Thanks to a delayed opening, Liam and I were able to make fresh dumplings (more like whole wheat clazones) filled with yummy vegies for February 7th, and we ate them for luck for our upcoming year. We read Tenzin’s Deer by Barbara Soros (Thank you Tony) about a boy who nurses a deer back to health by [...]
Archive for February, 2008
Week 8 (Feb. 5-8)
Posted in Special Days, Spirit Walk, books, curriculum on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Week 7 (January 29-Feb. 1)
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Special Days, curriculum on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
With the upcoming Lunar New Year (This year, the Chinese New Year and the Tibetan New Year fall on the same day, February 7: The year of the rat.), we have been reading stories about dragons (friendly and a sign of good luck in Chinese culture) and the customs associated with the New Year. This [...]
Week 6 (January 22-25)
Posted in curriculum on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Happy 7th Birthday to Liam! Our writer’s workshop continues with the older friends telling stories to each other. There are lots of components to a story, so they have dictated them to me on my laptop, and then we’ll spend time listening to each others’ stories. Each friend listens after their story while we ask questions [...]
Week 4 (January 8-11)
Posted in curriculum on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Sledding This week has been spent getting back into the routine of our learning community. Most days we split up into similar age groups for a period of time, and engage in “lessons.” For the older students we usually read aloud and work with reading and writing or play games that have to do with learning [...]
Week 3 (December 18-21)
Posted in books, curriculum on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Winter SolsticeOur last week before break has been spent in celebration of the holidays ahead. We have been busy at work in our Winter Workshop finishing gifts for family members and friends. Our projects included felting, making angels and fairies (Thanks Lauren!), watercoloring and decorating bookmarks, and making gift wrap and gift tags with stamps. [...]
Week 2 (December 11-14)
Posted in books, curriculum on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Cuisinaire RodsThis week we spent loads of time with books and many hours in our winter workshop. Sledding has also been an integral part of our play, and we’ve developed systems for keeping friends safe as we work and play together.Older friends in math began unix cubes. We’ve been working with “doubles,” building towers of [...]
Winter Semester, Week 1 (December 4-7)
Posted in books, curriculum on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
We have begun our discussion of the change of seasons, and Monday’s snow was perfectly timed for the beginning of the winter semester. We are reading stories from Caitlin Matthew’s While the Bear Sleeps, a collection of stories about the various holidays that are celebrated during this time of shortened days and long nights. Friends have been [...]
Marcelle:What I have been doing with the younger children-
Posted in curriculum on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I feel that the most important thing for the 3, 4, and 5 year olds is social play. I use our hour for more structured play. I have two separate “lessons” themes. One is more language arts and the other more mathematical.In the language art we do;Hand rhymes appropriate to the [...]
Fall Semester Reading LIst
Posted in books on February 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Our Families, Our Communties:
Families by Meredith Tax
Home by Thomas Locker
Pickles & Pepper by David Charles
Thunder Cake by Patricia Palaceo
*The Rain Babies by Laura Krauss Melmed
*Who’s In a Family by Robert Skutch
*Miss Twiggley’s Tree by Dorothea Warren Fox
Autunm & Seasons:
Scarecrow by Cynthia Ryland
*Child of Faerie, Child of Earth by Jane Yolen
The Late Loon by Dean Bennett
We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger
* Possum’s Harvest Moon by Anne [...]
Fall Field Trips
Posted in Field Trips on February 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Earthfire Farm
Quonquont Apple Orchard, September 27
The day was hot, the apples were ready, and we picked and picked and picked!
The Quinitucket River Boat Ride, October 11
A crisp early fall day with beginning foliage. We learned of early geology of the area, and of all the native peoples that lived on the banks of the Connecticut (“Quinitucket”
) River. [...]
