Meadowgarten: April 29 - May 1

Greetings Meadowgarten Families!

 

It is hard to believe that the end of the school year is fast approaching!  We have spent some time reflecting on how much each child has grown and blossomed throughout the school year.  We feel so fortunate to be a part of their day!

This week was busy in the Meadowgarten.  We spent some time playing on Kindy Beach at the creek.  The children found snails, built sand castles and sat on the rocks near the shore.  We are keeping our eyes peeled for our Otter friend but no sightings as of yet.  

We also spent some time in the garden this week.  The chicks are now residing in the chicken coup during the day and it is fun to see how big they are getting. We enjoyed a lot of fresh fruits for our snack this week and it was fun to feed the watermelon rinds to the animals.  The children giggled as the donkeys drooled over the delicious scraps! 

The children continue to improve each week in Mandarin and Spanish. They are building confidence in their language skills and they are eager to volunteer to lead others in songs and to answer questions. 

This week the children heard a story called “The Little Half Chick.” It is about a chicken, who, despite being born with only one eye, one leg, and one wing, was quite capable and had strong ambitions for a life away from the quiet country.  He decided that he should meet the King and during his travels he was asked for help several times.  Each time, professed that he was far too busy to help. He finds himself in quite the conundrum at the King’s castle and is forced to ask for help himself. See if your Meadowgartener remembers how the story ends! 

We helped to prepare food items for the Grandfriends Tea this week as well and the Meadowgarteners did a wonderful job.  They were very careful and meticulous in their work.  It was exciting to take part in the preparation process for this wonderful event.  We were so proud of the students as they quietly lined up and sang their songs beautifully on Friday.

Please remember to pack a change of clothes and water shoes for this week.  It is our goal to allow the children to play in the creek as much as possible from now until the last day of school!

 Kindly,

 Ki Amy and Ki Holly  

Joyful Beginnings: April 29 - May 1

We started a week with replanting our plants from the peat tablets into the flower pots. Students also got new water cans. All of them enjoyed filling them up and then watering our newly planted flowers.

We were again invited to join the porridge meal with Meadow garden. The day was nice and sunny and kids loved sharing the meal.

On Wednesday made again our multi seed vegan gluten-free oatmeal cookies. This time we replaced the mashed banana with applesauce. The cookies turned out little more crumbly with applesauce than with banana. We are experimenting with how the cookie texture and taste changes as we swap out different ingredients. This is our tasty science project. We made cookies for ourselves. We also made extra cookies to share with our friends from the Meadow garden.

This week we found a new game. Every child found different wood pieces that were flatter and resembled phones. Then they played calling each other and arranging playdates for their children, taking care of family chores or informing each other that they are running late with grocery shopping. They were very responsible small adults:)

On Friday we attended Grandfriends Day to see the performances of our school mates.

HomeSchool: April 22 - 26

Hi!


Hope you're enjoying a wonderful springtime! This past week HomeSchool students chose the wild mammal they would like to research for their last take-home project. Projects are due and presentations will be made on Tuesday, May 7th. This is a big project, with many components. Please spend some time on it each day so you can be proud of it! Here are the details:Each student received 5 sheets of paper. One is in case you make a mistake on something.Page 1: Draw and color your mammal using any medium.Page 2: Write and/or draw a description of your mammal, including size, weight, colors, what they eat, what eats them, how long mothers carry their babies before they are born, how soon babies can walk/run after being born, how long young stay with their Moms, where they live, if they migrate from a winter range to a summer range, how many are left in the world.Page 3: Choose a national park where your mammal is found. Write about or draw your mammal in that park, where the park is located on a map or globe, what the population of your mammal is within that park, any problems or concerns for that mammal.Page 4: Write or draw a story about your mammal. It can be a story you found during your research or one that you make up based on what you have learned. You may write it out line by line on the masterbook paper or storyboard it on the paper, drawing several scenes from the story.


