Category: Uncategorized (Page 11 of 40)

Last night D did his first belt testing at Taekwondo, moving from a plain beginner white belt to a yellow striped belt.

Here is his exam!

First, he performed with his peer group to do his “1 sir, 2 sir” and kicking combination in front of Master Yun, who you cannot see, but he is a tall, somewhat intimidating man standing behind a table at the front of the studio. The table is covered with an official cloth with fancy trim and the league’s insignia. The Master is holding a clipboard and marking down test results. All the parents are lined up in the back, and that’s why you’ll notice D looking behind him in some moments.

Next, he faced Master Yun alone to answer some important questions and demonstrate an learned skill:

What is your Mom’s birthday? (correct!)

Dad’s birthday?  (correct!)

Family code #1 (“I will obey my parents, sir!”–also correct).

Finally it was time for the big moment, receiving the new belt. What a smile on his face!

Although all the kids did pretty well, D stood out for his nice loud confident speaking voice,  his use of the word “Sir” when replying to the Master, and for his very coordinated board break, using his entire body and a very fluid movement. Afterwards Miss Crystal gave him extra kudos which I thought he deserved. Naturally I am biased, but I think he really is a level apart from the others, since he is naturally so athletic, and he is already somewhat accustomed to  public speaking, having done so much of that already at Gardner.

Late breaking update! Here is a shot to remember, fetched from Jeff’s iPhone after this post was originally published:

Check out The Walrus at this year’s school Culminating Event…in 3 parts (edited to exclude a section of the song sung by some other students):

Here are the words to the section sung by the Walrus and his Walrus helper for the upper grade Tahoma (8th grade):

2/3rds of the world is covered in ocean

And human pollution makes a big commotion

“Cos every single living thing pays the price

When global warming melts the oceans’ ice

Burning fossil fuels is the enemy

That’s messing up the oceans’ chemistry

The water get warmer, sea levels get higher,

Makes a warm blooded animal like me perspire!

I thought you would all enjoy seeing how busy Mr. D is this week (AND Grandma Beverly arrives today for the holidays!)

Hi All,

Happy Monday. This is a very busy and, fun-filled week. Here are the key things to remember.

Tuesday–dress rehearsal at 11:15 am. If you are unable to attend on Wednesday, this is an opportunity to see a full run-through of the event.  If you are able to attend Wednesday, please do not come on Tuesday. The actual event will be more exciting if you are seeing it for the first time.

Wednesday

Culminating Event–8:30 pm parents in the great room

9:00 – 9:45 am Kalama Culminating Event–A huge thank you is going out to Christopher Maguire for his guitar accompaniment! It adds so much.

9:45 -10:15 am Klahowya–a publishing put out by Gardner to tell about what is happening in our school 3 times/year, will be distributed to parents in the great room.

10:15 am Round 2–Kalama students attend the event performed by another class. If you do not have an older child, this would be a wonderful opportunity to watch Loowit’s “Volcanoes of the Cascade Range” event to get an idea of what lies ahead in a Gardner education.

11:00 am all students return to their rooms and families are released

1:45 pm pick up as usual. If you decide to take your child home early, please make sure that you check out with Sarah or with me first. Thanks.

Thursday

Buddy Walk to WSU

Students from Kalama – Tahoma will be walking with buddies to WSU on the first Buddy Walk of the year. Please send a raincoat (if there is not one already at school) and a warm change of clothes, just in case. There will be breakfast/snack served after which often includes bagels w/cream cheese, fruit of some kind, yogurt etc.This will many for some students. As far as I know, all kidlets can eat fruit 🙂

Friday

This is our last day before break. We will be having a winter celebration/party during our choosing time. It would be wonderful to have some healthy snacks if any of you are so inclined. Aiko and his family have volunteered to bring in sugar cookies, so we will have a treat too. If your child has a favorite game or an activity to share, please feel free to send it along. It will be low key party.

Your children made you winter gifts to share with you on Friday. Please remind your child to pick it up before you leave school for break.

Winter Break

Rest, relax, play, and enjoy! Oh, and work hard too, if need be.

After Break

On the first week we return in January, dismissal will continue to be at 1:45 pm. Beginning the second week, dismissal will move to 3:30 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesday is early release at 1:45 pm for the whole school. If you find that your child is struggling with the extended day, please let me know. It may take some kidlets longer to transition and we can work together to find options that will work for your child and your family. Most of the time, the first few weeks can be challenging, and then the kidlets adjust to the longer days. Your child will likely be much more tired, especially at first, so extra sleep can be helpful.  We will also have a quiet time in the afternoon where stories are read, often in chapter book form, to give the kidlets some down time.

