Join us for I love the Earth Nature Camp! J’aime la nature!
Hosted by Miss Jessica
Little Naturalist French Immersion Summer camp
Week 1 – June 11-15
Week 2 -June 18-22
Week 3 – June 25-29
At summer camp this year we will focus on nature and loving the earth, while learning about trees, birds, insects and plants.
We will care for the garden and connect with plants and growing our own food.
We will play games, create art , and make organic home made popsicles.
We will speak and learn French!
We will play in the water!
We will sing songs from around the world!
We will dance dances of universal peace!
Free play too!
This camp will take place outdoors and inside, from 9am-1pm.
Please pack: bathing suits, towels, water bottles, snacks, change of clothes, and a sun hat.
Jessica has been teaching kids camps for 20 years and is a nature trained instructor, leader of the dances of universal peace, song collector worldwide, peace maker, traveler, gardener, french teacher, and lover of nature.
Limited space available. The cost per week is $175. Drop in is possible with pre-registration, and is based on availability. Mangrove students of 18-19 are eligible for discount, please inquire.
Congratulations to both teams, “Team Garbage” and “Team Spanky” for their impressive showing in the 3rd annual Custom Car Open, (with the theme of “Junkyard”) hosted by the Suncoast Science Center!
Team Garbage (Owen, Ethan and Andre) once again won the top prize in Design for their age group, with a “Mad Max” themed custom car. Team Spanky (Viveka, Grace and Trey) won second place in the same category, with a tow truck design!
We are so proud at their exceptional skills at the lab, bringing their visions to life! It is particularly impressive considering that we are a school that eschews technology in the younger years, allowing the students to build capacities such as creativity and resourcefulness. Once they are given these other tools, not only do they learn to use them quickly, but they are capable of bringing in this wonderfully imaginative element, outside the box thinking, and focus yielding effective and innovative designs!
It was quite a detailed process! “The lab was accessible throughout the build time prior to the race. Participants had access to 3D printers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters, dremels, design software, electronics and an vast assortment of hand tools for fabricating their designs. An example of creativity and a new understanding for making things is CAD(Computer Aided Design). This software creates a 3D rendering created from a sketch that can be generated into a parametric mesh of triangles and 3D printed. The 3D printer machine heats up a nozzle that extrudes and layers a plastic filament starting on a base until the model is complete. The vinyl cutter uses a knife to make the cuts from sketch lines made in Coreldraw, a 2D vector design software. The cutter was used to outline the stickers that were transferred to the shirts teams wore. Volunteers and staff are always in the lab to help transform an idea into something to behold!”, explained Eric McGrath, of the Suncoast Science Center.
AND Team Garbage also won the entire contest over all age groups, and all schools!!!!! That is some impressive building kids!
Last but not least, congratulations on their pure sportmanship, with kind words to competing teams, and admirable conduct throughout the day. A very special nod to Mangrove Dad, Bryan Suter, who helped ANY team who needed his expertise. In fact, in the last heat it was Bryan who was able to get the competing team’s car to work, with a battery loan from the “e-lemon- aters” (another wonderful team in the open)! He is an authentic example of respect, honor, and virtue. Thank you, Bryan!
Thank you to all the parents who made many trips to the lab to support your child’s passion: Keshara Alleyne, Jasen and Yolanda Benoit, Natalie and Christ Maute, Jennifer and Bryan Suter, and Abel and Lisiane Jimenez! What a commitment to make, and another excellent example for the kids!
The earth laughs in flowers ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Announcements:
Congratulations to 5th/6th Grade students Owen, Ethan, Andre, Viveka and Grace on dominating, (as a Roman would!) the Suncoast Science Center Remote Control Car Open last weekend! Read more about this competition here:
To Ms Jessica and Akbar Chris Miller for creating the Love Project for Valentine’s Day, as well as for introducing us to the New Year of the Trees! To all of our Community Lunch helpers Heather Green, Saltmeadow, 5/6 and 3/4 students, Aneta Lundquist, Ms Jessica, Shivani Lash, Ivan Miller, Natalie Maute, Lisiane Jimenez, Cheryl Kindred, – to our Legoland Chaperones – Natalie Maute, Aneta Lundquist, Tracey and Kurt Swenson, Jasen Benoit, Nancy Albright, and Tiffany Blackden!
Heartfelt gratitude to our Garden water bearers – Jessica Bromby, Yolanda Benoit, the Maute Family, And Keshara Alleyne!
Upcoming Events:
Spring Garden/Play Yard Beautification Day Next Saturday, March 24th
Join us in celebrating spring from 9-2 pm! We will work and create more beauty together. Come when you can join in on the fun!
We will be building, planting, cleaning, clearing, serving, donating, and contributing our energy to create an even more amazing atmosphere for your children in the last remaining months of school and the future of the many years to come. Hosted By Ms Jessica, Ms Natalie and Ms Keshara.
Wish List- what you can bring or help build or contribute
Arch Way for entrance of Playground
Balance beam to play on
Benches around the fire circle
Big Rocks for Fire Circle
New Sand box toys
Big Shells and Big Gems for Gemology learning (big enough so baby cant put in mouth and swallow)
More Watering Cans for playground and garden
Fix Fences – chicken wire, wood.
New Garden Gnomes, Fairies, Buddhas, Kuan Yin , Angels Guardians
Wind Chimes to hang
Signs saying – examples: no trespassing and please take care of our sacred play and garden area love the Mangrove School, watch dogs be aware.
More Bird baths
Little buckets
Prayer Flags – around the playground – we can all create beautiful flags that day and put up all around the play ground and garden.
Plants: Banana Tree, Avocado Tree, Papaya Trees, Passion fruit, More Honey suckles, Louis Phillipe Roses – best roses to grow in Florida, Sunflowers, Sugar Cane, Bamboo, many beautiful spring flowers to plant to create beauty and add a beautiful last 3 months of school for the kids, Watermelons and Everglade tomatoes Any donations or inspirations of plants or flowers, veggies, herbs for the garden are welcome! Organic ! We will end working around noon, have a Potluck all together, play some music and have a nice social spring community time party!
Any helping hands or donations from our wish list welcome!
We are all in it together and every little bit helps create unity and fun all together , for our children, our school, nature around us and our families .
If you can’t make it and have anything on the list or would like to drop off some plants on the list feel free to do so.
Please let us know if you have any questions!
Giving Partner Giving Challenge: Be The One! AND Roll-a-thon! May 1st and 2nd – Noon to Noon!
This year as the challenge was moved to the spring, we are combining these two events such that every pledge between $25-$100 is DOUBLED by the Patterson Foundation!
