This Week's Newsletter, Lower Elementary West

Dear Lower Elementary West Community,

I greet you all with my sincere gratitude for all that you do, on the scene or behind it.  Jessy and I feel so fortunate to partner with you in this meaningful work we do together.

Festival of Fall

Last things first: After a week touched so happily by Halloween excitement, the third years graciously and enthusiastically treated the community to a "Fall Festival," which allowed some direct celebration of the season.  The Fest included 

• decorations (seasonally-colored paper chains, and a creepy spider web full of creepy spiders)
• engaging works and activities (including the highlight: a "pumpkin-yata," which ended up being hit with a sizable wooden log from the playground, after our broom was broken on it!  What abandoned revelry!)
  
• cookies! (an extremely rare treat in our community)
• happiness and engagement for all, young and old
• sincere and gracious post-festival acknowledgements from the younger children, to the third years

Overall, it was a great way to end the week, after so much anticipation--a little pent-up due to the other tasks at hand--of the holiday weekend.

Looking out the window this morning, I see a dull, chilly, grey day, but the rain has stopped and the wind is still.  I'm hoping that all of you can enjoy whatever revelry is in store for you with your children, on this most exciting day.  I know the children have been looking forward to it.

Work this Week

There seems to be a lot of construction going on at work time.  The third years completed huge projects to demonstrate the fundamental needs of humans, with historical dioramas.  One of them is on display near the dining hall; check it out!  The first years are becoming master cardboard engineers, especially with their fish "habitats"-- diorama structures complete with clay models, pencil and marker color, tissue streamers, construction paper, and written descriptions.  They are also continuing their study of plant life with constructed trees, showing the different types of leaf margins in the leaves.  Second years have now mostly completed their tooth-pick and clay models of vertebrate skeletons--a surprise hit.

Other learning...

First Years: Much plant work--parts of the plant, types of leaf margins, and planting a seed to care for.  I emphasize empathy and respect for plant life, including in one lesson the "befriending" of a plant outside and writing about it.  They have also further studied addition facts with the concrete materials, and begun constructing a photo/writing timeline of their life so far.

Second Years: Other work and lessons include the ongoing exploration of animal knowledge and stamp game decimal exploration, as well as addition fact work and contractions (it is --> it's, etc.).

Third Years: They have finished up some big projects, earnestly planned the Fall Festival for the community, and attended a field trip to the Planetarium to culminate their study of space.  The latter activity was a great success.  The children expressed their excitement for it, bright-eyed with appreciation of the concrete perspective on the heavens and the celestial bodies.  They also received a lesson on Rocks and Minerals, which promises to engage them once the other excitement dies down!

Again, I wish you a happy holiday weekend.  Jessy and I truly enjoy our time with the children, and it's a pleasure to report their activity to you.  I hope and trust you will not resent the excessive length of the newsletter.  It's difficult to say less!

We wish you well,

Erik

LEW Newsletter 10-24-2015

Greetings LEW Families,

What an incredible week! We capped it off with a fantastic performance by all at St. Thomas University on Friday.  

Bella Luna

Lower El West and Upper El West got to see the fruits of their labor from all of their work in Creative Movement. With excitement and a little uncertainty, the lower elementary students went on stage first. They showed the audience how they warm up with grande plies, jetes, tendus, piques, coupes ... they are much better at remembering what each French term translates to in English. Then they performed three choreographies and the audience had to guess which emotion they were performing through movement - no words allowed! The students did so well that the audience was able to guess each (anger, happiness, and sadness) with ease. Next, the upper elementary went on stage in small groups to perform their own choreographies and again the audience had to guess which emotion each group was trying to emulate. The lower elementary students were excited to see familiar faces on stage, doing similar moves that they learned in movement and they had fun participating in the guessing game. Finally, St. Paul Ballet went on stage and performed Bella Luna. This was absolutely magical (and, honestly, quite emotional for me and Erik), because we could hear all of the students whispering excitedly about the characters and the story. They've gotten to know the characters and the story so well over the last three weeks - Michelle and Preston from the St. Paul Ballet were incredible instructors.  The students were mesmerized - they were sad for Izzy, excited by the soldiers, grossed out by the character, Scuaracce... The story was truly brought to life and we are so grateful for the experience we got to have with the St. Paul Ballet company.  We will see them again in December to see Clara's Dream. We'll keep you posted. We absolutely want to keep this partnership alive. 

