Lower School October 2014 News

O C T O B E R

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LS News St. Catherine’s School

Warm Clothing Needed for Kopila Valley School in Nepal!!! th

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October 27 ~ November 10

As you try on your fall and winter clothes, please donate unneeded warm clothes that you have outgrown.

St. Catherine’s Lower School is collecting gently used Boys’ and Girls’ Clothing, (all sizes: toddler to young adult).

Please drop off clothing in the box located next to the Lost and Found closet near the LS lobby.

Sweaters, coats, warm shirts, pants, leggings, socks, shoes (crocs, tevas, tennis shoes), mittens, gloves, hats and scarves.

LS art teacher, Jacque Minarik, has been working with the students on an altar in memory of Virginia Randolph Ellett, “Miss Jennie”, the founder of our school.

In Spanish, Dia de los Muertos (the day of the dead) celebrates all those we love, who have passed away. Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on November 1st.

Upcoming Events 11/03/2014 11/04/2013 VAIS Conference No School for Students

11/07/2014 St. Catherine’s Day

11/13/2014

11/17-­‐21/2014

Grades 1&2 ERB Testing Coffee in the Grades 3&4 LSAR 8:15-­‐9:00 am

THE LOREM IPSUMS Lower School News

FALL2014 2016 October

The Junior Kindergarten went to "The Forest" (at St. Catherine's Goochland property) last week. Within a marked area, the children explored freely, with the teachers and parents following and documenting. While they were there, parent Jennifer Harter let the girls take photographs of what interested them with her camera. The photos the children took seemed to be more poetic than representational, and, when asked what the images reminded them of, the children wrote these words that practically turned themselves into a poem.

Shooting stars in the sky Colors on the trees Leaves falling on a canoe in the water A stick looks like a checky check

Fireworks in sand and water in the night Leaves falling on the bridge Stepping in mud in my rain boots Animal faces in the roots and dirt

It looks like leaves in snow and ice Fireworks in a snowstorm Beautiful blowing wind We are all climbing a tree

This month, Kindergarteners finished their self-­‐ concept unit of study culminating in their All About Me books going home. We moved on to learning about fall and what animals, plants and people do to prepare for the next season. The classes went together to St. Catherine’s Goochland Fields to enjoy a fall walk through the woods and fields to look for and learn about signs of the season. The girls had a glorious day for this very successful first field trip!

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THE LOREM IPSUMS Lower School News

FALL2014 2016 October

First grade has studied the history of St. Catherine's. They learned about our founder, Miss Jennie, the campus and the school seal. They went on a scavenger hunt and made tallies for the number of times they found the seal around school. The first graders had a fun time at their field trip to St. Christopher's, where they partnered with the first grade boys and compared the history of the two schools.

The second graders are busy learning about the James River and the City of Richmond.

They had an economics field trip from Franklin Federal Savings Bank and a Richmond City Fall Line presentation from the Valentine Museum.

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Lower School THE LOREM IPSUMSNews

OctoberFALL 20142016

Third grade continues to study Virginia history. On Friday, the girls celebrated Colonial Day with the boys from St Christopher's.

Everyone had a wonderful time. The girls did a traditional African welcome dance to start the day, and then everyone traveled to different centers where they learned about life in the 1700s and even made Brunswick stew, clay pots, hornbooks, samplers and homemade candles! In Science, the third grade continues to study properties and states of matter.

Making Flubber was one of their fun labs!

The Fourthies have been enjoying multi-­‐step problem solving with a Halloween flair. They also have been engaged in multi-­‐sensory creative writing based on vivid Halloween pictures. This Friday, October 31, the Fourthies will participate in a Wordly Wise dress up. They will choose one word to use to inspire their dress up.

In Science, the fourth grade atom models were fantastic! They are so creative and show that our girls know how to design and build.

Chemical change labs…Worms, Bubbling Blobs…have been exciting and messy!

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THE LOREM IPSUMS Lower School News

FALL 2016 October 2014

The second grade girls have been busy studying chemistry during their first few months in the science lab and in their classrooms. The girls practiced the scientific method as they made orbs, jelly marbles and many other cool substances.

Mrs. Mason incorporates the Imagination Playground pieces with her dance class.

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LOWER SCHOOL NEWS

OCTOBER 2014

Young girls may start writing creative stories, narratives and/or factual paragraphs much earlier than their ability to spell correctly. It is not unusual for kindergarten and first grade girls to write very lengthy essays that involve developmental spelling and with little regard for correct punctuation.

Encourage your little ones to go for it – trying to write and perfect spelling simultaneously at a young age may curtail the creativity that is bubbling forth.

As the girls journey through Lower S chool, mastery of math facts plays an increasingly important role. At the heart of math facts is the concept of number sense, examples of which include when your d aughter intuitively knows that a number is larger than another and how to group numbers into complements of ten so she can add numbers faster in her head. To help your daughters tackle more d ifficult concepts, mastery of addition, subtraction, multiplication and d ivision facts are important. Do take time with your daughter to practice these facts at home through games, flash cards, etc. This will go a long way to helping your daughter be more successful in math.

October 31, 2014

End of First Quarter

November 3, 2014

VAIS Conference for Faculty – No School for Students

November 10, 2014

Report Cards Ready to View Online (push page will go out)

November 13, 2014

Grades 1 & 2 Coffee in the LSAR 8:15-­‐9:00 am – meet with Annie Kapetanis and your child’s reading teacher

November 14, 2014

STEAM Day

November 17-­‐21, 2014

ERB Testing for Grades 3&4

November 21, 2014

Kindergarten Harvest Festival – LSAR -­‐ 10:15-­‐11:15 am

November 22, 2014

St. Christopher’s School Symposium

November 23, 2014

All School Strings Concert McVey Theater 3:00-­‐4:00 pm

November 24, 2014

Kindergarten Harvest Festival – LSAR – 10:15-­‐11:15 am

November 24, 2014

Make-­‐up Testing for ERB’s

November 26-­‐Dec 2, 2014

Thanksgiving Break