Notes from Rice Creek

Hello Rice Creek Families,

Just a couple of notes:

Yesterday, we had a school-wide lockdown drill with intruder where we practiced gathering in a hidden corner of the classroom with the doors locked.  Shortly before the drill, we had a discussion with the children about what this would look like and why we practice this type of drill. Basically, we let the children know that the guides' most important job is to keep all of them safe, and that practicing this type of drill allows us to make sure we have done all we can.  We wanted to let you know of this drill since it might bring up further questions at home, but also so you could even take the opportunity to have an intentional conversation with your child about this unfortunate reality (if you feel that would be appropriate). 
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.   

First grade students will be coming home with a sheet for families to fill out and return to school.  This is connected to work we are doing on making personal timelines.  Thanks so much for looking out for this in their folders.

Warm regards, 

Nadine

Rice Creek Newsletter_March 16th

Dear Rice Creek Families,

It was so wonderful to see so many of you these last two days.  It is a pleasure to sit with you and spend some time focusing on your child.  Our partnership builds community and fosters the very best for our students and we appreciate the time and dedication you show attending conferences.  As we move into the last months of the school year, and reflect back on how we have had opportunity to watch your child grow, rise to challenges, learn from one another, and build ever-stronger relationships and community we are extra appreciative of the time we get to spend with these lovely humans at this exciting and precious time in their lives.

As we head into the final months of school we will continue to work and grow as a community.  There is some big work on the horizon, in the form of Human Timeline studies, Timeline of Life research, building land and water formations, planting and growing a mini garden, and scientific classification of plants and animals.  With much of the work ahead of us, we look forward to heading into the warmer air and getting outside to learn.  We will also take some time to explore how diversity in our community creates rich beauty, and listen and honor one another's family stories.  You will find attached an interview form that will come home with your child next week.  Please take a look at this and reply with any questions or insight on how this fits your family experience.  There is no need to complete it and return it, as we hope you and your child can talk and fill it out together.  I simply wanted to give you a chance to see what will be coming home.

 

Thanks again and enjoy the weekend.

 

Nadine

http://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/165_TT_Family_Ties_Fabric_Tales_Data_Sheet_6-12.pdf

 

 

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Nadine McNiff

Lower Elementary Guide

Great River School

1326 Energy Park Drive

651-305-2780

"The child's development follows a path of successive stages of independence, and our knowledge of this must guide us in our behavior towards him. We have to help the child to act, will and think for himself. This is the art of serving the spirit, an art which can be practiced to perfection only when working among children." (The Absorbent Mind). 

How Testing Fits into our Work at GRS

Hello All,

We hope this weekend finds you well.  I am writing to communicate some work that will be coming up for our third-year students, MCA testing, but thought it a good opportunity to share with our whole community how standardized testing fits into the big picture here at GRS.

As stated above, third-grade student will be taking Reading MCA tests on Monday.  There is no need to plan differently for this time.  Students will do this work during the morning work period.  Please see the words below, written by Erik Arke, to better understand how we recognize the importance of this work in context.

"The results of the test (i.e. "how the children score") is not important to us necessarily, but we want to help them feel confident about taking it.  We are well aware that these tests do not indicate the progress of the whole child, and this whole child is whom we educate at Great River.  The test is a very narrow window on who the child is, and even that window is distorted by the medium by which the data is gathered.  Nevertheless, we do some preparation, and we encourage the children to work their hardest and do their best on the test.  Placing pressure on them to do well would only result in anxiety.  If they ask you about it, please do not make it a big deal.  Perhaps ask them how they feel about it, and discuss whatever feelings they have.  The most important thing is for them not to feel that the results of the test will reflect who they are as a person.  The results will certainly not!"

Best,

Nadine McNiff

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Nadine McNiff

Lower Elementary Guide

Great River School

1326 Energy Park Drive

651-305-2780

"The child's development follows a path of successive stages of independence, and our knowledge of this must guide us in our behavior towards him. We have to help the child to act, will and think for himself. This is the art of serving the spirit, an art which can be practiced to perfection only when working among children." (The Absorbent Mind). 

Rice Creek Newsletter_February 23

Hello Rice Creek Families,

I wish you warmth and adventure as we head into this snowy winter weekend.  We have enjoyed a cozy few weeks here at school.  We were honored to have Joanna Chao and Grace share the traditions, stories, and foods of Chinese New Year.  The sharing of stories and traditions enrich our experiences and boaden our understandings.  We are grateful for the opportunities to celebrate the richness of our community together.  We had a great time at Dodge Nature Center as well, finding ourselves in appreciation of time to get out of the classroom together.  We hope you were able to enjoy time together as a family on Thursday and Friday.  