Have a fantastic break and enjoy your amazing kids. I hope to see you on Wednesday!

Warmly,

Katherine

D’s Kalama class took part in Music Night, kicking the evening off with an all-school ensemble piece! Here it is, edited down to exclude the older kid’s solos:

Each class then did a performance, in age order. It was surprising how creative some of the pieces were–the older kids came up with their own songs, choreography and costumes.  Bet you never heard Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train played on vibraphones, right?

Here is the Kalama class singing I’m a Tambourine Kid, in 2 parts. Way to go Jamison with his great solo!!

I’m a Tambourine Kid,

I’m a Tambourine Kid,

If you do what I do,

Then you’ll do what I did.

I thought you all might enjoy the latest communique from our beloved Teacher Katherine, along with the great snaps she sent of him in his school Halloween costume (we had 2 costumes this year).

Hello Kalama!

Happy Tuesday.  Yesterday we moved Prince Pippin’s cage and he is now in a place where he can safely enter and exit his cage when his door is open.  He seems to enjoy jumping from rug to rug, visiting the kids and then returning to the safety of his “bedroom.” It is fun to watch the kidlets relating to him.  Very quickly they became accustomed to his coming and going without loud noticing.  Now we all just have to be aware of our bodies when his door is open, so that we don’t step on him.

You may notice that the room is coming alive with a few lamps and strings of warm lights rather than fluorescent lighting.  If you by chance have a table lamp or floor lamp that you no longer want, please consider donating it to our classroom. My goal is to light the room with warm white light most of the time.  It will provide visibility while maintaining a calmer, warmer environment for learning. If you have a lamp to share, thank you in advance.

This Friday, our Kalama friends and all of the students up through Tahoma will be taking part in the annual Gardner Music Night. Your kidlets have been asked to wear fancy clothes for this event.  Please plan to have your child in the Kalama classroom on Friday night by 6:15 pm. The students will be doing a special performance for people from nearby retirement communities so please encourage them to dress “fancy” for school on Friday as well. Thanks!

Our early childhood classes are talking about being thankful this month. As a service learning opportunity, the children are being invited to look through their own homes to find a few items that no longer fit or are no longer needed that can be shared with others.Picture books related to this theme are being read to help the children better relate. This week and next, we will be collecting a food item(s), a piece(s) of clothing, and a toy(s) and/or book(s) which will be shared with children in our area in need.  If you and your kidlet find items to donate/share, please send them in to the classroom clearly marked. Thank you.

Wish List:

2 or 3 Floor Lamps and a table lamp or two 🙂

Donations (food, clothing, toy, book)

We have school only two days next week, Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 23 and 24.  There will be no school Nov. 25-27 with no childcare available. Please make a note.

I want to take a moment to let you know how amazing your kidlets are! It is really fun to be in the classroom learning and playing together.  Today while Sarah was reading a story to the group, I felt the need to interrupt the group for a moment to let them know what a quiet and respectful group they were being.  The growth they are showing is truly amazing, and I am so happy to have the opportunity to spend my days with them! Thank you for sharing them each day! I learn so much being with them.

Have a great week.

Now that D goes to Art class, we are getting to know Jane the art teacher. One of the things that made us decide Gardner was for us was her art room: all windows on one side, and the other three walls are stacked with overflowing shelves of art supplies (there’s no art class at the public school Kindergarten).  The room itself feels like a place you just want to hang out and try something new.

I saw Jane in the hallway one evening recently as she was hanging up art from D’s class.  I was surprised to hear her say that she was really impressed with D’s choice of background color for his Van Gogh Sunflower painting (see a future post–it is incredible what a 5 year old can do!). They are now making collages of the same famous Sunflower; here is a recent letter from Jane:

Hello Parents!

After taking some time to draw skeletons and learn about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and the Dead of the Dead, the Kalama kids are back working on their sunflower collages. They mixed colors and painted papers a couple weeks ago in our Color Factory. I was the boss. 🙂

Now they are cutting up the papers to create their collages. They were inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings of the beautiful sunflowers.

Ask your child about Vincent Van Gogh, sunflowers and Starrry Night!! And remember to ask about Frida Kahlo too!

Thank you for supporting visual arts education for children.

Here he is cutting petals for the sunflower.

Dashiell told me about how Van Gogh sent a lot of letters to his brother, so many that he really got to know his postman, and made several paintings of the man.

Here is D’s Day of the Dead drawing, pencil on black paper, which is surprisingly effective:

Notice his signature: he is experimenting lately writing his name in cursive. I see he missed some letters but I must say this looks very much like a scrawl one might see on a famous work of art!

