RED BALLOON SCHOOL -- a story from audrey

THE RED BALLOON SCHOOL

Once upon a time… as Brooklyn babies began to grow into children….

Mommies and daddies imagined all the wishes they had for these children.

An empty red balloon filled itself up with their good ideas,

and got very big and full and energized!

Freely, it floated.

It hovered next to a teacher named Audrey who was drawing pictures.

It blew some of the good ideas into her curious ears.

She listened and said “Yes, let’s go!”

Then the balloon grew bigger with her good ideas.

She held its string, and they flew together.

They swooped down to whisper to a teacher

named Krista who was dancing with the trees.

Krista said “Yes, I will fly with you too! Let’s go!”

And the balloon grew even more round and strong with her good ideas.

The balloon flew with its teachers through Brooklyn.

“Now it’s time to gather the growing children

and offer them all of the good ideas of the red balloon!”

The children and the teachers sat down around the red balloon.

Together, they made the shape of the balloon:

A C I R C L E !

Suddenly, just like a full balloon can do, the red balloon

WOOOOOOOSHED OUT all of its hot air and flew away.

All that was left was something magical called

S C H O O L . . .

A bunch of good ideas to share.

The air sparkled with the energy of good ideas.

So, the children got right to work…

creating art and singing songs....

dancing and making yoga shapes...

caring and sharing with gentle hands....

giving thanks for food and friends....

feeling feelings and using words to express them....

exploring nature and planting seeds....

learning and playing and growing together....

creating their very own GOOD IDEAS !

Together, they became the RED BALLOON SCHOOL!

Newsletter May 26-27, 2009

Last Week
Last week was a bit unusual, as we changed locations to Emily's and Alise's house.

Here is a rundown from Alise:
First everyone arrived and we sang our warmup songs. Then we made a project with cut out fish, squids and sharks and drew them with magic markers, Then Audrey got out some paper which we used as our ocean. She had blue colored waves which we glued on the paper and also made into crowns and belts.(the kids really liked that.) We moved our way over to the kitchen and had a snack which consisted of fresh fruit and crackers. Then we went outside to play which was great since it was such a beautiful day. We also had cut up snail shapes and used glue and colored sand to decorate them. There were alot of balls there to and everyone did different things. Abe and will were picking up rocks and looking for snails, Avani liked to kick the ball and everyone went on the rocking horse on there way down the stairs. Then we went upstairs for lunch and had dolphin shaped sandwiches and mac and cheese. Finally we sat down to read and Carl really wanted to read his favorite book on snakes. We played some more , parents arrived and that was the day. It was really fun!


This Week
We have arrived at our final week of school, and many of us are bittersweet about this ending, as we have spent a great year together, watching our little ones grow and learn to socialize with each other. Many of them getting potty trained too!!!

**IMPORTANT: LOCATION CHANGE this week. Ali and family are sick. So sorry for them! I hope they feel better soon.

TUESDAY: Amanda's house. 540 Prospect Ave #2--leave strollers in the back and come up the side stairs. Parent volunteer should plan to come from 10:30-11 AM for outdoor time.
WEDNESDAY: most likely at the same place, we'll keep you posted.

Below is the volunteer schedule. Please let me know if anyone has a conflict with this

Tuesday May 26 Emily
Wednesday May 27 Deepa

PLEASE BRING:

*Labeled sippy cups
*Diapers or change of clothes we've used the ones we have

* Drop-off time still 9:10 am - Pickup at 11:45 am.

Newsletter May 19-20, 2009

Last Week
We continued at Ali's house this past week, enjoying some nice weather. The children played a lot on the roof, with animal finger puppets, and forming a circle around the map of a flower singing "Ring around the Rosie". They identified the various parts of the flower, such as paddles. This tied in nicely with wathing the "plantation" growing. A new regimen was added after snack- and lunch time: washing the table and clean up. The children also played a lot of dress-up games and sang "Baa Baa Black Sheep".

This Week
**IMPORTANT: New Locations. We are changing locations this week, as Ali and family are away on vacation.

TUESDAY: we are at Abe's house, at 209 18th. Street, (between 4th and 5th Ave.) Ring the bell up the stoop and Emily will open the ground floor door for strollers to come in. Remember to put sunscreen on the kids, as the weather might be nice-- we certainly hope!

WEDNESDAY: we are at Alise' and Carl's house: the address is 215 17th Street, (between 4th and 5th Ave.) The phone number is 718-499-5233.

Thanks for Emily and Alise for volunteering to host this week!

Audrey is planning to introduce more games around the themes of water/fish/ocean so certainly the sunny weather would be nice to have for that.

Below is the volunteer schedule. Please let me know if anyone needs to switch days.

Tuesday May 19 Amber
Wednesday May 20 Krisztina

Tuesday May 26 Emily
Wednesday May 27 Deepa

PLEASE BRING:

*Labeled sippy cups
*Diapers or change of clothes we've used the ones we have

* Drop-off time still 9:10 am - Pickup at 11:45 am.

