Thank you all for making Parent conference week a fun and interesting time to talk about your child and to get to know him or her better. I always come away from conferences feeling both inspired and blessed by our wonderful community of parents. The partnerships between parents and teachers are a gift to each child!
The Lower Grades finished their third Language block of the school year. This past block focused on phonics and conventions of spelling. Many students worked with short vowel sounds and writing word families based around those sounds, while some children worked with long vowel pairs and word families based upon those. We also learned four common diagraphs (/ch/, /sh/, /th/, /wh/) and their sounds and worked with sight words as well. Please continue playing sight words games with your child at home. The children who can easily recognize sight words have an easier time learning to read as a whole. For students already reading, sight word games can focus on spelling these words as well as reading them. I typically use the Dolch sight word lists (though there are certainly other lists you can use) which offers lists with increasingly challenging words.
Our next block will be math-based and focus on the four processes (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Through stories, the children will practice each process and see how they can work together. We will also focus on basic math facts and rules.
We will continue with our foreign language instruction, handwork (our knitters are happily engaged in a variety of projects), clay modelling, wet-on-wet painting, music, games, gardening and nature study as we start to welcome our early spring weather (fingers crossed!). Please be sure your child has all their rain gear and boots that fit as we will continue to play and learn outside on daily basis. While our students typically know their own gear and each other’s as well, please remember to label everything clearly. It helps the adults, who find items in interesting and unexpected locations, return them easily and quickly.
Finally, please take time and look at our calendar of events for the coming weeks. Spring promises to be a busy and active time for our own growing school! Your time, energy and support keeps us and growing and blossoming in wonderful ways!
I hope you all enjoyed your winter break!
Warmly,
Ki Melissa
