Growing Pains and Gains
“The Farm Work class made apple cider for evening snack time, and the cookers were beside themselves when they realized that the carrots they were curing for tonight’s dinner were the very bunch they had harvested earlier in Farm Work class!”
– Excerpt from the third grade farm trip letter to parents
In the past couple of weeks we have seen many of our children go away on farm trips where they have the opportunity to independently practice the life skills they’ve learned since infancy. Parents sometimes also have to take trips—for business or other reasons. Children manage family separations during the school day in a number of ways. Sometimes they share their feelings in a book they are creating for a literacy assignment on revising and editing. Some children share feelings privately with their teachers, while others have developed the capacity to share with their peers.
Though separations are hard for adults and children alike they are an important part of our lives because they give us the opportunity to grow—often they force us out of our comfort zones into new ways of being. We come out of the experience with renewed confidence and abilities. We gain the courage, skill and insight needed to take on new challenges that will lead us into the next developmental phase of our life journey.
After a “growth” moment it’s important to reflect with your child about how they managed a challenge. What things were difficult for them and what things worked particularly well? What did you learn from your experience? What would you like to share with others? It’s also important to help your child value their work effort, even if they were not able to do as well as they would have liked to. The work of growing takes time and effort. Our expectation for each individual child is to contribute all they can to create the foundation for future accomplishments.
Your children take adventurous steps each day, sometimes several times a day. We recognize that you as parents also take these adventurous steps each day when you let go of your children’s hands and send them into an early childhood classroom, allow your fourth grader to walk up to their room by themselves or allow your children to spend four days with their class community away from home. I want you to know that we are aware of your courage and that we appreciate the opportunity to walk through “growth” moments with you and your children.
– Sharon
WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Coat Drive for St. John’s Church – October 22-26: In conjunction with the Middle School, we are holding our annual coat and outerwear drive for the clients of the St. John Food Pantry. The church has asked that we focus on larger sizes this year- older teen and adult. They would also welcome men’s pants, jeans as well as new (packaged) underwear for both men & women. Please bring your clean and gently used donations to Matthew’s room (in the Middle School, push “2” in the elevator) beginning Monday, October 22. Click here for a flyer with this information.
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Save the Date!!! The LREI Halloween Fair is coming up soon. It is the first community event of this school year. It will be held on Sunday, October 28, 2007 from 1pm – 4pm, at the Thompson Street Athletic Center, 145 Thompson Street (just below Houston St).
There will be fun games, spooky crafts, great food, and a haunted maze. Volunteer sign up sheets are located in the lobby. We need you to get involved, so take a look at the board and see what might interest you. There is also a box for donating old toys to recycle into Halloween Fair prizes. So, this is a great opportunity to clean out the toy bin and recycle at the same time. This year’s theme is Ancient Egypt with lots of mummies and pyramids. So wear your favorite costume and join us for a spooktacular good time.
If you have any further questions, please contact Pam at PamDalton@aol.com or Zoe at ZedPicayo@aol.com.
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A note about shop class from Peggy – First graders have been working hard in shop learning to stay safe and use saws, vices, and sandpaper. They have created wonderful puzzles which are now on display in the Sixth Avenue lobby display case. Please don’t miss seeing them!
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PARENT MEETINGS & EVENTS
- Saturday, 10/20, 7PM: Coffee House at Charlton Street (PAC)
- Tuesday, Friday, 10/23 – 26: Elaine & Ana’s Third grade Farm trip to Manhattan Country Farm
- Wednesday, 10/24, 8:45AM: Second Grade Assembly
- Sunday, 10/28, all day: Halloween Fair, Thompson Street Athletic Center
- Wednesday, 10/31, 8:45AM: Third Grade Assembly
- Friday, 11/2: LS Parent/Teacher Conferences – LS Closed (MS & HS Open)
- Wednesday, 11/7, 6:30-8 PM: Family Book Night (Charlton St. PAC)
- For an up-to-date, searchable all school calendar, please visit lrei.org/calendar
LOWER SCHOOL NOTES