Welcome to Summer Camp 2013 at Spring Garden Waldorf School! Check out our age-specific options below. Click the Title to Register.

Ages: 5y-9y
Mr. Leo’s Amazing Animals
Cost: $200
Week: June 17-21
Time: 9a-3p
Calling all animal lovers! This week-long camp is an animal lover’s dream camp. Packed with animals of all shapes, sizes, and colors, wild, domestic, farm, and exotic, this camp is sure to thrill all who participate. Campers will meet local wildlife rehabilitators and some of the wild creatures in their care and exotic animal breeders and some of their newest babies. Every day of Amazing Animals Camp will include visits from Mr. Leo’s animal friends.

Ages: 5y-9y
Science Comes Alive
Cost: $200
Week: June 24-28
Time: 9a-3p
Calling all Jr. Scientists! Let your budding scientist bloom as they explore, experiment, and enjoy a taste of many scientific disciplines with Mr. Leo. Students will: mix, shake, and discover the fun of chemistry; they will dig, scrape, and hammer their way into geology and archeology; they will invent, engineer, and test their way into physics; they will observe, experiment and explore the wonders of our biological world of plants & animals, all in just one action-packed week of science fun with Mr. Leo. The week will also include a mix of art/craft projects, outdoor exploration, and just kids having fun! Let your budding scientist bloom with Mr. Leo during this activity rich week of science exploration, learning, and of course, fun!!

Ages: 5y-9y
Rainforest Rapture
Cost: $200
Week: July 8-12
Time: 9a-3p
Let your child’s adventurous imagination, and Mr. Leo’s animals and experiential style, take your child to the tropical rainforests of the world. A week at Rainforest Rapture camp will leave your child with memories of all of Mr. Leo’s great child- friendly animals they encountered over the week, but a deeper appreciation of the intricate connections between the plants and animals that call the rainforest “home.” The week will offer a balance of animal interactions, rainforest lessons & stories, outside exploration, rainforest art & craft projects, and of course just being kids and having fun! Set your child’s imagination free for a week of Rainforest Rapture with Mr. Leo and his amazing animals.

Ages: 5y-9y
Down on the Farm
Cost: $200
Week: July 22-26
Time: 9a-3p
Howdy folks! Let your child have a great “down on the farm” experience, without the actual farm! Mr. Leo will bring his one-of-a-kind farm experience, plants and animals alike, to SGWS. This week of farm life work and fun will introduce students to the many chores that living on a farm can entail. From feeding the livestock (mini horse, mini donkey, goats, sheep, alpacas, chickens, and pigs), cleaning their pens, gathering eggs, and milking the goats, campers will get a real taste of farm life, without the actual farm. With all of that hard work will come plenty of time for farm fun games and activities, farm arts & crafts, outdoor exploration, and of course just being kids and having fun! Let your child have a fun filled week down on the farm without the actual farm, at Down On The Farm camp with Mr. Leo at SGWS.

Ages: Entering 4th grade-8th grade
Music Maestros
Cost: $200/wk
Week of June 17-21
Times: 9a-1p Monday-Friday
This week will feature intensive strings work for budding or advanced violin and cello players. Each day will include time for group work as well as one-on-one instruction with professional musicians. For students new to their instruments, this will be a wonderful introduction. For more advanced students, this will be an opportunity to enhance their playing skills in smaller group and private settings. The last day of camp will be an informal performance for families.
Students will be taught by professional musicians, Julie Carpenter and Christina Rosser. Julie, in addition to teaching, has performed with famous celebrities including Josh Groban, Barry Manilow, Olivia Newton-John and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. She performs regularly with the Akron Symphony Orchestra and at local venues and weddings. Christina is a professional cellist and has performed with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Josh Groban, Barry Manilow, Olivia Newton-John, Rod Stewart, Dave Stewart, Tommy Lee, and Kanye West. Christina currently plays with the Akron Symphony Orchestra and has a private teaching studio.

