Younger Kids News

Monday January 13th, 2020

Happy Monday Younger Kid Families,

What a wonderful first week back we had! It seems like after the break, the kids are excited, engaged, and ready to learn. We started our dive into Light and Sound last week and the students were ready to soak it up. Whether they were using prisms in Science and Engineering with Emily or leaning about how Light travels and Shadows in the classroom, the students love our hands on approach to the subjects. This week we will start talking about the difference between translucent, transparent, and opaque. We have more fun experiments in store! 

As many of you already know, the conference sign-up sheets have been posted for our mid-year conferences. These will be the last scheduled Parent-Teacher conferences this year, so be sure to find a time that works for you! 

This Friday at 8:30 there is a meeting for the RPA, or Rivendell Parents’ Association, in the commons. Please consider going if you would like to volunteer in the classroom, in the school, or help with larger events. It’s the time and consideration of the families that make Rivendell so wonderful! This is also where parents can give their input and feedback for the school. 

Finally, there will be no school next Monday, January 20th, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. There will also be no school Friday, January 31st, or Friday, February 14th, for Parent-Teacher conferences, 

Have a great week and as always, thank you for sharing your children with us!

Dylan, Annie, and Seth 

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/1004-2/

Monday, January 6, 2020

Younger Kids News

Dear Parents,

Welcome back and happy new year!  We hope that you all enjoyed the holiday season with your kiddos.  We are very excited to be back and starting the second half of the year.  It has been fun to hear about the adventures that our students had over the break.  

January is a busy month for us here.  We are starting to prepare for our mid-year parent teacher conferences coming on January 31 and February 14.  Sign up sheets will be posted outside of our classes soon so be on the lookout for those! We are also excited to celebrate both the 90th and 100th day of school with our classes this month.  On January 30, Zeroman will come for the final time this year as we celebrate our 100th school day with a party!

With the new year comes a new unit of study here at Rivendell.  This week Younger Kids will be transitioning from Asia to Light and Sound.  We have lots of great activities planned for this four week unit.  

It’s wonderful to be back at school with your kids!  Have a terrific week…

Seth, Annie and Dylan

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/1002-2/

Younger Kids News

Monday, December 16, 2019

Dear Parents,

As we head into this final week before Winter Break, the excitement level among the kids is high! Keeping normal bedtime and morning routines amidst the holiday anticipation is a good idea to help your children smoothly navigate their school week.

We will finish our studies on Asia with Southeast Asia and the South Pacific Islands, with a focus on Cambodia and Indonesia. The kids will complete their Asian flag books and finish their Travel Journals of the Asian countries they have ‘visited’. This has been a fun unit and our classes have enjoyed learning about the differences and similarities of kids their age that live on the other side of the world.

We will also complete Author of the Month writings on our favorite Ezra Jack Keats books this week and we’ll have group storytime with Spellbinders storyteller, Polly Walters.

On Friday, school will end at 11:30 AM after our Rivendell Talent Show in the commons.

Parents are welcome to watch the show, which will begin at 9:00AM. Please note, if you choose to take your child home directly after the show, which you are welcome to do, please make sure we know that you are leaving with your child!

We hope you have a fabulous Winter Break with the perfect mix of celebration and relaxation!

Happy Holidays!

Annie, Seth, and Dylan

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/999-2/

Younger Kids News

Monday, December 9, 2019

Dear Parents…

It’s another week and another Asian country to visit as our learning takes us to India.  We will be completing a really cool project about the National Bird of India, the peacock.  Your child will have a chance to create a peacock project using actual peacock feathers. We look forward to these adorning our classrooms before coming home to do the same for you!

This Friday also presents us with our final opportunity for Sharing this calendar year.  Please help your child to select an item to fit our sharing theme below and practice three things to say about their item.  Our sharing theme is…

Something that represents a holiday you celebrate this time of year!

We cannot wait to see what sorts of items our kiddos bring in!

Next Friday, December 20, is our final day of school prior to winter break and we will be ending school at 11:30 for this half day of school.  The big event on this day will be our Talent Show! Madeline is organizing this event so if your child is excited to participate and show her/his talent, please encourage them to sign up and submit their sheet to Madeline in the office.  We hope to see loads of talented kids signed up! More info can be found about this event in the Sunday e-news from this recently completed weekend.

