BPS Familes are Invited to

 

♦Ancient Cultures Day♦

Friday, March 7 11:30 am

Children's Work on Display 

Cultural Activities for Children on Playground

Entertainment from Middle School 

Covered Dish Lunch

Bring a dish inspired by any of these cultures:

China, India, Greece (Mediterranean), Australia

or one of your family favorites 

 

Wednesday, March 5 - Class Photos, Wear Uniforms

 

Monday - Friday, March 10-14 - Spring Break 

                                      School Closed

 

Saturday, April 5, 6:30 - 10 pm- Wonders of India, 

                                               13th Annual Spring Auction

Ms. Patti & Betsy with flag of China

We are moving right along in the Lower Elementary.  The 3rd years took their first standardized tests this week.  At BeachParkSchool, we take the Stanford Test starting in 3rd grade.  We use this as a base line to help your child acquire the skills he or she will need to achieve academic and test taking success.  The 3rd years did a super job!  You did it!

 

As we continue our studies of Ancient China, this week we discussed religion.  Later in the history of Ancient China, new religious ideas developed.  Religion was divided into "the three ways".  The three ways were Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism.  Taoism is more of a set of ideas about the meaning of life and how to live it.  Confucius founded Confucianism.  He taught that people obtain happiness when they do their duty to their government and their family. 

 

Around the year 500 AD, the "third way" came into China from India.  Buddhism spread throughout China.  It became the main religion of the people at various times throughout history.  Buddhism is comprised of three main tenets:   1) to lead a moral life 2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and 3) to develop wisdom and understanding.

 

Save the Date:  Cultural Day Friday, March 7th at 11:30.  Please have your Lower Elementary student dress the part!  We are studying Ancient China.  If you need any ideas, please ask Miss Ada or Miss Patti.  If your child does not want to wear an Ancient Chinese costume, please encourage them to wear a red t-shirt.  

Bart, over 20 years at BPS

On Monday in Art class, we worked on making a clay "Fish" bowl. Students used a pattern to cut out the fish from a clay slab. Then, they used a variety of materials to make patterns on the clay and finally made a base for the bowl. Next week, after they are fired, we'll be painting the bowls.

 

Standardized testing is finished and the students and teachers are pleased!

 

Right now, we're busy finishing our Ancient Greece project. Each of us has picked a Greek name and Ms. Ann will give us a description of a character for next week. Some of us will be Athenians and some Spartans. There will be many tasks to complete every day. On Friday, March 7th we'll be having a mini-Olympics for all the other students as part of our Cultural Celebration.

This week in Middle School we did standardized testing most of the week.  We tested on Math, Language, Reading Vocabulary, and other curriculum.  

 

This Sunday we have the opportunity to meet at the HinduTemple with the class for a tour.  The

Julia and Pamela doing classroom jobs at the end of the day

temple's address is 5509 Lynn Rd, Tampa, FL 33624.We should be there at 10:30 and the tour will end at 12:00.  We can get food at the cafeteria it is open from 11:30 to 9:00 pm.  Meals range from $2 to $15.  The class will learn more about the culture we have been studying for the few months and actually experience the people and cultures.  This is not a mandatory field trip it is just a fun learning experience.  We hope to see you there.  

 

This week we also had our last class of yoga and we did chocolate meditation and freeze yoga.  

 

The girls in Middle are working really hard on their Indian dance.  It is turning out very well thanks to our music teacher, Ms. Teresa.  We will be performing this dance on cultural day for the whole school.  The girls will need harem pants for their dance.  Pants can be ordered from www.Bellydance.com and will get here before the performance. In the search you can put in harem pants and pick from the ones they have.  They are from the US and can get here as soon as the day after you order.  Another choice is to get flowy pants, put rubber bands on the bottom, and roll them up.  

 

This week was a good and we hope to have another one next week.  See you at the Cultural Celebration Day!

 

by Pamela Troncoso

LOWER ELEMENTARY:  We had a fun and busy week as we learned Spanish phrases and conversational skills. We read a book about a BEAST, which was the combination of features from different animals; the stripes of a tiger, the whiskers of a cat fish, the eyes of a snake, the tail of a monkey, and the legs of a frog, to name a few! After reading the colorful story, we had a question/answer session, acted some of the scenes out, and concluded with drawings of some elements from the beast and labeled them in Spanish.

 

UPPER ELEMENTARY: The structure and rooms in a house together with their pertinent accessories, furniture, and household items were the theme of our weekly vocabulary.  After a thorough review of these key words, students drew their ideal house beginning with their floor plan. All the items in the rooms were written in Spanish.

See photo at left with Solange and Tristan.

 

MIDDLE SCHOOL: We had a very necessary lesson on the use of the verb "TENER" (to have) in the present and future tenses. This was accomplished via oral and written class assignments. This is a very important piece of the Spanish Grammar and requires a lot of practice.

 

TRIVIA FACT: "El Teatro Colon" in Buenos Aires is one of the most beautiful buildings in Argentina. They present famous singers, and operas as well as an array of cultural events throughout the entire year.

One day this week, a parent hopped out of the car with his children and had to share his excitement at the school gate about an insight that struck him that morning about Montessori education. 

Reading Thomas Friedman's column that day in the Tampa Bay Times, "How To Get a Job at Google", he came to the last paragraph and felt that Friedman's conclusion described precisely the goals of Montessori!  You, too, can read the article , first published in the February 22nd New York Times and let us know what you think.  Or better yet, stop in at Friday Morning Coffee next week to discuss with other parents.

Standardized Testing

BPS students take the Stanford Ten Online Test, a norm-referenced test used at private schools throughout the country.  While the school does not 'teach to the test,' school leadership sees the test as one important measure of the students' performance.  As well, test results aid in assessing the strength of the school's curriculum.