Ages: Entering 5th grade – 8th grade
Hardcourt Academy Basketball Camp
Cost: $175/wk
Offered week of June 10-14
Times: 9a-1p Monday-Friday
In this week-long basketball workshop, participants will practice the skills and drills needed to advance their game beyond the basics. Taught by a team of local coaches and former collegiate players, this program is open to both boys and girls entering grades 5-8. Campers who complete the workshop will receive a campt-shirt and certificate.

Ages: Entering 6th grade – 8th grade
Internet Research Camp
Cost: $175
Week: July 8-12
Time: 9a-1p
Students will be introduced to web researching basics which will cover the content landscape and trustworthiness of the web, copyright issues, advanced searching, and how to structure verbage to get the info desired. During this week-long course, students will also have the opportunity to choose a content research project, create a site (WordPress website or blog), and then create content for their site based on the research.
This week-long course will be taught by Social Media Marketing professional and father of an SGWS student, Sage Lewis. This offering is a great bridge to high school for students in the middle school years.

Camp Information:

• Lunch — Campers are to bring a packed lunch with them each day and extra food for a snack.
• Transportation — Parents are responsible for transporting their children directly to and from camp offerings.
• Cancellation — Registrations cancelled at least 7 days prior to the start of camp are eligible for a full refund. Registrations cancelled within 7 days of the start of camp will receive a 50% refund. Registrations cancelled after the start of camp are non-refundable.
• Pick Up and Drop Off — Campers will be signed in and out at pick up and drop off in the main lobby of the school.
• Absences — If your child will be absent from a day of camp, please notify us by calling 330-666-0574.

The post Spring Garden Summer Camps appeared first on Spring Garden Waldorf School.

Our class will celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14th.  We celebrate this day of friendship by exchanging valentines with one another in the morning.  We will have our regular snack of vegetable soup on this day.  In preparation for this day, you may either help your child to make a valentine for each of her/his classmates, or you may purchase valentines for everyone in the class.

Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re getting the valentines ready to go:

-There are seventeen children and two teachers in the class.

-Please remember that valentines should be free of images from t.v., movies, video games, etc.

-All valentines should be essentially the same and free from names in order to prevent hurt feelings over “special” valentines.  (Of course, when/if children decorate the valentines, they may choose how to decorate each one without worrying about making every one exactly the same.)

Let me know if you have any questions.  Looking forward to this happy day!

Warmly,

Ms. Julie

The post Early Childhood Class Update – Miss Julie, February 4, 2013 appeared first on Spring Garden Waldorf School.

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

The post Protected: Class 4 Update – January 29, 2013 appeared first on Spring Garden Waldorf School.

The children came back from holiday break relaxed, calm and happy to see one another.  The afternoon life rhythm here at Spring Garden has become such a strong part of the children’s daily life that with only a few gentle reminders we were able to get back into the swing of things.  It was like we had never been away from one another.

As a mother and teacher I always like to stress the importance of a daily life rhythm.  Having a consistent routine (rhythm) is also a preventative to illness, builds an inner knowing of time, makes transitions easier, eliminates discipline problems, builds trust in children’s surrounding environment and overall decreases stress in children because they always knows what is going to happen next.  Wow, all these benefits when we simply provide a rhythmical daily.

There have been a few questions/requests from parents regarding lunch meal requirements.  The following table provides the elements of a recommended healthy lunch and some ideas for meals.

Hot Lunch.  If you decide you want a hot lunch for your child please remember to sign up before hot lunch day.  Ms. Olga and Ms. Julie place hot lunch order forms in your mailbox.  Complete the form and return to the ‘Hot Lunch’ folder which is in the file box to the left of the family mailboxes.  If your child is mistakenly not signed up for a hot lunch they will receive one, however, it does hold up the lunch time process.  Please remember to sign up because it eliminates the entire group having to wait for the one or two children who did not sign up for hot lunch, Thank-you.

I have recently introduced the Old Mother West Wind Series for the nap time story.  The chapter book tells about the adventures of animals that live in the “Green Forest”.  Throughout this series the children have been introduced to many different animal characters such as; Bobby Raccoon, Johnny Chuck, Jimmy Skunk, Jerry Muskrat, Grandfather Frog and Danny Meadow Mouse just to name a few.  I read one to two chapters every day.  Many children have captured these characters into their hearts as I’ve heard children question, to each other, whether the animals live in our woods next door.

