It was good to be back together on campus once again! The students were happily busy playing and working together. The week started with some sad news that Prince Kudzu, one of our sweet goats, passed away over the weekend. The students had the opportunity to see him and say good-bye to him if they wanted to do so. We painted rocks to display at the farm in remembrance of his time with us. It is difficult, but when we work on a farm, animals passing away is a true part of farm life. While not a planned or desired experience, it is an honest one.
Continuing with our Fibers block, the third-grade class spent this past week working with wool. We learned about sheep shearing and had many hands-on experiences using wool. We started by touching and examining wool fleece from a sheep that was unwashed and full of bits of grasses and dirt. The students cleaned the wool of debris and noticed the lanolin in the fleece and how it made their hands feel. We have spent the week carding the wool and hand spinning the fleece into a long piece of yarn. We made our own drop spindles to spin yarn with Ki Ieva this week. We will also continue weaving on our looms, experience a new wet felting project, and create written summaries of all we learned and made using wool.
In math, we spent several mornings practicing addition and subtraction using two- and three-digit numbers without regrouping. This week, we will work on regrouping. Please continue to practice single-digit addition and subtraction at home. Knowing these basic facts is so important! With the ability to compute simple math facts quickly comes increased ease and success with higher-level math. We will also continue to practice this at school.
Finally, please send in a blanket with your child if possible. Blankets are often sat upon while we work at our desks in the dome in the mornings. Rubber-soled slippers are very good to have on hand too. Thank you to Christopher’s family for sharing two boxes of Hot Hands hand warmers with us! They have been enjoyed by all our class and are greatly appreciated by all as we get started each day.
With gratitude,
Melissa