Staff and faculty took this time to invest in the valuable work of connecting as a community and thinking critically about how we can best invest in our work as educators.  As adults, the process of working and growing together is dynamic, requires listing and compromise, and brings to light our shared and varied goals and needs.  This is true for our children in the classroom as well.  Children striving to work together in our classroom community looks like: compromise, honesty, listening, advocating for needs,and sometimes disagreements or conflict.  Lower Elementary children are doing the hard work of balancing their own desires, needs, and perspectives with those of the community.  They are deeply invested in their friendships, hold bold and inventive ideas for their work, and are discovering who and how they are in a community of their peers.  This type of work is fundamental to their development, but can also get messy and difficult (just like when they were learning to feed themselves).  Children often recognize or define discomfort or conflict in social interactions as a friend being "mean" or "not my friend"; and, indeed, children are sometimes unkind or make mistakes in the face of conflict or heartache.  Recognition of this is not to say, however, that we as adults should ignore or accept unkindness, but instead, use it as an opportunity to teach and build skills.  This type of support guides our children in navigating difficulty social interactions, and is different than how we advocate for them in situations of abuse or bulling.  I have attached an article here that highlights some of the manifestations of this difficult, important work and what we can do as parents to guide our children. I hope it can be of some use to you and your family.

There is so much work happening and I have included some photos from the past weeks for you to enjoy.

Notes and Reminders:

MCA practice testing - 3rd grade students will get a chance to take a practice MCA test on Monday, February 26th.  The purpose is to give opportunity to familiarize themselves with the computer system, process, and testing language.  There is no need to plan differently for this day.  They will spend a little over an hour on this with the guidance of GRS staff and myself.

Noon Dismissal - Wednesday March 14th.  Look for transportation details to come from GRS Announcements.

Conferences - Thursday and Friday, March 15th and 16th.  Look for details on how to sign up to come from GRS Announcements.

Sheridan Story - A lime-green flier came home in your child's folder yesterday. Below is a message from Saleha Erdmann, or amazing elementary social worker, regarding this flier and how GRS is partnering with Sheridan Story.

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 Sheridan Story

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With Gratitude​​

Nadine

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Notes for Next Week_Rice Creek

Hello Families,

Here are some notes for events next week.  There is no need to plan differently, but wanted to pass on some special activities that will occur.  Thanks so much and please don't hesitate to ask if there are any questions.

• On Monday, February 12th we will be spending the day at Dodge Nature Center.  Please see my most recent Newsletter for details.  Layers, warm footwear, and  a hearty lunch are best for this day.  Thanks so much for helping make this a successful, comfortable for your child.
  

• On Wednesday, February 14th, we will be spending some time as a community in the afternoon to learn about the celebration of Chinese New Year.  We do this to honor the many stories of our Rice Creek families.  Thank you to Joanna Chao, who has agreed to share her expertise with us.  The children will have the opportunity to sample traditional dumplings and noodles during lunch time, read books and engage in various activities related to this festive celebration.  If your child feels inclined, they may wear red on this day! Please make sure your child has clothing for outdoor play, as usual.  We acknowledge that some families observe Valentine's Day on February 14th.  We do ask that you refrain from sending in cards or candy on this day.  We will take some time to read and reflect on how we can love ourselves, our community, and our earth.
  

Nadine

--

Nadine McNiff

Lower Elementary Guide

Great River School

1326 Energy Park Drive

651-305-2780

"The child's development follows a path of successive stages of independence, and our knowledge of this must guide us in our behavior towards him. We have to help the child to act, will and think for himself. This is the art of serving the spirit, an art which can be practiced to perfection only when working among children." (The Absorbent Mind). 

Rice Creek Newsletter_February 5

Hello Rice Creek Families,

We hope mid-winter finds you well and enjoying your families.  January proved to be a cold month this year and seemed to go by quickly.  As February arrives the children continue to be hard at work and always ready for some outdoor play.  We continue to enjoy recess outdoors when the weather allows, and indoors as the weather requires .  I am always inspired by all the life and fun children find in the dead of winter, and thankful for the opportunity for cozy afternoons spent having indoor recess.  The big news this week is our upcoming field trip to Dodge Nature Center.  We'll be bussing there on February 12 for our annual all-day event, with both indoor and outdoor learning.  Here is the itinerary for the trip.  The bolded items are the outdoor classes.