How it works:
We will send you a link to the donation page, which will be live for the 24 hour time period mentioned above (Tuesday, May 1st – Wednesday May 2nd, NOON to NOON) This link can be shared with family and friends to gather support for your child in the Rollathon which will take place on Wednesday May 2nd!
We will also create a Facebook event as a reminder, and this can also be a place where you can invite family and friends. All donations from $25-$100 are doubled, for each unique user. (The same person can’t make several donations across several credit cards, only one donation per user will be doubled). Only one donation per person will be doubled. The max doubled donation is $100.
How can you help?
We are asking each family to raise the equivalent of 10 $25 pledges. This would then equal a $500 donation to the school.
When the donation is being made, please have the party indicate the child or family they are supporting. Each child that has a donation sheet will of course also receive the latest Mangrove School t-shirt!
Sponsors welcome – each sponsor will be listed on the back of the t-shirt. The sponsorship deadline is April 19th.
Giant Water slide, pizza and snow cones will follow the event as well! The children look forward to this event every year! With your support we can truly make this a win for the school! To be apart of the Giving Challenge is an honor and such a privilege!
Please spread the word! There are flyers in the office – sponsors and donations are appreciated! For those looking for volunteer hours, take a few flyers to local businesses for potential sponsors – these shirts are well worn far and wide every year! Or procure donations of gift certificates to local bike or skate shops, to be bestowed on the student with the most pledges, or approach local grocers for donations of organic fruit and water.
Please let us know if you have any questions!
From Our Classrooms
In the heart of a seed, buried deep, oh so deep, a dear little plant lay fast asleep. “Wake” said the sun, “and creep to the light.” “Wake,” said the sound of the raindrops bright. The little plant heard; and it rose to see what the beautiful outside world might be.
Through the eyes of a child
Early Childhood
Dear Seahorse and Starfish parents,
Just recently I came across this little poem again,which has been and will be part of our spring circle time again in the classroom. Why do I want to share this with you here in our school update? Because this is how we see and receive your children, very day anew. The beautiful and unique journey all the children on this planet are on, is exactly described in this poem. We want to protect and nurture the little seeds that are still asleep and in their own world when they come to the Early Childhood here at Mangrove School.
Enjoying our time in nature.
Through time and hopefully only through that, we are observers of their awakening, and first peeking of when THEY are are ready to rise their heads out of the nurturing soil. Every child in their own time; just like little plants. Every single one looks different and unique and every single one is the most beautiful creation, we will ever see. Holding this in our heart, we support your children throughout their day in the Nursery and Kindergarten.
Woodworking in the kindergarten
We offer rich circles, where hand-eye coordination and ” listening ears” prepare the little ones for further years. These last weeks our circle contained of Old English Nursery rhymes, which were happily received by your children. They feel proud of memorizing and/or filling in blanks we leave throughout the circle. Movements and hand gestures are being followed; joyfully we sing and recite vivid language. We had a wonderful Valentine’s tea party and children were asked to have their best “golden manners” on at the table. “May I have more strawberries, please?” and ” Please pass the bowl” are just a couple examples of the social skills we are modeling for the children naturally throughout the day. There is a small window within the early years of a child, where these skills will be easily received and happily copied. Once this window closes, it will be harder for children to learn these social capacities in later years.
Some older children have started several different handwork activities like finger-chaining, finger-weaving and sewing.
In smaller groups they are getting one on one time with a teacher and really enjoy this. Right now some of the Kindergarten children have started to sew a ball out of multiple felt pieces.
Deep play in the Kindergarten
Outside we all are enjoying the beautiful weather. Your dear ones are busy help watering plants and our new planted trees, sanding and hammering nails into a tree stump.
Working with real tools in a safe environment is one of the greatest gifts the children can experience. Children feel proud of their achievement and practice delayed gratification. They need to work for it just like we do. Our attitude is contagious, and children catch it as soon as it becomes “their” job. We need to do our best to notice the rewards of the jobs we do: they are necessary, intelligent people do them, they are worth doing well. Children love and need to work out of imitation in their early years, so when given space and time to play freely, with models of meaningful work to imitate, children create the most varied scenarios and try out many roles that prepare them for later life.
In practical life activities, and free play, the child takes hold of her body through movement. Long hours spent sitting in front of a screen are not natural or healthy for young children. Rather, every bodily movement feeds the developing brain, and every bodily skill mastered forms a foundation for mental learning and spiritual freedom. This is the main gift of the first seven years of life.
This is why we work in our classroom through, helping set the table, sweeping and baking, moping and wiping, helping younger ones getting ready, watching and copying older ones how to do things. All these elements are an important part of our day and prepare your dear ones for mastering skills and tasks in later years.
With much love and gratitude, Ms. Birte and Ms. Laura
1st/2nd Grade
The first graders have completed their Language Arts block. Working through a progression from story to words and letters, the consonants were introduced to bring a strong association of symbol and sound. M, the Mountain letter, S, the snake letter. Pictures were drawn from the story, introducing the form and sounds of the letters and linked these with a feeling connection to the story. Various activities, such as a treasure hunt, looking for X marks the spot, and rhythmic verses and games, quickly had the children choosing a favorite letter! The children develop not only an understanding of the alphabet letters and sounds but an awareness that reading is more than a series of sounds strung together, letters are part of a whole, and elements of entire words, verses and stories.
First grade made washcloths!
In addition, we reviewed Roman numerals, trying to write numbers in the hundreds and thousands! We returned briefly to form drawing, with more challenging continuous horizontal drawings, preparing the children for cursive writing in the coming years. The first graders have nearly all completed knitting their washcloths and have re-sanded their needles, wound a new ball of yarn and are excited to start a new project soon!
The second graders have been working hard writing words from their first books, sight words as well as word patterns. This writing practice is an excellent aid in developing reading skills. We have been reading from Shelly Davidow’s series, which the children have adeptly informed me are not “real” stories, they are just to teach you to read! The children enjoy their quiet reading time and the word games we’ve played to support becoming more fluid in sound recognition for writing as well as reading.
We did a short form drawing block, working towards more difficult forms and mastering the necessary precision. The children are nearly done knitting their slippers, and will begin to sew the leather bottoms on soon. They are so excited to be wearing one slipper, while knitting the other!
Part of the first grade play
First and second graders paint weekly. Wet-on wet watercolor painting brings much to the children. Through this work with technique, a range of growing skills will become the core of individual expression. The children are very excited to see which colors will play each week, which colors will visit each other, or are they too shy to touch, or will they join a friend to make a new color! Painting class is held in reverence, it is a quiet time, the children are encouraged to listen to the colors and be present in the experience. Being able to hold that sense of stillness is improving within the classes as our year progresses. The classes also enjoyed making kites, and of course flying them, as well as the string game and slip knot challenges!
