We are off to such a great start!!! Everyone is showing up on time, and ready to learn! We've discovered how wonderfully caring your children are; it's truly a privilege working with them. All the kiddos are trying their best, and learning how to think which we call "growing our brains," just ask them:)
We've been slowly introducing first grade work. In the beginning we need to be careful not to dive too quickly into the curriculum, especially within the first few weeks. These initial weeks have been all about adjusting to new time schedules/sleep patterns, routines, and learning about our classroom community. A huge part of this introduction period is teaching children that there we are all good/great at some things, and that we're all continuing to work on things that we're not so good at... YET. Our rates of "blooming" are different, and they shouldn't feel discouraged if they are not progressing at the same rate as their peers. We are all on the same path, and all of us will get to our destinations. Our brains are flexible capable of wonderful thinking if encouraged and motivated to do so. This is called "Growth Mindset" or what we call, "growing our brains." The link below provides some of the theory behind how this works, and how we (parents and educators) can encourage this type of growth and perseverance . http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-simple-way-to-encourage-a-growth-mindset.
Slowly we've integrated most of the subjects that we'll work on throughout the year. Much of our learning is practiced through learning games, which they appear to enjoy and stay readily engaged. I'll be showing a slide show of our first few weeks at the Open House, scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 24th. at 5:00 P.M.
Also during the Open House, we will demonstrate what you can expect your children to learn throughout the year, some of the texts they'll be using, the progression of reading and writing, and what the expectations are relative to classroom readiness and homework. I will also introduce our blog , how to find it, & what it contains , if you're not already familiar. Lastly, part of my presentation will highlight technology; we implement its use in the classroom, and you can also access most of the same learning programs from your home computer, such as Adaptive Mind.
Please, I encourage you, if you have any questions please email me at sloredo@wsesu.org.
One last note, you'll notice I don't have any pictures of children YET on our blog, I do like to include pictures with every blog, but until I get all the permissions back, I unable to do so.
