A New Face in the Lower Elementary
Parents of Lower Elementary (and full-day Kindergarten) Students may have heard about the new intern that joined us January 10! She is the fantastic Miss Nicki Bushway -- an enthusiastic, multi-faceted teacher-in-training who has tackled many areas of the curriculum and has instantly taken initiative in the classroom! She is doing Music lessons on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, opposite Drama and PE, and she has taken over French instruction for Lower Elementary, which will be taking place on Thursdays! Another special touch she'll be adding is lessons in "Peace Education" -- her favorite curriculum area!

Here she is with her cat, Merlin!

My name is Nicki Bushway, and I am a second semester intern from Xavier University. I am certified in Early Childhood Montessori. Last year I was an intern at Montessori Academy of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. I am finishing up my Elementary certification through Xavier. I will be graduating in May of this year, and plan to move back to Lake Placid, New York during the summer. In a few years I plan to open my own school in Lake Placid. I live in Cincinnati with my cat named Merlin. I work part time at Domino’s Pizza in Fairfield as a delivery driver.


- posted by Heidi @ Tuesday, January 18, 2005

 
Preprimary Happenings
It’s been hopping down in Preprimary! Since October, we have welcomed Faith Wilson and Collin Witte. Both of these new students are kindergarteners. We welcome Collin, Faith, and their families to our Cornerstone Family.

We have studied the continent of North America by learning how the Inuit people of Alaska live, and making flags of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. We have read about mammals of North America, customs of Mexico, and lifestyles, weather, etc. of the Canadians. Several children asked us to make sure to let their parents know about the book, The Inuit, which is by Ruth Thomson and is part of a series called “Footsteps in Time.” This is a simple account of how the Inuit people live now and lived long ago. After each topic (food, transportation, shelter, etc.) is a craft or activity.

In science, the mammal work on the shelf has included parts of the beaver and moose, parts of the human body (skeleton, circulatory system, organs), parts of the human face, bats!!, and an internal organ (heart, intestines, liver, lungs) coloring page. To accompany this work, we have been talking about the five senses.

Popular story time books have included Stella Luna, Seven Silly Eaters, and Stone Soup.
Our stone soup stew was quite a success with the teachers, but the children preferred the accompanying bread. Only two children were brave enough to actually taste the soup. We still enjoyed sitting down together for a Thanksgiving snack! (P.S. Don’t tell the kids, but we didn’t really use a stone for the soup!) Thanks to everyone for taking the time to prepare the ingredients. When asked why the boy in the story said that a stone was needed for the soup, one child replied, “Because it’s called ‘Stone Soup!’” Out of the mouths of babes….

At least three days a week, volunteers (Dina Velkly, Amy DesJardins, Kelly Curry, Cate Brown [Kirchhoff], Kathleen Hardy) have been listening to children read in the Art room. This is valuable time for each child to have one-on-one time to work on sounds/words. Many thanks to our listeners!

Kyle Meadows (his son is Douglas, grade 4) once again supplied us with two finches. The children have enjoyed drawing and observing the birds.

Seeking to avoid winter blues, we find it more important and enjoyable than ever to be outside at the end of each day. Most often we play on the blacktop, as the playground area is soggy due to rain. The children seem to enjoy running, chasing, and pretending with each other just as much in this area as on the playground proper.

We hope you had a joyful holiday season and we are proud to be beginning a new year with your children! ~Melody and Jenny

- posted by Heidi @ Saturday, January 15, 2005