Winter is Coming
BY Jim LaMarche
Dawn burns the sky.
A flock of wild turkeys jostles by.
They pike everywhere, muttering food, food, food.
We can learn from animals, my father says.
About patience. About truth. About quiet.
About taking only what you need from the land because we are just its keepers.
I pay attention to the wild turkeys.
Suddenly the wild turkeys flurry away without warning.
Winter is coming.
- Happy Holiday Break No School: December 23 -January 3 *We are back together Jan 6, 2025
- Please consider donating and sharing with those seeking worthy charitable donations this holiday season, to Klahanie School’s GivingTuesday 2024 financial aid- scholarships fundraiser and find positive impact from your donations today benefiting wonderful Klahanie School families! QR code on the flyer directs to the donation page. https://givingtuesday.mightycause.com/story/8ggbwf
- Please help this Holiday Season & Donate a New Toy(s) & Books and warm coats, footwear, family holiday meals to local or extended Holiday Drives through Klahanie alumni parent Heidi Grimsley @ John L Scott, for children and families in need.
December 2024 Topics
- Winter Solstice and Festivals of Light
- Stars, Snowflakes: the intricacies and science wonders of their geometric messaging, and the sciences of stars.
- Mysteries and wonders of the Moon and lunar activities
Startalk Podcast: Cosmic Queries Lunar Geology with Dr. Neal deGrasse Tyson
On this episode of StarTalk Radio, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice are answering fan-submitted Cosmic Queries about lunar geology alongside planetary scientist Raquel Nuno. And as Raquel says, she’s here to change your mind about the Moon!
As it turns out, we don’t know very much about the Moon. Raquel explains how the Moon has been a celestial witness to everything Earth has experienced. Learn about some surprising discoveries we’ve made from moon rocks and other samples. You’ll hear how our views on the Moon changed from it being a piece of primordial dust and rock to a place with an incredible geologic history. We also discuss why we currently can’t go back to the Moon.
Next, we explore the Moon’s craters and why Earth has far fewer craters. What would we find if we extracted a core sample from the Moon? Raquel tells us about finding Moon samples on astronaut space suits. Are there still bacteria alive on the Moon left from the Apollo missions? We explore where the ice on the Moon comes from, and Raquel gives us details on creating “water out of thin space.”
You’ll learn more about Theia and the “giant-impact” hypothesis. Explore the Moon’s magma ocean of the past. Uncover the “truth” about the dark side of the Moon. Ponder what would happen if the Moon broke apart. Lastly, we discuss the true color of the Moon, and, whether we can terraform the lunar surface. All that, plus, we ask, can a moon have a moon?
About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up! #StarTalk #NeildeGrasseTyson
- Introduction to felting and weaving and art through nature
- Introduction to Identity Exploration Self Portraits: Our discussions will include awareness-introduction of pronouns and binary identified in our community. Please review the Antibias film and handbook for detailed study and methodology within Early Education settings and beyond–the work is very adaptable. We will use guidance foundations from Antibias and our local DOVE’s Prevention Specialist to best practice inclusive language and age appropriate practices for inclusive conversation. This will be gentle exploration throughout the school year, how we feel inside (deep emotions and light emotions), our awareness of self and classmates-teachers, and also awareness of the greater world all through wonderment and openness to new and hearing what is similar, what is different and then celebrating both. Guided by our Antibias foundations, we will also open circle prompts to explore with puppets and role play of continued helpful conversations and language to use in class and garden, and beyond in their practice of inclusion when discussing world and class-family traditions, identity and culture and permission based play.
- Permission/consent based play is inclusive, safe and fun large motor-imaginative play. Stop means Stop, and No/Maybe/Silence means No and Stop. We listen for what we can do when someone feels the deep emotion of fear or hurt feelings, and how we can shift our choices to support alleviating that deep emotion, broadening our sensitivities practices, as well as acknowledgment for the fear-pain is, how to then make it better and fun instead. Our intention daily is to witness, acknowledge, amends and solutions, “how can we play the longest together? How can I make this feel better? What do we need to do to help make people feel safe so we can play the longest together, and explore this as a group and find answers as a group. And have so much fun in the process. We will use add-on stories to help anchor us to sharing from the heart and being safe to be creative and cognitively aware. This time of year is a very special exchange in friendships forming and rejoicing in the similarities and differences celebrations. We all start sharing more with one another to find more areas to connect. This is the beginning of a very rich and rewarding time we dive into specific Peace Maker explorations.
- Routines of Self Care Explorations: This busy time of holiday season offers us time to look at daily and meaningful self care routines we each can establish to maintain calm and care to ourselves throughout the day. This unit will focus on Equity-peace makers resiliency methodologies that supported them during the hardest times.
- Examples will become: Journaling & Journal Making, laughter, intention based storyboards, still life art and still life meditation pauses, interpretive-therapeutic dance/movement, water explorations, stringing beads, raking sand/molding items, sensory pressure & tapping and other meditative body movements, 1-1 talk and listen it through practices.
- Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan : below are links from recordings of the past of both educators, advocates and brave equity based individuals Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. As well as a wonderful Reading Rainbow episode called “Silent Lotus” exploring life with hearing loss and methodologies of communication.
How Helen Keller Learned to Talk.
