Beginning on Paper

This is my first post to Ampersand this year.  It has been very rewarding  to see how well the space in the building serves the various ages each area was readied for and to realize each classroom as it is peopled with children and teachers.  We welcomed to Lake and Park three new teachers this autumn:  Quyhn Cao, Kristina Johnson, Morgan Padgett.  They join our existing faculty,significantly broadeniing our ability to insure that the teacher/ratio throughout the school remains low.  The increased permeability across the grades allows us to be more responsive to each child each day.
Camille Hayward




Beginning on Paper

We began the year with looking at the alphabet.  We began the alphabet with looking at our names.  We began looking at our names with the seminal poem that follows:

Beginning on Paper

on paper
I write it
on rain

I write it
on stones
on my boots

on trees
I write it
on the air

on the city
how pretty
I write my name

Ruth Krauss


  This poem captures the proud moment when the young child learns to write her or his name.  Ruth Krauss was a colleague of Margaret Wise Brown's  (of Goodnight, Moon renown).  I wish I could find the old Scholastic Books poster that I used to put up in my kindergarten and first grade classrooms when I first started teaching, back in the 80's.  The pastel drawings by an artist whose work I recognize but cannot name caught the proud moment that the poem expresses.  Children are shown drawing their names on sticks, in the dirt, and on chalk on their shoes.  The sense of mystery that the poem offers:  on trees, on the city--the one little rhyme--how pretty--that was all conveyed within the warm pink and violet tones that the poster set forth.

This year each child in each room at Lake and Park worked to see his/her name in a fuller light, to know the letters in it, to recognize it both as a gestalt and as a configuration of individual letters.  The older children did much with the meaning of names;  that led them to the alphabet as a whole, which led to history of illuminated letters and much more.  (Please see  the companion article by Kim Buchanan that precedes this one and  that specifically refers to the connections that the older children made to the subject.)


Now, in October, the trajectory of this study leads us to learn about the making of paper and on to the making of books. The making of books brings to light various techniques--the hand-scripted books as recorded by monks in the Middle Ages, the early books on the early printing press, the move toward modern printing.  Children will visit a working printing press in a shop on Beacon Hill and the artisan who operates it.  A natural progression from paper to book is to library.  Students will explore the Seattle Public Library's Central Branch.

This linear study has been undertaken most deliberately by the teachers and students in The Big Room, but the interests of the younger classes, as well as the rhythm of the fall season have led us all to various other motifs which in turn have provided a range of "here and now" experiences which all of the children have benefited from.    The younger classes in turn keep being led back to the bigger topic at hand.  It continues to provide a framework for serious thematic learning across the grades.

Our initial foray as a school into Cross Country provided us with a short term exposure to an individual sport as well as fostering teamwork.  Kudos to Tom McQueen and Eileen Hynes for spearheading this new and well received activity.  Children competed in matched gender and grade level events with other independent elementary school children on Sunday afternoons from mid-September to early October.  They practiced three afternoons a week, running with children across the grades at Mount Baker Park, down the Boulevard, up and down the Horton Hill Climb.

As children noted the changing of the seasons from late summer to early fall, classroom activities began to reflect their awareness.  Books about squirrels, apples and pumpkins and sunflowers appeared on the shelves. Chestnuts gathered at the park now fill the sensory table.  Several weeks ago, the North Room invited everyone to an Apple Festival in exchange for the invite to the Big Room's Alphabet Film Festival.  We made apple crafts, had our faces painted, and took home caramel apples at the end of a recent Friday.  Sponsored by the children in every way, our thanks go to Kristina Johnson and Quyhn Cao for all their efforts in making the event such a spontaneous success.
   A "chapter book" about a "little twig person" with a head made of a hickory nut, Miss Hickory, holds the attention of the youngest children as they read a chapter daily;  her leaf skirt, made of pinned together pine needles, led us to look at the artistic work of Andy Goldsworthy who fashions art of nature and has done some very intricate leaf art using the same pine needle technique as the fictional Hickory.  Children are continuing to have an opportunity to make art with leaves involving melted crayons, pressed leaves, and wax paper.  These are hanging in the Downstairs room and will likely find their way throughout the school.