Counting and Singing with Ducks

Newsletter May 5-6, 2009

Last Week
A spontaneous art project was born after Audrey came across some spring-themed foam stamps in our supply box. The children experimented with print making by dipping the stamps into paint trays and imprinting on a large roll of paper. Voilà, another garden was born! They also made turtles using nylon, soil, grass seed and construction paper. When watered regularly, the kids will witness the grass growing out of the turtles' backs.

We discussed our planting project for next week and the kids got to feel pea and green bean seeds. We hoped to speed up the germinating process by having the seeds sprout in wet paper towels. This week we will plant those seeds and watch them grow. Our special planter will allow the kids to see the roots in the soil as their plants grow. The kids also took turns pretending to be seeds that grow into tall flowers.

On the playground, we met several groups of other children and our kids did a great job socializing. They were by far the youngest, but enjoyed sharing and interacting with the older kids.

Back inside, we read "My Daddy is a Pretzel, Yoga for Parents and Kids", by Baron Baptiste and practiced some of the new positions mentioned in the book. For snack, the children made their own fruit salads and enjoyed choosing their own fruit and mixing it on their plates.

This Week
**New Location - Soren's House

As mentioned above, we will plant our pea and green bean seeds. The children will also see how the grass they planted a week ago has really begun to grow.

A new group activity will include a variation of duck, duck, goose. We'll call it -- Flower, flower, butterfly! With our new space, we will make a few adjustments by removing some of our regular toys and focusing on choice activities that will include the sewing/lacing activities and dress-up. We'll also have a dress-up dance party.

Outdoor activity (weather permitting) will include more print making on the roof. We'd like do some vegetable printing using potatoes, cucumbers, radishes, and any other veg. we can carve. **Parents please bring a couple of vegetables we can carve. If you have any baby spoons or sporks, please bring to use for carving. The children will make some hand and foot prints.

Important for this week:
We will meet at Ali/Soren's house. Their address is: 270 21st Street, #2, between 5th and 6th Avenues. (212-851-6445)
Below is the volunteer schedule. Please let me know if anyone needs to switch days. I switched days with Deepa, so let me know if this doesn't work for you.

Also, please keep in mind that we will be out of town for the week of May 18, so the location for that week is TBD.

Tuesday, May 5 Amanda
Wednesday, May 6 Alise

Tuesday May 12 Maya
Wednesday, May 13 April

Tuesday May 19 Amber
Wednesday May 20 Krisztina

Tuesday May 26 Emily
Wednesday May 27 Deepa

PLEASE BRING:
*A couple vegetables for print making & baby spoons/sporks if you have
*Labeled sippy cups
*Diapers or change of clothes we've used the ones we have

*Last call for baby pictures. We will plan do the self-portrait project next week so please email me one baby picture and one recent picture of your child for our self-portrait project. We don't want any of the kids to be without a portrait. Please email jpg's to apriljenkinsnyc@gmail.com

* Drop-off time still 9:10 am - Pickup at 11:45 am.

Weekly Newsletter April 28-29, 2009

Weekly Newsletter April 28-29, 2009

Last Week
We were so happy to hear the news of the birth of baby Nate! Glad to hear Emily is home with the baby and the family is doing well.

Unfortunately Audrey was ill on Tuesday, but Krista did a great job leading the group. Special thanks to Amanda for using her special teaching skills to fill in any gaps! The kids enjoyed reading "Going on a Bear Hunt" while acting out the adventure. We also started our spring planting projects as each kid filled a cup with soil and sprinkled grass seed. It was messy, but a lot of fun!

The kids were excited to have Audrey back on Wednesday! We celebrated Earth Day with our globe cut-outs that the children colored and decorated. They continued with their Yoga practice and did a construction art project with magic foam. Before heading out for some outdoor play, we also enjoyed some carrot cupcakes (a big hit)!

This Week
We will explore some real pea and green bean seeds and prepare them for planting. The kids will check in with our grass growing project and see that the grass is starting to sprout!

In continuation of our discussion of the planet earth, we will make special Earth necklaces, using our globes and our new sewing skills. Sewing and dress-up will be a choice activity.

We will read, "My Daddy is a Pretzel, Yoga for Parents and Kids", by Baron Baptiste and use some of the new positions in the book in their practice.

NOTE: This is our last week at April's house. Next week will be at Ali's house.

**Parents, when volunteering, please be sure to enforce our holding hands policy for our outdoor time. It is important for us to be consistant, even if you know your child is good about staying close to you. We want all kids to learn how important it is to be safe and hold hands when we are walking as a group. Thank you!

**Audrey would like to organize an end of the year get together with the groups she teaches. She is hoping to have it at the Society for Ethical Culture. Please email Audrey at akindred@gmail.com to let her know if you would prefer a Thursday afternoon/early evening (perhaps beginning around 4 pm), or a Saturday afternoon.

