Tuolumne Classroom
Lower Elementary – Jean Hicks
Lower Elementary – Jean Hicks
November News
Hello Parents and Friends, We had a visitor recently who said she loved the way the children spontaneously began singing during their work period. It’s wonderful when children feel a sense of joy as they work. Realizing the importance of their work and completing daily tasks has been a challenge but I see consistent gains. Montessori states, “The child can develop fully by means of experience in his environment. We call such experiences ‘work’.” And “....the child works in order to grow, and is working to create the adult, the person that he is to be. Such experience is not just play...it is work he must do in order to grow up,” Two weeks ago, during the Parent In-service on Montessori mathematics, one of my students was demonstrating the racks and tubes division material. It took a considerable amount of time, but his focus was unbroken even with a room full of adult observers. He had a satisfied look on his face when he finished...a look we often see after a child completes a work that took total concentration. So as parents, what can be done to help the child reach this happy state of total concentration? I can think of a few things. 1) Make sure your child gets plenty of sleep. Recommendations are ten to eleven hours a night for this age. 2) Begin the day with a high protein breakfast. 3) Try to keep challenges the family might be facing from impacting the child. 4) Take opportunities to let your child know how important his/her daily work is. 5) Have high expectations for your child’s academic growth. 6) Spend a morning in the classroom following your child through the work period. The Tuolumne students had the First Great Lesson and have been exploring the earth’s interior, volcanoes and earthquakes. They are beginning the study of the rock cycle and identifying rocks and minerals. If you have books or a collection you’d be willing to share, it would be welcome. We’ve also studied the art of Georgia O’Keefe, created paintings, positive/negative designs, and cut paper collages. Vincent Van Gogh is our next subject and I’m looking for old art books to cut and laminate. I need several pictures of Van Gogh’s paintings. Our read aloud is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. What a great story and example of classic children’s literature. I thought the vocabulary might be a bit lofty for the first years but not so. They hang on every word. You obviously read to your children! We are getting to fieldtrips and cooking very soon! Christina Isetta will be cooking a pasta lunch with the class this Thursday (November 10). Then the following Thursday (November 17) Stone Soup is on the menu. Your child will not need a lunch on those days. Our first Literary Tea is Thursday (November 10) with Tobin and Eva as host and hostess. The spelling lists are sent home each Monday and the test is the following Monday. We tried giving the tests Fridays as was originally planned, but there just wasn’t time. Also, it would be such an advantage to your child to practice math facts at home. We’ll begin with addition facts and move to subtraction as mastery is achieved. Second and third year students will begin timed tests soon. There are several fun online math fact games you may want to look into. We are so happy to have Nilsa Reischmann assisting in the classroom. Nilsa has had years of experience teaching Spanish, creating and implementing her own curriculum. We’re all enjoying her daily Spanish lessons, songs and stories. Is someone willing to come into the school once a week or so to laminate and cut materials? I can’t keep up with it! Also we would welcome more volunteers in the classroom. Be sure to send me an email if you have questions or concerns. I’m always open to setting up a time to meet together. Jean | Wish list:
Tempera paint~all colors Polymer clay Natural clay Floor lamp Art books to cut/laminate Bedding for Firecracker (the classroom snake) Parents to help make materials Parent volunteers in the classroom Gratitude to .... *Nielson family for the electric pencil sharpener and paper cutter *Strother family for all the art supplies *Lisa Baird for taking photos of our History Mystery characters *Campbell and Schroth families for the composition books *Liz Rantissi, Panna Lossy, Heather Hartley, Andrea Vincent and Kaija Hillcrest for volunteering in the classroom *Isetta - Zimmerman family for art and classroom supplies *Su family for the scale (shipped from Myanmar!) Alverde family for the aquarium and gift certificate daily schedule
MONDAY-THURSDAY 8:15 Morning Gathering 8:20 Classroom Meeting 8:40 Work Period 11:40 Clean up 11:45 Lunch | Recess 12:45 Journaling | Group Activities PE | Music 3:00 Dismissal FRIDAY 8:15 | Morning gathering 8:20 Art/ Science/ Make-up work Free Choice 12:00 | Dismissal classroom supplies |
