Pacific Rim International School: January 2014

Monday, January 27, 2014

A Day in the Life: Friday in the San Mateo Erdkinder Community

This is just a quick snapshot of pictures taken in a three-minute period. As usual, students are working on a variety of different assignments and projects, in between being called to lessons. In addition to this, the EK is also: rehearsing for Spring Festival, making props and costumes, and busy with language arts, grammar, spelling, geography, science and gardening. There's never a dull moment!

Working on math review before a test

Learning math tips from our teacher.

Working on Creative Writing based on the French Revolution

Researching the history of French couture

Wow. Madame Toussaud was a really interesting person ...who knew?

Reviewing math

A Day in the Life: San Mateo Infant Community

I am peeling this egg.

I like drawing lines.

A Day in the life: Doing our part during California's drought: Collecting graywater!

This week, children at the Emeryville campus have been discussing their observations about the unusual weather this winter and how it is much warmer and drier than usual. We talked about what the word "drought" means: how there isn't enough rain and the rivers and lakes and reservoirs are low, and there isn't much snow or ice on California's mountains. One child concluded that this meant that "there wouldn't be any ice to melt in the springtime, and that's bad, because the plants and animals need it." This led to suggestions about what we could all do to help California conserve water as Governor Brown has requested. "Well, we could stop watering the garden, because that uses a lot of water," one child offered. "No, because then all the plants would die," another said. We then arrived at the idea of saving the water we use in the classroom for Practical Life work and lunch clean-up instead of pouring it out. When we go outside at 1:00, we pour the water from the graywater bucket into watering cans and use them to water the plants in the Sensorial and Vegetable Gardens. Thursday and Friday of this week, our class re-used eight gallons of graywater in our garden! We invite you to continue this discussion at home, and even to consider a graywater collection bucket of your own.

We have already continued the discussion across campuses. Children in San Mateo have discussed all the different ways in which we use water. They discovered independently that there are a lot more ways in which water is utilised than one might initially think. Drinking, bathing, washing... these are just some ways in which we use water. Paying attention to how we wash our hands and utilising a graywater bucket like our friends in Emeryville are simple ways we can conserve water. We are trying to think of more ways in which we can conserve, so hopefully you can help us brainstorm more ways at home!

Phrase of the Day: January 27th, 2014

Thursday, January 16, 2014

A Day in the Life: San Mateo Erdkinder

This week in ErdKinder

This week, we put together some wooden stools for the CH children. Here we are staining and sealing them outside. The stools will be used to help the CH students reach the planting beds.

We have been studying Medieval Europe. Part of our work involved learning about Heraldry and the fascinating history of the feudal system. We were given an assignment to create our own family coat-of-arms. You can see our finished work in the main school hallway.

We are researching different heraldry symbols on the internet. It is amazing how many there are all their many meanings!

Phrase of the Day: January 16th, 2014

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Attention PRINTS Parents: Spring Festival Rehearsal and Celebration, Thursday, February 6th and Friday, February 7th

Dear PRINTS Families,

The sixteenth annual PRINTS Spring Festival Celebration will take place in the auditorium of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Temple Hill in Oakland on Friday, February 7th at 10 a.m. All family members and friends are cordially invited to attend. School tuition includes two electronic tickets per student. Additional tickets can be purchased in the Management office: children under 5: free, children 5 – 15 years: $5, adults: $20.

All students aged four and older will attend the Spring Festival’s dress rehearsal in the auditorium of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Temple Hill in Oakland from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 6th. Transportation details will be sent out by email and will be available on the PRINTS website.

Attention PRINTS Parents: Chinese New Year, Friday, January 31st

Dear PRINTS Families,

School will be closed on Friday, January 31st to honor the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar. This day is traditionally reserved for visiting family and celebrating the new year together. Let us welcome 2014, the Year of the Horse.