Minnesota River News Letter

Greetings MN River Families!

We had a great week this week, with a lot of calm and good work.  It's amazing how calm things can get with 11 children gone with the flu!  It's been a hard week that way, with both Patrick and I also succumbing for a brief time.  To all of you who took care of sick children this week, we offer you our appreciation.  We know it's been a rough time for health!

One development this week is our initial work on the MCA math testing, for the third years.  For this event, we spend a time reviewing old knowledge and looking at some new skills, to prepare for the test.  The results of the test (i.e. "how the children score") is not important to us necessarily, but we want to help them feel confident about taking it.  We are well aware that these tests do not indicate the progress of the whole child, and this whole child is whom we educate at Great River.  The test is a very narrow window on who the child is, and even that window is distorted by the medium by which the data is gathered.

Nevertheless, we do some preparation, and we encourage the children to work their hardest and do their best on the test.  Placing pressure on them to do well would only result in anxiety.  If they ask you about it, please do not make it a big deal.  Perhaps ask them how they feel about it, and discuss whatever feelings they have.  The most important thing is for them not to feel that the results of the test will reflect who they are as a person.  The results will certainly not!

Please let us know if you have any further questions about the test.  The reading test will be given on March 5, with the math to follow later on.  I'll let you know when I have that information.

Here are academic lessons from the past few weeks:  The students are finishing their poetry unit with some impressive work and have begun a new unit on the function of words.  Math is still an individualized curriculum so please ask your student what they have been working on lately.  First years continue their sensorial exploration of geometric shapes while the second years are learning more about angles and transverals.  Third years have begun their study on the seven quadrilaterals of reality.  The first years have finished their maps of the USA!  What a great work! Second years are finishing their biome unit and third years are working with a new pin-map material of North America.  For the other areas of cultural science, the first years continue to study how the year is organized into parts and the second years will be studying the fundamental needs of a foreign culture while the third years are intensely studying the timeline of humans!  All the students continue their botany studies and will be moving to zoology in the coming weeks.

Lastly, a request.  If anyone could pick up paper napkins, paper plates, paper towels, and / or kleenex over the weekend, it would be extremely helpful.

Thank you so much!

Erik and Patrick

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Erik and Patrick

Co-Guides Minnesota River Classroom

Great River School

St Paul, MN