Hello LEW families on this beautiful Saturday evening,
Erik and I had an incredible first week with your children. Let me share some of the highlights (apologies in advance for the length. Every week won't be this long).
To welcome the new members of the community, we had students last year buddy up and show the newcomers around the school, walk together to the park, and help to answer any questions about how things work at Great River. For instance, we observed one of the third year students show 5 second years how to create their own world map after their world study lesson. It was also heartwarming to see some of the second years befriend the new students and share their favorite works or favorite games at recess. As we transition into this new year, we noticed another third year (who has been in LEW for three years) console some students that were feeling anxious or scared about the new year. We discussed all through the week the importance of community and how this is our classroom. We each have our own light that we bring to the community each day - it may be bright or it may be dim - but when we all come together, are flame is so much brighter.
What we're working on...
All of the students have been getting accustomed to practical life works such as napkin folding, knot tying, solving puzzles, pin punching, finger knitting, and much, much more.
First years have started working on the beautiful Montessori material known as the bead chains. The bead chains help the students see exactly what skip counting by 2s,3s,4s...all the way up to the 10s looks like. They are also beginning their world study and experimenting if the earth contains more water or land with a globe tally experiment.
Second years have begun their world study by recreating maps of the world and labeling the continents and oceans. They will also be creating compass roses and answering questions like: Which continent is the furthest south? Which continents touch the Atlantic ocean?
Third years have begun their solar system study. We had a blast examining scale models of the size of each of the planets (Did you know that you could fit around 11 Earths across Jupiter's diameter?). We also got to go outside and experiment with how far each planet would be from the Sun if 1 meter represented 93,000,000 miles (the Earth's distance from the Sun). They are also working on researching and/or creating plays about the Cosmic History of the Universe. Nobody knows exactly what happened when the universe began, but these students decided that they'd like to act out the Big Bang and we're so excited to see what they come up with.
Restitution
This year our school as a whole is adopting restitution, a method created by a school teacher named Diane Gossen, as a way to instill the importance of community and self-discipline.
For example, this past week we discussed how everyone has specific needs. We all have the need to survive, to have a sense of belonging, to feel power, to have fun, and to be free. When our needs our fulfilled we feel happy and content - our light is bright! I attached a picture of the chart we created during this discussion. The children came up with profound ways to meet their needs.
We also discussed what we believe our ideal classroom would look like, sound like, and feel like. I also attached a picture of that chart to this email. Be sure to take a look!
Next week, the restitution topics we will cover include:
- An outline of what is our job (the guides) and your job (the students)
- Creating a social contract based on our needs and beliefs
- Outlining bottom-line behaviors and how students can come back to the community restored.
The discussion and work we've done in just 4 days has already been fruitful. We can see how having common beliefs and language are essential to developing a strong community. If you're interested in learning more about restitution, click the link below:
Big Thanks!
To all of you that signed up to volunteer. It means so much to us to have your support.
Thank you Joanna Chao for bringing in our snack this week. The students love learning how to prepare snack and use the snack area. Great practical life skills happening here :)
Volunteer Opportunities
If you are still interested in volunteering. There are still a few spots available. Check the link below.
LEW Volunteer Opportunities 15-16
Coming Soon...
A class blog! That's how we will primarily communicate the news from the week.
That's all for now!
In gratitude,
Jessy & Erik
