4/7 news November&December

During the month of October...
The 4/7 students were very busy during the month of October participating in science activities and experiments.  Earlier in the month Fall experiments included making butter and cheese by hand.  Students were able to discover how much hard work is involved in making butter and how unappetizing it is to make your own cheese.   As Halloween green nearer the students worked together making bubbling cauldrons, monster eyes and dancing gummy worms.  We also made bags of blood and found out some interesting things about plastic bags and toothpicks.

The 4/7 students celebrated Halloween with the HEDP kindergarten classroom!  One group of 4/7 students hosted Halloween activities in the 4/7 classroom, while the other group of 4/7 students hosted Halloween games in the kindergarten classroom.  We cannot say enough about how wonderful of a job the 4/7 students did working with the kindergarten students!  The 4/7 students in the activity group stood up and talked to a group of kindergarten students about the Halloween crafts.  They made showed an example of each craft and talked to them about how to complete each one.  They took it upon themselves to introduce themselves and assured them, “if you need any help, just ask one of us.”  They made themselves available to help the students glue, cut, and tie knots.  They encouraged the kindergarten students and kindly told them how good of a job they were doing!  They also sat down with them and worked on their own craft while the kindergarten students worked alongside of them.  There has been a huge interest from this year’s 4/7 class to help out with the kindergarten students.  The 4/7 and Kindergarten teachers are working together closely to provide time for the 4/7 students to help out the kindergarten students.  Additionally, we will provide opportunities for 4/7 students to host a variety of events and activities for the kindergarten students.

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During the month of November...

The first two weeks of November were dedicated to the Veteran’s Day Service Learning Project.  Thank you for extending what your child learned in extended day, by having conversation at home about family members and friends that are veterans and for sending in photos for the HEDP HALL OF HEROS.  Additionally, thank you to our 4/7 students, for their Halloween candy donations.  Students went to the other HEDP classrooms daily throughout the first week to collect and count candy from the younger extended day students.  From all the students in our program, over 2000 pieces of candy were donated for the veterans.                                            

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Finally, a huge thank you for toiletry donations and monetary donations from HEDP families so the students could purchase toiletries for veterans at the VA Hospital in West Roxbury.  The 4/7 students walked to CVS and spent $300.00 on shaving supplies, personal hygiene items, and oral care.  Students were split into three groups and were assigned one of the above groups of items.  The carefully and strategically picked out items that they believed would be most beneficial to the veterans while staying within a budget.  They returned from their trip to CVS, sorted the items, and put together handmade gift bags filled with toiletries and candy.

Important dates in November...

Tuesday, November 18th- Early Release Day.  HEDP second annual 4/7 Thanksgiving family dinner.  Students will prepare traditional Thanksgiving dinner dishes and sit down together to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner together!

Wednesday, November 26th- Early Release Day: Noon Dismissal.  Pizza and movie day!  No school lunch is served on this day.  HEDP closes at 4:45 on this day.

Thursday, November 27th and Friday, November 28th- No School

During the month of December...
HEDP will continue its annual participation in Project Bread’s Holiday Spoons Project.  Project Bread is the state’s leading anti-hunger organization, dedicated to preventing and alleviating hunger in Massachusetts. Project Bread funds over 400 food pantries, soup kitchens, and food banks all over Massachusetts. The Holiday Spoons Project is a fun meaningful way for children to learn about hunger and help feed hungry children in Massachusetts. Children will use their creativity and imagination to decorate wooden spoons using a wide variety of art materials. In years past, kids depicted cartoon characters, people, animals and more! Students will sell the their creations to friends, families and teachers for $2.00 each. All the money raised will be donated to Project Bread to help in it’s mission to end hunger in Massachusetts. Spoon sales will begin mid-December.

Important dates in December...

Wednesday, December 3rd- Early Release Day.  More information about this day to come.

Tuesday, November 9th- Early Release Day.  More information about this day to come

Wednesday, December 24th- Friday, January 2nd - No School

Wishing you and your family a very happy holiday season and a wonderful 2015!