Other topics have come up this fall.  We enjoy the daily presence of a guide dog in training in our classrooms as Kathi Titus brings Greta to school each day.  Kathi held an assembly for the North Room and Downstairs students so she could explain to them the role of guide dogs in helping those who have limited vision.   The dog's presence provided the opportunity to look at the Braille alphabet, making another tie-in to our earliest theme.
     American Sign Language is often incorporated into activities.  Morgan Padgett presents it to the children in a variety of ways throughout the day.  Kathi leads us all at Sing Alongs through the consonants in concert with The Alphabet Song, a tongue twisting ditty that all those who have a child at Lake and Park should ask to be song to them.

This week of October 14th will see us making "slurry" to make handmade paper, reading chapters from Pippi Longstocking, anticipating field trips to the Seattle Children's Theater  (Downstairs and North Room on October 22nd) to see its production of "Pippi, The Musical".   Our recent effort at Cross Country running will see new fruition as we begin all participating in daily runs as we join the Kids' Marathon by running a half mile a day.  Children cut apples into slices with wooden knives and began making a second batch of applesauce.  We had our school photos taken and played at the park together.  Sing Along saw us working with rhythm sticks to accompany "This Old Man" with coordinated clapping in partners.  Our collection of manual typewriters is being put to good use in The Big Room as children, inspired by I, Freddy, a novel about a hamster in a classroom who gets to work a typewriter.

Soon, our attention will shift to the coming end-of-October holidays, to Halloween and The Days of the Dead.  We will look at bones and skeletons, skulls and cultural attitudes toward life and what comes after.  Because we work with topics that provide us with many opportunities to make genuine connections, we will be on the lookout to hear what our children have to say as they engage in this rich interplay of objects and ideas.  I look forward to pulling out the Alphabet Skull Book  at the end of the month and to imagine how much we will be able to make of it:  a book, made out of paper and fashioned on a modern printing press, with an alphabet orientation, this one about "head bones" those calaveras, that hold such prominence during the celebration of El Dia De Los Muertos. 

ABC EXPLORATION

An Alphabetic Exploration

The Big Room Looks at The Twenty-Six Letters
From Many Perspectives

By Kim Buchanan

Kim teaches children in our oldest grouping;  she co-teaches with Eileen Hynes and Kathi Titus

We began this year exploring the alphabet, which has been a very rich exploration.  

Time was devoted to studying the history of books and bookmaking in the Middle Ages  We were inspired by the monks of Europe and their dedication to preserving history and culture through script and its often accompanying illuminated letters. For eight hundred years they preserved the writings of the ancient civilizations and the teaching of the prophets until the work of scribes became a secular trade.

We took our first field trip and bused to Epiphany Church in the Madrona neighborhood where we were able to turn the pages of the first handwritten Bible to be produced in 500 years.   Several books of the St. John's Bible were there on temporary display.  The Bible is the only modern era illuminated version of Scripture and is housed at St. John's Benedictine Monastery in Minnesota.  A few copies are available worldwide.  These travel by appointment to various sites.

In the photo above, Lake and Park children look at actual copies of the St. John's Bible in the Epiphany Church library.

Influenced by the text at Epiphany, children began to adorn their own writing with extra flare. Signatures took on an entirely new look.

Eileen read a book that identified virtues. After thoughtful consideration, each child chose one to illuminate that expressed a virtue that that child deems one of her/his best qualities.   Names and virtues were illuminated by the children and put on display alongside self-portraits.

Self portraits by Franklin and Sadie

Additionally, children wrote alliterative sentences, one for every letter in the alphabet.  

A yak ate yucky yams and yogurt yesterday.      The purple polka-dotted pony ate a pancake while prancing the Hokey-Pokey. 

