It was so great to see so many of our kids from the school year and hear about their summer adventures so far. We also welcomed a new friend to the group, which is always exciting! It sounds like everyone is enjoying the summer, getting to the beach, and spending time with their families.

We spent some time hanging out and playing with some new toys and games that we've picked up these last few weeks. The kids were really into the straws and connectors and were working together to build some cool structures. We will be using a lot of open-ended building materials with the kids this summer during hangout. The goal is to encourage the kids to work together to come up with an idea, and share materials in order to create things. Additionally, we love that these open-ended building materials encourage creativity, which is good for some of our kids who are used to so much structure and routine.

One of the things we will be developing this summer is a TMH Friendship Charter. This will guide us each week and help us all be mindful community members. During Kite Club, we asked each of the kids how they want to feel when they are at TMH. Everyone had great answers....here are a few:

Excited
Calm
Like I Belong

One of the things we are most excited about is the addition of our visual arts teacher, Vin. This week, each kid was able to use sticky collage boards and a variety of recycled materials (paint chips, tissue paper, sandpaper, etc.) to create their very own aquarium. It was so fun to see the kids come up with their ideas and figure out how to use the materials to make fish, seaweed and all kinds of other aquarium essentials. The best part was how the kids were complimenting each other's work and helping give each other ideas.

Next week, we will be focusing on what it means to be a good friend. We will discuss things like the qualities we want in a friend and how we can help friends when they are having a hard time. We will encourage them to share stories about when someone was a good friend to them/when they were a good friend to others.

We are excited for a really fun summer and glad your child is part of our community.