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Our Spring Social and Auction is this Saturday!
Hope you have a great time at this special Ventana event. Be sure to get a sneak peak at the auction catalog beforehand -- details are below. There's quite a collection of gifts, activities, and one-of-a-kind treasures available.
Thanks as always --
Your VePA Executive Team
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IN THIS ISSUE
- Update from Julie Stanford
- In the Classroom: A Beautiful Oops
- Chapel Curriculum: Stewardship
- Spring Social and Auction: The Journey Begins
- How to Build a New Culture of Play
- Should Schools Teach Kids to Meditate?
- Upcoming Events
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Update from VePA President Julie Stanford
Hello fellow parents,
Guess what?! I am going to write something without asking you to volunteer! Instead, I am going to encourage you
join me for the Ventana camping trip which is by far the funnest event of the whole year (as relayed to me by past parents).
This year it is really easy to attend because it's at Huddart Park which is 30 min from Ventana. You can even just come and join us for the day! The camping trip is open to all families, including alumni families or families who are transitioning to another school. It's a great chance for kids to hang out and relax and for adults to eat great food, drink wine and beer, and welcome the summer. If you have never camped before or are a seasoned camper, I encourage you to join in the fun. More info and tickets available at
ventanacamping.brownpapertickets.com
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Email me if you need help getting gear.
Julie
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In the Classroom:
A Beautiful "Oops"
The fourth and fifth graders in the Sapphire room recently learned techniques for using water and watercolors to create interesting designs. But of course the lesson wasn't only about art; teacher Amanda managed to weave science and social-emotional learning into the lesson too. She explains:
... We discussed diffusion, color mixing, and surface tension. Students began exploring how their colors might mix, what caused droplets of water to connect, how to "drag" color through the water, and how to accept an artistic outcome they weren't anticipating. Part of my lesson included a discussion about unexpected outcomes and how I didn't have much control over how the water moved once I started. It was affected by people moving around the classroom, wind from the open door, and bumps to the table.
Some students really took to this technique and started exploring how to make their art into a "beautiful oops."
You might even see some artwork from this lesson at Saturday's auction. To view more striking images, visit Amanda's
classroom blog on the Ventana Parent Portal.
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Chapel Lessons:
Stewardship
The months are flying by! For April the Ventana Value is Stewardship, also aligning with Earth Day this month:
We value stewardship. By taking pride in our ability to make a difference in our classrooms, on our campus, in our homes, and in our world we become global citizens. We know that the transmission of stewardship is inherent in multi-age interaction, and that by taking care of our environments we become agents of change and guardians of the future. Through our service as global citizens we promote democracy, agency, empowerment, and a wider world view where seeing beyond the self becomes natural and routine.
What happens when one small boy picks up one small piece of litter? He doesn't know it, but his tiny act has big consequences. From the miniscule to the universal, What Matters
sensitively explores nature's connections and traces the ripple effects of one child's good deed to show how we can all make a big difference.
With spring continuing to bloom, it's a wonderful time to notice the little things you can do with your children to help care for your surroundings. |
Spring Social and Auction:
The Journey Begins...
If you can't wait for the big night on Saturday, here's a great way to pass the time: Browse the auction catalog online at
ventanaschoolauction.org. There are parties! Camps! Fitness classes! Tickets to Bay Area gems like the Exploratorium, SFMOMA, and Gilroy Gardens! Priceless artwork from our kids! There's even the chance for a child to be Head of School or PE Teacher for the day!
Be sure to check out the full array of options, and have a great time on Saturday.
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Parenting Education Articles
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How to Build a New Culture of Play
We've all heard of the importance of play in the academic, emotional, and physical development of children. So it's disheartening to learn that the amount of time US children spend playing has been decreasing. As psychologist Daniel Elkind observes, "
Over the last two decades alone, children have lost eight hours of free, unstructured, and spontaneous play a week." Schools are eliminating PE, children spend half the time outdoors that they used to, and the amount of time they spend on "passive leisure" (not including TV) has grown from 30 minutes to three hours per day. Yikes.
Elkind attributes these changes to "a perfect storm of technological innovation, rapid social change, and economic globalization," and notes that those changes are here to stay. So he calls for families, schools, and communities to make changes that will bring balance back into children's lives. At home, parents can insist that for every hour children spend in front of a screen, they should spend another hour playing with friends, making crafts, or reading a book. Schools should reinstate recess. Communities should build more playgrounds. And we adults can turn off screens and play with our children, bringing them on outdoor adventures, exercising with them on the basketball court instead of heading for the gym, and so on.
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Should Schools Teach Kids to Meditate?
In this article for The Atlantic, a former teacher describes what a revelation it was to begin practicing meditation. She realized how much it would have helped her as a teacher, and then explores how meditation and mindfulness programs are finding success in schools.
A program called Headstand, for example, has found success teaching kids yoga and mindfulness, emphasizing not just stress relief but traditional yoga tenets of compassion and gratitude. Says one instructor in the program:
We think we're teaching kids how to thrive by focusing on academics. But we often miss teaching them the skills they need for daily life: how to build relationships with compassion, how to support each other, how to cope with trauma. Those are the kinds of skills that will eventually keep them going.
These ideas dovetail nicely with the research documented in Paul Tough's 2013 book "How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character." But is this sort of program scalable, particularly in public schools? Learn more from the
full article at theatlantic.com.
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The Joy of Math: A FREE Workshop for Parents
May 3
3:15 - 5:00 p.m.
Join math specialist, math camp designer, and author Kelli Pearson in the Sapphire Room for this interactive workshop where you'll discover how to get your kids excited about math!
You will learn practical tips and games to joyfully help with math at home -- even if you are not a "math person". Recommended for parents with children in grades K-5.
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Coffee & Conversation: Ventana 2017-18
May 4
8:45 - 10:00 a.m.
Please join Marcy in the Fireside Room for a peek into next year at Ventana. We will share current information regarding classroom teacher assignments, class sizes, school day and school year events calendars, and other pertinent information -- all with the understanding that things are subject to change before August 21. Preschool parents are welcome to join us after drop off and morning circle time. Infants and toddlers are always welcome.
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Preschool Celebration of Learning and VePA Meeting
May 11
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
We'll begin with our VePA meeting in the church sanctuary. Then at 11:20, parents are invited to visit classrooms for an informal lunch and portfolio review. (Parents may opt to order lunch through My Green Lunch on that day.)
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Elementary Celebration of Learning and VePA Meeting
May 11
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
We'll begin with a potluck dinner in Parish Hall (more details to come), then move to the Church Sanctuary for a singing performance by the children and our VePA meeting. At 6:35, parents are invited to the classrooms for project demonstrations.
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Education Connection: Communications Fun with Improv
May 18
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Join us in Parish Hall for an interactive evening of comedy, communication, and games! Pizza included.
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Minimum Day
May 19
12:15 p.m.
dismissal for elementary students
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Have something you'd like to submit for our next newsletter? Send your completed content to [email protected] by the 20th of each month to be included.
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Ventana School | Nurturing Minds and Hearts
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