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Friday, September 15, 2006
Calendar
9/20 First Core meeting (Room Parents) 5 – 6 pm – Contact office for childcare
9/27 – 9/29 School pictures – Schedule below
10/9 Indigenous People’s Day – School closed, no childcare
10/10 All school assembly – Bird Show 10 am
10/14 Family Fun Day, Book Fair 10 – 2
This past week the media descended upon GLM's door to do TV interviews regarding the missing Oakland resident, Nina Reiser. Her 2 children attended GLM for 3 years and we last saw the family in June on the last day of school. Joanna, Helen and Nancy screened calls and unannounced arrivals from Channel 2, Channel 5, the Montclarion, the Berkeley School of Journalism, Channel 11. GLM parents notified school staff members that Nina, "one family in the GLM family", was missing and that her boyfriend was trying to get flyers posted, and urged everyone to keep her photo in the public eye to help locate her. This administration feels strongly that children need to be protected from news that shakes their worldview and presents the idea that mothers can be lost and missing. We did not allow the media to enter the campus. We are so vey grateful to GLM parents Marni Hunter and Valerie Brock for organizing a vigil (Friday, Sept. 15, 7 pm in Montclair Park) notifying families, and getting the word out. Helen, Marni, Danny Tien, and Mary Aima were all interviewed by Channel 2 and Channel 5 news and repeatedly called on the media to keep the awareness of Nina Reiser in the public eye. We pray for her safe return and for the welfare of her two children.
FAMILY FUN DAY & SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
Saturday, October 14th, is a special day at GLM. This is the day that the campus is transformed into a circus/carnival, and we hold the Scholastic book fair. There will be games, face painting, circus performers, food, activities and books! Mark your calendar and bring the whole family! Don’t miss these fun events (from 10 am – 2 pm). Volunteers will be recruited to help with set-up, booths, food prep and clean-up. Watch for the sign-ups lists.
SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that begins with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. Next weeks sound is “B” as in Bounce, Bank, Bubble.
SCHOOL PICTURES
This year we are using Dennis Geaney School Photography for our school pictures. They will be here the last three days in September; schedule is below. We should have the pictures back before Thanksgiving. Mr. Geaney requests that parents NOT be present during the sessions.
9/ 27: 9:30 am - 10:30 am MULBERRY, 10:30 am - 11:30 am CAMELLIA
9/28: 9:15 am – 10 am ELEMENTARY, 10 am - 10:45am JACARANDA,
10:45 am – 11:30 am JUNIPER
9/29: 9:15 am – 10 am LIVE OAK, 10 am - 10:45 am GINKGO,
10:45 am – 11:30 am MAGNOLIA
Afternoon: Make-up shots
TUFF TUMBLERS
For children wanting to sign-up for Tuff Tumblers there is room available in both the Wednesday and Friday 4:10 class. Contact the office ASAP if you are interested.
SAFEWAY SHOPPERS
From 9/9 to 10/17 you can earn money for GLM by purchasing items at Safeway that carry the yellow school bus symbol! Ten percent of these purchases will be sent to the school of your choice. Simply bring the reward certificate to the GLM office and we’ll do the rest!
You can also earn money for the school by clipping out the Box Tops for Education symbol on General Mill’s products. Put the coupons in the Box Tops canisters around campus, and twice a year the BTE volunteer will mail them to general Mill’s. Then, we get paid 10 cents per coupon submitted!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CLASS NEWS
REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
This week the children enjoyed dancing with Mr. Hoffman! They did a dance to a short tune called “Sasha and the Alabama Gal”. The first years were so excited to learn that not only does Mr. Hoffman sign, play guitar, teach recorder but he also teaches elementary to dance! The children did so well...the older children remembering the dances from last year, and the new children learning them. Mr. Hoffman even began to teach them some clogging.
This week Clare and Charlie made some great zucchini bread for snack, after we did a lesson last week about dry fruits and reviewed succulent fruits. It was truly the best zucchini bread the class ever tasted.
The first years were introduced to the history of writing and the fundamental needs of humans this week. They made booklets of how their families met their individual basic needs and tendencies.
The fifth years are studying narrative poetry and they are so excited about memorizing some poems to dramatize. The poems we have been focused on are historical poems about people. The children are also busy researching people to write their own poems about.
The third years learned about Charlemagne this week, or as most people know him, Charles the Great. The children were amazed at how organized he was and how he delegated "responsibility" to make things run smoothly. They did some wonderful drawings of him as well.
