Lower School: Thankful, Patient, and Full of Discovery
Celebrating Patience 💙
Throughout October, our Lower School students practiced patience: waiting their turn, staying calm through challenges, listening thoughtfully, and showing understanding toward others. Along the way, they learned that growth takes time, and that being patient with ourselves and each other helps build a supportive community.
To celebrate the students who put patience into action, each teacher nominated one student who showed it consistently all month.
Congratulations to our October Patience honorees:
Aiden, Ben D., Ben H., Kyris, Melissa, Riley, and Soren!
Last Week in the Lower School
Our young scientists worked together, ran experiments, and made careful observations as they discovered how things work. In math, students built number sense, explored how numbers relate to each other, and sharpened their problem-solving skills with hands-on activities. In music, students practiced keeping a steady rhythm and explored melody and timing on the xylophone, and Mrs. Olsen’s class worked together to create a beautiful harmony. Our 4th and 5th graders also headed outside for some old-fashioned leaf fun at recess. There were plenty of laughs and flying leaves, and a few students came back inside with a little autumn stuck to them.
November’s Character Trait: Gratitude
This month, students will focus on gratitude: appreciating the people, experiences, and opportunities that make a difference in their lives. They’ll practice saying thank you, noticing kindness in others, and reflecting on the good things around them. Teachers will celebrate students who show gratitude in their words and actions.
Families can join in at home by sharing what they’re thankful for. If you’d like ideas, the Greater Good Science Center has research-based gratitude practices for kids and adults. A little gratitude goes a long way!
What’s Coming in Specials:
Maker (Mrs. Viar): Students will explore resin casting, including the chemical reaction behind it and how to work with it safely. They’ll keep building their 3D-design skills in Tinkercad and start coding with Cue, an interactive robot from Wonder Workshop that moves, makes sounds, and responds to commands.
Music (Mrs. Kooiman-LeGrand): Grades 1–2 will keep up their steady beat challenges, continue on the xylophone, and learn the song of the month, It’s You I Like, written by Fred Rogers. Grades 3–4 will review the orchestra’s instrument families with listening games, then start a keyboard unit on the melody from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Grades 4–5 will continue on ukulele, working on quick chord changes, playing while singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and writing their own compositions.
PE (Coach George and Mr. Rashkind): The Muscle of the Month is the trapezius, and the Bone of the Month is the rib cage. Students will learn how these help with movement, posture, and stability, and how the rib cage protects the heart and lungs. Curious kids can learn more at KidsHealth’s pages on muscles and bones.
Social Skills (Mrs. Haly): Through gratitude exercises in class, students will learn how gratitude can help them manage their emotions, strengthen friendships, and feel better overall.
STEAM (Ms. Severts): Students will keep working through the Engineering Design Process to finish their business presentations. They’ll build graphic design skills in Canva, practice time management and organization, and work as a class on “Shark Tank” style pitches, with digital flyers and logos to market their products.
Dinner Table Talk
- What’s something that was hard for you to wait for, and how did you stay patient?
- Who is someone at school you’re grateful for this month, and what could you do to thank them?
- If you made a product for a “Shark Tank” pitch, what would it be, and how would you convince people to buy it?