Request for Video of the LE performance 

Unfortunately, my camera only captured a snippet of the lower elementary performance. I know many of you wanted to see the performance, but couldn't make it. If anyone has a copy of the lower elementary performance, we would be extremely happy if you could share it with us :) 

In the classroom...

First years are creating designs with parallelograms, trapezoids, hexagons and more. They are are writing fascinating stories and magazines.  After collecting leaves with Erik, the students learned about the parts of a leaf. They are also exploring the parts of fish and creating habitats.  First years are also continuing their work with the decimal system and the golden bead material.

Second years are exploring the relationships of equal sides, parallel lines, and angles in 6 different quadrilaterals.  They are also creating elaborate skeletons of the 5 vertebrates and they are continuing their practice with telling time and practicing stamp game addition and subtraction.  

Third years are creating elaborate exhibits once again, but this time they are creating Roman and Greek cities that feature all of the fundamental needs of people (food, shelter, clothing, art, etc.). They have also learned about the origin of Roman Numerals and have discovered that there are only 7 triangles in reality. See if they remember all seven and if they remember which 2 triangles are impossible to create.  They are diagramming sentences that have articles, adjectives, nouns, prepositions, verbs, pronouns, adverbs, and conjunctions.  Finally, they've had the chance to experiment with chlorophyl and what it does for the plant.  

Big Thanks

Cate and Jason for providing October's delicious snack.

Joanna, Meredith, and Kerstin for being our reading buddies.

Heather for all your yarn balls (huge amount of work) and help keeping our classroom spick and span.  

Nicole for the beautiful flower bouquets. 

All of you for sending in materials like calendars, boxes, and precious objects so that the students can do their big and ambitious work. It truly proves to the students that we value their ideas and creativity.  

With appreciation and gratitude, 

--

Jessy Eaton Fabel

Lower Elementary Guide

"Our aim therefore is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his inmost core." ~ Maria Montessori    

Wanted: Field Trip Volunteer for Friday, Oct. 30 9:15-12:00

Hello LEW families,

On Friday, October 30th, I will be taking the third graders to check out the Exploradome at the Bell Museum. They will also have the chance to do some astronomy labs - a great way to put a cap on all of the great space work we've been doing. 

I need one volunteer that would be willing to come on this trip with us. If you are interested, please let me know. We would love to have you!

Warm regards,

--

Jessy Eaton Fabel

Lower Elementary Guide

"Our aim therefore is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his inmost core." ~ Maria Montessori    

omission

Hi all, I omitted the date of the ballet performance.  Sorry!

It's on Friday, October 23.  The rest of the information is in the newsletter for this week.

Thanks!

Re: Weekly Newsletter, Oct. 12-14 - space exhibit pictures pt 2

Pictures from the space exhibit part 2

On Oct 16, 2015, at 8:58 AM, Erik Akre <eakre@greatriverschool.org> wrote:

Dear Lower Elementary West Community,

This week I want to introduce you briefly to one of my favorite Montessori topics.  It's not addressed directly in all the texts and writings, but it holds importance to me as an educator.

Boredom and its Value

If I'm not mistaken, most people regard boredom as an enemy--something to be avoided at all costs.  Some educators, and some parents, will go to lengths to stave off their children's boredom and provide them with something to do as quickly as possible, whatever that might be.  My use of the word "boredom" means, in this case, "not knowing what to do," or "not having the immediate will to choose something to do."

   In the Montessori classroom, boredom is seen as an opportunity.  By no means is it ignored or unaddressed, nor however is it squelched or pacified.  All of us find ourselves naturally in situations of not knowing what to do, or feeling like there's nothing to do--at home or at school.  At school, we see this not a a crisis, but as an opportunity.

   A bored person is a person poised to make a creative choice, by an act of will.  The key is providing 1) an environment with healthy choices for activity, and 2) adults who can offer these choices with calm and clarity.  The will to act develops from a state of lacking a will to act, and if any of us avoid boredom to seek mere entertainment, instead of healthy and productive activity, we miss out on a great opportunity to exercise the muscle of will-power.

   Therefore boredom is not the enemy, and it should not be hastily pacified.  At school, as at home, there are many choices for activity.  Many of them here stem from chosen follow-up work from lessons, and some can come about from the child's own independent creative choice. In any case, these choices are clearly available in a number of ways, and in independently choosing an appropriate, healthy learning activity, the child builds up that strong, creative will-power, bit by bit.  By the end of the child's Montessori education, this may be (in all honesty and seriousness) the most lasting point of learning he or she receives.  And it is a truly valuable gift.

