Noticing a strong interest in storytelling and wanting to support literacy and communication, Cynthia introduced book making in the communication center. She talked with the children about the different parts of a book: beginning, middle, and end. After working with several children, three challenges began to emerge: Jasper: “My favorite part about my book is the snakes. It’s easy making…
Journals
UPCOMING FEBRUARY EVENTS
Tuesday, February 7th Last Parenting Class with Marilyn McGrath– (from a series of four Tuesdays) 6:45 – 8:45 pm Location: NSW Wednesday, February 8th WNS speaker series and book signing (6:30) with Dr. Susam Linn 7:00-9:00 pm “The importance of making time for make believe and imaginative play for children.” Location: WNS 5401 Beethoven St., LA…
‘I want to play with somebody!’ -Asha
In support of children utilizing empathy to make connections to peers and materials, the teachers worked in small groups and provoked them with emotionally evocative images in the West Wing Mini Studio. An image of a boy crying was shared. Teacher Silvana begins the conversation; “How is this boy feeling?” Andrew responds in sadness to…
“He might be happy.” -Bryce K.
In order to support our East Wing intention, Paola opened up a dialogue by asking the children to put themselves in Zachary’s state of mind and think about what he might be feeling as he prepares for his first day of school. Bryce K.: He might be happy because he will like the school. Bryce…
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THIS WEEKEND!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THIS WEEKEND! Hey everyone, We still really need some volunteers to help with the Emergency Preparedness Committee and the Gardening Committee at NSW this weekend. Although the hours are from 9 – 12, if you can only donate a small amount of your time, that’s still great. One hour, a ½ hour, two…
PROVOCATION
PROVOCATION We parents are often in a hurry as we drop off and pick up our kids, but when East Wing parents dropped off their kids last week, it was hard to pass by the most beautiful set-up in the mini studio. Purple and green water colors, pastels, paintbrushes, coloring pens, all fanned out in…
“His teeth are mad!” – Mateo
The teachers have noticed from the beginning of the year that the children often talk about their feelings but were only using four words to describe them: happy, mad, sad and scared. We offered these words for use in the communication area. We wondered how we could support the children in developing greater verbal expression…
A retreat in Mesopotamia
No, we’re not going to Iraq. In ancient Greece, Mesopotamia meant literally: between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. (from the Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία: “[land] between rivers”; Hebrew: ארם נהריים (aram naharayim)Metaphorically speaking, we travelled to Mesopotamia last weekend for our retreat to ‘meet in the middle’. The focus of our retreat was twofold: to…
“Yes Pets.” – Chase
The teachers have been observing animal play and habitat in the building space in the East Wing. They gathered the children to make a plan for their appointment. The children discussed their ‘animal park’. Flora provoked their discourse by asking “What kind of animals live there, and what kind would be allowed to visit?” Chase:…
NSW Needs Help…
We need YOU! Calling all volunteers to help out at New School West on Saturday, January 28th. The Gardening Committee and the Emergency Preparedness Committee will be working on a few projects. If you can, please sign-up on the door for when you can help out. Any time that you can give is helpful and appreciated.…