Have you ever had a time when circumstances took a U-turn and ended up better than what you initially had in mind?  By definition this kind of a moment is called serendipity and is just what happened on a saunter bound for the Tom Green Trail.  As we approached Pineview Park we were surprised by three giant snowballs (somewhat reminescent of Andy Goldsworthy art) on the southeastern ridge.  As we stood there a little voice was heard to say "Whoa, look at that!"  When serendipity happens, especially in the preschool world, it's impossible to ignore.  The sun was shining and there was a fresh dusting of snow on the ground as we made our way to these huge balls of snow.  First we examined the snowballs.  We talked about how they came about and who might have made them.  We tried to wrap our arms around them and found it was impossible for one person to do.  In some cases it took almost three people holding hands to hug a snowball.  We poked the snowballs and knocked on them only to discover they were almost as hard as a rock.  We looked carefully at what kind of materials comprised the snowballs and found that there were things other than just snow - like grass and pieces of leaves and some bits of sticks.  We laid our cheeks on one of the snowballs and discovered that the snow felt colder on our cheeks than it did on our fingers.  Some of us liked the feeling of the cold and others of us didn't.  While we would have liked to have climbed on the snowballs we decided we needed to respect the work of whoever made them.  We did try individually to slightly move the snowballs but found that they were incredibly heavy and wouldn't budge an inch!  With the sun shining so brightly the snow on the ground around the snowballs was "twinkling, like little stars on the ground".  This was a good time to find a patch of ground and to get down as closely as we could to try and observe where the sparkles were coming from.  Our goal was to see if we could find the individual snowflakes.  When our observations were over and since we were already down on the ground what is the next most logical thing to do?  Make snow angels, of course!  Our gift to subsequent visitors to Pineview Park was to make an entire choir of snow angels.  Next day when we visited the snowballs we came equipped with magnafying glasses so we could take an even closer look at the ice crystals which made up the snowballs and at the snowflakes on the ground.  We weren't able to find any twin snowflakes no matter how hard we looked!

   December was a busy month for us (but come to think of it, they have all been busy so far).  As most of you know a film titled "The Magic Within" was made using Clark Fork students as actors. We had a big part in the movie and we all had a chance to be a "star".  We found out that movie making is trickier than it looks and involves a lot of waiting, but we were troopers and did a great job of following directions.  One of our favorite things was drinking hot cocoa on the playground after the last part of the movie was finished (yum!). We can't tell you very much about the film, but it will make its debut the night of the CFS Fundraiser Auction.  So mark Saturday, February 11th on your calendars and be prepared for a fun evening.  

   Just before our Winter Break we were host to both the Little Pumpkins and the Jumping Trout for our annual Pajama Party.  This is a very exciting time for us.  After all, how many times do we get to wear our jammies to school for the entire day, bring along a favorite "blankie" and snuggle with a special stuffed friend?  During our party we all gathered together in our circle area, blankets in hand and watched a beautiful video based on a wordless book by Raymond Briggs titled The Snowman.  While we don't often view videos at school, this one is more akin to a work of art, and is almost like watching magic. After the video we all enjoyed drinking hot chocolate with our friends.  The perfect way to spend the last few school days in December.  

   We would like to wish you all a very Happy 2012!  With the New Year comes new things to do and learn.  We will be exploring the topic of hibernation and have begun with some of our most famous hibernators - namely BEARS.  We learned about different types of bears, but have focused mainly on black bears since they are common to our Rattlesnake area.  We discussed where they live, what they like to eat and specifically what they look like.  We found out that black bears aren't just black in color, they can also be dark brown and light brown.  We learned that bears eat a lot in the spring, summer and fall to build up a thick fat layer so they can hibernate all winter long.  Bears don't just hibernate in caves (although it is one of their favorite places), they can hibernate in large logs, holes in trees and in rock piles.  Some very interesting facts about hibernating bears are: they don't pee while sleeping (and they sleep for months!) and the females give birth to their cubs (usually 2-3) while hibernating.  They must be VERY heavy sleepers...  We learned that hibernation is part of a yearly cycle of waking when the weather warms, eating, and sleeping as the weather gets cold. We designed our own bear dens complete with a hibernating bear. These are displayed just outside our classroom door.  We will be learning more about other animals who hibernate and will revisit bears in the spring when they start waking up.

   We hope you enjoyed your Nature Child self-portraits and the stories which accompanied them.  It was fun having the children recount their adventures of hiking with their families and friends.  They certainly have had some very exciting walks which was evident in the enthusiasim displayed as they recounted their experiences.  We would like to thank Gus's mom Erika for inviting us to display our Nature Children art in her shop for December's First Friday (along with all the other First Friday artwork created by CFS Students).  And to all of you who lend us a helping hand in the classroom in all your various capacities we say THANKS !!

   Wishing you all the best in the New Year,

   Debbie and Michelle