Klahanie School
October 2016 Newsletter
“Knowing
that we can be loved exactly as we are gives us all the best opportunity for
growing into the healthiest of people.”
Mr. Fred Rogers
September 2016 Reflection
What
a fun way to begin our school year!
Thank you Klahanie School parents for all the warmth and opportunity to
educate and nurture your children!
Thank you also for being on time (or super close to on time as possible)
for drop off and pickup. On time
drop off helps the classroom flow fantastically for this is when we have
beginning circle. Beginning circle
is when we sing songs surrounding our topics as well as introduction to new
projects (art and otherwise), day of the week and agenda for the day. This month, our circle time has been
spent enjoying singing “getting to know each other” songs, group lessons using finger
plays, movement and stories.
Circle time can help the children adjust back to the school environment
and routine as well as understanding the day so transitions are expected and dependable.
This
2016-17 class is a lovely group of people and we have had such fun observing
all the new friendships. They are exercising amazing memory
and practice how to move in the classroom around one another’s workspaces. We teachers have thoroughly enjoyed
observing the children pair off into new friendship play and cooperative
concentration. We work daily on
grace and courtesy of asking to join a person/group as well as polite responses
(if in a group in play or concentration, “sure, we’ll figure it out.” Then sharing
the play/intention and if alone and wanting to be so, “no thank you I am
playing alone, maybe later.”). We
also practice how to politely ask for someone’s attention, adults included. We practice placing a silent hand on the
shoulder or hip of person whose attention is sought after. If the person places a silent finger up
that means, “One moment please.”
This is a very handy tool at home while on the phone or in talk with a
parent in the store, etc.
We
are diving quickly into engaging lessons in language, math, zoology and botany
as well as storytelling, poetry and story writing. Elders have started journal writing and sound box
projects. I will continue to
introduce Sand Paper Letter lessons to children; a wonderful phonetic and
sensory lesson of the alphabet as well as indirect aim to work on speech and
vocabulary expansion using engaging steps to make the concrete, sensory
experience fun. The children have
loved the garden playtime and many have helped harvest and eat from the garden
and play imaginative play and big motor projects.
Some
core words we use daily in class (classroom and garden) are: inclusion,
compassion, helpful choices to ourselves-environment-group, permission,
concentration, independence and connection. We also use the words: tools, work and activity.
Our
first birthday celebrations were for sisters Madeleine and Charlotte! If you would like to schedule a
birthday celebration for your child, please contact us two weeks prior. Celebrations happen at 11am in class,
parents bring a photo and something sweet to say about your child during those
ages as we light a candle for each year of life on earth and sing the
Montessori birthday song. Please
bring young child’s favorite book we can read during that ending circle. Healthy treats are fine and not
mandatory.
October Curriculum Topics
·
Specialist
visits begin October!
·
Spiders
(arachnids) and Bats (mammals):
looking at their life cycle, parts of the bodies, habitats, how they help the
earth and ways to understand them better.
We focus on spiders and bats very concretely as well as observation of
their timid tendencies.
·
Pumpkins, Gourd
family & Apples: life cycle,
parts of the plant and sensory games, songs and food preparation and
tastings. This past week I told an
autumn faerie story using the seed star inside an apple when I cut it horizontally
in half and we shared the cut-up treat in class then used the second half as an
apple stamp.
·
Friends &
Neighbors: What makes a friend and peace
and empathy practices (invitation to play, concentration together) on how to be
neighborly and available for help when asked.
·
3 Part Card
Introduction to Weather and Land Forms:
A language and earth education lesson that focuses on picture and word matching
and earth vocabulary introduction.
·
Garden
preparation for winter/ our Pacific Northwest island environment changes: Winter crops and soil care for winter preparation as
well as our natural environment of animals and plants making transition to
cooler days and nights.
Date Changes & Reminders
·
Parent Curriculum night changed to Thursday
October 20th 5:30-7pm (please RSVP)
·
Parent Conferences will be changed to Tuesday October 25 (1:30-5:30 half hour slots), Wednesday October 26 (1:30-3:30pm
slots) and Thursday October 27
(1:30-3:30pm slots)
·
Pie Auction changed to Saturday November
19th
Reminders/Thank Yous
·
Thank you Parent Volunteers! Thank
you play-dough makers and substitutes
if a teacher is out sick! If no
subs are found then class is canceled so your subbing short notice is beyond
helpful! Class is also
canceled if both teachers are out sick same time.
·
Thank you for
getting involved with our Pie Auction committee planning!! Please contact Emmy to get info.
·
Halloween: children are welcome to wear costumes if easy to
remove, move around in and warm for outside time.
·
Sharing: Children take the sharing bag home and bring it
back the next Wednesday or Thursday with a little written description in the
journal inside each bag that returns to class. Children are welcome to bring one item from nature or item
that starts with a letter sound (“a” for apple, etc.) or something cultural. Please make sure the sharing can fit in
the bag. Parents are welcome to
call and schedule with teacher if child wants to have a family pet visit class
for sharing.
