First Grade: March 16 - 20, 2026
Dear First Grade Families,
A cold snap last week found the class congregating indoors once again for cozy Main Lessons. Inspired by the sights of spring, students explored paper crafts. Having grown increasingly skilled in the art of origami, some children who quickly mastered the folding sequence for a paper tulip played junior teacher, willingly instructing their classmates. During an XML, the class took turns delicately daubing red paint onto wet watercolor paper to create a pink background for a new community collage. Students then punched flower shapes out of a variety of watercolor paintings before arranging and gluing them to the dried pink painting. The effect was charmingly reminiscent of fallen spring blooms piled together into colorful drifts. Finally, students drew and cut out tall beanstalks before gluing them into their Main Lesson book page about Jack and the Beanstalk, where the beans scorned by Jack’s mother produce a miraculous plant! These very tall beanstalks are folded into the books, but will grow before the reader’s eyes for a fun surprise. Paper crafts bring joy while developing fine motor skills; the children improve their hand-eye coordination, pincer grasp, finger dexterity, and hand strength through these activities. When your child is in need of a calming activity, providing a tray with paper, scissors, and glue to see what they come up with could be just the thing!
During last week’s Main Lessons, students learned about spelling patterns for words beginning with the /k/ sound. Now that they know how a, o, and u usually follow a hard c, while e and i usually follow k, they can approach reading and writing another slew of words with confidence! Rooted in the Waldorf pictorial approach to literacy, students drew pictures of a C-shaped cat with its corresponding vowels and a K-shaped kite featuring its vowel partners. When decoding and encoding words, students continued to revisit Vowel Valley with its anchor images to help read or write each vowel correctly. In the realm of Math, students continued working on their multiplication and addition skills through skip counting during Circle and board games for XML. Their grasp of these foundational skills is growing weekly.
Announcements & Reminders:
Grandfriends Day is coming soon! Wednesday, April 1st, you, grandparents, and other special grownups in your child’s life are welcome to join us in our forest classroom for light refreshments and time to enjoy your student in their school environment! Guests are also encouraged to attend the Grade performance at 10:30 a.m. Please remember to e-mail your visiting guest information by Friday, March 27th.
April 1: Grandfriends Tea at 11:00 (All students and family members are welcome to join)
April 6-10: Spring Break (No School)
April 24: Annual Auction Fundraiser (Half Day)
April 25: Community Work Day
Warmly,
Ki Michelle