The fourth years are studying myths and legends and we read some Greek myths out loud. The stories were rewritten by Edith Hamilton, a woman who really did not become famous until she was in her eighties. The children were very interested in the fact that when she was in her late eighties and early nineties she drove around Europe researching one of her myths. At that time she was invited by J.F. Kennedy to come and speak at his inauguration. She turned him down because she was just too busy with her research! It is a nice lesson for them to understand how passionate people can become about their work.
JACARANDA
The Jacaranda teachers give many group and individual lessons throughout each morning and afternoon. Formal lessons involve sitting on the floor at a work rug or sitting at a table with the adult and child working closely together.
This time of the year the teachers are giving many lessons as a group. These lessons include grace and courtesy, how to move through the classroom and to work the materials. Grace and courtesy lessons show the children the many ways to work with others in the classroom; for instance, how to interrupt another person with a quiet hand on that person’s shoulder or arm. The older children are invited to show the younger children as often as is possible, as the children can listen to other children with patience and respect.
The children are receiving other cultural lessons as they continue to classify the world around them. Living and non-living classification was made to come alive in the children’s minds the other day when Mr. Keating compared a guinea pig-sized rock with the Jacaranda class guinea pig. “What does the guinea pig need to live?” “Food, shelter…”
Formal, written observations of the children take place every day so that the adults can present age- and developmentally-appropriate lessons and materials. Only by observing the children can we present the “right lesson at the right time”.
During one of the recent group lessons, the discussion revolved around how Pluto is not the ninth planet any longer. One of the children volunteered matter-of-factly that “Pluto is just an icy ball.”
JUNIPER
Parent Volunteers Needed to cut out and laminate leaves for our class Juniper tree.
Juniper teachers request that each child bring the following by October 2:
- a magazine (such as National Geographic) for our project on basic human needs
- a shoe box
Thanks to Lynne for bringing in rechargeable batteries for Juniper's tape and CD player.
Mr. Hennigan has started bringing in his guitar on Fridays to sing songs and play music with the children. So that you can sing them with your children too, we're currently working on "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Going to the Zoo," "Down by the Bay," "Wheels on the Bus," and "I Think You're Wonderful."
Happy birthday to all of the children who have September birthdays. We've celebrated several already and have enjoyed wonderful snacks and received wonderful classroom gifts. Thank you!
*Quote of the week*: "I saw a yellow coat flying around! He tried to eat my sandwich." - Isabella Melani
LIVE OAK
We are off to a great start of the school year. Everyone is getting accustomed to the routines and activities. We are all delightfully getting to know the new members of our classroom family.
The children have been doing a great job with their individual works and snack this week. Some of them have been learning how to make orange juice all by them selves. Very tasty! Here are the words to our newest song we are singing in French with Ms. Dia:
Sur les danse l’on y dause (On the bridge of Aignon they are dancing).
Sur les pond d’Aignon (They are dancing on the bridge of Aignon).
L’on y danse tout en rond (They are dancing all around).
Thank you to all the parents who joined us for our Parent Night. It was a huge success! We hope we answered all of your questions, but if not, please contact us.
GINKGO
We would like to thank all the parents that came out on Tuesday to the Ginkgo Parent Night. I hope the information was helpful. We would also like to thank the returning families for providing snacks and drinks for the parents. I would also like to thank Maria Saliba for providing snacks for the children in childcare. If you have any additional questions please feel free to e-mail or call.
Last week the school music teacher, Mr. Hoffman, joined us. The children really love listening to the sound of his guitar. Mr. Hoffman is scheduled to come to our classroom on Thursdays at 10:30 am.
Wednesday, September 13 was Rudy Moon’s fourth birthday! (The first birthday celebration of the year). Rudy’s mom, Felix, came in and told the story of Rudy’s life. The children enjoyed a wonderful snack of watermelon and cantaloupe. Rudy also brought in a bouquet of fresh flowers. Rudy choose to place the flowers on our Sensorial shelf.
In the afternoon, we started reading “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White. We are now on the 3rd chapter. The children are patiently waiting for Wilbur to meet Charlotte.
The children seem to be enjoying the classroom more and more each day. The first two weeks of school we have been giving a lot of group lessons in the morning. This week, we’ve been focusing more individual lessons. We are beginning to see more independent work.
If you have any questions about your child’s curriculum please contact us. The Ginkgo teachers will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you to all the families for bringing a Sound of the Week. This week we repeated “A”. The children really enjoy showing their friends the items they bring.
