This week seemed to have gone from a small crawl (surviving a hailstorm) to a fast run! This week the children explored a variety of Language lessons such as Homonyms, Superlatives, Writing Mechanics as they wrote and presented their Writer's Workshop stories after a week of editing and rewriting their work. Children also collaborated with elders as they sat through lessons and follow up work with them and had their work edited with their peers. Large Bead Frame came alive with multiplication, Checkerboard problems extending well into the trillions place value, Telling Time and Tornado Research kept children exploring new areas of interest!

This week our elders held a group discussion about the lack of respect when called to support a younger child and our community voiced the great concerns this was creating such as losing their time, not meeting their personal work goals and so on. Ultimately we settled on every second and third year child receiving their own "fledgling" or "baby bird" to support and guide and watch thrive. This meant every younger child had an elder to support their work, model big work, hold accountable throughout the day and to guide through the Montessori environment. Each pair then created a follow up work protocol to their main lesson of choice and spent a day and half creating, discussing and creating HUGE follow up work to present to a "panel" (the class) to show their knowledge and extractions from lessons. This was one of the most amazing moments in my entire time in Elementary as the first year children were given a platform to showcase their efforts as elders gave them a stage and supported them along the way! Pictures coming soon!

How can you help foster this great work at home? Here are some pointers of how to help, not with the intention of getting a prize or earning a toy, just for the purpose of helping to raise children who are citizens of the future we are supporting!:

* Don't give up just because something is a challenge! 

  - share a time you persevered through a challenge

* Don't quit just because you're bored and want to do something else! 

- what if a pilot quit mid-flight to jump out and take up their favorite hobby instead?"

* Clean up after yourselves and help leave your space better than you found it!

- help your child learn the value of things and have them organize their room, playroom, their living room etc

* Do something to help others, community service work around your neighborhood

- Can they do something nice for an elder in the neighborhood? Can they pull out weeds for an elder? Can they bake for someone who just had surgery or had a baby? 

* Help children to think of others, "think outside of themselves"

- create a "kindness challenge" and set a goal, no prize needed just feel good that you helped! 

* Give clear expectations and boundaries and then hold them to it (they will thank you for this later)

- children need this to feel protected, safe and cared for. I practice this each day with the children, help us at home

Reminders:

* Please donate yarn skeins if you have any at home! Gracias!

* Please email admin of any changes in attendance, illness, pick up etc

Sincerely,

Veronica and Sarah