We have certainly had an exciting week. Some activity was good, some was great, and some needs improvement. Our studies within the Americas continued into the Ancient Civilizations of the Americas: Maya, Olmec, and Aztec. I am super excited to see the projects for the tribes this next week! Be sure to be working on them this weekend (due Thursday.)

I have noticed our students need much more executive functioning skills and impulse control. We have begun working on these things along with having our lessons in all subjects. That said, students now have the day broken down further into smaller chunks of responsibility. They are performing well at above 80% success on most of the first eight steps of the day: change shoes, bring water bottle to the classroom, sign-in for attendance, collect the appropriate journals, come to circle, record the quote, and record the note.  Entering quietly, working quietly, and staying quiet when someone else is speaking is a challenge for most of these students; that is where the impulse control comes in. Also, bringing planners in from home, signed, is not currently happening. Please check journals and ensure that your student is bringing it home to you daily.

The normalization process is not completely transitioning as expected. Dr. Montessori spoke of giving children more and more freedom as they showed they could handle the responsibility. Thus, I see we need to adjust those freedoms for now. In following the child, I am implementing a more succinct (chunked and descriptive) expectation checklist to help students stay on track, a morning work cycle one and a separate afternoon one. We had a conversation on Thursday about their responsibility to themselves, each other, and me to keep the environment ready and appropriate for everyone to learn. This included treating materials with respect, treating each other with respect and treating their time with respect. Then, we talked generally about what they had completed. Many admitted they had not completed their work for the week. They were quite behind. Thus, I am hopeful that reducing the big picture even further, students will have more immediate success in planning their time and using it effectively. They also admitted they were having trouble with their own volume. We are working on it ourselves; yet it could help if you would have them practice silence at home too. This involves sitting in silence for incrementally longer periods of time without any other activity occurring: one minute, two minutes, three minutes, etc. This type of practice will lead to more bodily and mindful self-control, which is critical in learning and life.

This change also leads to a change in the Friday reflection form. Students will now be doing letters home. On the letter home, the same format and language that is used on the “chunked” checklists is listed. Missing work is also described. Please review these and help your student both catch up and stay on top of their work. They need your support.

In other news, we have a field trip for 4th years coming up to the American Heritage Center and our Native American History Projects are due the same day, Thursday, October 4th. Our Fall Festival is the 12th. And Parent-Teacher Conferences are October 15th-17th.

We love our handwork in class and could surely use some more yarn, fabric, needles, and threads!

Thank you!