MAGNOLIA
It has been a busy week in the Magnolia classroom. Thank you to those of you who have brought in "specimens" for our cultural table. We now have many leaf and bark samples. This week we read a book titled "A Tree for All Seasons" about the changes a maple tree goes throughout the year. We discussed that we are entering the fall or autumn season. We have also been listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons concerto number three, "Autumn". Mr. Hoffmann has started back with us and the children are all happy to see him. He has been teaching the children the song "La Bamba", which is quickly becoming a Magnolia favorite. Thank you, everyone, for the quick response to the volunteer opportunities in the classroom. We appreciate all of your support.
We’d also like to thank everyone who encourages their child to participate in Sound of the Week. Food items are particularly enjoyed and this week we shared Apple muffins, Avocado guacamole with chips, and Apricots.
Don't forget about the Magnolia family picnic this Saturday, Sept. 16th! Hope to see you all there.
MULBERRY
Mulberry class is in the swing of things now! This week the class spent more time in the classroom. Toddlers have a strong sense of order; one child in the class closes the class room door after everyone leaves. Children notice when things are out of place or routines change. Every morning when I set up the hand washing work in the room children start to put work away and come over for snack without being told. The children are catching onto all of the routines in the classroom.
Reminder: Parents- label EVERYTHING! Thank you.
Song of the week:
The tiny caterpillar crawled upon a leaf.
Spun a little chrysalis then fell fast a sleep.
While she was sleeping she dreamed that she could fly.
Later when she woke up she was a butterfly.
CAMELLIA
It has been a very busy week! Mr. Tien gave a fruit flash card lesson that included an apple, a pineapple, and an orange. After the lesson one child went and got his lunch box, unzipped it, and said, "Look, Mr. Tien, I have the same apple!" The child then took a bite and put the apple back in his lunchbox.
Outside, many of the toddlers are practicing a lot on the balance beam. Some of them don't even need help from the teachers!
Sound of the Week: Every Wednesday we ask you to encourage your child to bring a object from home (preferably not a toy) that begins with the sound of the week. For example, this week’s sound was "A" as in ant, and apple. Next week’s sound is "B", as in ball, balloon, or the color blue. The children love to talk about the objects they bring.
Again, please remember to sign in and out on the clipboard. Thank you.
9/20 First Core meeting (Room Parents) 5 – 6 pm – Contact office for childcare
9/27 – 9/29 School pictures – Schedule below
10/9 Indigenous People’s Day – School closed, no childcare
10/10 All school assembly – Bird Show 10 am
10/14 Family Fun Day, Book Fair 10 – 2
This past week the media descended upon GLM's door to do TV interviews regarding the missing Oakland resident, Nina Reiser. Her 2 children attended GLM for 3 years and we last saw the family in June on the last day of school. Joanna, Helen and Nancy screened calls and unannounced arrivals from Channel 2, Channel 5, the Montclarion, the Berkeley School of Journalism, Channel 11. GLM parents notified school staff members that Nina, "one family in the GLM family", was missing and that her boyfriend was trying to get flyers posted, and urged everyone to keep her photo in the public eye to help locate her. This administration feels strongly that children need to be protected from news that shakes their worldview and presents the idea that mothers can be lost and missing. We did not allow the media to enter the campus. We are so vey grateful to GLM parents Marni Hunter and Valerie Brock for organizing a vigil (Friday, Sept. 15, 7 pm in Montclair Park) notifying families, and getting the word out. Helen, Marni, Danny Tien, and Mary Aima were all interviewed by Channel 2 and Channel 5 news and repeatedly called on the media to keep the awareness of Nina Reiser in the public eye. We pray for her safe return and for the welfare of her two children.
FAMILY FUN DAY & SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
Saturday, October 14th, is a special day at GLM. This is the day that the campus is transformed into a circus/carnival, and we hold the Scholastic book fair. There will be games, face painting, circus performers, food, activities and books! Mark your calendar and bring the whole family! Don’t miss these fun events (from 10 am – 2 pm). Volunteers will be recruited to help with set-up, booths, food prep and clean-up. Watch for the sign-ups lists.
SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that begins with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. Next weeks sound is “B” as in Bounce, Bank, Bubble.
SCHOOL PICTURES
This year we are using Dennis Geaney School Photography for our school pictures. They will be here the last three days in September; schedule is below. We should have the pictures back before Thanksgiving. Mr. Geaney requests that parents NOT be present during the sessions.
