Grandparents' Day

Grandparents’ Day
The children were thrilled to have grandparents, parents, and even a sister in our classroom. They had fun sharing their “When I’m 100 years old . . . “ writings, showing off their continent maps, talking about the artifacts we have collected from all over the world, and singing the continent song. But the best experiences of all were discussing places grandparents and family members have lived or visited and sharing their “Sense of Place” map of the world.

That map represents where they live now and where their ancestors came from. Grandparents and parents talked to them about their own origins while using the map as a reference. We are blessed to have families from six of the seven continents. I don’t think any of us have any penguin relatives from Antarctica! What a wonderful, meaningful way to learn about the world! The program was an outstanding demonstration of ”learning in progress” in P.E. and Music and the ways that these two important aspects of your child’s education complement one another. A special mahalo to those of you who took a grandparentless child under your wing and to Mr. Eng for taking the delightful photos of the families.

Inquiry
Wow! We have at least 10 parents, grandparents, and friends who will be coming to share their knowledge of the world. In addition, Captain John and I will be showing the children our slides and telling all kinds of adventure stories about Oceania, the Himalayas, the deserts, India, Japan, China, Tibet, Burma, most of Europe, and many other places. The children are currently making posters with 20 years of stamps I’ve collected from all over the world. We are also creating collages from postcards and pictures cut from magazines and calendars. In this way, the children begin to get a sense of the world beyond Hawaii.

I have a few parents signed up to help with Inquiry today and next week. If anyone else is able to help, please contact me. I can still use someone on Tuesday, March 6, 8:30 - 9:30; Wednesday, March 7, 1:00 - 2:00; and Thursday, March 8, 10:00 - 11:00.

We will be extending our study of Geography beyond Spring Break to accommodate all the interest and enthusiasm from families and children alike. We hope some of the Upper School foreign language classes come share with us as well. As one child exclaimed after an exciting hour of making continent maps and posters, “This is even more interesting and fun than Prehistoric Times!” Wow!

Book Projects
We have had several excellent book projects this week. The children give confident, well-prepared presentations, they are proud of their creations (models, posters, puppets, dioramas, shoebox displays), and they tell in great detail and with delight how they worked with a parent. Thank you for all your support! There are just two weeks left, and eight children still need to present before Spring Break. Please don’t wait until the last minute!

Math
We have been using money to learn regrouping (borrowing) in subtraction. The children use dimes and pennies to set up tens and ones. They take a dime and exchange it for 10 pennies, which is very meaningful to them. They are then easily able to find the solution. Today, several 2nd Graders exclaimed, “I totally get this!” “This is so easy!” “I can really understand regrouping now!” Hurray!!! The 1st Graders are busy learning and practicing place value and less than/greater than. The whole class is also adding some 17-digit numbers, and even the 1st Graders are having a go at regrouping in addition. The children will be bringing problems home for you to try. Today, they were all able to read our 17-digit number with a little help for some. You will get your chance soon!

Posted on March 1, 2007 4:42 PM | Permalink