The last few weeks have flown by and we are still adjusting to the sun setting before 5:00! As previously stated, we have adjusted our schedule a bit so that we are outside from 3:45-4:45 and end our days inside. This is also subject to change with the weather to consider and projects that we have planned for the afternoon. 

With 4/5/6 still grasping for as much as outside time as possible our highlights this last few weeks have been Mentoring with 3rd grade, NERD club officially in adventure mode and taking advantage of Friday's in the LEDP room! 

This week in mentoring we made 3D paper tabby cats! We had a lot of 4th grade mentors eager to rejoin their group from last year as they take on the leadership role and find themselves on the other side of the program! Again, Irene has been so impressed with the energy and enthusiasm our mentors have shown and she's thrilled to have such spirited group!

Looking ahead, we are excited to have more extravagant projects with more inside time fast approaching. We'd also just like to remind families that we will attempt to go outside for at least 30 minutes if the weather allows, so please, please, please send your kiddos with the proper attire. 

First and foremost, we'd like to thank all the families that joined us on our first Parent Night! The kiddos were so excited to have their grownups join 4/5/6 for an evening- playing some of their favorite boardgames and creating beautiful Jack-o'-lantern masterpieces just in time for Halloween! 

The end of October seemed to almost be fully dedicated to the game of Risk! Will organized a large game of the famous board game, teaching  friends strategy and tactics as they teamed up to try and take over as many territories as they could! We were amazed to see that with each passing day more and more friends were interested to join in on the fun!

As Natalie found that paper fidget toys were so popular earlier this month and were in high demand- she offered a similar project that proved to be just as popular! We've gotten a lot of feedback that friends have taken it upon themselves to show their friends outside of LEDP how to make them and have returned with some very cool fidgets to show off!

Also back by popular demand, Nerd Club also known as Dungeons & Dragons has begun! Although our former dungeon master, Sam, isn't here this year, our very own, Jonah in 6th grade has kindly offered to take on this role! He generously organized a group together of six friends that will meet every Thursday to move through a year long adventure! We are so excited that we were able to continue Nerd Club this year and thank Jonah for making that happen!

Just looking ahead, with the time change happening next week we want to remind parents that we will be shifting our schedule to accommodate earlier sunsets, so it will be more important to let the 4/5/6 teachers know accurate pick up times. We will be going out sooner and ending our days inside. Similarly, we want to remind families that we attempt going outside every day even if it's for a short period of time (weather permitting), so please makes sure to send your kiddos with the appropriate attire. Thank you in advance and we look forward to another month of fun!

We have definitely felt Mother Nature's shift from summer sunshine to the chill of Autumn! It's been a jammed packed two weeks with 4/5/6 still adjusting to our flow of the day and adhering to our groups rules and expectations.

We started October with a paper fidget project that got the attention of nearly half our group! It was a lengthy project that took some patience with lots of folding and maneuvering of finished pieces- but very much worth the wait and effort! It was really fun watching the process of these fidget masterpieces and lent the opportunity for lots of laughs and further getting to know one another!

With paper planes a daily obsession, Will challenged our aviators to a paper plane contest that would be judged on design, name and the level of success of flight. Our pilots had an amazing time creating different planes and the best time sending them off to the skies!

This month also marked the start of the Mentoring Program! We have a total of 21 mentors this year and Irene is already so impressed with the energy and excitement surrounding mentoring! Each year we start off with "Cat & Mouse," as the parachute is always the perfect way to be active and playful with both the newest and eldest members of LEDP! It was a bit of a windy day, which only added more excitement to confusing our cat during each round! We are so proud of all our mentors, as each friend really stepped up and displayed their amazing leadership skills!

We've had a really fun start to October and we are excited to announce our first of four Open House's of the year! We invite you to join us on Wednesday, October 30 from 5:00-5:45 in the Big LEDP Room! Please be on the lookout for more information via e-mail! We hope to see you all there!

We have had an amazing start to the school year and we're so happy to welcome our new teacher, Will a.k.a Shoop! 

With fourth grade making up most of our group we have definitely spent the first few weeks of September going over our routines, rules and expectations. We are so proud of our fifth and sixth graders for stepping up to the plate and leading by example!

We have spent most of our time getting to know one another, welcoming Shoop into LEDP and taking advantage of summers lingering warmth! We will say that the game of Life and Clue  have taken up the majority of any choice time with our friends racing for the boardgames and us needing to invest in more than one of each for our cart. Some other highlights include paper fidgets, frog origami and racing them on a track and learned Musical Dodgeball! Musical Dodgeball is played similarly to the original game of dodge, but music is playing and when the music stops you must drop the dodgeball and freeze or you are out! It was so much fun dancing to some jams while playing our favorite gym game! Although we haven't had much gym time, we still managed some memory, capture the flag and tag!

Some reminders to note is that with daylight savings coming up our schedule will change with our group finishing up our days inside, therefore it will be especially important for pick up times to be accurate.

Looking ahead we will begin mentoring in October- our friends are so excited to jump into groups and spend some time with the younger kiddos to  lead an activity! Irene, Natalie and Will are thrilled with the start of this school year and look forward to a spooky filled October!