Kindergarten/Boronia Room

We have had a busy week getting back into the swing of our rhythms and routines. The children have picked up their drink bottle holders craft project and work continues on this project. We hope to have a few bottle holders ready for use on our weekly bush walks very soon.

This week I told and acted out the story of “Stone Soup” and Jasmine with the help of the Preschool children made a delicious pot of soup for everyone to enjoy. Working together, sharing and caring for each other in this way is an important part of the Kindergarten experience for all of us. It warms the “cockles of the heart”.

We have also started working with the fairytale, “The Shoemaker and the Elves” in morning circle.  I think that the children are really going to enjoy learning the verses and songs that make up this delightful movement circle.

We have enjoyed a lovely week together.

Warmly,

Francine and Maya

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Class 1/2

This week our class went to Ticehurst Park in Faulconbridge with Paul Glass and Martin. We had a smoking ceremony in the park and then we walked to the rocks. We began to be able to see, not just the sandstone and the water, but grinding grooves, emus and the symbolic footprints of hunters. This was a meeting place. The children drew what they saw in their books.

They ate lunch and played in the park. These short local excursions are perfect for this age group. We get to venture into our local surroundings, just a little bit further than what we know as familiar, and in doing so, understand where we are, but also spread our wings of courage just a bit more.

Circus on Fridays is fun. PDHPE with Rebecca is fun and skipping has become an important agenda item for the class, as the weather warms and we play outside. It is lovely to have Sayoko back for Japanese.

This week we made human sundials of ourselves and I learnt a new word, ‘gnomon’.

We saw how the sun moves (no, Julie, the earth is rotating around the sun!’- wisdom from our youth).

Have a lovely weekend,

Julie and Meredith

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Class 3/4

This week was dedicated to honing our measuring skills. The children built their own equal arm balance using small branches, sticks, wool, paper, bark and anything to hand that was practical. They estimated, weighed up objects, found objects with equal mass, listened to stories about weighing using stones and the first kg which was based on one litre of water. We guessed objects based on their mass and volume which made our classroom look like Christmas in July as all the objects had to be wrapped.

We built a big equal arm balance using the school’s balance beam to see how many children it took to lift me up and who could balance each other. So much fun!

With Amy the children listened to the story of Chris the sheep who was found in the wilds of Mulligans Flat near the border of Canberra and NSW. He had gone bush and was found by bushwalkers, all alone and unable to stand up! He had been separated from the rest of the flock for many years. After they lightened his load of 40 kilos, he was much happier and able to stand up, move around easily and eat again. One happy sheep. A merino sheep can grow a coat of wool (a fleece) that weighs between 4 to 13 kilos in one year. Chris‘s fleece could make 30 jumpers.

The children used weights to demonstrate the weight of Chris the sheep’s fleece and the weight of an average fleece. They found thirty jumpers and tried to carry them. This had to be done using teamwork with the help of a blanket to carry all the jumpers!

Our first circus skills session was a huge success and everyone enjoyed themselves immensely – Holly and myself included! We practised our skills juggling scarves, balancing and spinning plates, using devil sticks for tricks, spinning, throwing and catching the diabolo and in the end we built a human pyramid.

Thank you to Amy and Sayoko who taught Class 3/4 this week!

Have a great weekend,

Isabelle and Holly

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Class 5/6

‘Imperare sibi maximum imperium’

– To govern oneself is the best form of government’.

We have been working with morning verses in Latin and English which demonstrate the depth of feeling a citizen was expected to have for Rome. The students have discovered that more than a few English words have Latin word roots: urbium – cities, salutem – greetings.

A Venn diagram was constructed to examine the different life experiences of a Patrician (a descendent of Rome’s founding families) and the Plebian class – what they had in common was a determination to live and die for Rome. As the rule of the Etruscan kings ended, the Senate created immutable laws, many of which the students noticed are in still place today. We have located Carthage (modern-day Tunisia) on a map, and delved into the bloody world of the gladiator which prompted an interesting class discussion on human nature!

Next week we will conclude with stories of Queen Boudica, Caligula, Julius Caesar and the Fall of Rome. It’s never dull in Class 5/6! A project for students to research an interest area on Ancient Rome will go home on Monday.

During our Maths Practice Lessons we have been working on averages and factorization. This has highlighted that some students still need to put the work in to complete their multiplication table knowledge.

The Class 5 cajons are really taking shape now with the decorative art design planning well under way, and most students by now have worked with Prem to put the box frames together – exciting stuff! The classes are also knitting to keep away the winter chill.

Please email me with any questions, feedback or other information to support your child on steph@bluemountainssteiner.nsw.edu.au

Have a lovely weekend,

Steph and Lee