Weekly Newsletter #11: Acorns in the Garden (5 Year Old Class)

Weekly Newsletter #11: Acorns in the Garden (5 Year Old Class)

Acorns Togetherness
“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.”

― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
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***IN THIS NEWSLETTER***

Tending the Garden – Celebration of Learning – Save the Date
Parent Teacher Tools – Facilities Day on Sat
TKG Office – Riviera Nails fundraiser on Dec 6
In Education News – Socially responsible Thanksgiving
TKG TV – We must continue to support S/E health
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Acorns In the Garden

Community at TKG
Field Day Goal: Play in Nature

Dear Parents,

We have been working on a new schedule in our classroom and the Acorns seem to like it! In addition to passion projects, we’ve added small focused math groups in the morning, discovery centers after lunch, and one on one skills based playtimes with me.

Personal project time, in the morning, is offered as Free Play Centers and they have the opportunity to revisit passion project/deep learning/free play Centers in the afternoon before we go home. Personal project time is built around the TKG values of learning through play, experimentation and reflection.

Discovery centers is a time for our Acorns to work with intention (a little more focused than free play) – so Heather and I provide provocations or challenges to be the guide us during that time. We will be working towards our Acorns keeping track of how they have used discovery centers time by using a checklist and build stamina toward doing a reflection.

Leticia has been joining us in the 10 o’clock hour for snack, math meeting, and math small groups.  I asked her to share about her time with us:
Our little Acorns are growing into their bones, muscles, and brains! We have began to explore our bodies inside the classroom and during our P.E sessions. In our morning WOD’s (Workout Of the Day) we have learned about our resting heart rate and how it can feel like it’s exploding from our chest after a few laps around the courtyard. We have been working on our hand eye coordination by dribbling a basketball around cones with both our left and right hand. The Acorns have been exploring different ways of balancing by hoping on one foot, two feet, and even trying to jiggle, bound, and bounce up and down the stairs. 

Our muscles and our bones aren’t the only body parts doing the growing, we are working on expanding our brain and fine motor skills wile learning how to count and write our numbers and letters. The Acorns have been working on different techniques such as free drawing, connecting the dots, or simply copying numbers onto their own documents.

A lot of hard work is happening and these little guys are super fast at both running and learning. So be careful parents, try not to blink, and maybe hold your breath for a second, we will be adding and recognizing letter sounds sooner than you know. Try to keep up!

We had so much fun at the Gratitude Feast with you! We worked very hard on our cooking project of skewering fruits and vegetables in a rainbow pattern.  Each student commented about what hard work we were doing. Some took needed breaks, and most continued until we had finished all 38 fruit and veggie kebabs.  We also had an experiment making a vegan fruit dip with coconut cream, cacao powder, and maple syrup. While the dip didn’t make it to the feast, it was a messy and fun learning experience for us all.

I am ever grateful for our special dedicated community at TKG! I look forward to many more celebrations with our school family. I hope you had a wonderful week connecting with friends, family, and especially your little Acorns!

With a grateful heart,
Lacey

COMMUNICATION STREAMS
Lacey LaCour, Lead Teacher
Heather Kornman, Co-Teacher
Lena Garcia, Head of Education – Teacher Mentor
Trish Valdez, School Business Manager
Shannon Minor, Board President
Facebook (private group), Community Forum
Shutterfly Site: photo archive
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Acorns Math

TENDING THE GARDEN

  • Celebration of Learning (Passion Project Expos/FACEtime demos), Sat 9 Dec 9am. You won’t want to miss this first quarter expo on all the fabulous learning we have been doing!
  • TKG/SBKC Playgroup. Starts Tomorrow! Every Monday and Wednesday beginning November 27 through February 7, after school. Click here for more details and to register.
  • Book Club, Friday 3.15-4.15pm. We are covering chapters 5 & 6 of “Best Friends, Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children.” You are always welcome to join!
Adopt a PATH Family this Season
Week 11 @ TKG

PARENT TEACHER TOOLS

PT Schedule – Nov 27-Dec1
MON – Rossfeld, Bottura, Assad, Sclafani, LaCharite, Tuccinardi, Correia, Wardwell
TUE – Barsha, King, Metzger
WED – Dokmanovich
THR – Williams, Metzger
FRI – Bottura


  • Make Up Hours. We are looking for 3 PTs to cover: full day and am (shifts can be split)
  • Facilities Team (Handy people) Meeting. Sat 2 Dec. Contact Alice with any questions. We still need someone to drive a large easle to Venice.
Why You Need To Know The Wrong Answers
TKG - Be Free!

FROM THE OFFICE

  • School Fundraiser. Wed 6 Dec, all day. Join us at Riviera Nails to get some self-care and support TKG. Invites your friends too!
  • A Night of Science & Literacy. Dec 8. A local fundraiser featuring Andy Weir, the best-selling author of The Martian. Click here for more information (not a TKG event).
  • CyberMonday Shoppers, tomorrow! If you will be shopping Amazon on Monday, please use our Smile link – with your purchases, Amazon gives back to TKG.
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IN EDUCATION NEWS

In Education News: Social Justice

Teaching Thanksgiving in a Socially Responsible Way

*   *   *
A Teaching Tolerance Resource

School Thanksgiving activities often mean dressing children in “Indian” headdresses and paper feathers as they sing “My Country ’Tis of Thee” or “Mr. Turkey.” Some teachers might even ask their students to draw themselves as Native Americans from the past, complete with feather-adorned headbands and buckskin clothing. These activities might seem friendly and fun, unless you are aware of how damaging this imagery is to perceptions of contemporary Native peoples. This imagery contributes to the indoctrination of American youth into a false narrative that relegates indigenous peoples to the past and turns real human beings into costumes for a few days a year. It’s not just bad pedagogy; it’s socially irresponsible.

Native Americans have been speaking out and writing back against the colonialist narrative of Thanksgiving for as long as the American narrative has existed. More recently, comedian Jim Ruel (Ojibwe) includes Thanksgiving in his act (starting at 1:40 in this clip), Dr. Debbie Reese (Nambe Pueblo) writes about children’s books that “set the record straight,” and Native American students speak out about what Thanksgiving means to them..

LEARN MORE @TeachingTolerance

TKG TV

In 1969: Fred Rogers advocates for the idea that feelings are mentionable and manageable; and that concern for the social-emotional safety and healthy development of children is critical. Watch more TKGTV at our YouTube Channel.
May 1, 1969: Fred Rogers testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications
Our children are worth the struggle! Keep it constructive and don’t give up…

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