On Tuesday, the entire Primary level gathered in the gymnasium for a Diwali celebration. Diwali is a five-day festival that is observed around the world, and its rituals vary by region. Diwali represents new beginnings and the victory of light over darkness, good over evil. It is the triumph of righteousness, knowledge in place of ignorance. Homes are brightly illuminated with diyas (candles) and oil lamps, and people decorate their homes with rangoli. People also often wear new fine clothes and jewelry and celebrate with family and friends.

Ms. Paromita and Ms. Hema, along with several parents from our community, were dressed in traditional Indian attire and provided our children with a wonderful opportunity to experience the beauty of Indian culture. A few students from lower and upper elementary read a book about Diwali.  Our children were mesmerized by the sights and sounds! Ms. Paromita danced to Indian music in her gorgeous attire, and the gymnasium was decorated with beautiful and meaningful items related to Diwali.  The children were able to taste traditional Indian food and decorate diyas to take home. We are so grateful to all who shared their culture!

In the classroom, we were introduced to a new way of working with our Sensorial materials. We added blindfolds! Covering our vision adds a whole new component to activities like the cylinder blocks, the pink tower, and the geometric solids. Students found it so fun and quite challenging to complete these tasks without seeing. The classroom was filled with lots of laughter while the children practiced. What a fun game!

Have a lovely weekend.

Marissa & Sue

This week we explored many different sewing and handwork activities! The simplest activity in our sewing sequence is stringing large beads on a cord. From there, they get increasingly more difficult – stringing small beads on a pipe cleaner, cutting yarn, threading a needle, tying a knot, embroidering on burlap, sewing a button, and so on!

The children have been excited to get new lessons on as much as they are capable of. In the beginning, sewing is done side by side with a teacher, but as skills slowly emerge, the teacher starts to pull away little by little. We never let the inability to thread a needle or tie a knot get in the way of the joy of sewing – those skills will come! In the meantime, we practice, practice, practice.

Sewing works so beautifully in the classroom because it exercises four very important skills: concentration, coordination, independence, and order.

It has been a very busy week in our classroom! This week, we celebrated all things fall and Halloween with a Jack O’Lantern carving, a pick-your-own-pumpkin “farm,” apple cider and apple cookies, and a Halloween Parade!

In our classroom, we have started our journey through South America. We are learning about rainforests, mountains, cities, and plains. One of our student’s families has roots in Colombia and will be giving us a very special presentation on the country! We are so lucky to be able to share special parts of our families.

Last week, the Kindergarteners took a field trip to New Pond Farm, where we learned all about how sheep supply us with wool, how to clean and card it, and how it eventually turns into fiber to make clothing. We took those lessons and translated them right to our Practical Life shelf work with finger knitting, loom knitting, and LOTS of sewing up for this month! We will be reading Pell’s New Suit and Charlie Needs a New Cloak which are both lovely examples of all the work that goes into making things that we wear.

Have a lovely weekend!

Marissa & Sue

The Mystery Word has been a very popular work this week! This activity has a designated spot in our classroom, and it consists of a small box with an object inside, a pencil, small strips of paper, and another box that is empty.  Every day, the object inside the box gets changed. We try to stick to simple CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words like cat, rat, top, hat, rug, etc. A student opens the box to see what the mystery word of the day is. It was “hat” the other day, for example. The child would find each sound that they could in the word (/h/ /a/ /t/) and write it down along with their name on the piece of paper. They then put the paper in the empty box which lives on my shelf. Everyone loves to see what is hiding inside the box each morning!

Our youngest children aren’t quite ready for this work, BUT it is a wonderful opportunity for our first-year students to connect with Kindergarteners who can help them participate in this activity. It also sets them up for the learning that is about to come!

This activity highlights a core component of becoming a reader—phonemic awareness. We spend a lot of time as a class working on listening and finding sounds (not letter names) in words. We clap them out, tap them out, use objects to signify them, and just exercise this skill in many different ways! Phonemic Awareness (breaking down words into sounds) PLUS Phonics (sound-symbol association) equals reading. This is why we start laying the foundation so early!

Below is a quick demo of The Mystery Word!

We had another very busy and productive week! We celebrated two birthdays, got our pictures taken, and continued to explore all the activities in our classroom.

October has kicked off our study of the planet Earth. We are talking about what makes our Earth special—in particular, land, air, and water. Thinking about what animals and vehicles occupy those spaces is so interesting, and we are having a lot of fun categorizing them all. We are exploring land and water forms as well. Do you know the opposite of a system of lakes? No? It’s an archipelago—a cluster of islands!

Here are other land and water forms we’ve talked about:

• Isthmus and Strait
• Island and Lake
• Cape and Bay
• Peninsula and Gulf

It is so fitting that we are talking so much about our planet because we are celebrating our first class birthday this week! The birthday child walks around the sun while holding the globe, representing the passing of a year and turning another year older.

Our Kindergarteners are leaning into their roles as class leaders. They are willingly and enthusiastically giving lessons, guiding others, and being the best role models for our younger students.

The poem we began practicing this week is:

In October I’ll be host
To witches, goblins and a ghost!
I’ll serve them chicken soup on toast.
Whoopy once,
Whoopy twice,
Whoopy chicken soup with rice!

-Maurice Sendak

Warmly,

Marissa & Sue

Now that we have been in the classroom for many weeks, returning students are finding their rhythm and picking up right where they left off! Our new Kindergarteners are settling into their new roles as classroom leaders, and they all take it very seriously! Our new students are internalizing our rhythms and routines and looking forward to many parts of our day.

We continue our study of the Solar System. We have learned some interesting facts about our solar system. Did you know that the sun is the ONLY star in our solar system? We were amazed! All the other stars we see at night are far far away, not in our solar system.

Try to recite this poem we have been practicing with your child:

“Mr. Moon, Mr. Moon,

You’re out too soon, the sun is still in the sky!

Go back to bed and cover your head

And wait for the day to pass by.”

Next month, we will zoom closer into life and change our focus from the Solar System to planet Earth!

We look forward to seeing you at Parent-Teacher Conferences on October 25. Please sign up for your conference here.

We know it takes time for the new rhythm of school days to become familiar. So, while taking one step at a time, we are slowly building the foundations for a smooth, exciting school year.

In just a few short days, we as a class are learning:

• how to navigate our way around the environment
• how to wait for a lesson
• the routines of our school day
• how to prepare for snack and lunch independently
• about being part of a large group meeting by listening and sharing
• care of self and care of the environment

Our returning friends have been role models for our new friends. It’s a wonderful opportunity for them to be a leader. It wasn’t so long ago that they were new to the classroom themselves, and they accepted this new responsibility with excitement and confidence.

A question we frequently hear from parents is, “What can I do at home to help my child be successful at school?” One way to do so is to guide your child to become as independent as possible. Your child’s age and ability guide this independence so there are no hard and fast rules to follow. A few important areas to focus on are setting up and cleaning up their lunch, putting on and taking off coats and shoes, toileting themselves, packing and unpacking their backpacks, and carefully putting their toys away when they are done. This process is also one step at a time.

Here’s to new beginnings and a peaceful, fun school year for everyone!

Warmly,

Marissa & Sue