Before winter break I mentioned that we were going down to the woods to play in the afternoon.  I strive to go there every afternoon.  However, it does depend how sleepy our children are and how the nature of the afternoon is unfolding that will predict whether we get there or not.  With this being said, dismissal area has become different on a daily basis.  If we are not in the meadow playing, it means we have made it to the woods and therefore dismissal will be in the hallway at 3:20 pm.  If we are in the woods and you need to pick up earlier then 3:20 pm, please see Hazel at the front desk and she will verbally guide you down to where we play.  You could also check the extended care room.  Your child may still be in the room with Ms. Lori as she is helping the last group of children get ready to go outdoors.

The play area in the woods is quite, still and very magical this time of year.  Together many of the kindergartners have created a home out of large sticks (tee pee like).  I’ve observed children sweeping the ground with large sticks preparing the home.  Some children have gone fishing (large wet soggy leaves have become large tasty fish) for dinner in the large puddle of standing water not too far from where the home was built.  Sometimes the roof of the home falls in and the children call the ‘roofers’ to come and fix it.  It really is magical to see all the children working together.  The preschoolers continue to explore the open area.  They are busier with moving their bodies.  They climb and swing from fallen logs and branches.  Some love to dig in the large dirt mounds.  Some love running up and down the hill that guides them to the play area.  The paths in our play space have slowly come to life again with work from teachers and children.  These paths provide a large running area for all the children.

With a very chilly week a head of us, please remember to dress your child in layers.  To dress in layers please consider the following; three layers on top for example:  t-shirt, long-sleeve cotton shirt or sweater and two layers on the bottom for example:  cotton PJ or long underwear & Pants.  Going outside in cold weather provides opportunity for physical movement and sensory experiences.   When the children dress for the outdoors we guide them in the following way; snow pants, boots, jacket, hat, scarf, and mittens/gloves.  All children are encouraged to dress themselves.  It is important to provide children with outdoor gear (including boots) to be successful in dressing themselves.  This is the time of year we begin to get older kindergartners prepared for 1^st grade, which includes dressing self.

Based upon the different areas I have touched on in this newsletter, there are follow up articles located in the Early Childhood Hallway, (by Extended Care Classroom on round table by double doors).  Feel free to take and read.

As always if there are any questions or concerns do not hesitate to email or call me.

Stay warm on this chilly day!

Blessings
Ms. Kathy

ARTICLES:            

Mitten Strings for God; Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry by:  Katrina Kenison (Rhythm)

Illness By:  Gudrun Davy (Trust, Blessing of a fever, Illnesses of Civilization)

More Nutrition Ideas By:  Susan R. Johnson, MD.  (Guidelines about the foods we eat & health)

Do Kids Catch Cold Outside?  By:  Robert Needleman, M.D & Gloria Needleman

The post Early Childhood Class Update – Miss. Kathy, January 21, 2013 appeared first on Spring Garden Waldorf School.

Dear Parents,

I hope the New Year is treating you all well!  After our long break, the children have come back for the most part refreshed, ready to work and certainly ready to play. After a week of getting used to being back at school, the children all seem confident and eager to do the right thing.  It ʼs good to see them settle in, with focus and flexibility.

During our first week back, the children heard the story of Baboushka, who is so focused on sweeping her house that she misses going on an exciting journey.  As I told the children, she never ends up finding the way, but around this time of year she sometimes travels around and along the way she may come to the childrenʼs rooms when they are not there; to sweep the room clean, and leave a sweet baked treat.  After this story one day, I heard some of the children discussing Baboushka among themselves, wondering if she was real or pretend.  They did not come to an agreement, but it surely does show how deeply the children are listening to the stories that are told to them. 

Last week, our circle introduced poems and songs about the dwarves who work deep underground, hacking and cracking the rocks and the stones.  It is a very rhythmic rhyme, and the children have been participating with gusto.  This week, we have added verses about the woodcutter, which have also been well received by these hard working children.