This Week's Events

It was a short week, of course.  The children are gearing up, with the help of their professional ballet instructors, for next week's ballet performance, to which you are all invited and most welcome: The children will perform their ballet at 12:45pm, at the Brady Education Center, at St. Thomas on the on their South Campus.  A performance of Bella Luna, by the professional dance troupe, will follow at 1:45 until 2:45.

The children have been working hard, through the challenges of a new and complex art form.  On Wednesday, we were forced by space limitations to do our rehearsal in an open field outside, and they did wonderfully!  There is much excitement and anticipation (and some giddy nerves about being on stage).

The other event worth mention this week is the Third Years' fantastic "Space Exhibit" (advertised by a First-Year's admiring poster for the event, with the most wonderful creative spelling: "Spais Egzibit!").  The children set up museum-style booths with topics ranging from black holes to galaxies to planets and planet-moons.  One pair pulled off an excellent dramatization of Mars exploration, complete with story-telling and space-suit props.  The event foreshadows the Third Years' trip to the Bell Museum on October 30, at which they will learn about space up close, so to speak, at the hands of professional guides.

What impressed me most about the exhibition--and what probably says most about its success--was the fascinated interest shown by the younger children.  They were rapt, and so interested in this display of learning.  Some of them immediately began to picture themselves as the presenters, which indeed they will soon be!  The event warmed my heart and gave a direct reminder of the community developing in the room.  Congratulations goes out to all involved.

I wish you an excellent long weekend full of autumn color and joy.

Sincerely,

Erik

Re: Weekly Newsletter, Oct. 12-14 - space exhibit picture pt 1

Pictures from the space exhibit!

On Oct 16, 2015, at 8:58 AM, Erik Akre <eakre@greatriverschool.org> wrote:

Dear Lower Elementary West Community,

This week I want to introduce you briefly to one of my favorite Montessori topics.  It's not addressed directly in all the texts and writings, but it holds importance to me as an educator.

Boredom and its Value

If I'm not mistaken, most people regard boredom as an enemy--something to be avoided at all costs.  Some educators, and some parents, will go to lengths to stave off their children's boredom and provide them with something to do as quickly as possible, whatever that might be.  My use of the word "boredom" means, in this case, "not knowing what to do," or "not having the immediate will to choose something to do."

   In the Montessori classroom, boredom is seen as an opportunity.  By no means is it ignored or unaddressed, nor however is it squelched or pacified.  All of us find ourselves naturally in situations of not knowing what to do, or feeling like there's nothing to do--at home or at school.  At school, we see this not a a crisis, but as an opportunity.

   A bored person is a person poised to make a creative choice, by an act of will.  The key is providing 1) an environment with healthy choices for activity, and 2) adults who can offer these choices with calm and clarity.  The will to act develops from a state of lacking a will to act, and if any of us avoid boredom to seek mere entertainment, instead of healthy and productive activity, we miss out on a great opportunity to exercise the muscle of will-power.

   Therefore boredom is not the enemy, and it should not be hastily pacified.  At school, as at home, there are many choices for activity.  Many of them here stem from chosen follow-up work from lessons, and some can come about from the child's own independent creative choice. In any case, these choices are clearly available in a number of ways, and in independently choosing an appropriate, healthy learning activity, the child builds up that strong, creative will-power, bit by bit.  By the end of the child's Montessori education, this may be (in all honesty and seriousness) the most lasting point of learning he or she receives.  And it is a truly valuable gift.

This Week's Events

It was a short week, of course.  The children are gearing up, with the help of their professional ballet instructors, for next week's ballet performance, to which you are all invited and most welcome: The children will perform their ballet at 12:45pm, at the Brady Education Center, at St. Thomas on the on their South Campus.  A performance of Bella Luna, by the professional dance troupe, will follow at 1:45 until 2:45.

The children have been working hard, through the challenges of a new and complex art form.  On Wednesday, we were forced by space limitations to do our rehearsal in an open field outside, and they did wonderfully!  There is much excitement and anticipation (and some giddy nerves about being on stage).

The other event worth mention this week is the Third Years' fantastic "Space Exhibit" (advertised by a First-Year's admiring poster for the event, with the most wonderful creative spelling: "Spais Egzibit!").  The children set up museum-style booths with topics ranging from black holes to galaxies to planets and planet-moons.  One pair pulled off an excellent dramatization of Mars exploration, complete with story-telling and space-suit props.  The event foreshadows the Third Years' trip to the Bell Museum on October 30, at which they will learn about space up close, so to speak, at the hands of professional guides.

