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🍂🍁 HELLO, Autumn! …and G’bye, Summer! 🌞 Now would somebody please report this news to the Department of Daily Temperatures?! 🥵 New things came to pass and familiar adventures have returned in September for Rockwood! The school got a new flock of chicks. Fun fact: Did you know there are other collective nouns for chickens besides “flock”? You can say a peep, a clutch, a chattering, or a cluck of chickens! But no matter what you call them, we have a few different breeds, and all of them are adorable and growing fast. The students are enjoying their presence, with a “Chicken Crew” of Rockwood students taking on their daily care. In other animal news, our last snail, Poseidon, “passed over the rainbow bridge,” as they say. His size certainly lived up to his name, and he’ll be missed. Our betta fish, Ritan, however, seems to be enjoying full and free reign of the tank! Snack teams are starting up! Mid and Full Cycle students are remembering the bygone days of planning a snack for their community, creating a shopping list, budgeting, going to HEB, preparing the snack, and serving it to their friends. We’ve begun our rotation of pairs of students embarking on this lovely and fun act of service; Beginning Cycles will join a mentor student for their turn after Winter Break. Speaking of, Goings Out are starting up again, too! You’d almost think Covid never happened (*sigh*)! Students are already eagerly making plans to Go Out for supplies for independent cooking projects and for trips to the library for independent research. Going Out was resuscitated so fast–you can tell they missed having these opportunities over the past few years! And of course, another exciting return-event was going back to Outdoor School! This year some highlights were kayaking, team-building, swimming in the lake, aiming for Zero Waste at meals, learning new games, singing some very silly songs, eating s’mores, seeing Saturn through a telescope, and going to sleep on a bunk within a community of deepening friendships. ✨ Teri’s Corner The children have been busy working in the garden with Ms. Lacey and getting their muscles moving, hands and boots dirty, and the plots really show it! They are no longer dusty dirt and drought-stricken brown leaves. There is life! Herbs are bouncing back, marigolds and fall veggies are in neat rows, and it is tidy and accessible to all. Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies and I love watching the students having fun and learning just outside the classroom window in nature. What a valuable experience. In my family, we joke that I am in my “flow” when I am gardening, and lose track of time and feel energized for hours. It is not only a happy place but also a mindful place for me. Dr. Rick Hanson of UC Berkeley agrees. He writes “Think of your mind as a garden. We can find joy in it in many ways: We can simply stroll in the garden without judgment. We can start pulling out the weeds we notice. We can even plant new flowers so the weeds don’t come back.” To simplify Let Be; Let go; Let In. I hope you can find a way to bring this mantra with you to the garden or to any other place in your life that needs tending. See what grows! Reminders and Sign-Ups Please remember to sign up for your annual donation of classroom flowers & guinea pigs’ veggies. Thanks for making our classroom lovely, fun, and science-friendly, and for supporting these Practical Life skills! With the return of Goings Out, we could use a few more volunteer drivers. If you’re available on a regular basis (with at least 48 hours notice), please show your interest by filling out the Going Out Drivers Form. Thank you for making these trips possible Upcoming We’re taking part in the Global Read Aloud! A letter was sent home this week with details. [We’re so amped! **MARK YOUR CALENDARS** for a very special night…Silent Journey . This memorable night will be on Thursday, October 13 from 5:00 - 8:00pm. And good news! We’ve adjusted the hours and made the next day a Staff Day (no school for students) to make it easier on families who attend. What is Silent Journey? Come and experience for yourself what it’s like for your child to make discoveries and direct their own education. It’s the best opportunity to use and understand the materials that your child is always talking about. You get to feel the progression from Primary through Upper Elementary, and you get a much deeper sense of how it all fits together. If you've attended before, we encourage you to return. Silent Journey's richness reveals more and more with each and every experience. There's a depth of understanding you can reach by attending each year that you can't get any other way. In addition, your insights and your own growth are particularly helpful for new, incoming parents who are seeing Montessori in this light for the first time. What happens that night? We’ll meet for a very brief welcome before walking silently through a classroom for each age level (this is the Silent Journey….) to perceive and closely observe the environments; after touching base again (briefly), you will embark on your own personal Discovery of the Materials, receiving lessons and personal guidance from the teachers; and we conclude with time to share and process it all, which is a deep culmination of our evening together. It’s a quiet, reflective, insightful, and powerful night together. You don’t want to miss it! What if that experience generates more questions? I want to understand even more! Elizabeth (lead guide in Rabbit Run) and I will be hosting a Coffee Talk on Tuesday, October 25 as a post-Silent Journey Q&A for any deeper dives or remaining questions you have. Friday, October 14 is a Staff Day (no school for students). Take note!! Fall Conferences are at the end of October! They will be held on October 31st and November 1, so keep your schedule clear(ish!). A sign up is forthcoming. Suggestion Box Want some powerful, helpful phrases that make it easier to talk to and be heard by your children? [Who doesn’t, right??!!!] Then check out this list of helpful things to say. May it support you and your children. 💕
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