Important for this week:
*Please email me your jpg's of one baby picture and one recent picture of your child for our self-portrait project. I hope to get the last pictures in so the kids can do the project next week at Ali's. Please send to apriljenkinsnyc@gmail.com

*Drop off at 9:10 at April's house -- 332 Prospect Ave. Apt. 2. If you need to leave your stroller in the garage, just let me know and I can open the door.
*Pickup at 11:45 am.

This Month’s Volunteer Schedule
Volunteers please come to April's at 10:45 am to help get the kids dressed for outdoor time. Please contact me if you need to switch days: apriljenkinsnyc@gmail.com

Tues. April 28th -- Ted/Amber
Wed, April 29th -- Ali

Weekly Newsletter April 21-22, 2009

Breaking News....
Congratulations to Emily, Ben, and Abe! Emily gave birth tonight to a healthy 8 lb. baby boy. Apparently it was a 'ridiculously quick' labor. Glad to hear they are all well. Sending them lots of love!

Also, Audrey has been feeling ill and may not make it in tomorrow. I will speak with her in the morning to see how she is feeling, but know we WILL meet as planned. Krista will lead the group and we have lots of activities to keep us busy!

Last Week
Continuing with our garden/spring theme, the children created a beautiful garden mural using markers, crayons, dots, play-doh and collage. Yoga was a choice activity again followed by music and movement time. We continued to talk about things that grow in the garden and had peas and carrots for snack to go with the theme.

Audrey and Krista introduced a new activity this week -- sewing! The kids were able to use their fine motor skills, while weaving string in and out of holes cut out of colorful cardboard shapes. Some of the children continued on with this activity for a long period of time!

Audrey read, "Mortimer's First Garden", by Karma Wilson, a story about wonderful things that grow from seeds. After the story, the kids took turns pretending to be a seed that grows into a sunflower! Pretty adorable.

On Wednesday it rained, so we were not able to go outside, but the children were able to participate in the sharing and caring room here for the first time. Audrey read a very familiar story, "The Napping House", while the kids enjoyed some free play time.

This Week
In honor of Earth day (or Earth Week), the children will participate in a variety of 'green' activities. They will plant their first seeds as a group and watch as their pea plant grows over the coming weeks. We have a special clear container so the children will be able to see the roots beneath the soil.

We also will be potting and growing grass from grass seed. We'll talk about the Earth and make Earth necklaces in honor of Earth Day.

Yoga and movement will continue to be a part of our morning. Our 'choice' activities this week will be the sewing activity from last week and dress up.

NOTE: We still need some panty hose for our grass planting activity. If any of you have old "panty-hose" to recycle please bring this week.

Important for this week:
*Please email me your jpg's of one baby picture and one recent picture of your child for our self-portrait project. I am still missing quite a few. Please email to apriljenkinsnyc@gmail.com

*Drop off at 9:10 at April's house -- 332 Prospect Ave. Apt. 2. If you need to leave your stroller in the garage, just let me know and I can open the door.
*Pickup at 11:45 am.

This Month’s Volunteer Schedule
Volunteers please come to April's at 10:45 am to help get the kids dressed for outdoor time. Please contact me if you need to switch days: apriljenkinsnyc@gmail.com

Tues. April 21st --Krisztina
Wed, April 22nd -- Amanda

Things to Bring if you haven't already:
*Your check or cash for the monthly cost plus snack (checks made out to April Jenkins)
*Labeled sippy cup
*Diaper of change of clothes if we do not have them.

Weekly Newsletter April 14th - 15th, 2009

Last Week
The kids worked on a "carousel" art project, creating a mural of colorful carousel horses. They also read "Vegetable Garden", by Douglas Florian and created their own vegetables to add to the mural. We started learning a new finger song -- 5 little ducks.

After exercising their minds, it was time to focus on their bodies. Yoga was a big part of the week. The kids were able to choose if they wanted to participate. They concentrated on their breathing, positions and even experimented with Dinosaur yoga, inspired by Luka.

For outdoor time, we took a walk to the playground on 17th street between 5th and 6th.

This Week

Yoga will be a Choice Time like it was last week -- a very successful approach. We'll create our own "yoga coloring books" this week to deepen our connection to the practice of it.

We will add "dress up" to our play options so we will look at some pictures and stories about this *Parents, if you have any dress up clothes (hats, scarves, bandannas, etc.) or stories you'd like to pitch in, that would be great.

We will keep practicing a finger song we started last week about, 5 little ducks.

This week, we will start to create a garden mural by drawing and painting a bit together. We'll paint the soil (worms and bugs too), the sun, and rain.

NOTE: There's a great planting project I'd like to prepare us for if possible -- besides planting in pots. If any of you have old "panty-hose" to recycle. For it, we need "foam pages" if anyone knows where to get them, and grass seed.

Also big oval rocks to paint and put eyes on would be nifty. -- if anyone sees such an item in the dollar stores.

Important for this week:
*Please email me your jpg's of one baby picture and one recent picture of your child for our self-portrait project. I am still missing quite a few. Please email to apriljenkinsnyc@gmail.com

*Drop off at 9:10 at April's house -- 332 Prospect Ave. Apt. 2. If you need to leave your stroller in the garage, just let me know and I can open the door.
*Pickup at 11:45 am.