The skill of alphabetizing was practiced.  Dictionaries, indexes, and other alphabetized resources were used to assist the students in their writing.

Autumn alphabetizing word cards; Delphine and Luke involved in dictionary work.



Kathi brought in "hundreds" of alphabet books from the Seattle Public Library. After reading many of these, children worked in partnerships to create a "scroll movie" complete with an alliterative sentence for each letter, later edited and illustrated by a line drawing.

Kaitlin and Anya's ideas in draft form.

 Each uniquely reflects the creativity and chosen theme of its author.

    

Camille at work with her "movie" project.  Kaitlin and Anya's page appears above.

Our selection of "movies" includes those featuring families, pets, and forest animals.  One tells of alphabet letters suffering from one malady or another. Another is written backwards; yet another describes people in school.

Franklin reads each of his "film segments" to the audience, while Kim turns the manual "movie projector".  Battery powered lights illuminate the "screen".  Jonah waits his turn to read next.

Delphine and Jonah welcome attendees to the festival.

The idea to share our "movies" with the entire school led to the creation of The ABC Movie Festival. Posters and directive arrows lined the hallways.









Andersen ready to collect chestnuts.

                                                           

Chestnuts, which had been collected at the park, were in abundance and were used as currency to purchase tickets and popcorn. Tom supervised the preparation of the popcorn making. Ushers escorted our guests to their designated rows.



North Room children in the front row, enjoying their popcorn: George, Ruby, Olivia, Sophia, Finnian 


Children who attended Lake and Park last year recall learning of Egyptian hieroglyphs from last year's comprehensive study of Ancient Egypt.   As we concluded this unit, they learned about  pictographs of the Ancient Phoenicians.  Camille took them through two sessions where she introduced the Big Room to an alphabetic evolution, From early pictographs of the Phoenicians, they followed a handful of letters as they were adapted into Ancient Hebrew, followed by adaptation into Greek and, finally, adaptation into the Roman Alphabet  that is employed, in capital letter form, the world over.  Camille met with the North Room children as well, introducing this same line of thinking to them.

Ending and Beginning

A transition is a process or period in which something undergoes a change and passes from one state,

The weather during camp week was terrific.

stage, form, or activity to another.  

Transition Camp is a wonderful time between the structured daily routines of the school year and the open, unstructured days of summer. By design, the days of transition camp begin with favorite choice activities;  building, drawing, dramatic play, stories, games and one central table where a morning snack of toast, or pancakes or waffles is served.  By serving breakfast camp acknowledges that children may be staying up later as the Northwest’s longer hours of daylight keep us all outside until well past our winter dinner times.  It is good to respond to the natural rhythms of the seasons, and this week of transition encourages us to take notice.

Breakfast gets a morning at camp off to a good start.

Mid-way through the first morning of camp we gather together to plan the week. Everyone is encouraged to offer ideas and build on another child’s suggestions.  We fill several sheets of easel paper with possibilities,  and the children practice an important skill to see them through the summer; “How do I want to spend my time and what will it take to make it possible?”  There is a nice balance of indoor and outside activities, things to do alone and in community, physical activity and creative and cerebral pursuits. After a song or two and a good story book, our meeting ends and everyone sets off with purpose to enjoy the day together.

The adults in the room begin to observe new friendships forming between ages and genders as well as increased risks taken as new activities are tried in the safety of our small community.   The multi-age family grouping of camp encourages older students to revisit favorite play activities and spend extended, uninterrupted time building elaborate play mobile set-ups.  During mornings at camp younger students stretch themselves, as they learn to play more complex games brought in from the North Room.  Everyone is encouraged to go a little deeper as the longer days of summer allow for a slower pace.

At the garden.

At Triangle Park.