As a final note, we wish to pass on our thanks to all of you who helped out with the Art Show last Friday.  This event has become a Rivendell favorite and it truly could not be done without the volunteer hours from so many Rivendell parents.  If you helped out please receive our thanks!

Have a super week…

Seth, Dylan and Annie

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/997-2/

Younger Kids News

Monday December 2nd, 2019

Happy Monday Younger Kid Families!

After our extra long Thanksgiving Break we are diving right back into Asia. This week we will be studying South Korea. We will take a look at it geographically and then see what similarities and differences it shares with China and Japan. The students have loved learning about new places and retained so much information even after the break. There are going to be some world travelers in this group!

As the weather gets colder, we find ourselves inside more and more. This might be a relaxing change of pace for some of us, but it can also lead to long nights for the kids. A great way to spend time together (and it will come as no surprise to you) is reading with your kids. At this age, it is easy to get stuck in pushing our students into practicing their reading skills at every opportunity, but it is still important to read to your child. Whether they are chapter books or picture books, reading with your child helps to solidify important literacy skills even when they are not the ones reading the words. 

Help your children practice identifying: characters, themes, connections, problems, and solutions. Ask questions like “What would you do if…” or “What do you think this character feels when…” These kinds of questions encourage critical thinking and deeper understanding. Take reading further than the book and create something inspired by the book after finishing it. Maybe a new chapter? A new character? Draw the map of the land, island, or woods? Ignite the passion for reading with your child and fill some of the long winter nights. 

There are a few upcoming dates to keep in mind! This Friday, December 6th, is Rivendell’s Friday Night Artwalk from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Come check out the amazing work that the students created with Tina. It is incredible and should not be missed! 

Next Friday, December 13th, is Kids’ Night In, and the following Friday, December 20th is the Rivendell Talent Show and a half-day! December will be full of excitement and hard work! It will be a blast! 

Have a great week, 

Dylan, Annie, and Seth

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/994-2/

Younger Kids News

Monday, November 25, 2019

Dear Parents,

Last week during Sharing, your kids shared with the class something that they were thankful for. As this is Thanksgiving week, with only two days of school (we don’t have school Wednesday, Thursday or Friday this week), we thought we’d take a moment to share what we are thankful for!

We are thankful for:

• Having the opportunity to get to know the wonderful little people that your children are.
• The things your kids say that make us smile all day long because of their unique (and often humorous) way of seeing the world.
• The spirit of kindness and community in our classrooms and at Rivendell School among the students.
• The joy of seeing your child have that spark of understanding when they finally ‘get’ a new concept.
• The fun of watching your child learn to express themselves through writing, drawing and playing.
• The confidence we have seen grow in your children since the beginning of the year.
• The sense of belonging that each child has at Rivendell.
• You, our Rivendell parents that want the best for your children and do all you can to love and support them.
• All the individual personalities that make up our classrooms and ensure that our days are never boring!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Annie, Seth and Dylan

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/992-2/

Younger Kids News

Tuesday, November 12th

Happy Tuesday Younger Kid Families,

Last week, we wrapped up our Senses topic unit! The students enjoyed the deep dive into how we take in the world around us. These young scientists will continue to review what they learned during the upcoming weeks in Science with Emily.

This week we will begin our next unit. Our Rivendell students will begin exploring the continent of Asia. We will be using maps to help visualize the world. We’ll take a look at the similarities and differences between a few Asian countries. And at the end of each week, we will be flexing our creative muscles by writing a travel log from the perspective of someone visiting that week’s country. 

We will kick off our unit studying China! Students will be learning about the Chinese zodiac, the flag, and where it lies in the world. Next week we will be looking into Japan.

Students have a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks. Other than Thanksgiving break from November 27th through November 29th, Tuesday, November 19th, is the annual Spanish Mercado. This is the kind of event that makes Rivendell unique! Older Kids crafted, created, decorated and  baked all sorts of goodies to entice the other grade levels. Younger Kids are practicing their Spanish conversation skills by “buying” the hand made treats with “pesos” provided at school. At the end of the event, students of all age groups are communicating, developing skills, and learning from one another. Brenda works hard preparing the students all year for this, and the students love it! 

As always, thanks for sharing your children with us, and have a fantastic week!

