Ms. Paek's Blog Post

Dear Families,

        During the past two months, your children have learned all about their new school and making new friends. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know each of your children. As a teaching team member, I have focused on teaching the children how to cooperate and get along with others as the class was introduced to the routines and expectations of school. The teachers have provided each child with a safe and loving learning environment; each day has been filled with fun and exciting explorations to help your child develop cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional skills.

 

   I strongly believe that exploration of various open-ended materials is one of the effective ways for children to express ideas. The children observe, listen, feel, and take apart open-ended materials while exploring every given aspect of them.  Thro ugh exploration of different materials, the prior knowledge and experience of the children will become evident in their words, their actions, and the various art forms they create. Whenever I implemented a new lesson, I noticed that each child had different prior knowledge and experiences that affected the exploration process itself. As the children had sessions of exploration of open-ended materials including clay, flowers, natural materials, play dough, water, sponges, and kinetic sand, they became more engaged in the activities.  Most importantly, the children developed positive attitudes and gained knowledge about science through observation and active play. The children also expressed how they felt, what they thought, and what they were learning through experiences in the visual arts. In addition, the children began expressing their own ideas using their bodies and various tools/devices.

    A couple weeks ago, I set up two lessons that allowed the children to explore natural resources. Natural resources encourage children to observe closely and use all their senses. In this lesson, the children made a flower arrangement using chrysanthemums, autumn leaves, and garden branches. The children were also introduced to a new material: a wet floral foam brick. It is green and made of light weight foam. It is designed to pull water through the foam via capillary action.  It makes the fresh flowers live longer. While investigating the foam, the children made good connections between the foam and different materials that they experienced before like play dough and even watermelon. The children also practiced cutting the f lower stems and garden branches using a pair of floral scissors, which have a spring inside its handle (they discovered themselves that the floral scissors were easy to  use.) while e enjoying the pleas ant aroma of chrysanthemums and other flowers.  As an ongoing exploration of natural materials and art techniques, I will further develop sophisticated exploration plans by following the children’s interests and encouraging them to make good connections between their prior knowledge and new learning.

                    Anne "I am making a flower bouquet!"

        I have been noticing the children are naturally curious about the world and enjoyed exploring their surroundings. The children were eager to know why things are the way they are and asked many questions about their immediate and natural environment. Please take the children outside and encourage them to explore their natural surroundings and look for answers to their own questions. I will also help the children find answers to their many questions and inquiries by incorporating education about nature into my lesson plans. 

   Thank you.

Sincerely, Ms. Paek

What to Wear for the Weather
The weather is getting cold. As a reminder, please have your child bring appropriate warm clothes to school. Every child should have warm hats, gloves, and shoes to wear when we go outside. Here is our chart to show what your child should wear.

Parent-Teacher conferences

We will have the times and dates posted Monday for parent-teacher conferences. Please pick a time and date by writing your child's name on a block. Conferences will be 20 minutes long. It is important to us to respect the time you have chosen to celebrate your child, please plan to arrive on time as there will be conferences before and after the block you choose. Thank you!

Important Dates 

11/19-Meet & Greet 8am, Parent Association Meeting 9am 
11/26-27– No school: Thanksgiving Break! 
12/2-Curriculum Night 5- 6:30pm 
12/11-Last Day Before Break 
12/14-Optional Care Tuition Due 
12/14-18-Break (Optional Care)