SWIMS October Newsletter
October
4 & 5…School Photos
6…Back-to-School Night: Your student has a lesson planned for you! Families with last names beginning with A-M please come at 3-4pm; Families with last names beginning with N-Z please come at 4-5pm
11…Safety Fair during regular class time
12…Half Day:
…El Nido Infant Class, Bumblebees & Sunflowers Toddler Classes and Bluebirds Early Childhood Class dismiss 11:30 – 11:45am;
…Chickadees & Tadpoles Toddler Classes, Ladybugs & Turquoise EC Classes, Wasatch Elementary & Evergreen Middle School Classes dismiss 11:45 – noon.
13 & 14…Fall Break – No School!
21 & 28…Parent/Teacher Conferences – Sign up to reserve a time to seek with your child’s teacher. Adults only, please. Sign Up Now for Parent/Teacher Conferences!
31…Party Day! See class sign-ups for needed supplies. No candy, nuts, weapons or gory images. Costumes welcome!
…Infant and Toddler Classes celebrate with simple snacks, stories and crafts during the morning.
…Early Childhood classes start at 9:30am to give teachers time for extra prep. Noon pick-up is optional on this day.
…Elementary and Middle School classes will change into costumes for parties in the afternoon.
Infant/Toddler Impressions – Notes from El Nido, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers & Tadpoles Classes
October brings the 6th week of the new school year – traditionally the time when students have settled into the routine and are feeling comfortable in the school environment. They have by now learned to wash hands, those who can walk are setting places for snack and lunch, clearing places and maybe even washing their dishes. They are working on blowing noses, keeping faces clean and getting in and out of the bathroom successfully. All of this self care brings the joy of independence as they realize how much they can do for themselves.
We have introduced the primary colors and will begin blending red, yellow and blue paint this month. As we get better at controlling drips we will move from finger paint and tempera paint with large brushes, then to liquid water colors with small brushes.
Simple science experiments are being introduced such as sink and float, magnetic and non-magnetic and the properties of water.
As the leaves change around us we will notice the signs of the new season – fall. This takes us into trying on hats and masks in preparation for Halloween so these youngest students can see that even with a mask on, it’s still the same person underneath. We will focus on what is real in celebrating Halloween – cats, bats, pumpkins and spiders – creating crafts to decorate the classrooms so students take part in making the room spooky in time for Halloween parties. There will be special snacks, crafts, stories and a dance party on Monday the 31st. Check with teachers for what is needed!
Every Day in Early Childhood – Events in the Bluebirds, Ladybugs & Turquoise EC Classes
In October we are finishing the Art History timeline that gave us a peek into Early Art, Egyptian Art, Roman Art and Renaissance Art. From the earliest cave paintings 40,000 years ago people were leaving their stories for us to find on walls, tombs, pyramids, sarcophagi and mosaics. With the invention of books came more attention on portraits. With the invention of the camera came the experimentation of the Impressionists and Modern Artists. With each chapter students try their hand at a different style of art. You will see their self-portraits at Parent/Teacher Conferences.
We complete our study of fall in time to begin our Thanksgiving Timeline that takes a look at Indigenous Peoples and explorers in general, and the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims, in particular. This story builds through November with students taking part in adding each chapter in time for our Thanksgiving Feast on November 22nd.
Our study of the Earth and its basic land and water forms continues through October leading up to the introduction of the globe and map.
Botany lessons cover seeds, needs and edible parts of a plant in time to begin chopping vegetables for Stone Soup for our feasts.
Authors Anno and Tomie DePaola add to the threads weaving together to produce a tapestry of where North America is on the globe and the cultures that have made their homes here.
Ask your ec students about these topics and see what they remember from the daily lessons. You might get them started by dialing up the old Donovan song, “Happiness Runs” which is what we sing as we begin circle every day.
Elements of Elementary and Middle School – News from the Wasatch Elementary & Evergreen Middle School Classes
The theme of Indigenous Peoples resonates through every classroom right up into Wasatch and Evergreen where the big kids often take the lead in our relationship with our “adopted” Navajo Grandma Frances. She is 96 now and unable to come to Park City, but loves to talk to “her grandkids” a few times each year. This month we will take a look at a variety of the Indigenous Peoples contributing to all parts of our curriculum.
These classes are completing the Great Lessons that begin the study of how our planet and cultures came to be. They are finishing up game skills and team building while the weather is warm and planning the year’s Friday field trips and excursions. These students run their own meetings and plan their own curriculum around their class time spent practicing academics at their own individual level. Those who need a little extra time on a concept can work on it in a variety of ways. Those who have mastered the current material move ahead. This mastery learning has much to do with the phenomenal test scores we see from these classes as well as the building of intrinsic motivation.
Weekly field trips allow students to confirm in the real world what they have learned in class. They recently visited the Natural History Museum bringing together all the science, history, paleontology and anthropology they have learned from the Great Lessons. This month Evergreen Class will meet with a banker to discuss how to plan a successful business. And these students are starting to think about what this year’s Winter Celebration will be about – our first opportunity to produce a play with the whole school since 2019! Details will emerge in November.
The Montessori approach to learning including mastery learning, uninterrupted work periods and allowing students to plan their own curricula to include their own interests as well as required components, results in a remarkable group of peaceful, joyous learners and explorers of the world. This group of elementary and middle school students lives up to their motto – they work harder and play harder, too!