Kite flying
3rd/4th Grade
With the coming of the new calendar year, the children jumped right into getting to know the characters of Norse Mythology. We heard the story of creation, the growth of the great tree Yggdrasil, the creation of humans and formation all the realms. Children met Odin, Thor, Loki, the Norns, Frey, Freya, Balder, Heimdal, Njord, Bragi and more. After the myths were told, many of the characters were drawn into their main lesson books, along with the children’s versions of the myths in written form. We’ll have the opportunity to hear more of these stories in a second Norse Mythology block in which the children will practice independently composing the myths in their notebooks as well as continuing to illustrate scenes from the myths.
Working together
From here we moved into our first Language Arts block of the year. Through examples and acting, we explored the four kinds of words, articles, the kinds of sentences, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, pronouns, verb tenses, and well loved punctuation. To add flavor beyond our typical joyful approach to all things learning, each child has been reading The Wizard of Oz, The Phantom Tollbooth, or My Side of the Mountain chorally and/or independently. It has been such a joy to hear the children’s thoughts on and reactions to the books, as well as their responses to questions I ask. Having the opportunity to plan how much they want to read before chatting about the book with their teacher has resulted in some children assigning themselves homework and fulfilling many of their goals.
Outdoor reading circle
During our first math block we explored the hidden side of numbers, the casting out 9’s, using secret numbers to check multiplication problems, the 4 kinds of numbers and factors. We have spent the last few weeks befriending fractions, specifically adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators and reducing fractions. Next we will turn our attention to multiplying and dividing fractions, as well as practicing the skills of renaming fractions and finding the least common multiple. While we will utilize manipulatives (including food of course), our aim is to move toward working with fractions in their abstract form. Children will continue to practice multiplication facts as well as expand to division facts for short time periods during the week.
Math = delicious!
Outside the classroom has been quite rich as well. Bringing balance and rhythm to our walking, breathing, and being has been a main practice that shows up when walking to and from the playground, playing new games, focusing our minds before and during lessons, and so forth. The lessons that animals taught us from our first Zoology block are circling around again. We have spent relaxed time during the past few Forest Fridays settling into our surroundings and practicing what the animals teach. This has led us to look for finding the fit between two or more aspects of nature, following animals or their paths to gain new understanding, looking for the exact places where some balance shifts, sitting and walking quietly so that we disturb less and observe more, seeing activities of flows of energy and the different behaviors, seeing invisible flows, seeing upward spirals that lead to more possibilities, downward spirals, the world as flowing into itself rather than separate edges, and finally noting the direction in which we are putting our life energy with each breath, action and thought.
What do you see?
As we noted during our simultaneously musical and contemplative music theory blocks, rhythmic motion keeps the whole universe going. In our lives our breath is both the cause and effect of this rhythmic motion, so the more attention we give to our breath, the more we understand about ourselves and the workings of the universe.
This group of exceptional children continues to move along as a community, looking to each other for connection, fun, increasing self-knowledge, and growth. I am looking to travel with the class to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park when we return to the second block of Zoology in May so as to get more face time with many species of animals.
5th/6th Grade
What a whirlwind it has been; our days have been action packed! After our very time intensive investment in Mermaid Faire, the students refocused on our Roman studies, this time during the time of the Empire. We saw domination in a swiftly spreading outward expansion, and looked at their standardized process of building of a city – the expert planning and execution of sheer architectural marvels. In this way, the Romans were in an historical sense part of what the children of this age are often experiencing, a consciousness of personal power and confidence: “I can do anything!” In the video below, you’ll find them learning “stage combat” for their Roman play.
We also discovered the historical significance of Jesus of Nazareth, for whom we first went back for a short time to the much admired Alexander the Great and his occupation of Judea, then waded through years of Roman occupation to better understand the history of the area. Through this story we then saw a crossing of the Rubicon for humanity, as a new religion ebbed and flowed, all the while strongly influencing the course of history, particularly once Constantine came to power. There were many “a-ha’ moments here, as suddenly bits and pieces of stories they may have heard began to become part of a larger picture. We reflected on how Rome had changed over the centuries, from a power house to be reckoned with to something more like a house of cards – a shockingly stark contrast that was quite sobering. Rome’s spirit of conquest and ability to transform the world around them with roads, building structures, and aqueducts is inspiring, however, the cautionary tale of the important consequences of the excesses of this period, was quickly perceived by the students as we profiled the later Emperors.
We still have many more years of history to cover in order to fully understand the transformation of Europe, but through the fall of the Empire, they were able to see many things – and it led to wonderful discussions – they were at times outraged, at times empathetic, and it also gave them a sense of our own times – how difficult it can be to maintain something so large, or how people can have the best intentions but do something that is unethical. Some were eager to hear of the smoking ruins, whereas others were sympathetic to the Romans as they became the underdogs to Germanic tribes. There was some humor her as well as the students learned the advent of the “ugly, barbaric” language of…English!
In Business Math, we started at the beginning, first what a self-sufficient economy looks like, and then with our oldest collaborative economy – barter. We created our own barter economy in class with various snacks and were able to see how one assigns value – how many seaweed pieces can be traded for how many crackers, for example. Then we looked at the evolution of this type of economy into portable, non-perishable metals, and coins, through more modern times with the ending of the gold standard and the future of digital money. We reviewed the value of American money and then began to work with percentage. We then learned how to make a pie graph using percentage, and how we can use percentage in everyday life – sales, content (for example clothing), determining popularity (for example, elections), taxes and lastly interest rates. There were percentages in all facets of life as it turned out! We also learned about the history of banking, beginning with the Knights Templar, who will be explored again, shortly, as we begin our studies of Medieval Times. We of course continue to review fractions and decimals, converting between the two, operations of, and concepts such as prime factorization. We also reviewed square numbers, powers of two, and square roots. We created a line graph of the moon rise and set in Sarasota over about half a cycle, and were able to then visually see the pattern each day and over the month, and what can be predicted from this information.
Learning how to assign value in a practical, meaningful way.
Our Astronomy studies have included the apparent movement of the stars after careful observation, constellations easily spotted this time of year, a review of our Pole Star, and which constellations appear to rotate around it, and an exploration of the Zodiac.
We have also revisited North American Geography from the Fall, now moving further westward, towards new landscapes and resources, such as the Great Plains, the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, getting a sense of how difficult it could be to settle there.
Last month we also helped to create the Chinese New Year celebration, as we followed the moon cycles to the second new moon after the Winter solstice, which was February 15th. Studying various customs when possible, fosters an openness to the world.
One of their favorite celebrations!