Afternoons we venture outside to visit our favorite parks and outdoor spaces.  The building of fairy houses is the focus of our time outside and everyone looks a little closer at the shape of a tree trunk or the pattern found in a leaf or petal.  Ideas are shared, sticks are gathered and all the experience of building with Lego or blocks is called upon as structures are built with the materials found at hand.  Before the afternoon ends we come together and visit each house, listen to the builders share the thinking behind the choices that were made, and plans for tomorrow’s houses start to form.

On the boulevard.

At Mt. Baker Park.

Each morning throughout the week we look at the long list created on the first morning.  We select several ideas to incorporate into each day and take note of the things we have done.  By the end of the week we have done many different things together and we still have some great ideas that just didn't get done during this first week of summer.  There lies the great luxury of summer; we have more time, the season is just beginning.  I hope when you hear the tinkling of the wind chimes you remember to go outside and read a book or just look around, up close at what is growing, or find the perfect spot to build a fairy house.

 

Best wishes for a warm and wonderful summer.

Eileen

We still have several openings in our Viking Camp next week, come learn about Norse Mythology, the stories of Mermaids, and the art of these Nordic Sailors, many of whom settled in the Pacific Northwest.

We Welcome Spring in the Garden

One of the many things I love about the Lake and Park School is the tradition of working together in small mixed-age groups.  Sometimes these groups involve the whole school working on a study as we did this past fall learning about salmon.  At other times a small group may work on a special skill or project, riding bikes, jumping rope or learning to play chess.  A multi-age group provides many rewards including the opportunity to get to know one another in a different setting, make new friends, and learn or try new things in an unself-conscious way. 

This month I was able to work with just such a group as we began the spring clean-up and early planting at our school P-patch in Coleman Park.  As the spring continues different groups will continue the work in the garden and in the summer opportunities for families to keep the garden going will be available.  In addition the P-patch is also a lovely outdoor classroom space that each of the classes will travel to for special lessons and activities, or maybe just a nice place to find a quiet spot to read a book.  Please read on to learn more about what has been happening in the garden this spring.

                                                                                                                                Eileen

                         

Planting flower seeds in the hopes of attracting butterflies.

I was in the garden group.  It was really fun.  I liked planting flower seeds.  We planted flowers to attract butterflies.  I already saw two butterflies.  Our neighbor at the p-patch is Harriet.  I like her garden too.  It is pretty.

We had to get the soil ready before we could plant.  We had to spread compost.  It was fun.

Every day we went to the garden in March was sunny.

By Olivia

Adding chips to the paths in the garden.

We came to the garden in March to get it ready for planting.  The first day we weeded the paths and put wood chips down.  We picked up all the tree branches that had fallen during the winter.  Then we weeded the beds.  We started seeing worms and centipedes.  The worms are good for the soil.  We also planted some chives.

Every time we come to the garden we see more insects.  I don’t even know what they are.  I hope to learn what they are.  I really like to plant peas.  It was fun to plant peas.

By Thomas

I like sage.  I like it because it is colorful.  I planted the sage in the herb garden.  I helped bring the wood chips.  We got the beds ready.  Then we planted the vegetables.

By Tate

Stepping stones added to the square garden bed .

Hi, my name is Sadie.  I planted broccoli-kale and if you are wondering I planted about 3 or 4 plants.  I also planted most of the beets in the middle of the newly planted garden.  We put in stepping stones there too.  And we saw two butterflies and Tate found tiny eggs.

By Sadie

Hi, my name is Kaitlin.  I really enjoy coming back to the garden!  We were the first people back to the garden.  No one was here all winter!  Planting was so much fun.  I brought down wood chips in a big wheelbarrow.  I hope to see you at the garden.

The wood chips are hard work.  The wheelbarrows are really heavy when they are full.  The path is on a hill. It takes teamwork to carry the chips.  You get them down the hill, through the tiny path and down another hill.  Then you have to stop the wheelbarrow and then dump.

By Autumn

Why I enjoyed planting the chives was because they are edible grass.  I like planting plants because I want to have my own garden to make my parents happy.  I also like gardening in my duck gloves.  I am excited because the potato I planted last week has green leaves.  I am becoming better friends with Olivia, and now she is becoming an “old” friend.  I loved picking chives for Olivia.

