Friday, September 14, 2012
Dear Parents…
It was another fun week in the Younger Kids classrooms. We are feeling like we are really getting to know what makes your kids tick after spending the last four weeks with them. We are impressed with the growth we have already seen and are excited about all the learning and fun to come.
This week we continued our study and Ancient Greece and Rome. We discussed architecture and completed two projects about columns. We showed the kids examples of modern architecture that were influenced by the styles of Greece and Rome. We also worked on a project that was inspired by the wax tablets that Romans used for writing. Many of the projects we complete this year will be saved and compiled into a portfolio of your child’s work at the end of the year.
Next week our exploration of Greece and Rome will continue. Our focus will shift the myths, gods and goddesses that were an integral part of life in these civilizations. We will complete projects about these stories through mosaics and painted pottery, two forms of art used extensively during these years.
At back to school night and in our conversations with many parents over the years we have heard from you that when you ask your child at the end of the day, “What did you do at school today?!” many of you get the answer, “Nuthin.” Recently we read a great suggestion from noted Speech Pathologist C. Woodruff Starkweather to get your kids to open up about their day…
“We suggest that you make a few comments about your own activities. This will usually stimulate your child to begin talking about his or her activities as well. Tell your child what you had for lunch, or what you heard on the radio, or who you saw on the bus. If something pops into your child’s mind at this time about the school day, he or she will spontaneously share it with you. Spontaneously shared information is much more likely to be fluent.”
We would love to hear from any of you who try this strategy and whether or not it was successful!
Our Sharing theme for next week is…
Something Black!!