In today’s Storytime video, we sing songs, practice deep breathing, and hear a story.
You’ll meet two of Ms. Becca’s pets–Bonsai, the cat, and Mable, the three-legged doggie. Ms. Becca’s pets regularly join us for Storytime. She has four dogs and three cats!

Each episode of Storytime begins with songtime! We have a new circle time each month and learn seasonal songs and poems. Together, we slowly learn the poems and songs, building week by week. This week, we learn the next part of our Jack Frost song.

Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about.
He’s after your fingers and toes.
And all through the night, the sly little sprite
Is working where nobody knows.

On Mondays, we practice mindful breathing exercises. This month we are learning “Candle Breathing.” These exercises introduce children to mindfulness and deep breathing in an age-appropriate manner.

Ms. Becca spends the second half of Storytime telling us the story of The Mitten. (Bonsai the cat tries to cause some mischief inside the schoolhouse during the story.)

“They squeezed a little bit this way and a little bit that way and made just enough room for all the animals inside The Mitten.”

We are back in the schoolhouse on a cold winter Tuesday. Ms. Becca’s woodstove keeps the schoolhouse warm as she leads us in circle time and shares the story.

Winter’s cold, there's snow in the sky
The squirrels gather nuts and the wild geese fly
The fuzzy red fox has his fur to keep warm
And the bear’s in the cave sleeping all through the storm.

After circle time, we hear the story of The Mitten again. We hear one story each week, repeating the story Monday through Friday. Repetition benefits young children, and repeating stories is one way to help lay the foundation for later reading and writing. Because we repeat our stories for an entire week, we choose them with care and attention.

Your children will get to know the particular animals in our story by the end of the week: Squeak the Mouse, Froggy Boggy, Nimble the Dear, Fleet Foot the Rabbit, and Rumble Bumble the Bear.

Storytime begins outside on Ms. Becca’s porch, where we get to watch the sunrise over the mountains as we have Storytime together. It’s quite cold! The thermometer says 22* F, and Ms. Becca can see her breath!

Winter’s coming! Winter’s coming! How will the creatures get ready?
Winter’s coming! Winter’s coming! Time to get ready for snow!

Today and every Wednesday, we are outside for Storytime and go on a field trip. Our field trips take us to visit community members and places in nature. On today’s field trip, we will travel to see Nancy, a woman who has been knitting for 61 years and now has a knitting machine. She shows us the various yarns she can use and then demonstrates the machine. Her grandson, Oliver, even gives it a try!

The last part of Storytime today is back on Ms. Becca’s porch for our story of The Mitten. I wonder if the mittens the old man in the story had were made by someone he knew?

We are back in the schoolhouse on Thursdays for Storytime and a puppet show! We have puppet shows every Thursday and Friday during our storytelling time.

Storytime has a predictable and consistent rhythm or flow. We start and end each day the same way, following the same rhythm. Children thrive with a predictable and consistent rhythm. Most of our members enjoy Storytime every morning before and after breakfast and complete an activity from the guidebook together in the afternoon. 

Today and tomorrow, we will see a puppet show of The Mitten story. Our team makes 90% of our puppet show materials and aims to use only natural materials. Our simple puppet shows are intentional. Don’t be surprised if your child starts putting on puppet shows for you!

This is our last day to hear The Mitten story. Each new week of Storytime brings a new story, field trip, and new verses to our songs and poems. We have one last day to practice these verses before adding additional ones next week.

Are you learning the words of the songs and poems? With repetition and practice, even the youngest children will begin copying the words and motions. It will be far from perfect, but that’s okay! Let your child join Ms. Becca when they are able. You can encourage them to model the motions. Sit and watch with your child–and sing and move with us!

Storytime also follows a monthly rhythm. During the first week of Storytime, we hear a Grandpa Ivy tale, the second week a pedagogical or teaching tale, and the third and fourth week a nature tale or folk tale. Remember to check out the other seasons we have available in the Seasonal Sampler.