Our story this week has been a childrenʼs classic, the tale of Jack and the eanstalk.  Perhaps you have heard some little giants around your house, saying as they go “Fee-fi-fo-fum!  I smell the blood of an Englishman!”  It is nice to see the children ʼs growing ability to pay attention to longer stories such as this one, as they are quiet from beginning to end.

Next week will bring more winter time rhymes to our circle, all about snowmen and the snow falling all over the land.  Perhaps we will even have some snow by then to play in outside!

The upcoming weeks will welcome stories about a little bird who is rescued from the cold by a little girl who finds it in the barn when milking her family ʼs cow.  This will be followed by a story that you just might be familiar with – The Princess and the Pea.

Please, I ʼd like to make a request that you let your children find out on their own about the stories at school – part of the excitement of the first day of the week is finding out which story will be told.  Thanks for your help with this!

We have been busy finger knitting, and sanding blocks of wood to use a little bit later on in the month for some lovely wood working creations.  In the next month or two, the children will also be having their first chance of the year to use sculpting beeswax as a class.

If you have any questions or comments about what weʼre doing in class, or how your child is doing, please drop me a note or come talk to me.  Iʼd love to chat with you!

Warmly,

Ms. Julie

Notes and Reminders:

-Our class meeting  is coming up on Tuesday,  January 29th, from 7-8p.m.  Please plan on sending at least one parent to spend this time at school.  We will get a chance to create something out of beeswax, talk about the upcoming assessments for first grade, and discuss the topic of discipline.  As always, if possible, I encourage you to arrange for at-home  babysitting for your child(ren) for this event, since it falls right around children ʼs bedtimes.  Childcare at school will be provided if you need it, and it will be organized a little differently this time around.  As a reminder, all children must be at least 4 years old to be left in childcare at school.  Also, youʼre asked to sign up ahead of time if you plan on using this service.  The sign up sheets are on the office window in the school lobby.

-It would be lovely if everyone could volunteer to send in a meal for the Ledley family as they welcome the newest member of the family soon.  A sign up sheet will be posted soon on the office windows in the school lobby.  Thanks for your help!

-We will have a day off school next Monday, January 21st  in observance of Martin Luther King Day.  This Friday, we will have early dismissal at 2:00.  The children in grades 2-8 will be performing Friday night in our Winter Program at 7:00 p.m.  You and your family are welcome to attend if you ʼd like to see what ʼs in store a few years down the road.

-I will be taking a day off school next Wednesday, January 23rd for a doctorʼs appointment.  Ms. Stephanie will be leading the class, assisted by a substitute.  I won ʼt be announcing this to the children, but perhaps you ʼd like to be able to prepare your son or daughter as you get him/her ready for school that day.  I will let you be the judge of whether your child(ren) will be more comfortable knowing in advance.  If that would throw off your morning routine too much, you could just come in and let them find out in the morning meadow.

The post Early Childhood Class Update – Miss Julie, January 17, 2013 appeared first on Spring Garden Waldorf School.

There is a program on Friday, January 18. The class wants to have a bake sale for this event. Your child will need to have his/her baked goods here before 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

On Tuesday, January 22, our class meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. I would like to have one parent from each family. We will discuss money, class trip, the play, etc. Let me know if you are unable to attend.

I want to thank everyone who contributed to my gift. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I hope your holiday was restful and relaxing.

Dates for Class Eight:

Friday, January 18:             Early Dismissal (2:00 p.m.)

Winter Program / Bake Sale

Monday, January 21:          No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Tuesday, January 22:         Class Eight Meeting

Friday, January 25:             Assembly (9:00 a.m.)

7^th-8^th Grade Dance 7:30 – 10:00 p.m.

Thank you for all your help

The post Class 8 Update – January 15, 2013 appeared first on Spring Garden Waldorf School.

Some updates and reminders:

*Friday, January 18th – Early Dismissal – 2:00, Winter Program – 7:00 (Students in classrooms at 6:30)

*Monday, January 21st – MLK Day – No school

*Tuesday, January 22nd – Class Meeting – 7:00

Returning from winter break the students were ready for new challenges, to continue the work we had begun and to take the next steps forward. Though the weather felt more like spring, they faced the new material of our Norse Myths with the attention of winter work.