We continued to practice telling time on a clock with hands. Everyone is doing a fantastic job with this! We did an activity in which we looked at photos of animals and told which animal group they were in (insect, amphibian reptile, fish, bird, or mammal). Everyone was fast and accurate at this! We read The Mud Pony, a traditional Skidi Pawnee tale about a white-faced pony made of clay that comes to life to help a young boy.
We had a surprise visit on Thursday from Officer Ellijah and Norbo the Cobb County wonder dog. They brought us some of Norbo's business cards to share with all the students in the school. We attended the spectacular play, Joseph and His Coat of Many Colors, performed by the Lower Grades and Middle Grades students. We did an archaeology dig in the deep sand of HomeSchool Beach. Using shovels and rakes, we unearthed bones, skulls, antlers, horns, shells, coral, sea (creek) glass, jewels, and a turkey foot!
Next Tuesday morning we will have one more maypole practice before we perform the maypole dance at Grand Friends Day Friday, May 3rd at 11:00am. 

Next Thursday, we will meet at 9:45am at TELLUS Science Museum for our all-day field trip. Wear good museum walking shoes (not rubber boots) and bring a picnic lunch and rain jacket. It is supposed to rain in the morning but we will be inside. TELLUS is located at Exit #293 of I-75. Their address is 100 Tellus Drive, Cartersville. Admission to TELLUS is $11.95 plus tax for children (3 to 17) and $15.95 plus tax for adults. From there we will go to the nearby Booth Western Art Museum. It is located at 501 Museum Drive in downtown Cartersville. Admission to the Booth Museum is free for children 12 and under and $12.00 for adults. If you are not able to go that day, please arrange for your child to ride with another HomeSchool family. Please send about $14.00 with your child to cover their entrance to TELLUS.

Our next Garden Girls Girl Scouts meeting will be Tuesday, May 7th, 3:30-5:00pm. We will start out in the Marigold Room upstairs. The program this time will be Caving Basics. Wear jeans, a t-shirt, and old tennis shoes as we will get wet and muddy!

Save the date: Saturday, May 11th, 10:30am-12:30pm: Hiking with Prancer at Pettit Environmental Preserve. This is a 70-acre preserve in Bartow County (between Cartersville and Dallas). It is only open to the public one day a month. Use Douthit Bridge Road, Dallas GA when using GPS. Then follow their small signs. Admission is $3.00/person with a maximum of $10.00/family. Prancer and I will be there that day to walk the 1.7-mile loop trail around the gorgeous lake. The trail is rough in some places and does not accommodate strollers. Leashed dogs are welcome. Please join us! I'm sure it will become one of your favorite hiking spots.

Quote from Max Phillips, 18-year-old Harvard freshman from Fayette County,Tennessee: Nature unites us. From the Inuit of Greenland to Tsonga of Mozambique to the inhabitants of every city, all of humanity share the same planet, the same very fragile drop of water and stone floating in the vastness of the known, and unknown, cosmos. To date, ours is the only planet amongst the stars able to support human life—adequate reason to warrant its protection. But nature offers humanity much more than sustenance; nature is purity, art, and life. Without it, we would lack not only the ability to survive physically, but also spiritually. Without nature, Mankind cannot exist in body or soul. Perhaps surprisingly, it is not the death of the first that frightens me the most. Before the famine and flood, comes the end of beauty and wonder, and with it, the death of the human spirit. As sand replaces fields of wild flowers, piles of plastic replace coral reefs and silent springs replace the raucous choruses of songbirds, we gradually lose that which has united us for eons. To live on an earth without nature is to merely exist, and yet, our very existence in a world without nature is, in itself, an impossibility.

I'm happy to share our little corner of the planet with you,

Ki Sonya

Upper Grades: April 22 - 26

Last week the Upper Grades students continued their study of North American geography. We looked across the United States and discussed major bodies of water, human migration, flora and fauna patterns and the wide range of climates and geographic regions across the country. 

