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

LEW Newsletter 9-26-2015

Good Morning LEW Families, 

What we've been doing

As a group, LEW got to perform Life Comes to Earth.  Erik told a wonderful, impressionistic story of how scientists believe life came to Earth. The students got to act like the first plants, creep around like the first invertebrates, swim around like fish, crawl around like amphibians, slither and hop like reptiles, and walk and run around like mammals.  The students had a great discussion about our job and responsibility as humans to give back to the life around us and to be appreciative.  Ask your child about their favorite part of the story.  

On Friday, the class also got to make kindness with Teresa Hichens-Olson - an incredible administrator and art expert.  Students went around "catching" each other being kind and giving each other the cranes.

First graders are working on number sense and addition, using the colored beads. They are creating a model of a globe with modge podge as well as their own world maps. The are also beginning their work with geometry by learning and feeling 9 different geometric solids (spheres, cubes, cylinders, cones, rectangular prisms, square-based pyramid, triangular-based pyramids, ellipsoids, and ovoids). Ask them about the hidden shapes game. They've had the chance to classify living/nonliving things and plants/animals around campus. They are also exploring different ways we measure time through the seasons, night/day, clocks and being very creative with their follow-up work.  

Second graders are wrapping up their study of the world. They are writing stories about 3 types of geometric lines - parallel, convergent, and divergent.  They are brushing up on their addition and subtraction facts.  Their review of the 5 vertebrates has been very elaborate and it's been a pleasure to observe their scientific brains classifying different characteristics of vertebrates.  Second graders are also working on word problems and using calendars to find the answers.  They've also had a chance to brush up their functions of words and review the noun family and the verb family. See if they can tell you the different symbols and functions for nouns, articles, adjectives, verbs, and prepositions.  

Third graders are also brushing up on their addition and subtraction facts.  They've had a chance to review the types of angles we covered last year plus some others like - right angles, acute angles, obtuse angles, straight angles, and more! See if they can remember why we measure angles in degrees (hint: Sumerian scientists measuring the stars) and how many degrees are in each type of angle.  In science, they have gotten into classifying different things around them - animals in particular.   They are also working on telling time and reviewing the functions of words we worked on last year (noun, article, adjective, verb, preposition, adverb, pronoun).  

Lots of big work happening! Please note that a lot of the students' work is being done in their notebooks. So if you're wondering why some of this work is not coming home, it is most likely because they have chosen to do that work in their notebooks.  

A Note from our Creative Movement Guide

Greetings and welcome to all new and returning families! I am thrilled to have joined Great River School and be working with your children as Creative Movement Guide. Four afternoons each week we've had the pleasure of moving and grooving as we get to know each other. It is such a joy to have their engaged participation and to witness their creativity and abundant energy. If they haven't already, please encourage your child to teach you the mirror game or another one of their favorite activities that we've done--and enjoy moving together at home! 

We've attached a picture of the human peace sign they made for International Day of Peace; a theme we explored during our movements last week. 

Please contact me if you have questions or ideas or talents you would like to share with our group. My email is kegge@greatriverschool.org. 

Grownups, I look forward to meeting those of you I haven't already met, and students I look forward to more exploration and fun through movement! 

Peace,

Karin 

A reminder of upcoming special events:

On Friday, October 2, we'll be going to Buttermilk Falls Farm, as you know.  Please refer to the GRS Newsletter for full information.  A thousand thanks to all of you that volunteered to help with this.  There will be more opportunities!

On Tuesday, October 6, in the evening, there will be a lower elementary family night--a bring-your-own-picnic event--at the area just south (and across the street from) of Comotown at Como Park.  Here is a map if you need it: http://www.stpaul.gov/DocumentCenter/View/67807.  Look for the West Picnic Shelter.  Specific time is yet to be announced, but it will be in the range of 5:00 to 7:00pm.

On Saturday, October 10, there will be a Harvest Festival at Great River, from 2:00-5:00pm.  It's a great way for all of us to build a strong school community.  Look for specifics in the GRS Announcements.

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!

FYI:

Link to the LEW Blog

It has been pretty incredible to see our community truly transform - even just in the last week! The students are getting used to the routine, great work is being done, and we've enjoyed observing how well they have been working and playing together. 

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