On our forest days we have been focusing mostly on awareness activities, which seem to be a perfect antidote to the characteristic inward focus sometimes encountered in this age group. We have done blindfolded walks through the woods, estimating distances blindfolded, and bird language activities. With bird language we have focused more on what we think the birds are trying to communicate, and to whom, rather than the specific birds (other than the very obvious ones many already know). The 5 types of calls help us to be more aware when we are in nature, so we explored this, as the students created their own alarm calls, male aggression sounds, and a definite favorite – begging.
Through this type of awareness, they might see things the wouldn’t normally because they aren’t tuned into these clues, such as a predator styling passing through or a mother bird feeding her babies.
Awareness activity – blindfolded walk.
The gratitude jar we started in class has overflowed, as the children find the positive throughout their day, one of the pathways to happiness. We also began an experiment, similar to Dr Emoto’s water experiment, with one plant being subject to words of love, encouragement and kindness, and the other received messages of a lower vibration – and see if the energy of our words affects other beings. We hypothesize that it may be that our words carry a lot of weight – that an unkind word can actually cause another being to not grow as well. We will report our findings in our next newsletter.
When we return from break we will behold the wonder of all things practical by applying our understanding of business math to borrowing, lending and the role of banks, and creating our own personal budgets. We will also delve into the Dark Ages of humanity, as we seek what may illuminate them, in the age old struggle between dark and light. This is also mirroring another aspect of what is happening within our own pre-adolescent children, as they struggle with self-consciousness, connection and social difficulties that accompany the balancing of their own needs and the desire to conform (here we see a polarity of the confidence mentioned in the first paragraph). In everything we are doing, we encourage a healthy interest, enthusiasm, and compassion for the world and its inhabitants, which leads to a better understanding of ourselves.
Connecting through shared interests.
Please be on the lookout for an email regarding our spring project, to be revealed to the students next week! Adventures abound!
Mangrove School of Sarasota will once again celebrate the tradition of May Day, this time with a Florida twist!
In ancient traditions, the lovely festival of May Day marks what is considered the first day of summer in Celtic lands. For many years, we have upheld this tradition, gathering in an open field to dance the Maypole in the mid-day sun, as it is done up North. A few years ago, we adapted this sweet festival for our own climate and culture, by celebrating the coming of summer with a beach evening, and dancing the maypole at sunset.
Join us at the beach at sunset as we welcome in Florida summer, longer days and relaxed routines.
We will have our Maypole with flowers on the top and ribbons hanging from it to weave in and out with skipping songs and dances. We will all join hands and hearts around the Maypole to festive live music and rejoice in the coming of summer, with many relaxing, breezy evenings at the beach.
Families are invited to enjoy the lovely dancing, singing, and live music that are woven throughout the festivities!
We Invite You To Join Us For:
Live music, and maypole dancing.
What To Bring:
Blanket and/or chairs, and a picnic dinner for your own picnic. Flowers, if you would like to make a floral wreath. We will have vines and other supplies on hand, if you need.
What To Wear:
White, or light colors
What to Expect:
Fun for adults and kids of all ages!
What Location:
Siesta Key Main Beach, near the yellow lifeguard stand
What Time:
5:30 -8:00 pm
This is a FREE event, our gift to the Sarasota community.
What is the Giving Challenge?
The Giving Challenge is a 24 hour online fundraising opportunity for non-profits in our community. All donations between $25 and $100 are matched 1:1!
Is there an event I have to attend or can I do this from home?
You can do either or both! This year our annual Roll-a-thon will be on Wednesday, May 2nd to allow the students to get involved and to celebrate this amazing matching opportunity. You are welcome to attend this super fun event, all donations need to be made online however, to qualify for the donor matching through the Patterson Foundation.
Who is Mangrove School of Sarasota?
Mangrove School of Sarasota is a non-profit educational center providing children and families in the Sarasota area with developmentally appropriate programming that supports real, lifelong learning.
Where will my donation go?
All funds donated to Mangrove School will go directly towards programs that enrich the lives of our students as well as the greater community.
How do I donate?
Anytime: Make a Pledge In Advance
1. Call our office at 941-927-3711
2. Your contact and credit information will be securely stored.
3. On May 1, we’ll register your donation on the Giving Partner Website, and your child’s pledge form will be updated.
4. You will get an email from The Community Foundation of Sarasota County with a receipt for your 100% tax- deductible contribution.
OR, Day of the Challenge: Make a Donation Online, From Anywhere:
2. Enter Mangrove School of Sarasota on the organization name box in the top righthand corner.
3. Fill in your contact information on the website’s secure form.
4. Make your 100% tax-deductible donation with your credit or debit card.
5. Make your donation “In Honor of” your child or children so their pledge form is updated automatically.
6. You will receive an immediate receipt through your email address.
The link above will go LIVE on Tuesday 5/1 at Noon, and will remain available until Wednesday 5/2 at Noon.
Be the One to support education for the whole child – head, heart and hands! Thank you so much for your support!
Open to all! Come make a Dream Catcher!
All ages welcome – all activities are designed to appeal to a wide variety of ages – older children can complete independently – younger ones may need assistance, very little ones may opt to play while mom or dad crafts, and that is ok too!
In our classrooms you will find gluten free bread baking in our cozy kindergarten from 10:45-11:15, for ages toddler and up (younger than that age are welcome to explore the room and play) along with warm herbal tea and refreshments throughout the event.
In addition, enjoy a puppet story for younger ones (or young at heart) at 11:15.
Our faculty will be present, and our classrooms open, each showcasing different aspects of our curriculum, with hands on activities, if you are interested in discovering how your child can benefit from our unique developmental approach: education for the head, heart, and hands.
Our course offerings are from newborn through 7th Grade for the 18-19 school year, including our drop off homeschool enrichment program.
We hope to see you there!
We are so grateful for the incredible support for our 2018 Mermaid Faire!
Thank you to sponsors – Veronica Fish and Oyster, Michelle Roy, LMT, and The Carroll-Pappanastos Family!
Thank you to donors 221 BC Kombucha, India Artisans and School Grandma Marion Scott!
Thank you to our vendors and friends – Longboat Key Turtle Watch, Circusoul Yoga, Soul to Soul Yoga, Lunavim, BeautyCounter by Kayla, Maisythebooklady.com, Yvi B Jones, Color Street, and Lindsay Tuttle.
Watching our community come together to create this incredible, unique event, was so heartening! Each family contributing what they could, their talents to a particular area, this is an engaged community!
Thank you so much to:
Anya Adams, for creating and managing the Treasure Hunt, to Stephanie Lallo, Annie Magnat, and Jessica Kramer, and Kalin Wilson for covering the activity!
Angelo Chiroli, for extensive set up help and loaning us additional tents!
Lisiane Jimenez, for managing the Mermaid Slime Booth!