Several of the Upper Grades students attended the Southeast Waldorf Pentathlon at Camp Twin Lakes last week. After weeks of preparation in each of the five pentathlon events, the students spent two days with a group of peers practicing and competing in each event. The students were evaluated on rhythm, beauty and form in each event as well as character and conduct throughout the 3 day event. Results are not measured on speed, distance, and athletic prowess but rather grace and behavior. Each student receives a medal and an assessment from their judge evaluating their performance in each area.

Middle Grades: April 22 - 26

I was SO proud of the students and what they were able to accomplish during the play block.  I hope you enjoyed the evening.

Coming up this week is a performance at the Grand Friends Day celebration.  You should have all gotten a message on Bloomz about the attire for Friday.  We will be doing a Maypole dance, the string ensemble will be performing several pieces, and our class will do a recitation and a song.  The celebration is always great fun, and I hope you can come and bring a grandparent or grand friend.

This week in Main Lesson we will be finishing several projects outside and working hard on the four math operations.  There will be some spelling, reading, writing, and grammar too.  I am looking forward to getting back into our usual rhythm by visiting the garden first thing in the morning.  It's the time of year when every student should have 3 things with them at all times - sunscreen, bug spray, and water.  Please make sure your child has all of those in their backpack.  And, because it will be very hot this week, they will need a change of clothes every day, and boots or immersible shoes, just in case we need a quick cool off in the creek.

Have a great week!

Only 13 more days of school???

Lower Grades: April 22 - 26

The Lower Grades finished up their Play block this past week.  I cannot say enough on how proud I am of the work and effort they put in to learning their parts, movements and songs.  Each student came away feeling successful and enjoyed the process as well as the final outcome.  Enjoying drama at their age is the main goal.  Having such a wonderful play was secondary, and yet they did both with total success.  A big thank you to Ki Kathee who had the vision and skill to lead us through the block.

This coming week we will finish the year as we started, with a final block of Form Drawing.  We will continue playing math and language games as well as spend time doing activities the children enjoyed all year.  Please remember to check backpacks for wet gear, and to continue sending your child in with a change of clothes.  As the weather heats up, we will be outside more and more and will spend time in the creek as our schedule allows.

 Warmly, 

Ki Melissa

Mountaingarten: April 22 - 26

Greetings Mountaingarten families,

Another fun and exciting week is behind us. The children were happy to finally return to the creek and feel the sand beneath their feet. They skipped stones, found a crawfish on the sand and built sandcastles and sand angels too. 

The honeysuckles are blooming and the caterpillars are crawling about, the children have been picking them up and giving them names. They built a tiny home for one they named “Greta” but when they went to check on her the next day, she seemed to have escaped! 

We are happy to be seeing warmer weather and expect to be spending more time in the creek this week! 

May all be well. 

Warm regards, 

Ki Fatima & Ki Aja 

Meadowgarten: April 22 - 26

Greetings Meadowgarten Families!

 We enjoyed a beautiful spring week in the Meadowgarten!  

On Monday, we started our adventures in the Garden.  Students made balls of clay, fed clovers to the animals, and kept busy digging holes and playing in the “boat” that they created from planks of wood.  We shared our Monday oatmeal snack with the toddlers which was a fun change to our snack routine. We headed to the forest shortly after snack to seek some shade.  There, we found a really neat looking frog in our wood shed at base camp.  Be sure to check out the pictures below! 

Throughout the week the students listened to a story called “Lady Spring.”  It tells about Spring time slowly emerging as winter winds lessen with each day until finally it is warm enough for Lady Spring to fully bloom. The students enjoy listening to stories during snack time.  It provides a nice and needed rest in the middle of morning play. 

 On Tuesday, the students were intently watching the creek and wishing to swim.  Although not quite warm enough for swimming, we headed down to “Kindy Beach” and played in the sand.  It was so much fun making sand castles and dipping our fingers into the cool, crisp water.  

On Wednesday, we were so impressed with the students during Mandarin.  Almost all of them have mastered the new numbers song and were singing loudly and confidently.  Ki Cerena called on many volunteers to lead the group.  It is amazing to watch how effortlessly children are able to grasp foreign languages.  