October 31st. It was time to do something; Jeff had been talking about having a rower machine at home for months. I wasn’t convinced. First of all where would we put it? Couldn’t we find one used? Would it really see any use or just sit in the basement collecting dust and spiders?

Oh a whim we headed to an exercise equipment store, and that’s when I saw it: the Water Rower. Oh my gosh! Have you seen these? When you row,  a paddle inside a water tank rotates, making the most lovely relaxing sound of your “oar” pushing through the water.   There is no mechanical metal chain sound at all since there is no metal and no chain. While discussing the finer points of the machine,  which looks very un-industrial, its frame made of gorgeous ash wood, and it can be stood up and put in a closet for storage (no need to empty the water tank), D rowed thousands of meters. D, Jeff and I took turns rowing in the showroom and I could see we were going to be competing to use this thing. Jockeying for who gets to exercise next? That’s an investment I’ll never feel bad about!

Here is D this morning, rowing away. He went to bed with his exercise clothes on over his jammies so that he could get up and row first thing (up at 4:50am thank you Daylight savings).

The Switch Witch brought our family a rower AND of course a special toy for D, who chose 3 pieces of candy to keep and left the rest for S. Witch to collect.

Ms. Witch left D a Lego rocket with satellite, which D and J put together in the wee hours. Between rowing and engineering a space shuttle, it’s been a busy morning already, and it’s not even 9:00am.

(One Switch Witch master plan snag: D woke up in the night, remembered the impending visit of SW, and went downstairs to see what he got, then came to wake me up with the good news!)

Naps today!

P.S. A special shout-out to Maddy for introducing me to the concept of the Switch Witch years ago.

Here is a beautiful portrait of D with friend Lily and the school’s Harvest Festival, each sporting their Halloween costumes. Funny how they are so color coordinated! These two have been very close since they were 3…Lily is is 6 months younger but keeps up with all of D’s activities.

Grandpa Don and Grandma Lori visited us for a week of adventure crossing international borders and braving the high seas, not to mention a very long walk through Portland and over the new Tilikum Crossing “Bridge of the People” (see future post!)

We always look forward to their annual visit, but this trip was extra special since we all packed up the rented mini van and headed north to beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia.  Although it was a bit of a long drive, they persevered. Some use of devices didn’t hurt.

GL and GD even put up with our untraditional choice of accommodation in an off-the-beaten-path residential neighborhood (the basement unit was just perfect for 2 nights and gentle on the pocketbook as well).  Lori and I explored the local markets on Hastings Street with me and we returned to our little hamlet with Chinese pastries, Thai produce and Italian olives and cheese!

Jeff had been looking forward to having an authentic Japanese Ramen House dining adventure, and we didn’t have long to wait. On the first night we set off for what appeared to be the best ramen in town (line out the door, cheap, full of Japanese people). It was a cold rainy day and the thought of hunkering down over a steaming bowl of house-made noodles and nourishing broth was just the ticket. Although D had had a meltdown earlier (no nap, long day, very excited) he turned it around and was on his best behavior sitting at the counter with GL and GD  (thank you!). We all learned the proper and polite way to slurp up ramen noodles–this cools them as you eat and shows your appreciation;  D took right to it! Jeff naturally ordered the spiciest, most garlic laden version.

Next morning it was off to one of the main reasons we chose the destination: riding a car ferry in the BC ferry system. This had been talked about for some months, while poring over the details of the Mighty Machines episode on the subject. D and I had set up a ferry for his toy cars and practiced loading and unloading the cars many times, with D sometimes wearing his reflective vest and pretending to direct traffic. So it was with elation that the ferry day finally came–a 20 minute ride over to Bowen Island (which turns out to be one of those when-we-win-the-lottery home destinations).

It was a dramatic fall day day, with soft overcast skies, watercolor clouds and thankfully calm seas:

The next day we headed to the Capilano Bridge which has expanded considerably since I was last there; it now has a tree canopy walk and a cliff hanger experience! Dashiell did kiddo activities, finding things on his map, and getting his “passport” stamped at various stations in the treetops. AND we had an amazing gelato bar there.

After a long day of swinging in the trees, the boys took a public bus from downtown Vancouver all the way back to our cozy little apartment for a night of good sleep.

Back home, we made good old fashioned American S’mores for Grandma’s birthday!

Thank you Grandma Lori and Grandpa Don for your patience, company and fellow explorer spirit!!

(Dashiell asked me to type the exclamation mark!)