9/ 27: 9:30 am - 10:30 am MULBERRY, 10:30 am - 11:30 am CAMELLIA
9/28: 9:15 am – 10 am ELEMENTARY, 10 am - 10:45am JACARANDA,
10:45 am – 11:30 am JUNIPER
9/29: 9:15 am – 10 am LIVE OAK, 10 am - 10:45 am GINKGO,
10:45 am – 11:30 am MAGNOLIA
Afternoon: Make-up shots
TUFF TUMBLERS
For children wanting to sign-up for Tuff Tumblers there is room available in both the Wednesday and Friday 4:10 class. Contact the office ASAP if you are interested.
SAFEWAY SHOPPERS
From 9/9 to 10/17 you can earn money for GLM by purchasing items at Safeway that carry the yellow school bus symbol! Ten percent of these purchases will be sent to the school of your choice. Simply bring the reward certificate to the GLM office and we’ll do the rest!
You can also earn money for the school by clipping out the Box Tops for Education symbol on General Mill’s products. Put the coupons in the Box Tops canisters around campus, and twice a year the BTE volunteer will mail them to general Mill’s. Then, we get paid 10 cents per coupon submitted!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CLASS NEWS
REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
This week the children enjoyed dancing with Mr. Hoffman! They did a dance to a short tune called “Sasha and the Alabama Gal”. The first years were so excited to learn that not only does Mr. Hoffman sign, play guitar, teach recorder but he also teaches elementary to dance! The children did so well...the older children remembering the dances from last year, and the new children learning them. Mr. Hoffman even began to teach them some clogging.
This week Clare and Charlie made some great zucchini bread for snack, after we did a lesson last week about dry fruits and reviewed succulent fruits. It was truly the best zucchini bread the class ever tasted.
The first years were introduced to the history of writing and the fundamental needs of humans this week. They made booklets of how their families met their individual basic needs and tendencies.
The fifth years are studying narrative poetry and they are so excited about memorizing some poems to dramatize. The poems we have been focused on are historical poems about people. The children are also busy researching people to write their own poems about.
The third years learned about Charlemagne this week, or as most people know him, Charles the Great. The children were amazed at how organized he was and how he delegated "responsibility" to make things run smoothly. They did some wonderful drawings of him as well.
The fourth years are studying myths and legends and we read some Greek myths out loud. The stories were rewritten by Edith Hamilton, a woman who really did not become famous until she was in her eighties. The children were very interested in the fact that when she was in her late eighties and early nineties she drove around Europe researching one of her myths. At that time she was invited by J.F. Kennedy to come and speak at his inauguration. She turned him down because she was just too busy with her research! It is a nice lesson for them to understand how passionate people can become about their work.
JACARANDA
The Jacaranda teachers give many group and individual lessons throughout each morning and afternoon. Formal lessons involve sitting on the floor at a work rug or sitting at a table with the adult and child working closely together.
This time of the year the teachers are giving many lessons as a group. These lessons include grace and courtesy, how to move through the classroom and to work the materials. Grace and courtesy lessons show the children the many ways to work with others in the classroom; for instance, how to interrupt another person with a quiet hand on that person’s shoulder or arm. The older children are invited to show the younger children as often as is possible, as the children can listen to other children with patience and respect.
The children are receiving other cultural lessons as they continue to classify the world around them. Living and non-living classification was made to come alive in the children’s minds the other day when Mr. Keating compared a guinea pig-sized rock with the Jacaranda class guinea pig. “What does the guinea pig need to live?” “Food, shelter…”
Formal, written observations of the children take place every day so that the adults can present age- and developmentally-appropriate lessons and materials. Only by observing the children can we present the “right lesson at the right time”.
During one of the recent group lessons, the discussion revolved around how Pluto is not the ninth planet any longer. One of the children volunteered matter-of-factly that “Pluto is just an icy ball.”
JUNIPER
Parent Volunteers Needed to cut out and laminate leaves for our class Juniper tree.
Juniper teachers request that each child bring the following by October 2:
- a magazine (such as National Geographic) for our project on basic human needs
- a shoe box
Thanks to Lynne for bringing in rechargeable batteries for Juniper's tape and CD player.
Mr. Hennigan has started bringing in his guitar on Fridays to sing songs and play music with the children. So that you can sing them with your children too, we're currently working on "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Going to the Zoo," "Down by the Bay," "Wheels on the Bus," and "I Think You're Wonderful."
Happy birthday to all of the children who have September birthdays. We've celebrated several already and have enjoyed wonderful snacks and received wonderful classroom gifts. Thank you!
