Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Attention PRINTS Parents: Spring Break March 31st through April 4th

Dear PRINTS Families,

As a reminder, school will be closed for Spring Break from Monday, March 31st through Friday, April 4th.
Classes will resume on Monday, April 7th.

Thank you for your attention.

Attention PRINTS Parents: Parent-Teacher Conferences Friday, March 21st and 28th

Dear PRINTS Families,

Just as a reminder, the parent-teacher conferences will be held on 2 consecutive Fridays: March 21st and March 28th. Free childcare will be provided during your conference time.

Thank you for your attention.


Phrase of the Day: March 26, 2014




Tuesday, March 18, 2014

A Day in the Life: San Mateo Erdkinder

A Spring Day at The Farm with the Erdkinder Community


St. Patrick's Day found us at the farm. It was a very bright, sunny, but COLD day, with a fresh prevailing wind blowing on to the land off of the ocean.

The farmers have been wanting to collect and study the insects living in the strawberry beds to better understand insect inhabitants and possible infestations that could damage the strawberry crop. Strawberries are vital to the economic health of Green Oaks Creek Farm as they are the most profitable annual crop for the farmers.

 We worked with partners to comb the strawberry beds and collect insect samples.


We then examined the insects using The National Wildlife Federation's Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America. Here, we are working with the new farm manager, reviewing all of the bugs we collected in vials and petri dishes.


We were able to identify many of the insects collected: Bordered Plant Bug, Darkling Beetle, Nine-Spotted Lady Beetle, Lubber Grasshopper, Luminescent Click Beetle, Common Pillbug and Pantropical Jumping Spider.


On the way back to school, we stopped for 15 minutes in Half Moon Bay at the Carnivorous Plants greenhouse in Pastorino Farms.


We were amazed by the variety of insect-consuming pants to be found and the way nature has evolved to provide so many species of plants. The photo above is just a tiny selection that shows a Pitcher Plant (speckled green and white) and a variety of Sun Dew. The green house is definitely worth visiting if you are heading to Half Moon Bay!

Phrase of the Day: March 18th, 2014

Thursday, March 13, 2014

A Day in the Life: San Mateo Erdkinder

The Erdkinder Students Enjoy Using Their New Technology!

The Science Fair is dominating the EK curriculum right now, and multiple experiments are underway. There is a tremendous sense of purpose in our environment right now as students work on their research papers to support the projects, plus setting up and troubleshooting the experiments themselves.

















A huge bonus has been the arrival of our new iPads from CK-12. As you all know, our PRINTS ErdKinder students won these pieces of equipment by coming third in the CK-12 national science competition. The tablets have been a boon as all of the students are using them to conduct research and record their science fair observations.
















In these photographs, you can see the students engaged in their research.















Our new keyboard cases really extend the functionality of the tablets tremendously. We acquired the cases by selling one of the five iPads we won. The money we got was then used to purchase the four keyboard/cases.






























We are all very thankful to Mr. Billy in the office and Ms. Riihimaki for making it easy for us to get going with our new technology.
















Sometimes we use them just... to read....

The EK students

A Day in the Life: San Mateo Infant Community
















I like to paint with red paint.

I scrape my leftover food into the compost bin.

A Day in the Life: San Mateo Infant Community

I am folding towels for our lunch. 
                                     
                                                 












It is difficult to put the string into the hole of the bead!

A Day in the Life: Hina matsuri in San Mateo

For hina matsuri, or girls' day, we prepared presentations, food, and a display in the San Mateo hallway.



Here we are setting up Hinadolls for display.














We are describing the special foods we eat on girl's day to the Children's House children...















...any questions?

We enjoyed presenting our work in Japanese and hope the Children's House children enjoyed learning about this special day in Japanese culture.

Phrase of the Day: March 13, 2014


Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Attention PRINTS Parents: Half-Day Friday, March 7th

Dear PRINTS Families,

This Friday, March 7th, all classes except those for the High School level will end at 12:30 pm. Lunch will be served at 11:30 am. Childcare is available for those enrolled in the No-class Childcare Package.

Thank you for your attention.

A Day in the Life: San Mateo Erdkinder's France Projects

 The Erdkinder France Culmination Projects
Last week, we Erdkinder students presented our finished projects to wrap up our journeys into France! Over the course of the last six weeks, our investigations have encompassed reading the classic text The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy, deepening our learning about the French Revolution, and we also watched Les Miserables and the Sofia Coppola movie about Marie Antoinette. The students completed a wide variety of individual projects on topics such as French lavender, Madame Tussaud, The Enlightenment and Treasures of the Louvre, to name but a few.


 Working on designing our presentation boards.

 Thinking about how best to arrange all of the work about French Lavender
  
 Our titles are important - they help our boards make a statement!

 Our EC visitors learned about the history of champagne! Champagne is a very important and iconic French product recognized and valued all over the world.
 France is also known for its haute couture; the French fashion industry really began during the reign of Louis XIV with Marie Antoinette becoming a major influence on fashion in the run up to the French Revolution of 1789. Millions of jobs are created around the world through the fashion industry.
 The strange yet compelling story of Madame Tussaud! She was an artistic genius in her own right, even though the start of her career (collecting heads from beneath the guillotine) may seem somewhat gruesome. Her story is an incredible aspect of French history that resonates today with millions of people visiting her waxworks museums worldwide.
 Here we are reading about the treasures of the Louvre Museum - the most visited museum in the world!
 Parents and students visit and learn about the wide range of topics we researched.

This project is on the Enlightenment and how it propelled a generation to revolution both in Europe and the American Colonies, leading to the War of Independence in the "New World."