Suzanne McMillan, for managing the Candle Dipping!
Keshara Alleyne, Tibisay Barrios, Shivani Lash, Jon Stevens, and Rita Radni for creating our Mermaid Cove
Liz Pascoe-Broome – for her expert assitance to the 5/6th grade in their Journey to Atlantis installation!
Laura Barrett, Birte Hoag and Kalin Wilson for their stupendous puppet story!
Alison Goldy for creating “Neptune’s Challenge”, Jessica Bromby for set up!
Sarah Holton, Dee Gangi and Yolanda Benoit for signage!
Yolanda Benoit and Dee Gangi for treats and decor outside!
The amazing Jean Kowacki for the best faire food ever!
Ernest Pappanastos for an incredible greeting sign!!!
Chris Maute for crafting treasures so equisitely!
Geoff Pierce and Ivan Miller for light set up
Jessica Rood, Rekha Chiroli and Michelle Carroll for promotion!
Michelle Carroll, Heather Green and the Mermaids for taking pictures!
Jean Kowacki, Jacques Kowacki, Rebecca Rothstein, Dee Gangi, Yolanda Benoit, Shane Ainsworth, and Judith Lescano, for food service!
Akio Otomo, for managing parking the whole faire!
Michelle Roy, Rekha Chiroli, Ernest Pappanastos, Natalie Maute and Brian Reichenbach for ticket taking and assisting with our indoor events.
Michelle Carroll, Tibisay Barrios, Sheri Hartnell, Darcy Nelson, and Jennifer Suter for food donations!
Our floaters, Jon Stevens, Jessica Bromby, Birdman, Eric Rodriguez, Adrienne Adiobun, and Judith Lescano. So helpful!
Sarah Holton, Rekha Chiroli, Natalie and Chris Maute, Tracey and Kurt Swenson, Shivani Lash, Keshara Alleyne, Tibisay Barios, Liz Pascoe-Broom, Heather Green, Chuck Green, Saltmeadow School, Our 5th/6th grade, Eric and Aneta Lundquist, Yolanda Benoit, Jasen Benoit, Michelle Caroll, Ernie Pappanastos, Jennifer and Brian Suter, Rebecca Rothstein, Jean Kowacki, Jacques Kowacki, Dee Gangi, Darcy Nelson, Ian Nelson, Laura Barrett, Birte Hoag, for your extensive help with clean up! For the first time ever the Faire was completely undone just hours after the Faire. Our endless gratitude for this!!!
To Elena’s grandma for delighting children of all ages with her bubbles, to Ms Lisa for bringing an island feel with her relaxing tunes, and to our storyteller extraordinaire, Mermaid Marivi!
To our 3/4th grade for their efforts in slime making preparations and execution during the Faire – lead by Mr Jon.
To our 5/6th grade class, who were inspired to create and execute their own event – The Journey to Atlantis. Engaged children worked for weeks to bring this vision to life, and were thrilled to see the reactions of their audiences. They fulfilled their commitment with persistence, poise and joy! To our actors and actresses, Gears, Bookworm, Galaxy, Mountain Rose, Tea Tree, The Animal Whisperer, The Mooshie, Shadow, Parkour Master, Erika, Moonshine, Hibiscus, Destiny, and Sapphire, we are in awe! Thank you also to the families of the 5/6th grade for your support!
Last but certainly not least – our enchanting mermaids, who brought such joy to our children, and tears to the eyes of adults. Through you, we could all witness (and remember) the wonder of childhood. Thank you for allowing us to still believe in magic!
This event was community at its best – each person inspired to contribute their gifts and work towards the good of the whole. Thank YOU for showing up, invested and engaged, and bringing this lovely event to the Sarasota area. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Open to all! Come make a sweet Valentines Wreath!
All ages welcome – all activities are designed to appeal to a wide variety of ages – older children can complete independently – younger ones may need assistance, very little ones may opt to play while mom or dad crafts, and that is ok too!
In our classrooms you will find gluten free bread baking in our cozy kindergarten from 10:45-11:15, for ages toddler and up (younger than that age are welcome to explore the room and play) along with warm herbal tea and refreshments throughout the event.
In addition, enjoy a puppet story for younger ones (or young at heart) at 11:15.
Our faculty will be present, and our classrooms open, each showcasing different aspects of our curriculum, with hands on activities, if you are interested in discovering how your child can benefit from our unique developmental approach: education for the head, heart, and hands.
Our course offerings are from newborn and up, including our drop off homeschool enrichment program.
We hope to see you there!
One kind word can warm three winter months. ~ Japanese Proverb
Thank YOU! All of you! We are so grateful for the many gifts our community has shared with each other. From Community Lunches, to the Holiday Marketplace, to the Winter Spiral, the Winter Assembly, in our classrooms, our forest classroom, our camping trip – there have been many opportunities for us to come together and create special memories for the children and ourselves, and we couldn’t have done it without you!
Our sincere gratitude to: Yolanda and Jasen Benoit, Keshara Alleyne, Natalie and Chris Maute, Michelle Roy, Rekha and Angelo Chiroli, Geoff Pierce and Jessica Rood, Eric and Aneta Lundquist, Chuck and Heather Green, Suzanne McMillan, Tibisay Barios, Judith Lescano, Sean Stringer, Michelle Carroll and Ernie Pappanastos, Jon Stevens and Shivani Lash, Jennifer and Brian Suter, Jessica Bromby, Chris Miller, Tiffany and Gary Blackden, Souad Dreyfus, Kalin Wilson, Lisiane Jimenez, Amy and Eric Rodriguez, Adrienne and Dayo Abiodun, Miriam Cornell, Ivan and Billie MIller, Cheryl Kindred, Alison and Matt Goldy, Tracey and Kurt Swenson, Amber Heller and Brian Mackin, Sheri Hartnell, Brandy and Ben Gray, Rebecca Rothstein, Ms Liz, Ms Carlann and Ms Lisa.
Special thank you to Marion Scott, school grandma for her very generous end of year donation, and to the Rodriguez family for donating a rug to the first grade after the unfortunate flooding.
Upcoming Events
This is the big one! We need all hands on deck for our upcoming Mermaid Faire, Saturday January 27th, 2-6pm Thank you to all who have already signed up to volunteer!
If you have not yet signed up, please check your email for the sign up link. We still need several key positions filled in order to adequately staff each activity. Opportunities are available before, during and after the faire.
If you are unable to volunteer, or only for a short amount of time, we also need items donated, and are also accepting sponsorships for the Faire as well as individual activities. Please email us at mangrovesarasota@gmail.com for details
Thank you so much to Michelle Roy, LMT for sponsoring Journey to Atlantis, our entirely student run production by the 5th/6th grade. They are so thrilled to offer this to the community!
