Hello one and hello all, welcome back to our last roll call! We can’t believe how time has passed, your children have thrived and grown, easily making nature their second home. Pull back the curtains and take a peek into the life of your wonderful Knee High Naturalists!
Smiles and laughs filled the air as friends were dropped off and began to play in pairs. It wasn’t long before our nature detectives were on the case of tiny little bugs who seemed out of place. Burrowed under soil and logs on the ground, it was amazing to watch tiny little critters roam around. The longer we looked, the more we discovered, we couldn’t believe the treasures we uncovered! Roly-polys, slugs and other wiggly bugs were found, snuggled up for winter in their dirt mound. Shovels and rakes out in full force, we begin to dig for more insects, of course! As more friends arrived, we waived our hands up high, excited to spend our last together under blue skies. It wasn’t long before our crew was all here, we picked up our area until it was clear. Mittens already off and big backpacks in tow, we set off for the pavilion, curious about the glow…
Gone was our old pavilion with dim lights, lacking holiday cheer that didn’t feel quite right. Today we walked in to a cozy little space, with bright lanterns set up all over the place! Coloring pages as long as our picnic tables were set down, stamps, ink pads and wood cookies all floating around. Today isn’t just any old day, it’s time celebrate the growth we’ve made! Dazzled and enchanted by the festive cheer, we all grabbed lanterns and gathered near. With our faces aglow and all snuggled in close, we talked about our day and what we wanted to do most. We washed our hands and grabbed our snacks, eager to eat, at last. Once our wood was gone and snack was done, we got our own wood cookies to decorate in the morning sun. Spiders were stamped here, fish stamped there, baskets were passed around so we could all share. The tiny snow mountain was yelling our names, we quickly finished up so we could play more snow games!
It wasn’t long before every Knee High Naturalist had swarmed to the small spot of snow to enjoy warm winter bliss. Mountains were climbed and more diamonds were mined, we had such a wonderful time. Lanterns came along for the ride, becoming tools and props, even guides! Soon the dragon came out to play, chasing and roaring until we made her fall asleep for the rest of the day. Soon we remembered that we had donated pumpkins to our forest friends and were eager to check on them before the day’s end. So we gathered up our gear and picked up our toys, we were ready for our hike and filled with joy!
We decided to make a quick stop at the boot brushing station, preventing invasive germination! We continued our journey to see the river in it’s prime before we leave for holiday time. Suddenly we were pilots, sailing on a sea, wondering what adventure’s would come next for you and me. We resumed our hike, intent on finding pumpkins and gourds with little bites. It seems that many of the little forest beasts were thankful and enjoyed the feast! Pumpkins seemed to be liked the best, they had more nibbles taken out of them than all the rest. Gourds are so cool and fun to find, though the animals didn’t seem to want them for dinner time. We ran and we discovered that the farther we went, the more we uncovered! Unfortunately our class came to an end far too soon, our time together was such a boon.
We slowly made our way back, picked up our tree cookies and began to pack. What we didn’t know is that we were the stars of the show and Ms. Aspen and Ms. Miranda had a surprise they’d been keeping on the down low. Our families filled the sidewalk, lined up and ready to celebrate us as we stood there in shock. Our names were called and our families cheered, celebrating the achievements we made while being here. We got our very own certificates for being such rockstars, GTCD staff know we’ll go far! With hugs and happy holidays, we parted ways, knowing we’d see each other again one day.
Notes from Ms. Aspen and Ms. Miranda: We can not convey the gratitude we have for you and your Knee High Naturalists, trusting us to keep your children safe and engaged in outdoor play. Each and everyone of you are part of the GTCD family and your children have a special place in our hearts! It’s been such a privilege to learn with and from your children over the past 12 weeks; they are resilient, confident, courageous, curious, kind and amazing little humans. This was Ms. Miranda and I’s first time ever teaching nature school and we were continually amazed by the progression in language, independence, social relationships, curiosity and awareness that your kids displayed. It’s been such a wonderful experience to partake in the childhood mystique and become immersed in the world of Knee High Naturalists, we are so thankful for you, the families, and your amazing children! Thank you for welcoming us into your community with open arms and fostering such an impactful experience for us and your kids. We are so excited to see you all in February, have a wonderful holiday season and New Year!
Dear Knee High Naturist Families,
I want to say thank you to the guardians of the Knee High Naturalist's for the opportunity for Ms. Aspen and I (both new faces at GTCD) to lead this program. Quickly, Wednesdays became my favorite day of the week to come to work. I believe I have grown as an educator throughout these weeks, right alongside the children! Ms. Aspen and I would chat after every class about how silly and impressive some of things we heard kids say that day! It was amazing every week to see social skills developed, friendships building, and heightened observation skills. We hope to see some familiar faces soon!
Have a great holiday/winter break,
Ms. Miranda
