Dear Parents,
Relentless. In these days of honoring with one word qualifiers, this is the word that comes to mind when I think of the teachers, the students, and Michele, who has found yet another book possibility for the common parent read this summer.
Today students passed my room looking for pirate treasure and indeed did end up discovering some downstairs. This was a favorite activity that our youngest students did to help them navigate the stairs and passages to the dismissal area in the first days of school. Now the teachers can see how much they have grown, indeed one group of usually quiet children were quite vociferous in my being able to keep a secret about where the treasure was so that other students who were still searching could find it (a tribute to their sense of community). One of these treasure seekers, a child who barely spoke at the beginning of the year, was the last to declare quite clearly to me what I should not do.
For a long time students in Sky and Trees have wanted to build pirate ships in the block area. Given the freedom to do so now, we see how quickly they are moving from design to strong structures to adding necessary details that will inform their play. This kind of work could not have happened at the beginning of the year. Daily, stories are being drawn, written, and read in the Sky and Trees Classes. We have seen students be catalysts for starting to use letters and sounds in their writing, and they have formed into small groups from time to time, to share their stories. What a wonderful way to be ready for the formal introduction into writing next year.
The Rivers Class is making final plans for the storm drain they are painting, and I know parents are coming alongside to assist. So, you can see that the students are relentless in their desire to keep learning and we, teachers and parents, are relentless in our support of this very important task. And, yes, Michele is relentless in placing new parenting books on my desk. The latest being The Awakened Family by Shefali Tsabary, Ph.D. Next week there will be a final review and a decision.
Finally, let me say that after I met with The Nest teachers on Wednesday, I sat in the classroom where we had been meeting so I could finish up a few loose ends. As I was doing so, I heard two teachers working on how to individualize the honors they were giving to two children who share many qualities in common. When I left the room, I saw another teacher was staying late to work on an art display in the main hall. These are my colleagues, your child's teachers, the ones who stay late to honor the children's work. Relentless!
Blessings,
Shanna
