Greetings and a very happy Summer to you all!
Families enrolled in our 2013-14 Bridge, Nursery & Kindergarten programs will be receiving their 2013-14 Welcome Packets next week by mail. If you are away and would like me to send you a digital copy as well please let me know.
The packets include the 2013-14 School Calendar and our newly updated Parent Handbook. We ask that you review the handbook and then sign and return the agreement sheet on the last page. Our community thrives when we share a common vision of our work together and it is our hope that the handbook will bring clarity to this vision.
Also included is the Volunteer Sign-Up Sheet. As a developing school your involvement is essential to our success. Please take a moment to share your interests, skills and availability. The sheets should be completed and returned to the school in August. Our committee leaders will reach out to you at the start of the year to speak with you about ways you can contribute to the school.
Aftercare Information and Registration Forms will be in the packets of families enrolled in our Morning Nursery and Kindergarten Programs. Registration Forms are also available on our website.
Cumulative Health Record Forms must be completed by a parent and mailed to the school on or before August 19th.
Selected articles are also included and we hope you find them informative and inspiring.
Please contact me if you have any questions or if you don't receive your packet by July 19th.
Warmly,
Karen Talluto
Karen.talluto@newamsterdamchildhood.org
Monday, July 15, 2013
Pre-School Medical Forms are Due Today, 7/15/2013
The Annual Medical form must be completed by your child's physician and is due at school today, Monday, July 15th. If your form will be late please contact Karen.Talluto@newamsterdamchildhood.org.
The form must be on file for your child to attend our drop off programs this fall.
The form must be on file for your child to attend our drop off programs this fall.
Letter from Miss Elea
Summer at New Amsterdam
As the weather grows increasingly warm and the grasses grows tall, we find ourselves drawn continuously further out, falling slowly into a dream-like relationship with the world of nature. Our sense of time becomes temporarily suspended and we pause to reflect, finding a moment of quiet in between breaths, until it is time once again to realize that the wheel of life is still circling and the season turning again towards fall.
The children experience this mood of summer deeply. Rhythms of school and home begin to shift. Days lengthen and the sun seems to linger a bit each evening in the sky to enjoy just a few more moments before bedtime. The element of water comes into play with jubilant splashing in fountains, pools, ponds, and ocean mist. Magnificent castles are built in the sand and then slide away again with the incoming tide. And who can forget that summer brings such delights as flavored Ice cream and the most wonderful variety of fresh fruits and berries?
The children who have joined us at New Amsterdam this summer have been enjoying picnics at the garden, and plenty of time for romping amidst leafy trees and bushes, chasing bubbles and imaginary dragons, and giving one another horsey rides with our play reigns. On many days we walk to the far side of the garden for a visit to the baby chicks who only a few weeks ago were so small and fuzzy, but who now are growing tall and showing off colorful new adult feathers. On our first day in the summer garden, we laid out our blanket in the shade of the mulberry tree and quickly discovered that the ripe, red berries were raining right down onto our plates! On another occasion, one of the children looked up into the tree and excitedly pointed to a nearby woodpecker, displaying his jaunty red, white and black feathers and tapping here and there at the bark for something good to eat.
Over by the pond, turtles laze about in the sun and on days when the hose is on, bringing fresh water down to the pond along a rocky creek bed, the children make leaf boats and float them downstream, laughing as the tiny vessels wind their way around the rocks.
While our school community is dispersed in these summer months, traveling and spending time with friends and family, we stay connected in our thoughts and hearts. In not too long we will reunite joyfully with friends and teachers and admire all the growth and change that has taken place during the bright days of summer.
Happy thoughts and safe travels, until we meet again!
Summer Travels
Dear New Amsterdam Community,
Wholeheartedly,
I hope this summer finds you well and that you are enjoying
more time with your children.
New Amsterdam has been quietly and joyful bringing Summer programs and working
hard on our grades school initiative.
We look very forward to sharing more soon!
I am writing today to share with you that at the end of July
I will be taking fruits of my work with you and your children to 2 initiatives.
I will be meeting children,
visiting a few schools, classes and working with teachers.
One is the Rafiki Waldorf school in Tanzania, Africa.
Rafiki was started a few years ago by my dear friend and
colleague Victoria Mlay.
The school currently serves children ages 3-7 and in
Tanzania, the government requires that a traditional curriculum be
implemented. While this formal
instruction is introduced the teachers are working to bring balance and nurture
the children’s imagination and bring joy to their learning experience.
Not to far away is the Hekima Waldorf School.
While the school is serving about 150 families, they also
created a place for orphaned children.
From here I visit
the Tashi Waldorf school In Kathmandu, Nepal.
My husband will join me for 2 weeks and we will do more of
the same work.
I feel the immensity, I feel the future of Waldorf
Education, I feel the wonder of our lives. I hope to plant seeds for future
partnerships and for new capacities waiting to be born.
I will take you all with me and share my joy, stories and
love for the work we are doing together.
I really just wanted to share this with you all. Thank you
for taking time to read this and I look very forward to bring to you my
experience and seeing your loving faces when I return.
Lastly, both initiatives are in need of supplies. Although I will not have a large bag I
will bring dolls, paper books, crayons, beeswax, paint etc.
If you would like to make a donation for any of these items
please let me know.
lisa.bono@newamsterdamchildhood.org
I leave July 22nd.
Lisa
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