By Jordi

In front of the pea trellis.

How We Built the Bamboo Trellis

By Chloe

I was working in the garden and someone named Jim was working.  So I asked him if I could help him make the pea trellis.  We started to make the pea trellis.  We used bamboo and string.  I never did anything like it before.

Surveying the progress.

This spring we planted peas, chives, radishes, potatoes, rosemary, strawberries, sage, mint, rhubarb, cabbage, kale and more.  I love the garden.  I helped with the wood chips, turning dirt, planting, and I learned the code to the shed.

By Franklin

Thoughts on Admission Season--Implications for Children in Private School Settings

March 2013




I want to reflect on this season that is so very much a reality for children and families of the private school world: Admissions Season.  It takes place right in the heart of the school year and often brings with it a premature sense of the upcoming school year being right around the proverbial corner.   But for every child,  and for every teacher, although January is the month when parents are sending in applications and renewing contracts, the current school year is by no means exhausted.  In fact, it seems that that is the time when everyone is truly  "getting into the groove" of the current year.  Things are in full swing. Holidays are past.  The child knows that the teacher knows her very well;  significant academic growth bursts out in many wonderful ways, all the way from the renewed focus of January to the excitement of upcoming spring break.    Children are at ease with one another.  Relationships grow more solid and new friendships occur.  A hesitant child begins to find a strong voice.  The one who was worried is relaxed.  And in the middle of all this wonderful budding and blooming, relationships between adults and between the children and about the projects and animals and skill sets,  here is that interfering next year's calendar imposing on all of this natural ease and productivity a burden, albeit, a necessary one.

How to make the most of this year to maximize the experience for everyone:

Thus, whether your child is enrolling in Lake and Park for the first time, has been to many schools for admissions visits, is moving out of a beloved familiar place and worried about a new place, or if your child is conscious of friends moving on, or of herself or himself staying behind without the comfort of a good friend, you as parents can help make the situation work for everyone by doing the following:

Wait, if you can, to mention any real upcoming changes unless they are very much in the child's awareness.  A preschooler doesn't have to know now which kindergarten he will attend.  A first grader who has been on school visits is usually happy just to wait to hear when the transition is eminent.

Allow this year to have full play--emphasize the here and now.

Help your child's current teacher keep the class focused on that here and now by not discussing the possibility of friends making changes.

Wait to answer your child's questions about next year until they are asked

Remember:  six months in a four or five or six year old's life is a significant fraction of time.

A great time to think about the next school year is after goodbye's have been said in June, after summer has had a chance to sink in and the child is curious about the next step.  Then it would be time enough to walk by the new building, check out the playground, take a look around.  For those arriving at Lake and Park for the first time,  it is usually perfect just to wait until school begins.  We have a purposeful Slow Start to allow everyone to "get on board";  if you visit a classroom at the tail end of August, you will often find it in disarray, with the teacher preparing for the beginning. Wait to actually enter the room until the teacher has it ready so that he or she is able to properly welcome each child.  And, do not worry about having your child meet children in the new school beforehand.  It is easiest, I have found from many years' experience, to wait for that potluck or picnic or get together until the child has met children in the neutral setting of the shared classroom rather than to try to create a friendship on a play date.  Teachers know how to welcome the child and facilitiate connections.


Please post any thoughts or tips you may have regarding this conversation.

Thanks,

Camille

A Focus on Friendship

Can you believe we are half-way through the school year? February is a great time to focus on friends; the middle of the month is marked with Valentine’s Day.   At school, children are always surrounded by many other children.  They are asked to work together, to help one another, to learn from each other and to play together.   When asked to reflect on friendship this week, children in the North Room had plenty to say.  Along with all of this daily practice being a good friend to one’s classmates we are reading books about friends, including Frog and Toad, by Arnold Lobel, and George and Martha, by James Marshall. Talking about the stories, we create a common language to discuss friendship.  Do you have a favorite book about friendship?