We are so grateful to any help offered!!!! Please ask questions if you are unsure of what you can do. THANK YOU!!!
Are You Interested In Creating or Expanding Your Fitness Regimen? (Open to parents and friends of MSS)
Posture, Strength, and Mobility Class
Anya Adams, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach and CHEK (corrective high performance exercise kinesiology) Practitioner, will be offering a four week exercise class focused on improving posture, strength, and mobility at the Mangrove School. Each one hour class will consist of a foot to neck warm-up, strengthening exercises for a different muscle groups, myofascial stretches, and spinal ELDOAs (postures that decompress specific joint regions). Whether you rarely work out or are a seasoned athlete you are sure to benefit from this unique outdoor class that will begin directly after dropping your child off at school. This is also suitable for those with back and neck pain! ALL proceeds go to the Mangrove School. Please bring a yoga/exercise mat. For more info on the instructor’s experience and qualifications visit www.coachanyaadams.com
Make dinner a selfless act by joining us for a fundraiser
to support our school and community! Join us at Chipotle!
1707 Tamiami Trail South in Sarasota on Monday, February 12th
Between 4:00 pm and 8:00pm
We will be handing out flyers – bring in the flyer, show it on your smartphone or tell the cashier you’re supporting the cause to make sure that 50% of the proceeds will be donated to Mangrove School of Sarasota. Please invite friends and family too!
Announcements:
Community Lunch Changes! We are so appreciative to all who have helped with and donated to Community Lunch. As you may know, Community Lunch, while a lovely chance for our all of us to come together weekly, is also very time consuming, and difficult to execute without quite a bit of assistance – there is planning, shopping, prepping, cooking, set up, serving and clean up. Unfortunately, our students can only help with latter three tasks most weeks. So, we have decided to make our Thursday Community Lunch a bi weekly event, still rotating hosts by grade (unless someone wants to volunteer to coordinate): so, not THIS week, but NEXT week, it will be 1/2nd grade’s turn to host (1/25). We would then skip a week, so the next Thursday would be 2/8.
Instead, since the students are able to help more easily, and the clean up is a snap, we will offer a second “Campfire” Community Lunch on Fridays that we are at Crowley. Thus we are depending less on parental assistance, which we realize can be difficult to ascertain mid-day. Parents are of course, always welcome to stay/visit/help if they’d like! This coming Friday we will make soup, since it is likely to be quite cold, but we will also rotate other meals in, giving the students a chance to learn how to cook all kinds of things on the fire.
From Our Classrooms:
Drama:
1st: We are beginning the exploration of creative dramatics in our play. Reading through the classic tales of Beatrix Potter the students listen to the story and then act out the story as it is read again. Eventually we will choose a story we would like to show as a play. These whimsical tales involve a variety of emotions and introduce characters that are relatable and recognizable in their animal nature.
2nd: Our focus right now is the exploration of Aesop’s Fables. After one is read we discuss what lessons can be learned from the story. The second grade has enjoyed acting out these stories and we look forward sharing them as a play at at future date.
3/4th: We have just begun casting and rehearsals for our next play: The Citrus Wizard! The play tells the story of Lue Gim Gong and his agricultural influence in Florida. The students have scripts and have been encouraged to memorize lines outside of class. We look forward to sharing this play at a later date.
5/6th: Busy prepping for Mermaid Faire has been our main focus over the last few weeks. In addition to planning and creating, we have also incorporated some emotional intelligence exercises and played out scenarios to assist with empathy and emotional consideration. This is helpful work in relating to others’ needs, opinions, and experiences, in addition to feeling they can share their own.
~Ms Liz
Spanish:
One of my favorite days this semester was our experiential day of the 5 senses: La Vista, El Olfato, El Oído, El Gusto, El Tacto. I brought show and tell items to make this day all about the senses , for example, I brought a bunch of different essential oils for smell that got passed around the room, and Hispanic instruments to listen to. They all got very involved in participating and getting all their senses involved.
During Thanksgiving week, I had them create their own Gratitude Tree they had to draw out with the Thanksgiving Spanish Vocab words and had a little game we played, where we took a journey through Frowny Forest, Mad Mountain, & Sad Swamp by yelling out the things are are grateful for to get to Grateful Garden. We went over how to say everything they are grateful for in Spanish, even the sun, the moon, nature, and all the elements: agua, fuego, tierra, aire.
After returning from break we reviewed how to say “Happy New Year”, New Year customs, the months of the year and various dates, such as how to say ones’ birthday.
Seahorse Nursery and Starfish Kindergarten
In December, the Nursery/Kindergarten was getting ready for the Holidays. During this time of the year, the feeling is about reverence and doing for others. The children dipped candles and made cards to give to their families as a gift. The candle dipping is a lesson in patience and care, as the candles are dipped many times to achieve the right thickness. Each child experienced the wonder with each dip as their candle got bigger.
Another activity that helped foster reverence and care was polishing the apples for the Winter Spiral. The children enjoyed using a cloth to wipe the apples until they were bright and shiny. Walking the spiral is a thoughtful process for the children as they watch the light from the many candles grow and grow as more people light their own candles and add them to the spiral.
In the classroom at that time, the circle was about Dwarfs deep in the earth. This circle is repetitive in asking the children “Who is that I hear hacking and cracking at rocks and stones?” They go through many different animals until it is discovered that it is the Dwarfs inside the hills. This circle has many gross motor and fine motor movements and incorporates song. Comprehension skills and Language arts are emphasized through song and movement as well as the circle finger games with a sense of enthusiasm.
The last three days of school were held outdoors at Crowley Nature Center. Some families chose to camp and it was a wonderful experience for the children to experience helping set up tents, organize the camp and carry the camper’s belongings to the campsite. These activities give the children a window into working as a community and how things can be accomplished when we work together. Many children, in helping to put up tents, got to use their problem solving skills, such as what poles to use and where they would go and what order they would be used. The children also learned about fire safety, how to arrange the sticks and what to use to create a fire that is safe and burns well. Many holiday and winter songs were sung and the children loved going from campsite to campsite singing. The zip line and feeding the “cracker cows” are other activities that the children love doing when they go to Crowley. The children learn to treat the cows with respect and have found out they they love hay to eat. At the zip line, the gross motor skills are put to the test as the children find out new ways to get on the zip line seat and they work to help each other by brainstorming together.
For the New Year the children cleaned the room with warm soapy cloths. The wood shone and the room smelled wonderful as every child took part in making their surroundings clean. Outside in the play garden, we saw that the orange trees were full of ripe oranges ready to be picked. The children enjoyed the fruit and learned to share what was on the tree and to even leave some for the animals that live in our neighborhood. That same day we had a small fire in the fire pit in the play garden using cedar that we had found. It smelled so good and the children again learned about starting a fire and the safety needed around it.