What impressed me most about the exhibition--and what probably says most about its success--was the fascinated interest shown by the younger children.  They were rapt, and so interested in this display of learning.  Some of them immediately began to picture themselves as the presenters, which indeed they will soon be!  The event warmed my heart and gave a direct reminder of the community developing in the room.  Congratulations goes out to all involved.

I wish you an excellent long weekend full of autumn color and joy.

Sincerely,

Erik

Weekly Newsletter, Oct. 12-14

Dear Lower Elementary West Community,

This week I want to introduce you briefly to one of my favorite Montessori topics.  It's not addressed directly in all the texts and writings, but it holds importance to me as an educator.

Boredom and its Value

If I'm not mistaken, most people regard boredom as an enemy--something to be avoided at all costs.  Some educators, and some parents, will go to lengths to stave off their children's boredom and provide them with something to do as quickly as possible, whatever that might be.  My use of the word "boredom" means, in this case, "not knowing what to do," or "not having the immediate will to choose something to do."

   In the Montessori classroom, boredom is seen as an opportunity.  By no means is it ignored or unaddressed, nor however is it squelched or pacified.  All of us find ourselves naturally in situations of not knowing what to do, or feeling like there's nothing to do--at home or at school.  At school, we see this not a a crisis, but as an opportunity.

   A bored person is a person poised to make a creative choice, by an act of will.  The key is providing 1) an environment with healthy choices for activity, and 2) adults who can offer these choices with calm and clarity.  The will to act develops from a state of lacking a will to act, and if any of us avoid boredom to seek mere entertainment, instead of healthy and productive activity, we miss out on a great opportunity to exercise the muscle of will-power.

   Therefore boredom is not the enemy, and it should not be hastily pacified.  At school, as at home, there are many choices for activity.  Many of them here stem from chosen follow-up work from lessons, and some can come about from the child's own independent creative choice. In any case, these choices are clearly available in a number of ways, and in independently choosing an appropriate, healthy learning activity, the child builds up that strong, creative will-power, bit by bit.  By the end of the child's Montessori education, this may be (in all honesty and seriousness) the most lasting point of learning he or she receives.  And it is a truly valuable gift.

This Week's Events

It was a short week, of course.  The children are gearing up, with the help of their professional ballet instructors, for next week's ballet performance, to which you are all invited and most welcome: The children will perform their ballet at 12:45pm, at the Brady Education Center, at St. Thomas on the on their South Campus.  A performance of Bella Luna, by the professional dance troupe, will follow at 1:45 until 2:45.

The children have been working hard, through the challenges of a new and complex art form.  On Wednesday, we were forced by space limitations to do our rehearsal in an open field outside, and they did wonderfully!  There is much excitement and anticipation (and some giddy nerves about being on stage).

The other event worth mention this week is the Third Years' fantastic "Space Exhibit" (advertised by a First-Year's admiring poster for the event, with the most wonderful creative spelling: "Spais Egzibit!").  The children set up museum-style booths with topics ranging from black holes to galaxies to planets and planet-moons.  One pair pulled off an excellent dramatization of Mars exploration, complete with story-telling and space-suit props.  The event foreshadows the Third Years' trip to the Bell Museum on October 30, at which they will learn about space up close, so to speak, at the hands of professional guides.

What impressed me most about the exhibition--and what probably says most about its success--was the fascinated interest shown by the younger children.  They were rapt, and so interested in this display of learning.  Some of them immediately began to picture themselves as the presenters, which indeed they will soon be!  The event warmed my heart and gave a direct reminder of the community developing in the room.  Congratulations goes out to all involved.

I wish you an excellent long weekend full of autumn color and joy.

Sincerely,

Erik

Reminder: MEA = No School Thursday and Friday

Hello all,

Forgot to add to the newsletter a friendly reminder that there will be no school on Thursday and Friday for MEA conferences. 

That is truly all for now.

Thanks for reading.

(I promise that I try to keep it short. There is just so much happening!)

Best,

--

Jessy Eaton Fabel

Lower Elementary Guide

"Our aim therefore is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his inmost core." ~ Maria Montessori    

LEW Newsletter 10-11-2015

Good Day, LEW Families!