Dylan, Annie, and Seth 

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/989-2/

Younger Kids News

Monday, November 4, 2019

Dear Parents,

What a fun time we had last week with two party days in a row! All of the kids looked so cute in their Halloween costumes and in their pajamas! After all that excitement, this week we will be back to our normal schedule of reading, math, writing and specials! 

This will be our last week studying The Senses in class, although Emily will continue to explore the topic deeper in Science and Engineering. This week we will explore the sense of smell, identifying mystery scents and how the nose works. Later in the week our studies will culminate with an overview of what we have learned about all of our senses. 

November brings a new Author of the Month. This month we will be reading books written by Mac Barnett. 

This Friday is Kids Night In from 6:00 to 10:00 PM. The featured movie will be the live action version of Aladdin. To reserve your child’s spot, go to http://rivendellenrichment.campbrainregistration.com  This does fill up quickly, so make your reservations soon!

Have a fantastic week!

Annie, Seth and Dylan

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/985-2/

Younger Kids News

Monday, October 28, 2019

Dear Parents…

What a fun week we have in store in Younger Kids!  The week started off with a bang this morning as we welcomed a special reptile presentation in the Commons.  While we already have completed this unit of study, today’s visit was a great reminder of all the amazing reptiles we learned about a few weeks ago.

Thursday and Friday of this week also present some memorable and fun opportunities for our kids and we want to make sure you have all the info you need to help these days run smoothly.

On Halloween day please have your child wear her/his regular clothing to school in the morning.  Your child is welcome to bring a costume to school for our afternoon festivities. We will help the kiddos to change into these costumes before the parade which begins at 2:00.  Please leave any weapons associated with the costume at home as they are not allowed on the premises. Immediately following the parade will be the classroom parties. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help out with the parties or bring supplies.  It should be a wonderful time!

On Friday we will be celebrating the accomplishment of reaching all of our Fun Run fundraising goals!  Younger Kids raised over $13,000 which is amazing! Our students are welcome to wear pajamas to school and bring a small stuffed animal that can accompany them for the day.  We will be watching the original Mary Poppins movie with all of the Younger Kids. We also will be providing popcorn for the kids to enjoy during the film.  

Since the Younger Kids went above and beyond the fundraising goals we want to go above and beyond for them too!  As an added bonus, we will also provide a pizza lunch for our students to thank them for their incredible success!  If your child would rather have lunch from home that is AOK. If you wish to order a hot lunch for your child, you will still need to purchase a lunch ticket from the office.  Thank you to all of you who helped your child to raise money for the Fun Run! We appreciate it very much.

As a final note, we will be experiencing some colder than average temps this week and we wanted to remind you that we go out in almost all weather.  We appreciate you helping to make sure that your child has appropriate outside clothing for the weather! 

Have a super week…

Seth, Annie and Dylan

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/983-2/

Younger Kids News

Monday, October 21st, 2019

Happy Monday Younger Kid Families,

Last week, we finished our final day of fall conferences. We also kicked off our Fall celebrations with Fun Fest! A big thank you to everyone who volunteered to help make the night possible. It is always a great time! We love to see students, siblings, and friends having fun at their school! 

We have been learning about the five senses at school the past few weeks now. Hopefully, you have been hearing your students talk about sight, taste, eyeballs, and tongues! Our school wide units give the children an area of high interest and high engagement that they can delve deeply into. We have been doing experiments, like our sugar and salt taste test, as well as seeing the ways our body can fool our brain, like with optical illusions. This week we will be taking a deeper look into our sense of hearing. Our experiment this week will be all about how we interpret what we hear. We’ll be making art pieces based on different genres of music. It should be a blast! 

This Friday, we will have our second Younger Kids Sharing. This week’s sharing theme goes with our study of the five senses and is:

Favorite Song!

We ask that you send in a link of your child’s favorite song (a youtube video is ideal) to their teacher so it can be shared easily on Friday.  If you cannot find a link to the song, please send in title and artist so that we can look it up. Make sure your student knows the name of the song, and the artist. 

The last date to keep in mind is Picture Make Up Day on Thursday, October 24th at 10:15 am.  If you would like your student to take a new picture, please return the original that went home last week to school. 

As always, thanks for sharing your children with us, and have a fantastic week!

Dylan, Annie, and Seth 

https://www.rivendell-school.org/youngerkids/980-2/