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Hello, dear Rockwood families! Reminders and Sign-Ups We sure could use more snack drivers! **You can now choose the time of day to drive our snack team! Please specify on the sign up if you prefer going at 8:30am, 1:15pm, or have no preference. Pretty please with sugar on top sign up to help us out, if you’re interested. Upcoming Lots of dates are worth noting in the coming months!! Mark your calendars!
Suggestion Box Come observe! Call the office to make arrangements. We’d love to have you. ♥️ NEWSLETTER: Spring is arriving (and apparently summer when it wants to…already??)! One sign of spring has been that our chickens are laying eggs! We have great plans for using these wholesome organic offerings. We’re also pleased that they and their coop made it through the ice storm with relatively little damage. Students in Rockwood have been coming far in geometry lately. Many children are super excited about recent adventures with circles, polygons, pi, area, and volume. One such instance was the philosophical question: if a polygon (which by definition must have straight sides) had an infinite number of sides, would it eventually become a circle? Hmmm…that led one Beginning Cycle to launch an exploration of inscribed polygons and wanting to figure out the area of the segment created by the polygons’ sides and the circle’s circumference. Since it’s not quite the time to introduce calculus :) I suggested subtracting the area of the polygon from the area of the circle to make her discovery. This led to a spontaneous lesson in finding the area of any-sided polygons, which she then taught to five other students. She’s considering creating a giant poster to demonstrate what she’s figuring out. These spontaneous and independent explorations, discoveries, Big Work, and mentorship are quintessential Montessori moments! Students are also experiencing explanatory and biographical writing, as well as personal narrative storytelling. We’re focusing on the importance of pre-writing, on improving topic and concluding sentences, and on including appropriate, interesting, and well-developed details as a means of stretching the narrative. All of this practice is leading to real progress. Other lessons have included forays into biology and botany, more decimals, more fractions (aren’t we always doing fractions somewhere in Rockwood??), the water cycle, squaring a binomial, and more… But it’s not all hard work! We also shared some Valentine’s Day fun…students enjoyed exchanging cards and goodies, with lots of animated conversation, sharing, and trading of some Lego figures and other unique creations. It was a sweet, jubilant time. Going Outs are going strong, and we’re finally getting to what feels like the reboot of our pre-pandemic momentum. Kids are taking quick trips to the library and HEB, but also pursuing larger work generated by their own interest. One pair went to a local goat farm to observe and study goats, to learn how to care for them, and to understand how to make goat cheese. And while they were there, a baby goat was born! Talk about getting a unique experience out in the world!! In the coming weeks, we’ll also give you–finally!--the details on something that the Full Cycles have been working on for months—something that’s never been done before…a new kind of legacy! Stay tuned!... Hint: What’s the connection between a firefly and coffee???...... With joyful hearts, Paige and Teri
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