“A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.” ~
George Santayana
It is that time of year when we send out students out of the
Eagle Ridge Academy classroom into the larger world classroom for
learning. Summertime is upon us and
students will leave to explore and participate in new activities to continue
their personal growth. I believe this is
valuable time for students to explore new things and develop their
interests. Some want to dig deeper into
things they have learned in school, while others want to bridge connections
they have made and even try new things.
All of these are okay and their curiosity should be celebrated. One of our goals at Eagle Ridge Academy is to
impart a love of learning to students.
Summer is a time for them to take some control of their learning in
different arenas with encouragement and guidance from their families.
Often parents are asking what their children can read or do
during the summer to continue learning.
While reading is of the utmost importance all the time, summer is not a
time to plow through a list of books. I
have purposely not asked my teachers to create a list of recommended reading
for each grade level. I have instead
asked them to think of suggestions and favorite authors or books they can share
with their students to encourage reading.
I was recently sent a blog by a teaching friend of mine that really
summed up my own thoughts on summer reading.
I shared it with the Lower School teachers and am sharing the link here,
as well. http://kylenebeers.com/blog/2014/05/04/guidelines-for-summer-reading/ I feel both parents and teachers can benefit
from parts of the blog. If you have
thoughts or comments, please feel free to share with me.
Yesterday, I attended the 5th grade Moving-Up Ceremony. It is truly bittersweet to say goodbye to each 5th grade class. I am proud of the accomplishments they have made, but it is hard to send them on. Having a K-12 school does make it easier. We are not sending them to an unknown place and we will have the opportunity to remain a part of their lives, as long as they remain at Eagle Ridge Academy. The speeches our young students made were exceptional. I am trying to garner copies of them for the future and to share with our community. To hear them speak so eloquently and from the heart at such a young age made me so proud of them. I hope they realize how truly impressive they are!
I hope everyone has a wonderful summer. Times passes quickly and it will be late
August before we know it.
Enjoy,
Mrs. Baier
