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Lower School Newsletter Archive Fall 2002

Hello!

With two months of the school year behind us, the children seem comfortable in their surroundings and purposeful as they move through their days. It's a pleasure to visit classes and see children and teachers working together in wonderful ways. I am excited by what I observe and eager to share this bird's eye view with you.

As you know, to a great extent, our curriculum is formed around questions. From their understanding of child development, teachers identify the big, compelling questions that interest children. They also encourage students to raise new, often unexpected, questions as classes actively engage in the learning process. Broad topics that focus on the relationships between people and their environment provide the framework for our explorations and interdisciplinary studies. This year, some of the questions our students are investigating include:

Children address these and many other questions in a variety of ways. They hypothesize and conduct research to see if their notions are well formulated. They examine artifacts, create models, read, write, discuss, compare, sketch, paint and draw conclusions based on a wide array of experiences. Following is a sample of activities in which children in the lower school are currently engaged:

• Pre-k-k: The children are learning about farm life in the Hudson Valley. They have a "Harvest Farm Market" set up in the classroom to inspire dramatic play that has a connection to their many experiences at nearby Sprout Creek Farm. On their recent trips to the farm the children listened to stories told by the farmers, visited the animals and harvested herbs that they used to make herb vinegar and bread. Many stories and drawings about their experiences have been created and shared.  

• K-1: Students in Brian's K-1 have done some harvesting right here on the PDS campus. Pumpkins that were planted last spring in the courtyard were picked and will soon be turned into pumpkin pie! The children have been making bean sticks to use when playing math games. The creation of original alphabet books is just underway.
   
• 1-2: After the success of the smash hit single, Geology Soup, the children in the 1-2 classes have been have happily been singing other new tunes such as, Mystery Mammal and Freda and Al, a song about lichen, of course! Our resident singer/songwriter/teacher, Bill Fiore, says he has at least a few more melodies and lyrics to share with our budding scientists. Each child is keeping a record of experiences on the Shawangunk Ridge in a Mohonk Journal.
   
• 2-3: On a recent trip to the Mohonk Preserve to see a model of a longhouse and learn Native American crafts and games, the second and third graders also learned that October weather can be very COLD! The class is in the early stages of preparing a play based on an Iroquois tale called, How Buzzard Got His Feathers.
   
• 3-4 The construction of a relief map of Africa is nearly complete and will be a useful tool for all three classes. Percussion teacher Paul Beretta has begun African drumming workshops for all the 3-4 students. Listen for their drums which will be calling them in from recess. A culminating project including drumming, dance and music is planned for later in the school year.

Library Announcements
Book Fair: November 13 and 14
Books and gifts for all ages
Family Night, November 13, 6:00-8:30

The Legend of the Teddy Bear
November 14, 2002 marks one hundred years since President Theodore Roosevelt saved a bear's life during a hunting expedition. The incident was immortalized in a famous cartoon drawn by Clifford Berryman that appeared in The Washington Post several days later. Then, Rose Morris Michtom made a stuffed bear for their New York candy store naming their creation "Teddy's Bear." The rest is history….

We are inviting all lower school children and their teachers to bring in their favorite teddy bear on Thursday, November 14, for a special assembly during our annual book fair. We'll cuddle our teddy bears, sing teddy bear songs and celebrate bears in nature, art and literature. Please join us if you can!

Teacher News
Drama teacher Jill Olesker will attend a workshop at Bank Street College entitled Theater Arts Programming in the Classroom.

Juana Rocha, our Spanish teacher, will attend a workshop sponsored by the New York State Association of Independent Schools focused on teaching foreign languages at the elementary and middle school levels.

Robbie Puglisi (Pre-k-k) and Rebecca Santner (1-2) will conduct a workshop for teachers at the upcoming conference of the National Association of Teachers of Young Children in New York City. The topic of their presentation is Supporting Curricular Conversations in Early Childhood Block Areas.

All lower school teachers are currently immersed in our own study of literacy instruction at PDS. Presently, we are taking a thorough inventory of current instructional practices. In the coming months we will use this data to look at the correlation between our goals and objectives and our methods of teaching. We will also take a careful look at our assessment tools. It's exciting to be thinking together about a topic that is so central to our work in grades pre-k through four.

Friendly reminders...
Getting your child to school on time can make a big difference in his or her day. If you arrive between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m. it will give your child a chance to take care of belongings and visit with friends before the morning meeting begins. For your convenience, our Before-School program runs from 7:30-8:15 a.m.each day; it is free of charge.

Please remember to use the sign-up sheet on the door of the "After" room whenever your child will be attending the program. Whenever possible, we ask that you sign up by the Friday BEFORE the date your child will attend. To assure adequate supervision and proper planning of activities it is important for us to have an accurate count of those participating.

Parent/teacher conferences are on-going in the fall. The opportunity to look at work, talk about the child's stance and formulate goals for the coming months is beneficial for all involved. If you haven't yet made an appointment to meet with your child's teacher, it is not too late!

Thanks for all your support, whether chaperoning field trips, organizing potlucks and/or cooperating with our health office. We appreciate it! Please don't hesitate to be in touch with questions, concerns and good ideas!

Mary Ellen Kenny
Lower School Head