Thursday was especially exciting, as we were able to see the Lower and Middle grades in their performance of Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors.  All of the kindergarten students sat quietly in their chairs throughout the entire performance.  They enjoyed it very much!  It was quite impressive!

On Friday, we celebrated sweet Annabelle’s 5thbirthday. We saw pictures of Annabelle as a tiny baby and heard special memories shared by her mom. Annabelle brought watermelon to share with the class and everyone loved it!  We took the rinds to the garden to feed the donkeys and goats.  

Please remember to apply sunscreen in the morning if needed and pack bug spray as well.  Weather permitting, we may play in the creek this week. Please pack a swimming suit or other clothing that is comfortable to get wet in as well as a change of clothes and water shoes. 

As always, thank you for sharing your child with us!

Kindly,

Ki Amy and Ki Holly 

 

Joyful Beginnings: April 22 - 26

Spring has truly arrived in full bloom. During our outside play, we are on a lookout for new plants and flowers. Kids are also excited about different creatures coming out. We try to transfer this feeling into our classroom projects as well. This week we were again making sunflowers from molding clay.

Last week we planted seeds for our gardening project. This week our flowers in peat tablets have sprouted. Next week we will need to replant them in our garden. Kids are now regularly checking our strawberry patch to see if the berries have already ripened. We are still a week or two away from being able to try the strawberries. This will be a great lesson in building patience for them. 

Wednesdays have become our baking days. Some kids cannot hide their excitement about making something tasty again. They are impatiently waiting until we start. This time we made a different baking project - multi-seed oatmeal banana cookies. We used vegan butter and gluten free oatmeals. Kids also added chia seeds and hemp hearts. We substituted the egg with mashed bananas. At the end we had multi seed vegan gluten-free oatmeal banana cookies:) Kids loved them!

This week we joined our older schoolmates twice for a shared meal. On Monday, Meadow garden invited us for porridge in the garden. Kids loved the porridge and enjoyed the company. On Thursday, we joined Sun garden for a bowl of soup at the picnic table. Thanks to our friends in Meadow and Mountain garden for thinking of us and sharing their meals. Kids enjoy the larger group gathering and the tasty meal accompanying it. 

Upper Grades: April 15 - 19

Last week the Upper Grades class began their last block of the school year. Over the next few weeks, we will be studying North American geography expanding on the local geography block from earlier in the school year. We began the block by taking a look at the physical geography of the continent and will begin zooming in to look at the geographical regions of the United States with an overview of the landforms, biomes, and climate as well as the plant and animal life. We will also learn about human geography of each region and look into the first people and settlers and how they have utilized and modified the resources in each region.

We will be attending the Southeast Waldorf Pentathlon Tuesday-Thursday of this week. Nine schools from around the southeast will be participating at the event hosted by the Waldorf School of Atlanta at Camp Twin Lakes. The students have been working hard to prepare for each of the events: discus, javelin, wrestling, long jump, and relay race. We are excited for our first class from The Garden School to participate in this annual regional event that is a hallmark of Waldorf school fifth grade classes around the world. 

Middle Grades: April 15 - 19

For the Middle Grades, this week is all about play prep!  I look forward to seeing you Thursday at 6:30 ( the students need to be here at 5:45) for an Amazing experience. 

HomeSchool: April 15 - 19

Hello HomeSchoolers!

This week our HomeSchool went back to the neighborhoods behind the school. We cleaned and marked more storm drains and hung more educational packets on mailboxes. We feel like we have gotten good coverage on the streets along Little Noonday Creek and hope it will make a difference for our little creek!

We created some beautiful thank you cards for Cobb County Officer Elijah and his bomb dog Norbo. These will be mailed to him, along with drawings and messages from the Lower Grades and Middle Grades students. We've also included framed photos of Elijah, Norbo, and the two of them with our students.

