“Children are miracles. Believing that every child is a miracle can transform the way we design for children’s care. When we invite a miracle into our lives, we prepare ourselves and the environment around us. We may set out flowers or special offerings. We may cleanse ourselves, the space or our thoughts of everything but the love inside us. We make it our job to create, with reverence and gratitude, a space that is worthy of a miracle! Action follows thought. We can choose to change. We can choose to design spaces for miracles. Not minimums.” Anita Rui Olds
Welcome Elm Street Eagle Families!
We are so happy for you and your child to be part of our Kindergarten class family!
Your child is entering school already creative, competent, and curious. Their experiences have shaped their interests and learning in life, and we are excited to be with them as they discover more about what excites them. Our classroom provides meaningful opportunities for discovery, curiosity, wonder and joy through individual, small and whole group settings created to inspire playful inquiry.
When your child enters our classroom each day, we will build relationships, a sense of belonging, and community together. It is a place to be “you”, to get to know others, and make a friend.
Your child has stories to tell. As your children’s teachers, we are the keepers of each child’s story. Our class is a place to write about the materials that we have played with and explored. We celebrate the marks your child makes as meaningful connections to stories from their lives, imaginations and interests. We provide opportunities to share and extend stories each day with one another.
Our classroom is designed to investigate, bridge wonder with interest, and extend learning opportunities. This allows us to create space to find our places in our classroom, family, playground, school, nature, community, and the broader world.
The rhythm of our day will take us through moments of quietness, activeness, listening, speaking, resting and stillness. This will be explored through the fullness of your child’s physical and inner selves using their:
· Sense of Touch
· Sense of Life
· Sense of Movement
· Sense of Balance
And we explore the world around us, through:
· Sense of Smell
· Sense of Taste
· Sense of Sight
· Sense of Hearing
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” Fred Rogers
With these opportunities in mind, we are exploring the following questions this year:
· How can we build community through play and discovery?
· How does love and trust foster belonging in our class community?
· How can we create a space worthy of miracles? How will this allow our thinking and actions to change?
· How does playful inquiry support us in the connection to ourselves, others and our world?
Your child is embarking on an adventure of sharing lives together through miracles, play, wonder, curiosity and learning. We invite you to join us in the work of childhood with your child. Welcome to the journey!
Kind Regards,
Victoria Coulson, KB Wendy Waite-Snow, KA
“.......Education is an art-it must speak to the child’s experience.
To educate the whole child, his heart and his will must be reached,
as well as the mind.” Rudolf Steiner