I hope that this weekend of beautiful weather has given you all the opportunity to go outside and enjoy it. 

Community Meetings

Since day one, all of us in LEW have been learning about the importance of community meetings and practicing every day.  I wanted to give you a glimpse of what the meeting looks like.  At the end of the day, we gather in the circle and the meeting leader (third graders have started taking on this role) will call the meeting to order. We begin with Acknowledgements. The meeting leader calls on students to acknowledge others for doing something helpful like, "I acknowledge Erik for helping me with my weather graph." Then we move on to Good Stuff Play. The leader calls on students and they will say something like, "I have good stuff play jump roping at recess with my friends." Then we move on to Good Stuff Work. Again, the leader calls on the students and they say something like, "I completed my vertebrate work today and I'm proud of how it turned out." We end the meeting with Business. During the business portion, students can bring up problems or questions like, "Should we play music during clean up?" or "Should we share food at lunch?" This is the meat of the meeting and the students truly have to learn how to listen to one another respectfully and present reasonable solutions. Eventually the meeting leader will read out the solutions, we vote and the leader announces what the solution that we have agreed to try.  We check in about the solution at future meetings to see if we truly addressed the problem. Finally, we adjourn the meeting with a call-response Navajo poem called, "In Beauty May I Walk." (see link below) It's an incredible poem that the students enjoy leading. If there's time we sing a couple of songs, accompanied by Erik's guitar (the students really enjoy this - you look around the circle and see students playing air guitars), and we finally end with the "Good Bye Song."  So much growth and learning happens in these 20 minutes meetings.  We learn how to work as a group rather than 32 individuals. Erik and I are noticing that the students are really starting to value this time.  If you have the chance, ask your child about what they think about community meetings.

What we're studying

All grades practice daily to work with numbers and operations (+ - x / ) in varying degrees of difficulty. In addition to their math work...

First years are continuing their study of time, working the with decimal system through the golden beads, sewing globe pillows with all of the continents, identifying and creating 6 different quadrilaterals, and studying the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates.

Second years have learned about the parts of a volcano and are now currently in the process of making their own model volcanoes (be ready to do your own explosion at home - you just need baking soda, vinegar and a little red dye for effect).  The second years are also reviewing the 6 quadrilaterals, but they are going to discover the relationships of the lines in each shape (parallelograms have two sets of parallel sides, trapezoids have one set, etc.). They have learned how to make line graphs and have been plotting the daily temperatures. They are also writing fun little animal riddles about the 5 vertebrates. See if your child remembers some of their little animal stories.  

Third years are working hard to finish up their space research. On Wednesday, the third years will put on an exhibit for the class and they are excited to start creating their displays. There will be exhibits on Saturn, Jupiter's moons, our moon, Mars Rovers and more! At the end of the month, the third years are going to get the chance to go to the Exploradome at the Bell Museum - check below for details.The third years are also embarking on the incredible Montessori work called "The Fundamental Needs. " They are discussing and creating models that represent our material needs (food, shelter, clothing, etc.) and spiritual needs (love, art, music, etc.).   They have also discovered that there are only 7 triangles in reality - see if they can tell you what they are.  

Upcoming Events

On Friday, October 23, at 1:15 until 3:00, Lower Elementary West will perform the fruits of their two-week residency with the St. Paul ballet in a performance called Luna Bella.  After working on campus every day for these weeks, the children will show what they've learned for anyone who wishes to come and see.  Hope you can be there!

One volunteer wanted for a trip to the Bell Museum third graders - October 30 - 9:15 to 12:00

Third years get the chance to do the Astronomy Adventure at the Bell Museum! This means they will get to go inside the Exploradome and do the astronomy labs with the experts.  It will be a great way to culminate all of the work we've been doing about space over the last month.

I need 1 volunteer to come on this trip with us.  We will be taking public transit to the U of M at about 9:15.  Your bus ticket and ticket of admission will be covered and we should be back at GRS by 12:00.  Please let me know if you'd like to join us on this space adventure!

Big Thanks

To Joanna, Cate, and Jason for generously taking care of snack thus far.  

To Heather for working with first years on sewing their pillows.

To Nicole for bringing in a beautiful bouquet of flowers last week.

To our future reading buddies, Meredith, Joanna, and Kerstin, who are graciously volunteering their time and energy to reading with are beginning readers. 

And to Keri and her neighbor for donating all those calendars and yarn balls. 

Thank you!