This morning we practiced the Maypole Dance with other grades students. We learned how to tell time on a clock with hands! We went on an adventure along the creek that included hiking thru mud and wildflowers, sliding down a tiny waterfall, climbing thru huge bamboo, eating lunch in a meadow with hundreds of tiny spiders, and drawing in our nature journals.

Larry and I are headed to my aunt's funeral in Dothan, Alabama and will return Monday evening. Next week we will be without Elsu who is participating in the Pentathlon. On Tuesday, we'll discuss our take-home project on mammals, practice the Maypole Dance, and practice telling time. On Thursday, we will do an archaeology dig looking for bones, skulls, artifacts, fossils, and jewels and her some archaeology stories.

On Thursday, May 2nd we will go on an all-day field trip to the TELLUS Science Museum and Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville. We will meet at TELLUS at 9:45am. They are located at Exit #293 of I-75. Their address is 100 Tellus Drive, Cartersville. Admission to TELLUS is $11.95 plus tax for children (3 to 17) and $15.95 plus tax for adults. Admission to the Booth Museum is free for children 12 and under and $12.00 for adults. Bring your lunches so we can have a picnic! If you are not able to attend, please arrange a carpool with another HomeSchool family.

Save the date: Saturday, May 11th, 10:30am-12:30pm: Hiking with Prancer at Pettit Environmental Preserve. This is a 70-acre preserve in Bartow County (between Cartersville and Dallas). It is only open to the public one day a month. Use Douthit Bridge Road, Dallas GA when using GPS. Then follow their small signs. Admission is $3.00/person with a maximum of $10.00/family. Prancer and I will be there that day to walk the 1.7-mile loop trail around the gorgeous lake. The trail is rough in some places and does not accommodate strollers. Leashed dogs are welcome. Please join us! I'm sure it will become one of your favorite hiking spots.

Quote from a child: "You don't have to be as big as the other kids. Not if you're fast and smart!" 

Quote from Dr. Seuss: "Children want the same things we want: To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained, and to be delighted." 

See you soon,

Ki Sonya

Lower Grades: April 15 - 19

The Lower Grades are doing a wonderful job working on their various parts for our play, Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat. Each day we sing, say our parts and practice moving around to our respective places.  This week we will focus on making props and having our dress rehearsals. We look forward to seeing you all Thursday evening for our 6:30 performance in the sanctuary. PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD HERE BY 5:45 THURSDAY EVENING.  Doors open at 6:15 for seating. 

This past week we continued focusing on two and three letter-blends, practicing their sounds, writing the sounds and also writing words that use the blends. In Spanish class, the children are learning seasons among other concepts. In Mandarin, they used brushes to practice forming Chinese characters.   We also practice drawing and painting flowers to celebrate spring. This week we will focus on decoding compound words with the c-v-c pattern such as “catnip”.

Please remember to send water bottles every day!

Warmly,

Ki Melissa

Meadowgarten: April 15 - 19

Greetings Meadowgarten Families!

We had a wonderful week in the Meadowgaten, spending as much time outside as we could before the stormy weather approached on Friday.  In the forest, the students are working on sanding pieces of wood that will be used for a craft.  We are working on patience with them, as they are eager to be finished quickly.  We have explained that sanding wood by hand is work that takes a bit of time. 

On Monday we celebrated Nolan’s half birthday!  It was a fun celebration where we learned about Nolan’s very fast arrival into this world and all of the things he has enjoyed doing since then!  Thank you to Ki Lesley and Zach for the delicious treat of yogurt and granola! 

It has been amazing to watch the garden growing rapidly and we hope to see some sprouts in our newly planted herbs very soon.  The children observed the kudzu growing again and picked some for our animal friends to enjoy.  

In the forest, all of the kindergarteners spent time looking at the creek, very eager to begin swimming once again.  As soon as the mornings warm up, we promised them that we will resume our swimming adventures! 