*Quote of the week*: "I saw a yellow coat flying around! He tried to eat my sandwich." - Isabella Melani
LIVE OAK
We are off to a great start of the school year. Everyone is getting accustomed to the routines and activities. We are all delightfully getting to know the new members of our classroom family.
The children have been doing a great job with their individual works and snack this week. Some of them have been learning how to make orange juice all by them selves. Very tasty! Here are the words to our newest song we are singing in French with Ms. Dia:
Sur les danse l’on y dause (On the bridge of Aignon they are dancing).
Sur les pond d’Aignon (They are dancing on the bridge of Aignon).
L’on y danse tout en rond (They are dancing all around).
Thank you to all the parents who joined us for our Parent Night. It was a huge success! We hope we answered all of your questions, but if not, please contact us.
GINKGO
We would like to thank all the parents that came out on Tuesday to the Ginkgo Parent Night. I hope the information was helpful. We would also like to thank the returning families for providing snacks and drinks for the parents. I would also like to thank Maria Saliba for providing snacks for the children in childcare. If you have any additional questions please feel free to e-mail or call.
Last week the school music teacher, Mr. Hoffman, joined us. The children really love listening to the sound of his guitar. Mr. Hoffman is scheduled to come to our classroom on Thursdays at 10:30 am.
Wednesday, September 13 was Rudy Moon’s fourth birthday! (The first birthday celebration of the year). Rudy’s mom, Felix, came in and told the story of Rudy’s life. The children enjoyed a wonderful snack of watermelon and cantaloupe. Rudy also brought in a bouquet of fresh flowers. Rudy choose to place the flowers on our Sensorial shelf.
In the afternoon, we started reading “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White. We are now on the 3rd chapter. The children are patiently waiting for Wilbur to meet Charlotte.
The children seem to be enjoying the classroom more and more each day. The first two weeks of school we have been giving a lot of group lessons in the morning. This week, we’ve been focusing more individual lessons. We are beginning to see more independent work.
If you have any questions about your child’s curriculum please contact us. The Ginkgo teachers will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you to all the families for bringing a Sound of the Week. This week we repeated “A”. The children really enjoy showing their friends the items they bring.
MAGNOLIA
It has been a busy week in the Magnolia classroom. Thank you to those of you who have brought in "specimens" for our cultural table. We now have many leaf and bark samples. This week we read a book titled "A Tree for All Seasons" about the changes a maple tree goes throughout the year. We discussed that we are entering the fall or autumn season. We have also been listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons concerto number three, "Autumn". Mr. Hoffmann has started back with us and the children are all happy to see him. He has been teaching the children the song "La Bamba", which is quickly becoming a Magnolia favorite. Thank you, everyone, for the quick response to the volunteer opportunities in the classroom. We appreciate all of your support.
We’d also like to thank everyone who encourages their child to participate in Sound of the Week. Food items are particularly enjoyed and this week we shared Apple muffins, Avocado guacamole with chips, and Apricots.
Don't forget about the Magnolia family picnic this Saturday, Sept. 16th! Hope to see you all there.
MULBERRY
Mulberry class is in the swing of things now! This week the class spent more time in the classroom. Toddlers have a strong sense of order; one child in the class closes the class room door after everyone leaves. Children notice when things are out of place or routines change. Every morning when I set up the hand washing work in the room children start to put work away and come over for snack without being told. The children are catching onto all of the routines in the classroom.
Reminder: Parents- label EVERYTHING! Thank you.
Song of the week:
The tiny caterpillar crawled upon a leaf.
Spun a little chrysalis then fell fast a sleep.
While she was sleeping she dreamed that she could fly.
Later when she woke up she was a butterfly.
CAMELLIA
It has been a very busy week! Mr. Tien gave a fruit flash card lesson that included an apple, a pineapple, and an orange. After the lesson one child went and got his lunch box, unzipped it, and said, "Look, Mr. Tien, I have the same apple!" The child then took a bite and put the apple back in his lunchbox.
Outside, many of the toddlers are practicing a lot on the balance beam. Some of them don't even need help from the teachers!
Sound of the Week: Every Wednesday we ask you to encourage your child to bring a object from home (preferably not a toy) that begins with the sound of the week. For example, this week’s sound was "A" as in ant, and apple. Next week’s sound is "B", as in ball, balloon, or the color blue. The children love to talk about the objects they bring.
Again, please remember to sign in and out on the clipboard. Thank you.