This Month’s Volunteer Schedule
Volunteers please come to April's at 10:45 am to help get the kids dressed for outdoor time. Please contact me if you need to switch days: apriljenkinsnyc@gmail.com

Tuesday April 14th -– John/Maya
Wednesday April 15th --Deepa
Tues. April 21st --Krisztina
Wed, April 22nd -- Amanda
Tues. April 28th -- Ted/Amber
Wed. April 29th -- Ali

Things to Bring/Supplies
*Your check or cash for the monthly cost plus snack (checks made out to April Jenkins)
*Labeled sippy cup
*Diaper of change of clothes if we do not have them.

Weekly Newsletter April 7th - 8th, 2009

Last Week
We were off for Spring Break. Home some of you actually got away! Thank you again Krisztina for pitching in and hosting for our last week in March. We're all very glad to hear baby Sam is home and feeling much better!

This Week
We will be doing a new "carousel" art project and circle game -- with expectations that our families are headed to the carousel soon, since opens this month!

The children will also begin to "create" a visual garden mural. We will be working on elements of it and adding them regularly. The group will continue working on yoga.

Important for this week:
*Drop off at 9:10 at April's house -- 332 Prospect Ave. Apt. 2. If you need to leave your stroller in the garage, just let me know and I can open the door.
*Pickup at 11:45 am.

This Month’s Volunteer Schedule
We are trying a new outdoor playtime at the end of our day. We'll see how it goes the first week and adjust if we need to. Outdoor playtime will be from 11:00 am until 11:30 am. We will head back to my house around 11:30 to get back in time for 11:45 pick up. (volunteers, please come upstairs at 11:00 to help us get ready.) Thanks! Please contact me if you need to switch days: apriljenkinsnyc@gmail.com

Tuesday April 7th--Emily
Wednesday April 8th--Alise
Tuesday April 14th -– John/Maya
Wednesday April 15th --Deepa
Tues. April 21st --Krisztina
Wed, April 22nd -- Amanda
Tues. April 28th -- Ted/Amber
Wed. April 29th -- Ali

Things to Bring/Supplies
*Your check or cash for the monthly cost plus snack (checks made out to April Jenkins)
*Labeled sippy cup

Weekly Newsletter March 24-25, 2009

This Week
Krisztina will host this week for Amanda, as Sam is sick. So the location will be 605 Vanderbilt Street, Apt 2. Since this is a last-minute arrangement, we'll have to make do without the supplies. Next week, we have our spring break, after that, we'll move to April's house. We can keep our outdoor play to our usual time, and play in the garden/in front of the house.

Important for tomorrow:
*Drop off at 9:10, please be careful as you come in as the screen door is broken.
*Leave strollers in front of the garage door, as needed.
*Pickup at 11:45

This Month’s Volunteer Schedule
Outdoor playtime will be 10: 15-10:45 (volunteers, please come upstairs to help us get ready.) Thanks!

Tuesday March 24th –Amber/Ted
Wednesday March 25th—Liz (Emily)

Things to Bring/Supplies
If we’ve used your extra diaper or clothes, please send a new ziplock baggie with a spare diaper and change of clothes. Please send your child with a drip-proof water cup labeled with his/her name. Label shoes (name on a piece of tape inside works), coat/sweaters and any other clothes they'll be taking on or off.

Red Balloon Co-op School Weekly Newsletter March 17-18, 2009

This week we’ll continue the new time for outdoor play—the kids will be playing outside for the first and last half hour of school—the play sessions are turning out to be a little shorter, so volunteers please note the times below.

Last Week
The group was busy this week with new things. The Tuesday group made pinecone birdfeeders and used sunflower seed butter (looks and tastes like peanut butter—I found it at Trader Joe’s) and rolled the pinecones in birdseed. Ours stayed out in the back area and looks like it was a popular dining option this week—the seeds are completely gone! On Wednesday the kids used paper bird shapes and attached feathers. They also tried yoga for the first time. It was a huge success (especially after Will was removed from the room—he decided yoga was a contact sport.) The children all carefully unrolled their mats, tried some breathing, poses and seemed to really like it. I took some pictures and video that I'll try to post. Krista and I spoke at the end of Wednesday's session and she noted how kids are really starting to use words to communicate with each other and sharing skills are growing each day!

This Week
We will play outside at the beginning of the morning and at the end of the day so you can drop off and pick up outside. The group will continue working on yoga. To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the Crowley’s, Will helped me make green snickerdoodle cookies today which we will have for dessert tomorrow.

Important for tomorrow:
*Drop off at 9:10 in the driveway to the left of 540 Prospect Ave
* I’ll open the garage if you need to leave your stroller
*Pickup at 11:45 in the driveway.