Anne Sullivan | Mini Bio | Biography
Reading Rainbow – Silent Lotus
- Koko the magnificent gorilla: This unit will extend into January and includes Specialist alumni Parent Katie Simpson who will share about her experiences working with gorillas, especially Coco! Please view Katie’s wonderful gorilla nest video on our Klahanie School YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0awvqAhpiBjCxpGRKqxbmA
- Water Catchment, underground exploration of Mycelium and underground water streams.
- Importance of mycelium, fungi, trees, forests for preventatives.
- Erosion explorations & preventatives, and soil amending will be a large focus.
- Importance of Eelgrasses and Estuaries
- Canadian Geese, ducks and seashore bird of Vashon-Maury
- Eagles: an eagle family lives across the street, offering us opportunities for connected explorations of these incredible island community members.
- Hibernating amphibians and what we large mammals need to do to support them in our shared habitats.
- Gardening in the Winter–Garden bed insect habitats and ways to prepare beds.
- Fry Bread: December we continue our focus on Indigenous exploration and seasonal traditions within many varying tribes who honor earth, family with Potlatch/ PowWows, We will enjoy eating Fry Bread before we end our month together.
- Grace and courtesy practice and fun role playing of lining up for airplanes, sitting for long periods in vehicles and public spaces will be our focus. December through the remaining school year we as a class will do ample story acting (even beginning stand up comedy, group skits, solo singing/dancing). This is a fruitful time of the school year.
- Holiday Songs and use of our parachute.
REMINDERS: Happy Holiday Break No School: December 23 -January 3 2025
- Please KEEP phones on if weather closures occur for Klahanie. We follow the Vashon school district closures and if they are late, we are closed due to the Ellisport hills here. And thank you for continuing to park so well, driving so SLOW and safely, this is the BEST group of parent drivers we have ever experienced! Thank you so much!
- Cold Days! Please & thank you for remembering to layer your child coming to school (cozy-warm pants, long underwear, pj layers) in coats, hats, mittens, socks that stay on, long sleeves. Please keep replenishing change of clothes and rain gear as moisture protection. Our schedule remains the same for 1.5-2 hrs outside daily. Please pack lots of extra socks (can be mismatched): socks are great mitten substitutes when needed and practice at home or when at the beach or forest walks! Name labeled hats, mittens and everything please. A helpful song while learning to maneuver learning to put on mittens: Thumbs in the thumb-place, fingers all together. This is the song we sing for our mitten weather. Thank you for continuing to name and label everything, we want it returned to you too. Thank you also for practicing at home taking foot wear on and off.
- Thank you for bringing extra change of warm layer clothing (easy to pull on and off in name labeled plastic bags) to school every time you get some more back home. We love keeping your children warm and comfortable!
- Please Name Label everything! We aim to get things back home to you! Thanks!
- REMEMBER TO KEEP KIDS HOME WHEN SICK, THANK YOU! School maintains sanitizations and ample hand washing/covering cough reminders, blowing noses–thanks for help at home with reminders as well.
RE-Enrollment Registration opens January 2025.
- Please note: registers are required to pay September’s first month’s tuition in full when registering. The annual, one time art/maintenance fee is due September 2025. Once you register all accounting will be visible in your jovial Accounting. Enrollment Forms will be open in January and request completion by March 2025 to help the Enrollment committee determine class age ratios in spots to fill as well as staffing plannings.
- If applying for a scholarship or need a payment plan, please contact ED Emmy Graham and accounting-budget committee klahanieschool@gmail.com, along with your financial forms found on the Forms page of our website.
- THANK YOU FOR REFERRING THE SCHOOL TO YOUR FAMILY FRIENDS AND YOUR EXTENDED FAMILY FOR REGISTRATION! New registers will go through the website Form page to find the jovial click there to register.
- Returning Families, to register: please go to your personal family jovial account to register for 2024-2025 Year Round classes in January.
Please note: Our estimated budget above is based on estimated scholarships requested, two sites, school monthly expenses (teacher salaries, insurance, CPA Accountant, rent/communications), and adhering to WA state licensing requirements for site square footage per child. Tuition totals will be finalized by re-enrollment. Klahanie will continue to seek submission of grants and fundraising to supplement scholarships. Klahanie School is 501c3.
November 2024 Reflection
Thank you Klahanie School interns Mia, Lelah, Brooklyn, Perla and Tallulah as well as teachers Deb and Shelly for creating the most wonderful Intersession week for the childcare group! Great successes, as well as all the time and care this group has for each child. And welcome Courtny to the mix and adding her expertise, we are lucky. Your children thoroughly enjoyed the meal making and enjoyment, a deep great joy is the honor serving them the food they made with such pride! As a connected class, we ended our November coming back together in great joy being back as a team. And the two week break, from our year round format, was focused by teachers on conferences, data reporting and training as well as reframing into next year plannings and a wonderfully successful first child care/ Intersession break. Thank you incredible Klahanie interns-staff for providing such a fun and thoughtful week for the small group. We all missed your children, and have enjoyed the time re-connecting. We have had an incredibly fun, charming, warm and loving month together making our class this November very intimate and joyful. The very wet periods of time have allowed us to practice more for the winter months and put on layers, making this part of our class routine and taking care of ourselves and friends. We have a lot of fun making up songs for possible added transitions. Songs and oral stories have remained a great joy as well as help from all the incredible teachers! Thank you all for such a joyful, loving month of growing community! Here are photos from our time together this November, please enjoy as much as we have witnessing the growth and fun. We are honored to be beside your child and wishing all a warm and peaceful day of Thanks.
Klahanie School 