   

 Accompanying the student writing are portraits they made with a focus on expressing friendly emotions. 

I believe that my hopes can bring me to wonderland and my friends are golden.  Friends are awesome.  Friends make your heart feel like a golden leaf.

Love, Daisy

I feel like I have friends.  Usually I make them.  I walk up and say, “Can I play?”

Gus

I believe you would be nothing without a friend.  The qualities of friendship are very special.  When I am making a friend I act happy but also shy.

Chloe

I feel excited when I make new friends.  I felt it especially when I met Henry.  Henry and I are kind of alike.

Tate

I believe you are always there for me.  A friend and you can get in fights but you always make up.  I think to you friends are everywhere just waiting to get found.  So if you don’t have a friend you should get one.

By Anya

I feel shy when making friends, and when I feel better I go to play with my new friend.  When I am done I will go to my house and I will go to bed.  When it is morning I will go to my best friend’s house and we will play!

Katie

I am a good friend.  I have a friend, Tate.  He is cool.  He is fun to play with.

Roham

Good friends are always there for you.  Friends are the best.  Friends can help you through hard stuff and you can trust them.

Sadie

Good friends are very nice.  I am a good friend if a friend wants to come over and play with me. 

Eamon

Good friends are always nice.  You are not yourself without a friend.  I can make a friend anywhere.  A friend is special.

Dutch

I feel shy when I meet a friend.  Friends are fun, helpful and nice.

Emmett

Best friends share video games.  Best friends are the best thing I can think of.

Sonja

Friendships are very special to me.  I like my friends.  They are special.  I really like them when we play together.  My friends have good ideas.  They are very fun.

William

I am shy when some people are new in the school.  Once I get used to the people they are my friend.

Sebastian

Coho Salmon Eggs in the Hall at Lake and Park School

One of the many benefits of teaching children for multiple years is the frequent opportunity to revisit a topic, or apply existing knowledge to a new situation.  We ask children to use the knowledge they have all the time.  Whenever we begin a new topic of study it is common practice to ask children what they already know about that topic.  Learning is about making connections and making an idea your own.  When we can revisit shared knowledge as a community of learners it continues to build our community and makes it stronger.  This happened in the halls of Lake and Park just last week.

It was our first week back after the New Year and we were all anticipating the arrival of the Coho salmon eggs for the big fish tank in the hallway.  The tank had been placed in the hallway and filled with water shortly after the Thanksgiving break.  During that month the water needed to be cooled and stabilized at about 48 F, and the proper PH, ammonia, nitrate and nitrate levels established for optimum fish growing conditions.  During this time our study of conifers in December provided another way to look at the salmon habitat in the Northwest with a deeper understanding.

The day before we set out to the Issaquah Salmon hatchery to pick up our salmon eggs we asked the question, “what do all living things need to live on earth and how will we provide those for the salmon eggs?”  The students’ hands shot up to provide part of the answer.  As some students remembered the requirements all habitats must provide to sustain life, they also remembered work they did researching and writing their biome projects last spring.   Students who joined this group in September were engaged in learning from their peers. 

The five essentials are: 1. Air, 2.water, 3.food, 4.shelter, and 5. space.   Many children have observed the tank both before and after the eggs were placed in it.  As we look carefully, observe and wait, we can think of our role and responsibility in helping these eggs grow into the fry we will release in a stream this spring.  For the next couple of months students will check on the temperature and other aspects of water quality in the tank, and when the time comes we will begin to feed the fry.  We all anticipate our trip to release the young salmon into a stream.  We plan to work on a habitat restoration project.  We will record and graph our data about the tank.  We will observe and draw and paint what we see happening in the tank.  We will keep journals, writing down our thoughts, questions and responses to the changes in the fish tank.  The salmon project has brought a special energy to our hallway and will continue to do so for several months to come.  Please stop by and take a look.