This Month’s Volunteer Schedule
Outdoor playtime will be 9:15-9:40 and 11:25-11:45 (volunteers, please come upstairs at 11:15 to help us get ready.) Thanks! Please contact me if you need to switch days: amandapeel@yahoo.com

Tuesday March 17th -Deepa
Wednesday March 18th --Krisztina
Tuesday March 24th –Amber/Ted
Wednesday March 25th—Liz (Emily)

Things to Bring/Supplies
If we’ve used your extra diaper or clothes, please send a new ziplock baggie with a spare diaper and change of clothes. Please send your child with a drip-proof water cup labeled with his/her name. Label shoes (name on a piece of tape inside works), coat/sweaters and any other clothes they'll be taking on or off.

Red Balloon Co-op School Weekly Newsletter March 10-11, 2009

This week we’ll continue the new time for outdoor play—the kids will be playing outside for the first and last half hour of school and will need RAIN clothes! More below in the “This Week” section…

Last Week
We had a good first week here—everyone survived the ice skating rink driveway and the group had fun playing outside in the snow, in the surprisingly warm and sunny back part of the driveway. Thanks to parents who stayed to help supervise. Krista brought back postcards, coins and stories from Iceland! The kids loved hearing about the puffins and whales and the grownups loved hearing about how Krista got engaged! Congrats, Krista! To celebrate National Sleep Awareness Week, Audrey brought sleep stars for the kids to make. They practiced “sleeping” with their stars and sang Good Night Irene and Are You Sleeping Brother John. Each child brought home a sleep star—Audrey suggested they might work as “magic sleep wands” at home! Another activity last week involved the song Old MacDonald and barns with paper animals to play with. We had pineapple for snack and noticed how pineapples are prickly like porcupines, hedgehogs and pinecones (and noticed the word “pine” seems to be important!)

This Week
Audrey is planning to introduce yoga to the kids using new yoga mats! She’ll start with just rolling and unrolling the mats and talking about breathing and how yoga is different from dance time (it’s not wild playtime!) Audrey wanted to stress the three components of yoga. One is breathing—noticing your breath by “blowing out candles” or “smelling flowers.” Two is resting—practicing having eyes closed, not moving, and understanding personal space and gentle touch. Three is learning to make shapes with your body and the imagination behind that. I can’t wait to see the little yogis! Also this week the group will make pinecone birdfeeders using birdseed and soy nut butter to bring home and hang outside a window. Families can encourage noticing birds this week and help kids find a great place to hang their birdfeeder.

Important for tomorrow:
*Drop off at 9:10 in the driveway to the left of 540 Prospect Ave
* I’ll open the garage if you need to leave your stroller
*Please dress your child in rain boots, raincoats, hats and if you have one, a kid umbrella (and label them!)
*Pickup at 11:45 in the driveway.

This Month’s Volunteer Schedule
Outdoor playtime will be 9:15-9:45 and 11:15-11:45 (volunteers, please come upstairs at 11:15 to help us get ready.) Thanks! Please contact me if you need to switch days: amandapeel@yahoo.com

Tuesday March 10th --Maya/John
Wednesday March 11th--Alise
Tuesday March 17th --Deepa
Wednesday March 18th --Ali
Tuesday March 24th –Amber/Ted
Wednesday March 25th--Liz

Things to Bring/Supplies
If you haven't yet, please bring your check for the month made out to Amanda Crowley. Thanks!
If we’ve used your extra diaper or clothes, please send a new ziplock baggie with a spare diaper and change of clothes. Please send your child with a drip-proof water cup labeled with his/her name. Label shoes (name on a piece of tape inside works), coat/sweaters and any other clothes they'll be taking on or off.

Red Balloon Co-op School Weekly Newsletter March 3-4, 2009

Please note the outdoor playtime changes—this week the kids will be playing outside for the first and last half hour of school and will need snow clothes! More below in the “This Week” section…

Last Week
This recap comes to us courtesy of Emily, our wonderful host for the month of February!

For Krista's vacation week, the children started Tuesday by writing her a letter and "sending" it off to Iceland in the "mail truck" - at the end of the day, lo and behold, there was a return letter from Krista! The kids also worked on drawings to put in a special book and give her when she returns next week.Thanks to all parent volunteers! We had a lovely two days despite Krista's absence and the kids had a few special treats. Ted enjoyed morning circle and free play with everyone, Krisztina led the kids in some fun movement/song activities, including the very popular "We are the dinosaurs." Amanda did a puppet show with animal characters from The Mitten by Jan Brett. Emily and Ben played a few songs and showed the kids a banjo and guitar, and Alise brought Sculpy modeling clay which the kids made into beautiful shapes we then baked in the oven. Many parents also stuck around just to help out which was much appreciated. The kids have been doing a lot of drawing and are really enjoying making shapes and strong gestures with their markers. Some bold lines and circles and other abstract shapes are coming out of this and it's exciting. We'll do more murals and other drawing activities soon - and at home, enjoy this with them too. Earlier in the year, it was hard to imagine all of them sitting down and drawing quietly together, but now they are doing it with enthusiasm.