Our circle for this new year is about a mouse that runs from the basement(toes) to the attic(head) in a quest for cheese. It requires the children to stretch their legs out in front of them and reach to their toes and then like little mice walk their fingers up to their knees, waist, shoulders and then their head. The mouse goes up one floor at a time and then runs down each time he doesn’t find cheese. The children think this is great fun and enjoy getting to the head and wiggling their fingers in their hair. This circle is fun and gives the children the chance to appreciate the rhythmic aspect of language and improve their ability to concentrate.
Our trip to Crowley this new year included, cooking popcorn, chopping vegetables for a delicious soup, a trip to the zip line and feeding the cows. We look forward to adventures in the Nursery/Kindergarten in the new year.
Best wishes,
Ms. Birte and Ms. Laura
1/2nd Grade
Our arithmetic work in first grade centered around the qualities of numbers 1-12. Where do we find each number in nature? What comes in threes? Fives? We had fun discovering three leaf clovers, and watching for numbers as we took a walk, as well as singing and playing number games.
We then moved into a language arts block, specifically the consonants. This is brought to the children pictorially, first hearing a story, then drawing a picture, pulling the letter from the picture and practice writing it. Once again they enjoyed discovering letters around the campus as well as recognizing the sounds they’ve learned and often sharing it as they hear words that contain our first letters!
The first graders are enjoying their knitting experience, having completed their needles, they are now knitting washcloths, and are excited to take a bath to use them!
The second graders have completed their arithmetic block. Addition and subtraction review was first, both writing and verbal problems. We then moved into multiplication tables, 2-8. We used writing, manipulatives, rhythms and writing. They loved the challenge of “skip counting” the tables and making their “house of numbers”.
After the break they started a form drawing block, reviewing forms from last year, and a few new ones, working toward cursive writing.
Our weekly rhythm continues for first and second graders to include painting, beeswax modeling and specialty classes. The children are also enjoying learning string games such as “witches broom” and “winking eye”, most recently moving on to speed challenges to demonstrate their growing skills! ~ Ms McMillan
3rd/4th Grade
The children enjoyed using the secret numbers to check their work when practicing double digit multiplication. While multiplication facts are not yet automatic in most of the children, they each were able to master the process of double digit multiplication without the assistance of the guides we created. While some worked on multiplication, others began learning long division. The children will continue to work on multiplication, division, addition and subtraction several times a week and return to focus on Fractions in March.
We then turned our attention to Zoology during the last week of November and two weeks of December. We started off this block playing animal form games. After considering the bodies of humans in its three-fold form, the head, trunk and limbs, we began playing games using only one or two of these components. Games without a head meant no sight, hearing, communication or smelling. Students attempted to find pine cone “food” without their senses or limbs. We took limbs away and tried to play soccer and so forth. Without sight students played a game called Nutty Squirrel in which they relied on their parent to find food. Awareness games including Predator and Prey were played as well, all to help us get into our bodies and senses and to answer the question, “What is it like to be an animal?”
In the classroom we began with discussing what the four kingdoms (minerals, plants, animals and humans) do, and which gift they hand on to the next kingdom. The children surveyed the animal kingdom, noting particular animals that were specialized to be mostly head, trunk, and limbs. After exploring the nerve sense, rhythmic, and metabolism of the three-fold nature, we connected them to the forces of thinking, feeling, and willing and how to use these forces to move toward joy and creativity.
Rounding out the first block of Zoology was giving our attention to animal expertise. Through stories and illustrations, we explored some of the countless ways that animals teach us, through their mastery, the laws of nature. Some of these teachings include finding the fit between two pieces of the world, seeing the edge of balance, patterns, change happening in spiraling relationships, the invisible becoming visible when we sit and walk quietly, the two levels of behavior within a flow, and everything on earth being a part of a flowing cycle. To succinctly summarize, we began learning to see the world as a giant flow of energy. Because everything is energy, and it is moving/changing/flowing, we can track the spirals of change, see invisible flows, recognize the need to constantly adjust to the world, see the flowing “up” of energy toward more possibilities, see the flowing “down” of energy toward fewer possibilities, and recognize that these laws of flow apply to our own thinking, feeling and willing. Many stories were told, including the young turkey vulture landing upside down, the white gull in the thermal, cormorants feeding in the ocean, the water strider near the cascade, tundra buttercup, crabs in the tidepool, fox hunting the squirrel, eagle hunting the rabbit, the flock of feeding snow buntings, antlers and squirrels, and snowshoe hares.
We have just commenced our journey into Norse Myths with the telling of the Norse creation story. I look forward to the lively discussions, reactions, compositions, and discoveries that these myths will bring forth.
Thanks,
Jon
5th/6th Grade
Dear Parents,
When reflecting on 2017, the time spent with your children fills me with inspiration and gratitude. Thank you, dear parents, for your continued support!
In our first meeting after the break we played a few games that focused on really listening to each other (as of course they were all really wanting to talk to one another) but could they listen and remember what everyone said?
We also created a gratitude jar – an empty jar that they can fill with slips of paper containing thoughts of gratitude they have during their school day. We can ALWAYS find something to be grateful for, even if it is just the chair we are sitting in…but it takes practice, so this is something I wanted to foster, with the hope that they can use this throughout their lives.
We also touched on communication, which, despite their penchant for talking, isn’t always easy! They love to talk, but are they able to speak freely and meaningfully without fear of judgement? There are times when play goes too far, or feelings are hurt, can they have the courage to say so in the moment? Or can they clear the issue later without harboring bad feelings? Can they remember the three gates their words need to pass through? These are all things that take such an immense amount of practice, as they re-learn through a different lens, than from their younger years, before the (perfectly natural for this age) tendency to conform and go with the crowd began, so we continually check in with class meetings and role play in drama class to boost their courage and confidence in social situations of all kinds. As an adult it is easy to say, “You should just….” but it simply isn’t that easy, as they begin to navigate their social lives more independently, with big, sometimes confusing feelings.
Over the past several weeks, both before break and after, the focus of our main academic times have been four fold. On the one hand we have spent time studying the nature of the earth itself, in Mineralogy, while at other times gazing up into the heavens to consider what is happening beyond what we can see with our eyes. We have also looked back in time to a particularly difficult period of human history, when power reigned supreme in Rome, a time when law and order, but not necessarily justice prevailed. Finally we spent much time entranced in a different kind of law and order, the wonder of number, as we discovered many patterns we can count on.
