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There are beans, rice, and puddles on the floor. Chairs are left out and some materials are not put away. There is running in the classroom. But in the midst of all this chaos something very special is happening here. The children in our class are learning to choose their own jobs, thereby taking control of their own education. They are learning to be responsible for themselves by cleaning up their messes and spills. They are learning how to deal with all the different social situations that arise each day as a natural result of their interactions with others.
Soon, Serena and I will not need to remind children to clean up or choose work or put their work away (we may still need some reminders about running...). Each day, the classroom becomes more purposeful and peaceful. It's been a great start to our year, and we can't wait for all the fun and exciting learning that is to come.
Pat and Serena.
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A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. ~Douglas Pagels
What an exciting beginning to the new year in Casa North! Lots of new faces and names to learn, and so many new friendships budding around every table.
This is a wonderful time for our experienced, 2nd & 3rd year students to introduce new peers to the environment and to step into their new roles as leaders. A unique skin shedding moment. Jodi and I are thrilled to get to know each and every one of the children throughout the year, and we have a lot of fun to come, one day at a time. Looking forward to them all. Dylan and Jodi.
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Welcome back! What a great start to the school year we have had. Casa East has welcomed 10 new children into our community. The older children have taken on the leadership role and are enjoying helping the younger children, as well as the new responsibilities that come with being a "full day" student.
In addition to getting back to the classroom materials, the children have been busy this month baking bread, weeding our garden in preparation for
planting bulbs, and adding a second floor to our guinea pig cage.
Holly and Catherine.
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It's hard to believe that September is quickly coming to an end. I have truly enjoyed getting to know the children and seeing them develop, both socially and academically. Combining our classroom with Lower Elementary West for various lessons, like Maria Montessori's Great Lesson, has allowed some students to develop friendships in both classes. In addition, Lower Elementary has had the pleasure of having Sara Dickinson working with different mixed age drama groups on Fridays. She's been working with a specific story and getting children to act out its setting using creative movement and tableau.
I've spent this month discovering where children are academically in math, language, and writing, and I look forward to introducing more cultural subjects and stories to the students in the coming weeks.
Rob.
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With a few weeks under our belt, school is into full swing in Lower Elementary West. We launched our year with the first Great Lesson, which opens the doors to the "cultural" subjects (history, geography, botany, and zoology) and the students all loved it - especially the erupting volcano! In addition, we have been lucky to have Sara Dickinson join us on Fridays when the children explore story interpretation through drama. Finally, to help develop the whole child, we have started our weekly exploration of virtues, so far focusing on caring and courtesy. We look forward to extending these concepts to our community when we begin to revisit our friends at Blackadar Continuing Care Centre on September 28th.
Noeleen.
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"The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, 'The children are now working as if I did not exist.'" Maria Montessori
Welcome back! While we are not quite at the point of the students working like "I do not exist," we are making great progress towards normalization so early in the new year.
New pencils, new notebooks, and a renewed love of learning is what September has brought. We are very excited to welcome our new year fours to our upper elementary classroom. We have had an excellent start to the year. The students have settled in nicely and new routines are being followed. We have really enjoyed our team building and leadership activities on Fridays at LUNA. What a wonderful experience to be outdoors all day, working together for a better classroom community. Students have spent time hiking, canoeing, playing communication games, archery, studying the wetlands, and running free through the forest. In the classroom, we have begun our literacy curriculum, reviewed some forgotten math work, and started working on paragraph writing. We have looked at the scientific method and how to complete an experiment correctly. Year fours are enjoying their Time Line of Human Kind work, while the older students have started their research on human migration. Agendas will go home on Fridays. Please help your child remember to pack it in his or her backpack on Monday mornings. Having it here is important each day. The student keep track of daily and weekly events and plan their days accordingly. Homework folders will be making their way home in the next couple of weeks. Remember that the homework is meant to support what is happening in the classroom, and to be fun! Help your child find a quiet place to work with all the tools necessary. Nightly reading is to be done and you will find a reading log for the month at the front of the homework folder. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call or come in. We are all looking forward to a fantastic year together! Kathleen.
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The new school year for the Adolescent Community started with a small paddle down the Grand River. We set off in Brantford and four days, 80 kilometers, and a few stops along the way, we arrived at the mouth of Lake Erie. Looking out at the Great Lake, it was hard to imagine anything could top that, but the rest of our month has come pretty close. The adolescents have started their academic classes with visitors from the Ministry of Natural Resources, professional musicians and artists, bankers, and the Program Director from Blackadar Long Term Care facility. Our snack program for the rest of the school has opened up discussions on nutrition, shopping on a budget, and the workers at Metro are quite impressed seeing two of our students every week, in the checkout line, with two carts full of groceries. Hard to believe it's only the first month of this new community. We are looking forward to seeing what we get up to in October.
Chris and Emily.
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email:
dvms@golden.net
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