In class last week we heard the stories of the traditional Norse myths, the stories of the gods and giants and the struggle between the two.  Themes of honor and integrity mingle with temptation and trickery to bring up questions of what is right, meeting ideally the inner questions coming up for many of the students at this time. This material also provides ample opportunity to work with writing skills.  Writing, editing, and revising has become a consistent part of main lesson book work, and the class is developing the ability to both write with greater clarity as well as to apply their knowledge of grammar to evaluating their own work and that of others.

This process will also be addressed through our writing homework over the next few weeks. We put instruction pages and examples into the students’ composition books in class today to establish the new process, which in short consists of daily journaling, work in class on Wednesdays to edit each other’s work, and practice during homework time at home to write new material and address challenges in earlier work.  Please ask your child to explain this process to you, go over the instruction and example pages with them, and ask them to clarify in class anything about the process which is unclear.  I’ll also gladly address any questions or concerns at our class meeting next week.

This week we continue our work with composition and language skills, addressing use of subject and object pronouns such as who and whom in written work while creating individual compositions about the stories heard in class.  We will also keep working on skills in fractions during class and in homework practice in addition to our other work.  The class is becoming increasingly confident in their understanding of these concepts, and I look forward to moving ahead with them in other areas related to fractions in our upcoming block.

As we move into this period of winter work and deepening stories I hope that you will see the strength of these stories on the inner life of the child.  I hope to address this in further detail at our meeting next week, and am open to discussing any other areas you feel are important, just let me know in advance so I can prepare.  As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about what is going on in class, and I wish you all peace and blessings.

The post Class 4 Update – January 14 appeared first on Spring Garden Waldorf School.

Dear Class 2 Parents,

It’s been a great first week from back from break! I hope you all enjoyed the break, as well as the calendars from your children. They put much hard work into them, and I apologize again for the mistake I made in putting them together. I heard many excited exclamations of happiness over their new crayon cases, and they are eager now to get a chance to use them during the school day.

We have begun our second Math Block, with more stories about Fox Boy and Native American legends. We will be focusing on carrying (or regrouping), introducing five, six, seven, and eight times tables, reviewing and strengthening two, three, and four times and divide tables, and extending knowledge of place value through 1,000,000 if the students are ready. They have already dived into the story of serpent five stripe, and along with practicing five times tables this week, have been pretending to be different kinds of serpents and reptiles in their recess play. We will also practice, practice, practicing concepts over and over again in several different ways to help reinforce everything they are learning and get the knowledge rooted deeply for future building upon these concepts.

Here are some upcoming events to mark on your calendars:

Tuesday, January 15 – Hot Lunch – chicken nuggets

Friday, January 18 – Winter Program – Second grade will be participating in this event. Typically the students perform something they have been working on with Mr. Grimes in music class. The students will need to be in the classroom at 6:45 in order to be ready for the program at 7:00. Second grade will be performing near the beginning of the program, and after they finish, I would ask you to come and collect your child as soon as possible. You are welcome to go back and watch the rest of the program after you have gotten your child, but you have first hand knowledge of how excited the students can become after a performance and how difficult it can be to control that excitement in the classroom. Thank you all for your support in this matter.

Monday, January 21 – MLK Day – NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, January 22 – Hot Lunch – mac and cheese

Tuesday, January 22 - Class Meeting – Please let me know asap if you are able to attend. I would love to get as many parents as possible in attendace again. Please remember to sign up on the office windows for the free child-care. I look forward to meeting with you all!

Friday, January 25 – Assembly – 9:00

I want to thank you all again for the wonderful gifts you gave me before break. I cannot express my gratitude enough, and your vote of confidence means more than words can say. Thank you!

I hope you all have a great few weeks before we meet on Tuesday, January 22. Thank you again for all your help and support. If you have any questions, please be sure to let me know!

Warmly,

Alyssa Humes

 

The post Class 2 Update – January 11, 2013 appeared first on Spring Garden Waldorf School.

The post The Right Thing at the Right Time appeared first on Spring Garden Waldorf School.

The post Inspiring. Innovative. Intelligent. appeared first on Spring Garden Waldorf School.