Chicago Waldorf School

update 1 November 2007

Dear 2nd Grade Parents,
The children had a lively, wonderful day celebrating Halloween. The costumes were adorable and they had a good time getting up on the stage and showing them off while reciting a few Halloween poems. Each grade school class contributed to the assembly with a song, a poem or some eurythmy.
When we returned to class they heard a story of how the young Baal Shem Tov faced the Evil One in the form of a werewolf. Later in the morning the children went through the 7th grade’s pumpkin patch and met many Mother Goose characters. Many thanks to all the people who contributed to the delightful goody-bags the children received at the end of their walk.
Please remember to sign up with Ilene Warfield at 465-2372 for a conference November 9,10 or 12. I have set aside three days for conferences and am currently unable to offer any other meeting times.
I apologize for the short notice but I am asking for an unscheduled parent evening on Tuesday, November 6 at 7:30. There are some important matters that need to be brought to the class community and I would prefer to do it before the conferences.
Susan Poole

2nd Grade Update22 October 2007

Dear 2nd Grade Parents,

We just finished our block of arithmetic and fables. We reviewed the four processes and focused on memorizing math facts. We will continue to do some rhythmical games in the morning along with some mental math however, the children will also need regular drill and practice with their math facts. They need to practice their addition and subtraction facts up to twelve and their multiplication tables up to 5 using multipliers up to 12. The multiplier is the first number in a multiplication equation indicating how many groups and the second number, the multiplicand, indicates how many in each group. I would sometimes switch the x’s symbol with the word “of”. Example: 2×3 = 6, 2 of 3 = 6, or 2 groups of 3’s is 6. The use of the word ‘of’ lays some groundwork for later multiplication of fractions.
The 3’s tables would be done in this way during class. If we recited them we used the word “is” in place of the = sign.
1×3 = 3
2×3 = 6
3×3 = 9
4×3 = 12
5×3 = 15
6×3 – 18
7×3 = 21
8×3 = 24
9×3 = 27
10×3 = 30
11×3 = 33
12×3 = 36
We would also count by 3’s to 36. We did the same for 2,4.and 5.

I ended each lesson with a brief fable. Some children found some of these to be a little harsh but the fables sparked some interesting comments about right, wrong and life.
During our skills time on Monday we have been learning to write the cursive letters along with practicing the printed lower case letters. On Tuesdays the children learned how to create the shapes of various animals using the three basic shapes of the circle, triangle and rectangle.
Tomorrow, we will begin our language arts block using the legends of saints and noble people. We will review the word families and learn how to recognize the “sight” words. These are words in the English language that do not follow the rules and must be memorized such as “said”. We will also write and read simple sentences.
During our skills time we will continue to write our cursive letters but we will use our other skills period to keep our arithmetic going.

Next week our school is looking forward to a visit by master teacher and author, Betty Staley. She will be visiting each class and looking at our language arts program. She will also make herself available to the teachers for advice and discussion. On TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30 AT 7:30, BETTY STALEY WILL BE GIVING A TALK TO THE COMMUNITY BASED ON STEINER’S SERIES OF LECTURES “THE UNIVERSAL HUMAN The Evolution of Individuality”. These were four lectures written between 1909 and 1916 entitled, “Individuality and the Group-Soul”, “The God Within and the God of Outer Revelation”, “The Lord of the Soul”, and “The Universal Human: The Unification of Humanity Through the Christ Impulse”. What do Anthroposophists mean when they speak of the “Christ Impulse”? Please come and hear it from our articulate guest and share an evening with the community.

Susan Poole

Addition and Subtraction 14 October 2007

We will be finishing our block on addition and subtraction this week. We reviewed what we learned last year and the children must continue to solidify their facility with their addition and subtraction facts up to twelve. Some children have taken on the task of creating their own flash cards and enjoy quizzing each other. Please help your child memorize his or her math facts. Some children still need a picture or manipulatives until it becomes easier, others will do well with flash cards. They always need to be asked to solve simple addition and subtraction problems in their everyday life such as, ” I need 6 forks but I only have 4 on the table, how many more do I need?”.

Uriel Pharmacy Harvest Festival30 September 2007

Dear Parents,

I just received my Anthroposophical Society Chicago Branch calendar of events and I thought some of you may be interested in this weekend event.

Mrs. Poole

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6
Uriel Pharmacy Harvest Festival Farm Tour, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Tour the garden and pharmacy, meet the staff, and learn about Uriel’s anthroposophic remedy-making processes. Founding pharmacist Mark McKibben will offer brief talks at 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, and 1:30. Children’s activities , demonstrations, free samples, door prizes, rain or shine. Call Uriel Pharmacy toll-free at (866) 642-2858 fro more information. On the same day, you can also visit Michael Fields Agricultural Institute’s Harvest Festival and several other farm tours in the area.

Directions: East Troy, Wisconsin is a 2-hour drive north of Chicago. Take I-94 north to Exit 333, then stay on Rte 20 West for 40 minutes. (One precaution: In Waterford, follow Rte.20 signs closely; it takes 2 left turns.)

From East Troy’s sole traffic light (at Sell & BP gas stations), go 5 more miles on Rte20

Look for yellow road sign for upcoming right turn, and turn right onto Sterman Road at the top of a small rise. Uriel Pharmacy is 0.4 miles on the left, N8464 Sterman Road, between Rte. 20 and J.