In the Classroom -- Week of September 3

Dear Parents:

Last week, we introduced our small group lessons for math, fractions, and geometry as well as continued our writing curriculum and large group history and science lessons. Earlier in the week, we presented the Clock of Eras, a precursor to Dr. Montessori's second great lesson, "The Timeline of Life," which is an impressionistic lesson was introduced the latter part of the week. Our afternoons are filled with reading: SRAs, working on multiple reading skills, cloze connections, silent reading, and finally, reading aloud.

On Mondays, our goal is to send home your child's progress report from the previous week as well as a brief letter. The highlights on the progress report indicate follow up work (the independent practice part of the lesson) that your student did not complete. The "dreaded" highlights are not meant to be punitive; they are simply a form of communication between the student, parent, and teachers about the opportunities which your student did not take advantage. Generally, it takes new students to the 9-12 level weeks to acclimate to the higher expectations; as a result, some highlights are to be expected. Sometimes, children delve deeper in research or a subject area that may prevent them from completing everything on their progress report.

In an effort to alleviate some pressure on the students, we will not be highlighting progress reports these first few weeks. As we are observing the students, we will attempt to be good communicators with you if we see unhealthy patterns developing which may impede your child's progress. Feel free to contact us if you become concerned or have any questions.

For your convenience, we sent home a hot lunch schedule for the school year (a schedule is also included on the right margin of the blog). As you see, hot lunch is available two times per month and has had some slight price changes. In an effort to help grow your child's independence, please allow him/her the responsibility of handling the money and paying for only one lunch at a time. Lunch scholarships are available; let us know and we can take care of it for you anonymously.

We are excited about a new school year and all the learning opportunities ahead. Thank you for sharing your child with us.

Amy and Darla