This Week
Tomorrow we’ll be back at our house, 540 Prospect Ave near 10th Ave. We are trying something new with our school schedule since the snow looks like it will be around for a few more days. When you arrive tomorrow, please bring your child down the driveway and say goodbye outside. We will play outside together for a half hour in the snow and then go inside until 11:15 when we’ll come back out again. We will do pick up outside, again in the driveway. I think this will work better, at least while it’s such a winter wonderland. The kids will come inside and change out of their snow clothes in the basement and I can throw wet things in the dryer. Then we just get undressed and dressed once during the day.

Important for tomorrow:
*Drop off at 9:10 in the driveway to the left of 540 Prospect Ave
* I’ll open the garage if you need to leave your stroller
*Please dress your child with snow pants, boots and waterproof mittens if possible (and label them!)
*If you have shovels and buckets for digging the snow, please bring them!
*Pickup at 11:45 in the driveway.

This Month’s Volunteer Schedule
Outdoor playtime will be 9:15-9:45 and 11:15-11:45 (come upstairs to help us get ready) for the time being. Thanks, volunteers! Please contact me if you need to switch days: amandapeel@yahoo.com

Tuesday March 3rd—April
Wednesday March 4th--Krisztina
Tuesday March 10th --Maya/John
Wednesday March 11th--Alise
Tuesday March 17th --Deepa
Wednesday March 18th --Ali
Tuesday March 24th –Amber/Ted
Wednesday March 25th--Liz

Things to Bring/Supplies
If we’ve used your extra diaper or clothes, please send a new ziplock baggie with a spare diaper and change of clothes. Please send your child with a drip-proof water cup labeled with his/her name. Label shoes (name on a piece of tape inside works), coat/sweaters and any other clothes they'll be taking on or off.

Red Balloon Co-op School Weekly Newsletter February 24-25 2009

Thanks ahead of time to everyone volunteering this week while Krista is gone! Also, thanks Krisztina, for setting up the Google calendar on the blog.

Last Week
What a busy week at Red Balloon! Audrey continued reading aloud The Hat by Jan Brett, and the group investigated pinecones (which feel similar to the main character of the book--a hedgehog.) In the animal theme, the group tried out a large animal floor puzzle and rocked animals in a boat to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat. They continued trying out Duck Duck Goose and The Hokey Pokey. They’ve been using Abe’s upstairs playroom as the “Sharing and Caring Room”. It’s been defined that way---before anyone enters the room they stop and confirm that they’ll share and care (this techinique has been really successful!) In the playroom they’ve been using lots of stuffed animals for play and have enjoyed putting the animals in a boat. There’s an inflatable globe ball up there and Audrey’s been putting it on her head and singing, “I’ve Got the Whole World, On My Head…” Another song being sung is “If I had a Hammer.” They’ve been experimenting with a moment of resting while Audrey sings “Are You Sleeping, Brother John.” using each child’s name in the song.

This Week
Krista will be away on a trip to Iceland this week. Audrey is planning to write a letter to Krista each morning during the morning circle and then she’ll read aloud a letter from Krista at the closing circle each day. There will be fantastic guest teachers during each day—Krisztina will lead a music and a dance activity, Emily and Ben will sing and play instruments and Alise is leading an art project using Sculpy clay for modeling. I’m looking forward to seeing all of the Red Balloon talent out in full force!

This week’s Volunteer Schedule
TUESDAY

9:15-10:00 – HELLO-CIRCLE/ACTIVITY – TED

10:00-10:45 – SNACK/ACTIVITY – KRISZTINA (music/dance activity)

10:45-11:15/30 – OUTDOOR TIME – APRIL/AMANDA

11:30-12:00 – LUNCH & GOODBYE – AMANDA (book activity)

WEDNESDAY
9:15-9:30 – HELLO CIRCLE etc. – EMILY

9:30-10:15 – MUSIC – EMILY & BEN

10:15-10:45/11 – SNACK & ART ACTIVITY – ALISE (Sculpy)

11:00-11:30 – OUTDOOR TIME – DEEPA

11:30-12:00 – LUNCH & GOODBYE – ALI

Upcoming Weeks
Next week (the first week in March) we’ll be back at our house, 540 Prospect Ave #2. We will be continuing with some themes—getting the pinecones back out to make “soynut butter birdfeeders,” possibly hatching butterflies or ladybugs, looking at Krista’s photos from Iceland and lots more!

Things to Bring/Supplies
If we’ve used your extra diaper or clothes, please send a new ziplock baggie with a spare diaper and change of clothes. Please send your child with a drip-proof water cup labeled with his/her name. Label shoes (name on a piece of tape inside works), coat/sweaters and any other clothes they'll be taking on or off.

Newsletter February 17-18 2009

Red Balloon Co-op School
Weekly Newsletter February 17-18, 2009

Please note below that we’re looking for everyone to pitch in an hour of time to assist Audrey the last week of February when Krista is away. Thanks!

