The annual costume parade went off as usual, with the help of our friends from Public Safety, a lot of parents, our teachers, and many of our student workers. Thanks to all the campus folks who came out to wave and visit as the children walked around campus showing off their costumes and practicing for tomorrow night!
The 4/5K garden was in need of mulch around the plants, so Ms. Deanna and Ms. Mary brought in a bale of straw. As the children were planning their haunted house event, they decided to make the visits of the 2/3’s to their classroom even more fun by giving them a hayride before they put the last of the straw on the garden. Many trips were made around the playground and a great sense of satisfaction was expressed about how good it feels to work hard to do something nice for our friends. 
Several of our children in the 4K group remembered that last year the “big kids” constructed a haunted house out of a large box in the hallway that all the children thought was very cool! They asked if they could build a new and improved version and invite the 2’s & 3’s to visit a “real” haunted house if they promised not to make it too scary for the little ones. Long story short, with the assistance of the experienced builders (5K) it started out as a one-story house, gained a second floor, a red entryway, four chimneys (with smoke) with working windows and doors, and recorded sound effects. On the designated day, the 2’s and 3’s were invited to visit and knock on the door….whereupon the window opened and the mysterious inhabitants gave out treats. 
Block-building is a highly valued activity at ECDC, as sustained engagement supports the development of fundamental math/science concepts and spatial awareness/intelligence. Recently, several of our kindergarten children spent the better part of a week working on a very complex structure they named “The Ancient Scroll of China” – it was actually several structures linked together conceptually and linguistically in different ways. One of the components was actually a several story building constructed entirely atop rollers! Look for a more detailed documentation of this work on our website soon.
Congratulations to our Butterfly teacher, Deanna Satzger who recently won a mini-grant. Lakeshore Learning Materials sponsored 11 mini-grant awards announced at the recent SCAEYC Annual Conference in Columbia, SC. Applicants described how the SC Early Learning Standards could be supported and assessed with materials for a particular learning center or interest area. We were proud to learn that from the 60 applications, Deanna won the mini-grant for the Library center. Deanna received a large crate full of new books and storytelling props that our children are already happily using!