Dear Parents,

Typically after conferences, this is the time of year where I focus a lot more on individual needs gathered from my observations. I tend to use most of my work time in the mornings before the kids arrive and during the afternoons to prepare lessons, activity sheets, and new material for individuals, small groups, and large groups. I don’t tend to get into specifics on the blog about what each individual is working on since everyone has personal goals that I prefer to discuss at conferences. I have been trying to introduce something new for each child, including goals that we spoke about during conferences along with other activities that come up, and I look forward to sharing the progress with you in months ahead. For now I can share some popular works, large group lessons and classroom activities. All in all, we have a wonderful group of kids who have been cooperating well as a whole and I am really proud of the respect they have for the classroom along with their efforts to work as a team.

Popular Works & Activities

Digging for Rocks

We’ve had various large group lessons on landforms, the layers of the earth, and types of rocks. Each and every child in our studio has thoroughly enjoyed digging for rocks with our excavation kit that teaches about the main types of rocks. With little carving tools, they have been on the dig for tiny sedimentary, metamorphic, and ingneous rocks. By far, our students are most fascinated with the igneous rock… hmm, probably because igneous rocks come from volcanoes formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava 🙂

The Human Body

We have had many large group lessons on the functions of the human body and this anatomy work has been a great visual for the kids. This is another activity that nearly everyone has been very interested in, especially since they can take the model apart to get a closer look at the organs and bones.

Caring for Plants

We’ve had ongoing lessons on the parts of a plant, how we care for our indoor and outdoor plants, and how plants in general help the environment. We’ve also seen some video clips on how paper is made from trees and how we can help the environment by recycling paper. The kids are enjoying caring for our plants, including watering, potting and removing dead leaves.

The Cozy Corner

Everyone makes their rounds at some point by relaxing in our cozy corner throughout the week. This area is meant to be a peaceful area that serves many purposes. It’s a great place to relax, read, and to “calm down.” This is an area that kids are welcome to check in on their own at any time for brief periods throughout the day.

This area is also a place where we might encourage kids to take a moment to “breathe,” grab a book, hold a sensorial object, or work on a simple puzzle in order to refocus and gather one’s thoughts if one is dealing with any type of conflict or frustrations. We talk a lot about emotions in our classroom, and that it’s “okay” to feel different emotions, but that many of our emotions need to be dealt with. We talk about how sometimes we need to find ways to feel better about ourselves and to reflect on our own choices. A cozy corner can serve as a personal sanctuary to recenter one’s self by relaxing, and it can also help to redirect one’s frustrations by finding beauty and peace in something simple and calming.

Other…

As for language, math, and our other subjects, many kids are working in small groups or individually at this point. While we still have many large group activities, I can share more with you shortly. I will also try to share some small group activities in the near future. I have many more photos to sort through this week and I hope to get another blog out before the Thanksgiving holiday. Sorry that I ran out of time for now… I also plan on catching up with all of the celebrations of lives that we’ve already had, so just hang in there a little longer and I’ll do my best to get them posted ASAP!