Last Week
The group had a great time celebrating Valentine’s Day by making jingly valentines, stringing pipe cleaners through heart shapes and attaching bells. For a snack, each child used his or her own ball of dough to shape cookies into hearts and hands. They danced with pom pons, played outside with balls, read the Where the Wild Things Are and a poem about the moon by Robert Lewis Stevenson. In the Valentine spirit Audrey read When I Care About Others by Cornelia Spelman and started a dialogue about the language of the heart (“bear is feeling sad from his heart” and “I’m feeling happy from my heart”) that will continue in the weeks to come to help the children learn ways to express their feelings. They played with dinosaurs and learned that dinosaurs can roar “I love you!” (a big roar can mean big love!)
On a personal note, I’ve been trying to use the same language at home that Audrey introduces at school and am finding that Will really responds to the consistency (and I love the ideas Audrey has for how kids can express feelings and use their energy and loud voices in positive ways!)

This Week
The group will continue talking about feelings from the heart and also use the dinosaur skeletons in new ways, covering them with Play dough and giving them “skin.”

Outdoor Play Volunteer Schedule
TUES 2/17 Amanda, WED 2/18 AliTUES 2/24 Amber/Ted, WED 2/25 Liz

The Following Week (Last week in February)
Krista will be away this week so we will be doing some new things and can use your help! We’d love to have parent volunteers in to lead activities or to assist Audrey. Emily and Ben are leading a singing activity one morning and anyone else with special skills or a project idea (teaching a new song, game, science or art project) should contact me or Emily and we’ll set up a schedule. If everyone was able to give an hour of time I think we’d be able to have an “assistant” on hand throughout both days. If we don’t hear from you I’ll just assign everyone a time slot and we’ll go from there. Those of you already signed up as outdoor play volunteers should consider that your volunteer time for the week. Thanks!

Things to Bring/Supplies
If we’ve used your extra diaper or clothes, please send a new ziplock baggie with a spare diaper and change of clothes. Please send your child with a drip-proof water cup labeled with his/her name. Label shoes (name on a piece of tape inside works), coat/sweaters and any other clothes they'll be taking on or off.

Red Balloon Co-op School Weekly Newsletter February 3-4, 2009

First off, I have to thank Emily for taking over the newsletter in January…very helpful and appreciated. Also thanks to Krisztina for the fabulous blog and for posting this newsletter!

Location

We’ll be at Emily’s house for the next four weeks, 209 18^th St. b/w 4^th and 5^th Avenues. Please use the entrance under the stoop (street level) and you can park your stroller down there too.

Last Week

Even with two changes of location in a week, the kids didn’t miss a beat! We were at our house on Tuesday and the group had a great time finger painting on large shiny pieces of gold paper. They played outside for a long time, riding bikes and trucks up the driveway. Emily hosted at our place and at hers and she really deserves the Red Balloon gold star this week (it was also her first week of grad classes!) At Emily’s the group played outside in the front yard (and ate lots of snow!) and played “lions” inside, crawling under the table for a lion cave and going on an adventure together. The group was excited to have a big boy join them—Avani’s brother was a big hit.

This Week

Drop-off and pick-up at 9:10 (quick goodbye) and 11:45 (closing circle with adults) as usual.

Important information about labeling: With the cold weather and all the layers, it’s really important to label all the clothes your child is wearing. I’ve been the worst culprit of not labeling and didn’t even send a coat for Will last Wednesday…so I have work to do, but I think if you just write your child’s name or first initial on masking tape and stick it in coats, sweaters and inside shoes and hats that would help Audrey and Krista quite a bit.

Audrey used the snow at Emily’s house to make a snowperson (being stored in Emily’s freezer) and this week the kids are going to watch the snowperson melt! They will also read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

Volunteer Schedule

Volunteers should plan to return to the school location at 10:20 for a half hour of outdoor time. The schedule:
TUES 2/3 April, WED 2/4 Krisztina
TUES 2/10 Maya/John, WED 2/11 ALISE
TUES 2/17 Amanda, WED 2/18 ALI
TUES 2/24 Amber/Ted, WED 2/25 LIZ
This is assigned completely at random. If you have a conflict someone can switch with you. Email Amanda or Emily to let us know.

Things to Bring/Supplies

*Your check or cash for the monthly cost plus snack (checks made out to Emily Gardiner Herzog)

*Labeled sippy cup

Important: Time to update the diapers and change of clothes!

Madeline: needs clothes and diapers

Avani: needs change of clothes

Will, Luka and Soren need diapers

Please send items a labeled ziplock on Tuesday. Thanks!

Please contact Amanda with any news or updates for the newsletter: amandapeel@yahoo.com.

Recipe for Pound Cake (Quatre Quarts)

First of all, I am sorry I didn't post the newsletter on time, plus, we've had some last minute changes because of the health issues that have been going on with my kids. They are doing better now-- hopefully, Viktor will get through his bronchilitis soon.

Many of you asked me for the recipe for the Quatre Quarts, so here it goes.

