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Another year is upon us, full of exploring your interests, gaining new skills and diving deeper into old concepts. I look forward to welcoming all of you into our awesome learning community. I hope you're as ready for a great year as I am! Annie Gerstner annie.gerstner@tchlearners.com “The secret of good teaching is to regard the child's intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may be sown, to grow under the heat of flaming imagination. 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 innermost core” ~Maria Montessori (To Educate the Human Potential 11) Room Parents |
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Classroom Highlights
October 16, 2024
We look forward to heading to the High Rollaway Observation Deck this Friday, October 18th. Our first trip a few weeks back was gorgeous. The children enjoyed listening to a story about the four seasons and taking some time at a sit spot to draw and observe the Manistee River and beautiful woodland. We ended the morning with some free time playing in the woods. It’s a great spot, and I’m sure your child would love to take you there and show you around.
We heard our third great story last week, The Story of the Coming of Human Beings. This story is quite special and I thoroughly enjoyed sharing it with the children. This story poses a question in the beginning. What is it that makes us human? What is it that makes us special? Is it our body shape? We certainly look different than the rest of the animals! It talks about humans coming to Earth with 3 special gifts, a mind that can think and imagine, a heart that has a great capacity to love and care for others, and hands to work and build with. I would love for you to ask your children how they can use their minds, hearts, and hands to help others.
We heard the fourth great story this week, The Story of Communication and Signs. The story opens the door to language because it reveals to the child the beginnings of the alphabet, without which we would not read and write as we do. When I heard the story for the first time, I was blown away! Our follow-up to the story will be a mineral pigment, pictograph project. A special guest will accompany us with this project and share their anthropology and rock art expertise!
Della Terra is underway and your children have enjoyed working with Brooke. So far, children have explored parts of the plant, dissected a flower, learned about plant propagation in soil and water, and created seed balls learning about seed disbursement.
Questions for your child
What is on the placement you are painting in art? What is the name of the robot in your new read-aloud? What was your favorite living thing on the Timeline of Life?
September 16, 2024
I look forward to our class picnic next week at F&M park and having the chance to chat with all of you. Thank you Abby and Karen for organizing this event!
It has been so lovely getting to know all the children in the Birch environment. Building community is an important part of these first couple of weeks. We read the book “The Day You Begin” which delivered a beautiful message about celebrating our unique differences and finding your voice to share your stories. Some of our time has been spent working with one another in different ways. The first week of school the children found things they had in common by means of a partner scavenger hunt. They then had the chance to share these findings with the group! The children created a beautiful classroom sign that will be hung up for these next few weeks (see picture below).
We have also been working on establishing routines and expectations these past couple of weeks. We have begun our weekly math work and the children are eager to get new lessons and practice their favorites from past years. We joined the Willow classroom in the gym to share the first Great Story together. Ask your child what they remember from the story or an experiment that was presented!
This past week, Kitchen classroom began. I know helping prepare our school lunches can be a highlight for your child. Each week a new group of children will be helping in the kitchen. They finish the week by baking cookies and enjoying them together as a group.
We had our first friendship group led by Trisha Short, our mental health consultant Trisha will focus on social-emotional learning and bring activities, role-play scenarios, stories and fun to our classroom once a month. This week she read the story “Today I Feel… : An Alphabet of Feelings” Your children learned that there are over 200 emotions and as a group, started to create a list of all the emotions a person may feel. Ask your child to tell you some emotions they learned. Maybe you can create a list at home!
Your children had a wonderful time at LOC last week. From singing songs on the big blue bus to participating in team building activities, the day was filled with nature walks, building gnome homes on the beach and enjoying lunch in the great house!