In Mineralogy we looked specifically at quartz, as we live in the unique geographical location of abundant quartz sand beaches, and learned about its various properties and applications, from how we feel when we are at the beach, to its essential role in building technology (talk about a polarity!) We learned about the history of glass making from its first appearance in human history to the present, as well as visited a glass studio and tried our hands at fusing glass.
We also looked at limestone again, this time for its role in the manufacture of cement and thus, concrete. (For which Romans were renowned). We experimented with making our own mosaics in the style of Rome as well, after learning about the highly skilled craftsmen of that time.
In Astronomy, the big leap we take is in extrapolation. This can be difficult for some as they have to imagine what is happening without being able to see it themselves. We often use models, or have students represent different celestial entities to more easily visualize what is occurring. We began first by bringing consciousness to the moon and its phases, understanding what movement is happening, and why we see what we see at any given time, and the patterns to look for.
Then we focused on the sun, and its relationship with the earth, and the seasons. Many students know various anecdotes coming into Astronomy but they can’t explain the why. So we looked in detail from various geographical locations on earth so we can understand and make predictions of what we could expect to see. The seasons were of particular interest as where we happen to live the changes are less obvious. Examining these other clues gives us more of an awareness of what is happening around us and why. Many remembered that we had experienced a total solar eclipse in parts of North America over the summer, and we also simulated our own eclipse, using balls to scale of the earth, moon and sun. The students were surprised to see just how far the sun had to be in order for this to actually work. The length of Ridgewood Street, as it turns out! Lunar eclipses were also examined, particularly why they don’t occur every month during a new moon.
On our camping trip we were able to do some star gazing together as a class; students were given two constellations that they could see this time of year easily here at 27 degrees latitude, that they could then practice looking for themselves. Then, we will see what happens a month from then, or two months from then. They were also given an assignment to do their own stargazing and sketching one star in each direction in relation to a landmark, over a 2 hour time period, so we can begin to look at the apparent movement of the stars. We will continue to look at this over the semester, so they can begin to have a map of the sky of sorts, understand what to look for when, what they can count on, and hopefully continue to gaze up once in awhile, and imagine the thousands of years of human civilizations who have seen the same sky.
Our Roman studies before the break included the end of the Roman Republic, with various biographical accounts for the students to debate and discuss. From Hannibal, to Marius, to Sulla, they were given much to either delight in or be dismayed by depending on their own perspective. One thing they were all able to see is that all of these people, despite their rough exterior have positive qualities or have made positive contributions to society. It isn’t so black and white, as it turns out!
After the break they have picked up again with Julius Caesar (who received cheers when he appeared in our stories) and we are currently learning of his crossing of the Rubicon – a poignant time in our classroom, as our students begin to cross a Rubicon themselves, leaving behind childhood for puberty. Many of our Roman stories are also acted out as the students work through the material. We discuss motivation and intent. We revisit the consciousness of the various civilizations from our previous year together – how strikingly ideals have changed! We have also looked at Romans marvels of architecture and building as contributions of modern times. We have studied Latin words and phrases, seeing many familiarities in our own time, such as solving the mystery of “am” in time keeping. They were excited to learn more as they found meaning in their own lives; there were many “a-ha” moments.
In mathematics we have begun graphing data we have compiled over the semester. The students have consistently worked towards more and more difficult daily mental math problems, and our math practice of vertical operations, fractions and decimal review grows shorter as they complete them more quickly. We continue to add new “tricks” into our repertoire, with the caveat that they have to figure them out! Like a good riddle, the answer will never be revealed by me! They help each other with strategies for more difficult problems, and are often excited to know there is more than one way to complete one, and are happy to share “their way”. Next month we will again be invested in practical application, this time in math in the form of economics, or business math.
As always we also focus on our class community and our own inner work, whether is be from meditation as a group as short daily exercise, or weekly with Ms Natalie, or awareness activities, such as at Crowley to strengthen and fortify the students. We continue to recite poetry, sing (currently focusing on a song for a Roman play in the spring that is a challenging harmony) and incorporate some movement to wake them up and get them ready to focus. You may see us marching around campus in unison as we channel our inner Roman soldier, for example. Woodworking, handwork, and artistic activities allow the students to focus outwardly and create pieces that are often quite challenging, gently stretching their capacities. Before the break they also created their first issue of Mangrove Messenger of the year:
In everything we are doing I picture these children in my minds eye, getting stronger and more solid, while simultaneously becoming more aware, more questioning, searching. Rules they can count on bring them comfort; the law and order they crave balances them as other aspects of their life seem to spin out of control as they become more and more social as individuals. I picture them finding calm, balance, and peace amid the chaos as the world opens up before them.
It’s a whole other kind of adventure!
With Gratitude,
Ms Erin
From Our Friends at Saltmeadow School
Our weekly Navigators class allows to explore various locations in Sarasota and nearby areas, where we can explore and immerse ourselves in nature. Studies show this time in nature actually helps boost cognitive skills in academic areas cumulatively.
Please join us in celebrating the magic and wonder of childhood at our annual Mermaid Faire. Enjoy an enchanting day for the whole family, with activities and entertainment for all to enjoy! Admission is free! Many free activities, too!
Delicious Faire Food + Live music too!
A variety of organic selections – including gluten free and vegan options.
Journey to Atlantis is a test for the curious, courageous and clever, as families travel through the labyrinth full of surprises and riddles. Younger children requires a parent escort. Maximum of three in a party. In our Nursery classroom. 4 tickets
Mermaid Slime – Make your own sparkling slime to take home and enjoy – 4 tickets
Neptune’s Challenge – Are you up to the task? Various creative tests encourage curiousity about our underwater world. Located near our garden. FREE!
Magical Puppet Story – A captivating tale enjoyable for all ages – located in our kindergarten. $5 per family.
Pirates Treasure – Dig for the treasures pirates past have left behind – Located in our play yard – 2 tickets.
Ship’s Light Candle Room (Create a beeswax lantern while listening to delightful music in an endearing space.) Located just beyond the courtyard. 5 tickets.
Mermaid’s Cove – Children will travel through an entrancing cave to reach the Mermaid’s grotto, where they will receive a handmade gift. Located in the 1/2nd grade classrooms. 4 tickets.
Painted Sea Horse: Transform yourself with an artist’s touch and a bit of sparkle. Henna or traditional face paint designs. 5 tickets.
Tickets are $1 each or less depending on how many you buy. All proceeds are a tax deductible donation, and support Mangrove’s mission to nurture children through nature!
Vendors welcome, please email mangrovesarasota@gmail.com for details. Compatible 501 c 3 organizations are free, email to register
Please email mangrovesarasota@gmail.com if you are interested in being a Mermaid Faire sponsor!
Please join us for this family event, where children and adults alike can make beautiful, meaningful memories, and handmade items to gift or enjoy themselves, in a sensory friendly environment.