1 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
Sea Salt
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1.Preheat oven at 325 F . Thouroughly butter and flour a 9 inch springform pan. You can place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom, butter and flour it as well.

2. Sift the flour with a pinch of salt on a piece of parchment paper

3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with all but 1 tablespoon of the sugar until they are foamy and pale yellow and doubled in volume. Whisk in vanilla extract. Sprinkle flour over the egg yolk mixture quickly

4. Add the butter in thirds, whisking continuously. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, so all is combined. Be sure to fold it well, so all ingredients are mixed together.

5. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are foamy and white, but still liquid. Gradually add the reserved 1 tsp of sugar into the egg whites until they are whiter and slighly firm.

6. Gently fold egg whites into the batter gradually.

7. Turn the batter into a prepared pan and bake it in the center of the oven until the cake springs back when touched, or until cake tester comes out clean from the center. about 25-35 min.

8. Remove from oven, let it cool for 5 minutes, then loosen the edge of the mold. Remove cake from the pan and let it cool on wire rack.

The "Obama Week"

We had fewer children this week as some of us went to the inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama. The children had fun painting some red paper bags, making mini-muffins and put them into the bag to take home, based on this week's reading: You can Do It Sam. They also ventured out to Prospect Park to play a little bit in the crisp weather. Note to parents: make sure you dress your child with several layers, as outdoor play is integrated in our schedule and it is essential as weather permits. We'll be happy to put on each piece of clothing and take them off as necessary. A special thanks to the volunteers this week, Ali and Emily, who both have either a baby in the arm or in the belly!
Songs this week included the "Mango Song" (stuck in my head), and "All together now" which encourages counting.
The children also honored president Obama, by placing a flower next to his picture mounted on an easel.
They also continued working on our "Snow Friends" and painting snow around them with white paint.
Avani, our newest addition, has adopted wonderfully, and she is truly amazing with going to the potty, and telling us... we are just not used to this with our toddlers.
Next week is the last one at my place, before we move to Emily's for the month of February.

Weekly Newsletter January 20-21, 2008

Location

We’re still at Krisztina’s house: 605 Vanderbilt St., Apt. 2. If you walk a few blocks past Amanda’s house on Prospect Ave, you will hit Vanderbilt and #605 is almost at the corner. Apartment is on second floor – straight upstairs to door on right. Please fold and/or park strollers next to the garage door on the ground level (do not block downstairs apt.) unless you are taking them with you. Closest train stop: F to Fort Hamilton, 1 block away.

Last Week

The week got off to a great start and Krisztina’s house is a wonderful setting with fabulous enclosed outdoor options (weather permitting!). Audrey and Krista tell us that the kids are getting really good at circle formation and soon they will be able to incorporate movement in a circle. The teachers introduced a new concept: the “time out chair”, which children can elect to go to when they need a moment of calm. Audrey is focusing on introducing the word calm and teaching devices like counting to 10 when you are worked up, to help kids feel in command of their feelings (as well as practice counting). The chair is actually a popular spot and kids are encouraged to go there for a little peace when they need it. We will likely keep the “time out chair” in some form when we move locations. There was plenty of music and dancing (songs include Ring around the Rosy and Five Little Ducks as well as some Beatles tunes).

This Week

Drop-off and pick-up at 9:10 (quick goodbye) and 11:45 (closing circle with adults) as usual.

The kids will continue with their art projects, including working with circular and spherical objects and talking about snowballs. They will also continue decorating their wooden birdhouses and Avani will have one to start on. They are working on an easel with stencil-like forms taped to the paper, which provides a new way to create borders around drawings and is a great visual introduction to math and counting. (See “supplies” below for description of stencils – we are looking for more if you have them.)

In reading the “Thankful” book (see below) they are talking about things that make them feel grateful and happy each day. Inspired by an illustration from the book, the teachers introduced a pre-lunch tradition of holding hands in a a circle and saying “have a happy lunchtime; thanks to food and friends.” The children enjoy this moment of group thankfulness before they eat.

Volunteer Schedule

The remaining volunteer commitments for the month:

TUES 1/20 EMILY, WED 1/21 ALI

TUES 1/27 MAYA/JOHN, WED 1/28 LIZ

If you have a conflict someone can switch with you. Email Amanda or Emily to let us know.

Things to Bring/Supplies

*Your check or cash for the monthly cost plus snack, if you have not paid (checks made out to Krisztina Lorentz)

*Labeled sippy cup

*Change of diaper and/or clothes in a labeled ziplock, if yours has been used.

*This week some items from your house would be welcome if available:

-a baby doll

-strollers or other wheeled push toys for outdoor time (only bring if you can spare and it’s portable; don’t want to overload Krisztina’s house!)

-a ball 6” or more in diameter

-any cardboard or other stencil-like cutout sheets that can be taped to paper and drawn in. A good example is the kind of checkerboard-pattern sheet with multiple square openings that comes with packaged Christmas ornaments to keep them separate in the box. Any shapes welcome.

Please contact Amanda with any news or updates for the newsletter: amandapeel@yahoo.com.