News from Maria Abad – Jan 13, 2014

Dear Parents:

Happy New Year to all of you and your families. It was amazing to see the excitement of the kids and parents coming back to school and getting back into normal routines.

As we started this new year, I had an opportunity to visit some classes and start to get to know the students who just joined us at ISP. What it was impressive was to see how our students took it upon themselves to care for and welcome the new students by showing them how things are done in the class, and by inviting them to be part of their play.

As you all know, this month’s learning profile attribute is to be “Principled”. After our Second Step lesson, I asked the kids what it was to be Principled (such a huge word for 3 and 4 years olds). The only connection I got was to be the boss, or to be like you (maybe they were thinking about “Principal”). Instead of trying to explain with words, I read the book Mole Music, and again we tried to make connections. We got a little bit further, and we all agreed that by not giving up and practicing, you can get better and better. For one 3 year old class, I also read I’m responsible by David Parker which was a hit, because it opened up huge conversations about whose responsibility it is to do certain things at school and also at home. I encourage you all to check out these or other books related to this attribute to continue to help the kids make connections and recognize when they are being principled.

Until next time,

– Maria Abad, Head of Early Childhood, MariaA@Intlschool.org, 503-226-2496 x109