Dandelion Wishes Outdoor School

Pie Time!

In Novembers past our class of outdoor school children have baked a pie to auction off to the highest bidder to raise money to support the Missoula Food Bank! We loooove this tradition and dive deep into learning how to bake a pie, reading recipes, practicing our pie making skills and of course taste testing our practice pies. We have had such excellent support and typically raise anywhere from $60-$100 to donate to the food bank. This year we want to do more! We have decided to continue the tradition of pie baking but in lieu of an auction we will be selling raffle tickets for the pie. We hope that this will increase our donation amount.

1 entry is $5 (4 entries = $20). Individuals may comment on our social media posts and venmo to -C-DandelionWishes 100% of proceeds go to the food bank. Entries will go into the drawing and the kids will pull the lucky winner on Thursday morning. We will arrange pie delivery (freshly baked) for the following week. If you are not local but would still like to support this cause consider gifting the pie, we can deliver the pie to anyone in the Missoula area. If you have people who would like to purchase tickets but are not on social media you can collect money and bring it to the school and we will enter them in. ❤️🥧❤️🍎🍏🥧

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Saturday, December 21, marks the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere! 🌚❄

Winter solstice is a wonderful time to connect with the outdoors.
The winter solstice marks the sun in the lowest southern point in the sky for those of us living in the northern hemisphere, creating the shortest day and longest night of the year. 🌛🌚⭐

This phenomenon can remind us of how we connect to the night sky and solar system. It also provides a moment to reflect on the values of rest and hibernation that we see in so many animals and plants this time of year.

You can find this free download the newest Slow Outdoors post (link in the bio), where we share some ideas on how to observe, reflect, and celebrate the Winter Solstice and the lessons that it brings. Learn more here: https://slowoutdoors.substack.com/p/winter-solstice-is-here

UPDATE! 30 MORE MINUTES TO BID!

We are so excited to be at $90 currently! Can we get 100?!?
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MADE WITH LOVE!

YOU could be the proud owner of a beautiful apple pie, handmade with love.

Our little class has been working hard this month on connecting with community, taking care of eachother, and discussing the overarching concepts that “It feels good to do good!” And “Everybody needs a little help sometimes.” We just delivered 176 lbs of food to the Missoula Food Bank and Community center for Can the Cats, and now we hope to make a substantial monetary donation!

We’ve been practicing our pie baking abilities all month, and have even done some taste testing. Believe me when I say these kids can bake! Share this post, bid on a yummy pie, and help these littles ale a big difference!

BID ON THIS POST in the comments section by Monday 11/25 at 12:00
P.M. and the highest bidder will be hand delivered a fresh made pie Tuesday 11/26. **If you are not local, and you would still like to help us make a difference, please send donations to Raelynn Cameron -C-DandelionWishes on Venmo, and we will deliver it to the food bank! Every little bit counts. It feels good to do good!

It’s that time of year again, time to de-feralize our school aged kiddos! This little poem is one of my favorites! https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/how-to-de-feralize-your-children-for-back-to-school #backtoschool #deferalizethem #outdoorkids #wildandfree #outdoorschool #dandelionwishesoutdoorschool

East Missoula biker gang!

Did you know that our Moms do amazing things everyday to help other people?! This week we visited these wonderful women at work to celebrate all that they do outside of motherhood! We've talked about the impact they make on our community and the ways that they spend their days while we're at school! Our moms are not only amazing Mothers but incredibly strong and powerful women in so many other ways as well!

Come see what we turned all of that garbage that we cleaned up into!

MPL and Clark Fork School partner again to bring you the Trashformations: Fourth Annual Early Education Upcycled Art Show! Art from early education classrooms across the Missoula area and beyond will be featured on the 4th floor of Missoula Public Library for this First Friday event. Come and support community and collaboration among early education programs while instilling the knowledge and passion of upcycling in your family. Please come dressed in your best upcycled or thrifted outfits and accessories to get a ticket to enter drawings for fabulous raffle baskets! We’ll draw for winners at 6:45 PM, you do not need to be present to win. Light appetizers and refreshments will be provided by the Friends of the Library.

We had a wonderful field trip to Two Dog Garage today!

A little work and alot of fun today at @two_dog_garage! Our friends have been playing mechanic in the yard for a few weeks, repairing lots of bikes and broke down cars! Today we got to tour and learn more about a real mechanic shop! We already knew a lot about what a Mechanic does, like: “help people when their cars are broken” “fix engines even when they are really damaged” “use lots of different tools” and “get really dirty.” We were hoping to learn more about how to use the tools and maybe even a few tips on “how to rebuild an engine ourselves!” @robcameron1017 taught us so much about mechanic work, we helped install a muffler, and drain some very dirty transmission fluid. We might still need a few more sessions before we’re rebuilding our own engines but I’d say we’re well on the way! We are so grateful for parent resources, giving these kids experiences that match their interest! #twodoggarage #minimechanics #placebasedlearning #interestbasedlearning #dandelionwishesoutdoorschool

Today the clouds parted and we watched while the moon and sun danced! We spent the morning exploring the phenomena that is a solar eclipse. We learned new vocabulary like orbit, umbra and penumbra and retina! We created art to represent what we hoped to see. Then we took off to a favorite nature spot with an open view and hope that the dark clouds would keep clear for a little longer!

The weather fairy came through and these preschoolers spent the better part of two hours observing the moon slowly make its way across the sun. With shouts of excitement “it’s getting bigger!” And calls to friends to “check it out!” The explained to each other that “the moon was getting in the way” and that the black “bite” out of the sun was the moons shadow.

I am so grateful to share natural phenomena like this with our kids! Learning about the earth and sun and moon by experiencing it all is a pretty great way to do it!

A special thanks to Yaya ( Murray Drye) for the sunglasses and informational magazines!