First Years: Animal Tracks AND Reptiles and Amphibians
Second Years: Meet the Milk Makers* AND Life in the Cold (Adaptations)
Third Years: Bones! (Owl Pellets) AND Season's Hike

We are always impressed with the programming at Dodge and all that is reveled to the children in the quiet and stillness of winter.  We look forward to this trip and thank you in advance for helping your child layer-up for this day outside.  

We hope each of our families is able to come and observe in the coming months and witness the beauty and variety of classroom life.  You can find details for arranging a time to observe here.  The children will soon be busy with big work in Study of a Nation (3rd), Time Line of Life (2nd), and Land and Water Forms (1st).  It is also inspiring to watch how the children, in a variety of ways throughout the day, take ownership and responsibility for the running of the classroom and our routines.  Maria Montessori explains the importance of making room for children's autonomy and self-governance, "The child's development follows a path of successive stages of independence, and our knowledge of this must guide us in our behaviour towards him. We have to help the child to act, will and think for himself. This is the art of serving the spirit, an art which can be practised to perfection only when working among children." (The Absorbent Mind, p. 257).  It is our honor to witness the beautiful moments and hard-work your children do here, each and every day, and we hope you get a chance to come witness this beauty as well.

Important Dates:

NO SCHOOL-Thursday and Friday, February 15th and 16th. Faculty Retreat.

NO SCHOOL-Monday, February 19th.  Presidents Day.

Noon Dismissal-Wednesday, March 14th

Conferences-Thursday and Friday, March 15th and 16th

Warmest Wishes,

Nadine McNiff 

Rice Creek Newsletter_December 2017

​​Hello Rice Creek Families,

We had a great week last week and look forward to one ahead.  We have been busy with so much great work of all kinds: engineering and building, visual art, botany, party planning, play writing, sculpting, history of humans, discovery of number patterns, categorizing the physical word, and so much more.  I took some time last week to observe and rediscovered the importance of the variety and creativity of work available to the children.  In our classrooms we intentionally design lessons and work options to foster learning based on the sensitive period of students in Lower Elementary.  Characteristics of the second plane child include a sensitivity and gift for imagination and reasoning.  As you may well know they want to know "why" and "how" about the world and everything in it.  Their imagination and reasoning mind work in partnership, for when the child's questions are answered about the "why" or "how", their minds have the power to imagine the explanations and discoveries.  Maria Montessori explains, "Touching for the younger child is what imaging is for the older one" (To Educate the Human Potential).  So, take the time, when you can, to listen to all those questions, do some discovering together, and have fun!  

These last weeks were filled with hard work and some fun too.  We were treated to great stories from our Mystery Guests on Wednesday afternoons.  We enjoyed stories from two elementary staff members, Jenny and Agymah, in the form of physics and music.  Jenny shared a story through the language of physics, demonstrating chemical bonds and how physics reveals the beauty and wonder of the design of our universe.  Agymah shared a story through music, and how we communicate not just in one voice, but in many, both orally and through rhythms and sound.  It is through the varied stories of our community that children develop empathy, perspective, and innovation in thought.  Some pictures and videos are attached for you to enjoy.

Reminders and Updates:

Winter Solstice Celebration:

The children are in the process of planning a Winter Solstice party.  This is a party initiated, planned, and executed by students.  There is no need to plan differently for this day.  However, many children have signed up to help and may be volunteering in varied ways.  You will hear from me about any specifics regarding this party, and if your child has volunteered to help.

Winter Gear and Policies:

It has been mild thus far...however, the cold is coming.  Look to your GRS Student & Family Handbook for details on winter safety policies.  You can find it here.

Nutritional Guidelines:

We aim to guide children in making healthy nutritional choices.  This is why we give guidelines for providing a healthy snack and for leaving candy and sugary treats at home.  In addition, we encourage children to drink water with their lunch, in an effort to keep them hydrated and energized for their afternoon here at school.  We know that families have varied eating habits and traditions at home.  We value this difference, and also ask our families to partner with us by saving sugary drinks and snacks for home.

Resource:

Ideas for packing a lunch with your child...

https://www.forsmallhands.com/ideas-insights/pack-a-childs-lunch-montessori-style

The importance of stories in Montessori classrooms...

http://www.chesapeakemontessorischool.com/storytelling-montessori-classroom/

Book list for teaching empathy and telling varied stories:

https://socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/roving-readers/

In Graditude,

Nadine McNiff 

​​Video here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E6mvoGD72GovGvo0NKc20trD-IRMMUUo/view?usp=sharing