire his drawings. 
You can see 2 bumblebees and the present/gift represented on the message. Hugh also included a drawing of Daniel holding an ice cream cone (drawn on top of one of Hugh's symbol stamped) and signed his name towards the bottom.  

Lots of time and love went into this one! 

We hope that everyone has a happy weekend!