As the Springtime wanes into early summer, excitement stirs at Rose Rock. Please enjoy this opportunity to peek at the beautiful offerings of our curriculum!
Early Childhoodby Mama Shanah–Gardening and Being
Now that the warm weather is here to stay for a bit, we are busy with garden activities. A few weeks ago many of the children helped to plant seeds of carrots, beets, onions, lettuce, and radishes. There is joy and excitement as we harvest the radishes and keep watch over the vegetables which are slower to mature. Sorrel and arugula are perennial vegetables that are available for picking, and the mouse melons will be ready in a week or so. If you haven’t eaten a mouse melon in your life, then ask your child to bring one home for you. They are delicious!
We have put our Lady Spring circle to rest. You may have heard some of these rhymes and songs make their way to your homes.
“Little seeds are tucked in tight, in their cozy nests of night. Gently, gently will they wake, with a little Springtime shake.”
This week, we have begun the Summer circle, which has to do with farming and animals that we see around the yard. For the remainder of the school year and throughout the Summer, we will continue gardening and harvesting with the children. We will also continue to notice and be careful of our animal friends, both domesticated and wild. All of these activities help us to be grateful for every being’s place and in our community. It is wonderful to share these joy-filled experiences with your children in the true Kindergarden.
First Grade
by Miss Varasteh–Math and Forms
As Spring has arrived, the 1st Grade class has been busy putting to use much of what they’ve learned, experiencing a rite of passage, and awakening to the fact that their first grade year is actually almost over!
When the students returned from Spring Break, it was time to get practical with the four mathematical processes that were introduced to them previously. Through various games and activities that utilized playing cards, dice, gems, movement, and mini chalkboards, the class could practice numerous problems and become even more acquainted with the fluidity of mathematics. One of the most effective activities was presenting the class with a “number of the day.” In this way, each student enthusiastically raised his or her hand to share what could create that number, (as there are SO many options!) For example, 12 could be 6 + 6, but it could also certainly be 13 – 1, not to mention 3 x 4!
Furthermore, 1st Grade performed their first class play to the kindergarten students, as well as to their own parents. They first had the story of “The Three Sillies” told to them during a Main Lesson. They later were taught the lines of the play as part of speech work during Morning Circle. Finally, the students helped to make most of the props used in the play and practice the various movements to bring the show to life. In first grade, the entire class learns and recites every word of the play, and individual characters simply step forward. The students worked hard to make the play the best it could be, but more importantly, they appeared to truly enjoy putting it on, whether in a rehearsal in our classroom, or in costume for their loved ones! Bravo!
Lastly, the students have continued their weekly practice of form drawing which has grown more dynamic and complex. This continues to help orient the children on a page, as well as in space, assist with neat handwriting, and inspire a flexible way of thinking as the students often come in the following day with an idea on a variation of the form. Recently, a student asked what their first form ever was. I reminded him by tracing the form on his back with my finger. “Oh yeah, the straight line and the curve!” “The straight line and the curve?!” another student exclaimed. “That was so long ago! And so easy! Look what we can do now!!” Indeed, it is a joy to witness their understanding of “what they can do now!”
Second and Third grade–Old Testament/Torah Studies
by Mr. Coady
A sense of awe and reverence set upon the Second and Third Grade during this block. The content of the stories was relevant to them: there is security in a higher authority (Days of Creation), paradise has been lost (Adam and Eve), jealousy compels us to darkness (Cain and Abel), there is the chance for new beginnings (Noah), we can be freed from our slave mentality (Moses), etc. The stories were given as a neutral medium from which the children could derive their own meaning, always supplemented by class discussions. The meaning of any given story can therefore freely arise from that which is currently living in his or her mind and heart. This content was magnified by singing many Hebrew songs, and dancing Hebrew dances, and crescendoed in an authentic Passover Dinner hosted by dear Israeli friends.
German–Alphabet and Animals
by Frau Rubino
In German, we are continuing our work gathering and illustrating words we know or are learning for given letters of the German alphabet (we will not complete this romp through the alphabet by year’s end but will review and continue in the fall). We practice spelling these words in German (in 2nd/3rd) and describing what we have drawn for our friends. We have most recently been drawing things that happen in the garden in Spring. I have told the 3 Billy goats Gruff in German with props to help us out, and the children have used my story basket to describe the animals we draw and move through the forest and across the lake and fly to the top of the trees. We have been writing about and reading about how the seeds grow their seed leaves and roots and eventually buds and fruit.
We continue to add the names of birds in German to our various drawing/writing/speaking work (just because it is fun and that is key in learning anything!) And so far we have the following (to add to Your fun): der Adler (eagle), der Amsel (blackbird), der Blauhaher (bluejay), der Drossel (bluebird), die Ente (duck), die Eule (owl, including Schneeeule and Schleiereule), die Falke (falcon), der Gans (goose), das Kardinal (you guessed it, Cardinal), der Kolibri (hummingbird), die Krahe, die Kuken (chick), die Henne (hen), der Schwann ( swan), der Specht (woodpecker) und die Taube (dove). You may be thinking, “but how useful is it to gather up names of a bunch of birds when really we need to say, ‘where is the restaurant?’”; here is my thought: if what we see in the beautiful world everyday—and all of the birds we learn live in our lives here in Norman and Oklahoma and broadly in the US—can be named, we can in some ways develop an intimate relationship with how lovely it is to live with other creatures and to have language, distinct in each culture, with which to play with this lucky relationship with the natural world. Frolichen Fruhling!
Special Projects–Kite Making
by Ms. Ashley
The grades students have put beautiful effort and joy into making kites. This project brought another chance to hone measurement skills, meticulous use of tools, and teamwork with partners. Everyone happily anticipated the moment of flight as they worked. Excellent job grade school students!