The stormy weather on Friday kept us inside most of the day. We kneaded the dough for our tortillas, which Ki Holly baked and served as an after rest time snack.  We also made wreaths with dried flowers, and wet felt eggs. We decided to brave the rain at the end of the day and the children splashed and played in the large mud puddle (more like a small pond!) that formed in the playground!   

Just a few reminders: 

Please apply bug spray and sunscreen to your child prior to the start of school day.  

Please remember to pack a change of clothes daily.  

Please remember to pack a water bottle each day.  We go to the forest immediately following morning circle and especially with warmer temperatures, it is imperative that each child has a full water bottle at the start of the day.

Lastly, please pack a wet bag or grocery sack in your child’s back pack for wet clothes.

Kindly,

Ki Amy and Ki Holly

 

Mountaingarten: April 15 - 19

Dear Mountaingarten families,

We had an exciting week searching for precious stones and shells in the sand, finding wooden shelters in the forest, spotting caterpillars and butterflies, holding the chicks and observing how much they’ve grown, and enjoying each others good company. 

We had some chilly mornings too! But the sun warmed us as the day progressed and consequently layers were shed. 

On Friday, we stayed inside mostly and had a fun craft day while the rain poured outside. We set up different stations where the children could make felted eggs and Spring wreaths, or “birds nests” as they liked to call it. 

The children listened to a story about a girl named Penelope who was unkind but after noticing no one would play with her, she changed for the better and made lots of good friends. We talked about what are some kind things that we can do for others. 

May all be well.

With Gratitude,

Ki Fatima & Ki Aja 

Joyful Beginnings: April 15 - 19

Our tradition is to make and bake tortillas on Wednesdays. This time we wanted to shake things up a bit. We added some cumin seeds to our dough. Kids loved the new addition to our bread. The tortillas tasted more wholesome.

Already last week we had planted some sunflowers. This week we planted some additional sunflowers in the peat tablets in the box to germinate. Kids also added viola and zinnia seeds to the germination box. May is not that far away and we hope we will be able to see our new flowers blooming before the school is out.

Keeping up with the theme of sunflowers, we also made them from the modeling clay during our craft time in the class.

Thursday we got invitation from Meadow garden to share a vegetable soup with them. That was very nice from them. We got some nice and tasty soup to savor. They promised to invite us to eat porridge next Monday.

Friday we had story time with the kids. Friday was wet and muddy day. Once we returned to classroom and changed our clothes to clean ones, we sat around and listened to Ki Ieva telling the story about three bears and the girl who visited their home while there were out. Kids love to listening to these stories. We don’t have time to tell them everyday but we have few times when we make time.

HomeSchool: April 8 - 12

Hi!


Back from a wonderful spring break, we began our study of mammals. We talked about what makes an animal a mammal and drew some of our favorite mammals. We sorted animals by groups (land animal vs aquatic animal, diurnal animal vs nocturnal animal vs crepuscular animal, mammal vs bird vs reptile vs etc.).


We built several Marble Mountains. Then we did a bit of carpentry, nailing boards to wooden stakes to create signs for the trailheads around the school campus. We used rubber mallets to install our signs by several trails. Be sure to walk the trails and let us know how you like the new signs!


We hiked a circuitous route through the wetlands, along Little Noonday Creek, and back to Kindy Beach where we swam, played on the banana slide, and ate our lunches in the sun.


We had our last Creature Feature of the school year. Cobb County Officer Elijah Barnett brought his bomb dog, a dark German Shepard named Norbo. Both the dog and his handler were awesome and the students enjoyed petting Norbo and asking questions about their work.


We held the school's new baby chicks, eight in all. We played animal beanbag toss (not with the baby chicks!). To burn off some energy, we ran around the pond, in both directions! 


We continue to practice our Maypole Dance with the other grades students and under the excellent direction of Ki Kathee. The students will be preforming this dance at 11:15am on Friday, May 3rd. This is optional for HomeSchool since we don't meet on Fridays but come if you can. It is a lovely ceremony. More info will be coming about what they should wear.