That's all for now.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

In gratitude, 

--

Jessy Eaton Fabel

Lower Elementary Guide

"Our aim therefore is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his inmost core." ~ Maria Montessori    

Events this Week

Dear Parents,

This week there are three events involving Lower El West families:

1.  Tomorrow night at the west picnic grounds just south (across the street) of Como Town, we will have a lower elementary bring-your-own-picnic.  Families can meet and greet and enjoy the evening.  We will gather form 5:00-6:30.

2.  Friday is picture day at school!  We'll get more information to you as necessary.

3.  Saturday from 2:00-5:00 pm there will be a Harvest Festival at Great River.  Come and celebrate and meet other GRS families!

Best wishes all,

Erik

News from the Past Week

Dear Lower Elementary West Community,

As I reflect, it seems to have been quite a busy week for us...  I want to tell you a bit more about what we do before I move on to events.

Freedom and Responbilitly

In the classroom, now until the end of third grade, the children are engaging their work process, sorting out the relationship between "freedom" and "responsibility."  These are buzzwords in Montessori, and for good reason.  One of the primary goals of a Montessori education is to develop discipline and concentration on life's work, both academic and social.  Their actions at school constantly play between the freedom (movement around the room, choosing follow-up work from lessons, self-chosen or "interest" work, social interaction and much more) and their responsibilities (to their work, their learning, their pro-social behavior, their contract within the classroom and school community, their respect of others and the environment, and more).  

In the process, they bump up against boundaries, whether built into the environment or provided by guides or classmates.  The boundaries are designed to aid in the development of healthy decisions, discipline, and responsible freedom.  When a child's education is complete, these boundaries are no longer necessary, and freedom and responsibility are complete and applicable dynamically.  This is the aim of our work.

Right now the children are fully engaged in the process.  It is a lifelong process just begun, and it's beautiful to see successes and the ever-present constructive challenges.  And so the school year has begun!

Recent Events

Here are some bullet points...

• A brilliant movement event on Monday with Maureen Fleming, a professional dancer and dance instructor.  The hour-long event was fast paced and full of action.  It was a nice complement to our other movement work with our specialist Karin Egge, which occurs on M, T, Th, and F.  Visit this link for a peek.  Thanks to Michael Williams, elementary parent, for the photos.
• E1 West Fleming Dance Transformation
• Another great trip to Horton Park (at Hamline and Minnehaha) on Wednesday afternoon.  This is a weekly ritual that brings us together in walking and free play in an open space.  The weather was a September dream.
• Of course: Our field trip to Buttermilk Falls Farm on Friday.  We pulled carrots (pictures soon available on a separate communication), seeded rye by hand in an open field, hiked to the waterfall through the fall woods, and got a close look at the barnyard's many animals.  My personal favorite was the end of the visit, when the children collected forest items and placed them in a large mandala in the grass.  The process and the design expressed well the positive and meaningful energy generated by our visit.
• Our studies included:
• Concrete place value representation, free writing, and globe studies (pillows!) for the first years.
• Varying math operations, animal stories and continued vertebrate work, alphabetizing, and volcanoes for the second years.
• Classifying invertebrate animals, universe studies, "back-to-back writing," and varying math work (especially subtraction) for the third years.
• Keep in mind please that in math and language the lessons will vary, including children from different grades, depending on needs.

Thanks for bearing with a long email.  Please don't forget our casual bring-your-own picnic event on Tuesday evening from 5:00-6:30.  It will be at the West picnic grounds in Como Park, just south across the street from Como Town.  Please contact Erik and Jessy for any needed details.

Thanks all!  You are wonderful!

Best,

Erik

Buttermilk Falls Field Trip - Bus leaving at 8:30 tomorrow

Hello LEW families,

We are so thrilled about the field trip tomorrow (Actually, I'm a bit sad, because I will not get to go - wedding obligations).  

Here's some information that will be helpful for you to prepare for this trip:

- The bus will be leaving at 8:30 tomorrow morning, so please prepare and be here by 8:20.  

Please have your child bring the following items:

- a lunch (if they do not receive GRS lunches)

- a snack

- a water bottle 

- clothes and shoes that can get dirty and are good for gardening.

- something to do for the bus ride. It will take about an hour to get to the farm, so your child may do something in their seat like reading a book, doing an activity book, play cards, etc. something low key but fun.  

Have a fantastic night and we'll see you at 8:20 tomorrow!

All the best,

Jessy & Erik