“Education is for improving the
lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found
it.” ~ Marian Wright Edelman
One of my favorite books I read to
students when I was a classroom teacher was Miss Rumphius by Barbara
Cooney. The book was written right in
line with the above quote. If you have
never read it, I encourage you to do so and share it with your children. It is quite impactful. It is about what individuals should
accomplish in their lives and how they can make the world a more
beautiful/better place.
How do we help our children grow
into the type of people who understand the importance of leaving their
community and the world better than they found it? I believe it starts with imparting knowledge
and teaching them the importance of community at a very young age. This year we are taking our Lower School
Pillar Program to the next level. It
will still contain the same pieces as last year, but we are adding an all-important
community service component this year. Each
classroom or grade level will be completing two community service
projects. One project is intended to
benefit just the Eagle Ridge Academy community, while the other is intended to
reach out to a broader audience and show students how their actions can benefit
people outside of their everyday existence.
Students will learn to take pleasure in simple acts of kindness and see
how the communities they know and people they may not know are benefited. Look for more information to come from your
child’s teacher about these projects in the future. If you have ideas for community service for
young children don’t hesitate to send me an email with the information.
Thank you to everyone who attended
our 2nd Annual Lower School Curriculum Night last evening. It was delightful to see so many families
turn out to learn more about the classrooms and the education their children
are receiving here at Eagle Ridge Academy.
We appreciate your willingness to be a part of your child’s education
team, as you are the most important part!
Please continue to be involved, ask questions, volunteer in the
classroom, and attend as many community building events as you can.
The first Lower School Parent Coffee
will be held on Tuesday, September 30th at 8:00 a.m. Please consider staying after drop-off or
stopping in on your way to work. The
topic of conversation will be the new Lower School Homework Philosophy. It was shared with families by teachers at
Curriculum Night. For those who are
interested, I would love to share the background regarding its creation, the
process, and talk about the always controversial topic of homework. Please consider joining me for coffee and
conversation that morning.
If you saw my blog the first week of
school, you know that the 3rd grade is started the school year with
their first science experiment. I wanted
to post a picture to update you on how that experiment is going. The 3rd graders walk by their seeds
each day and make observations. They are amazed at the changes since day one,
as you may be too! Our philosophy in science is to make students aware of what
should happen in any experiment and have them try to replicate that
experiment. It is one way we teach
students “truths.”
Kindergarten students have been
learning about the parts of a plant. One
of their science activities was to make and label the parts of a plant. I especially like how they attached pieces of
sponges to the roots to help them remember that the roots absorb food and water
for the plant.
Speaking of kindergarten…today
Aquila the Eagle went to visit Mrs. Palm’s class for the next week. They earned Aquila by showing respect in the
hallway. It is their job to look for
students or other classes who should earn Aquila next.
Have wonderful week!
Mrs. Baier
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