Dear Parents,
It was a busy week here in the Primary Studio as we had lessons on caring for the environment, how to utilize sensorial works, and reviews on practical life material. But before we expect to have our students’ undivided attention during lessons, we try to set the day on a good note. This week, we talked about positive affirmations, practiced breathing exercises, and reflected on the “ground rules” of our studio. It’s amazing how these simple practices can set the mood for the day…
Caring For the Environment: Reusing & Recycling
We’ve been recycling all along here in the studio, but there’s still so much to learn about the process of recycling and the countless possibilities for reusing material. The kids were asked to share their thoughts on how we can reuse material, and they came up with some creative ideas such as “make submarines out of bottles” and “build a sculpture out of cans.” We also offered a work for sorting recyclables. This also serves as an opportunity to build fine motor skills as the kids are shown how to remove all of the lids on containers when sorting and then putting them back on the containers properly before returning the work to its proper shelf. Below, Luke is sorting paper, plastic, metal, and glass objects.
Practical Life Material
We rotated some of our tonging and spooning material this week, offering colorful objects to transfer such as neon plastic stars and translucent gems. The kids are always excited to be the first to notice that something “new and beautiful” was added to a familiar work.
In the practical life area, we also offered material for children to care for themselves. Some of our older students are working independently on caring for themselves by using nail files and clippers. When a younger child is interested in this material, we play it safe and offer paper strips to practice cutting with the clippers considering they are still working on their grip.
Positive Affirmations
I confess, I’ve been watching a lot of Ted Talks lately, and I felt inspired to try out some of the positive affirmations and confidence boosters with our students. Repeating positive affirmations helps us to think about how we want to be treated by others and how we want to feel about ourselves. As the kids repeated phrases like “I am loved” or “I am a good listener,” we combined some fun body gestures to demonstrate how we can take pride in the way we carry ourselves. For example, the kids would put their hands on their hips and say, “I’m confident!” There were lots of smiles and giggles, but everyone seemed to sit up a little taller during lessons. If you’re a Ted Talk geek like me, need some motivation, or are just curious where I come up with these crazy ideas, here’s a talk by Amy Cuddy on Body Language.
Celebrations
We were pleased to celebrate Waylon’s life this week as he just turned 4! Mom and dad talked about stories of his childhood as they flipped through photos from a scrap book all about Waylen. Thanks for sharing!
The rest of the week, Carrie and I continued to offer individual lessons to students during work cycles and helped to guide children through difficult works. Carrie also taught some sign language on the days of the week during circle times and read educational library books like “What Does a Construction Worker Do?” by P.M. Boekhoff.
As always, I will leave you with images of your beautiful children at work. I hope y’all had a great weekend!