The Springtide Festival was a great success and a lot of fun! In my area, kids built over 35 fairy houses to take home with them. Thanks to all of you who came out to play and to help with the setup, cleanup, etc.

It has been difficult to plan around the weather this spring! Tuesday looks like it will be drier than Thursday so we will do Storm Drain Marking, Part II on Tuesday. Students should wear tennis shoes, not rubber boots. We'll meet at the same location as before at 9:00am Tuesday so drive straight there rather than dropping off at the school. To get there, take a right out of the church/school and head north on Canton Road. Take the first right onto Ebenezer Road. Cross the railroad tracks. Take the next right onto Bellair Drive. Turn left onto Debonair Drive. We will meet in that culdysac. We will be marking storm drains from 9:00am to 11:00am. We ask that parents stay for that time. If you have a conflict that day, you may arrange with another HomeSchool parent to transport your child both ways. We will arrive back to the school by 11:30am, in time to write and draw our thank you cards to Officer Elijah.

On Tuesday, the older Girl Scouts (Elsu, Ellie, Nola, and Alys) have a planning meeting in the Blue Sky Room at 3:20pm to work on their Silver/Bronze Award project.

For Thursday, please make sure your child brings these things for our hike and swim in the creek: rubber boots, water shoes, swimsuit, shorts, t-shirt, a change of clothes, tennis shoes, three pairs of socks, and a dry bag for wet clothes.

Looking ahead, I will send out all the details next weekend about our HomeSchool field trip on Thursday, May 2nd. We will meet at TELLUS Science Museum in Cartersville at 9:45am that morning. All parents and siblings are welcome to join us! We'll eat a picnic lunch and tour the Booth Western Art Museum in downtown Cartersville in the afternoon. There is a cost for each museum. If you can't participate, you may make carpool arrangements with another HomeSchool family.

Quote from a child: "During spring break we found shark's teeth on the beach. Some were white and some were black. I know why some were black. Because those sharks didn't brush their teeth!"

Quote from Jane Nelson: "Children will listen to you after they feel listened to."

See you in the culdysac,

Ki Sonya

Upper Grades: April 8 - 12

Last week the upper grades and I told the story of the Quiche Maya people from the Yucatan peninsula to Guatemala. We used the Popal Vuh and created water color drawings mixed with charcoal pencils to help us remember different parts of their creation story. The translation we have in present day is broken into five parts. We told the story of part one to part four.

Middle Grades: April 8 - 12

Good day, parents of Middle Grades students.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars to attend our class play in Thursday, April 25, at 6:30 pm. Things are going great, and we are all getting excited about the outcome of all our effort. I’m also getting excited about our field trip to Red Top Mountain on May 7.  We will be gone all day, and the two programs we are participating in are awesome. Looking ahead, we have Grandfriends Day on Friday, May 1 at 11:00.  The Middle Grades students will be participating in the Maypole dance, presenting a poem and song, and playing with the Strings Ensemble. They will need to wear predominantly white, khaki, pastel shades that day. No jeans and preferably no t-shirts - polos, button-up, with khaki shorts/pants/skirts or dresses. 

Have a great week. If you celebrate Passover or Easter, I hope your celebrations will be filled with love and laughter. 

Lower Grades: April 8 - 12

The Lower Grades are working hard on memorizing lines and songs for our upcoming performance.  Each morning we spend around an hour practicing with the Middle Grades class.  We will also begin working on props and costumes.  In our classroom, we are focusing on beginning blends.  These are two-letter combinations such as /st/ or /cl/.  With these blends, each letter makes its own sound, but they are blended for words such as “stop” or “class”.  We enjoyed getting in the creek for play, helping to paint signs for our campus, handwork, as well as our Spanish and Mandarin classes.  Everyone loved meeting Officer Elijah and his K-9, Narbo.  It was both informative and entertaining to meet them and learn how they work as a team to keep us safe!

This week, we continue with our play practice and many other lessons both in our classroom and outside.  Please send water bottles daily!

Warmly,

Ki Melissa