From Sarah Trout:
This week, we moved our theme to love, family, and friends. We went through many fun obstacle courses to find and match letters with their sounds. We worked with wood blocks, playdough, stamps, magnetic letters, glitter pens, puzzles, and much more, to come at the lesson from as many angles as possible. The Sonday group has moved on to blends, ie. st, sw, and sm. They are working hard in the Danas, on their spelling words, and in handwriting. We’ll also be painting – and not just with paintbrushes. We’re going to use a variety of objects as our paintbrushes, such as giant marshmallows. Also, we’ll be making letters with candy hearts. We’ll even continue into next week with the same theme. There’s just too much to do with this LOVEly theme!

Ask your kids: What does family mean to you? What are ways that you can be a good friend to others?

From Sue McCrary:
This week in math, several students have started using the Touch Money curriculum we just ordered. This is a great way for students to learn the value of each coin, how to calculate combinations, and of course practice counting by 5s and 10s as they touch each coin and figure out how much they have. We had two wonderful guests come in to show us how to make our very own books. Each student made a book to give their Special Person for our big Special Persons Day on Feb. 12. Thank you to Laura Beth Landy and her lovely daughter Ellen!

From Katherine Taylor:
I’ve had some of the cutest experiences with the kids lately! A little while ago, I was sitting at lunch with one of the kids and I looked over and said, “Hey, what’s for lunch?” She looks at me with a little smirk on her face and says “Ms. Taylor, Hay is for horses! I almost fell off my chair because it caught me off guard and was such a perfect thing to say in that situation.

This quarter in my room, we’ll be focusing on Health and Nutrition. Please talk to your child about eating all five food groups and what they look like (eating a colorful diet i.e. fruit, vegetables etc.) Keep an eye out over the next few weeks for a menu form that they will fill out both at school and at home about what they eat – just a simple grid so they can keep track of what they’re eating at each meal.

News from the Classroom:
In Sarah Trout’s class we continued our bear theme.  We bounced, jumped, ran, scooted, and balanced to find our letters or words to match to the other.  We concentrated on writing letters, whole words, and our names.  Not only that, but one of the Sonday groups has progressed to beginning blends like sm, st, sp, sn, and others.

For our week’s arts project, we made a bear by listening to my oral directions while practicing prepositional phrases.

In Sue  McCrary’s class on Life Skills, we have been working on calendar skills.  The older students are working on understanding a variety of different schedules & figuring out how to properly read them.

In Kim Gallant’s class, the theme this week is “Under the Sea”.  We will be incorporating academic and functional skills such as counting by 5’s, money identification, time telling, and addition into hands-on/minds-on sensory activities.  Next week, we will be learning about Groundhog Day.

Katherine Taylor thanks all the parents who have come to the conferences.  It is always a fun opportunity to share the stories of success for these awesome students.  They have come so far this year in reading and it is wonderful to observe the confidence we see. 

Ideas for Activities at Home:
Sarah Trout suggests  - I think it would be nice to sit down with your child this week and watch them practice their keyboarding or spelling words.

Kim Gallant’s Sensory Learning Tip - The next time your child is struggling to learn his/her spelling words, try spraying some shaving cream on a cookie sheet, mirror, or table top.  Use your pointer finger as a pencil.  Start by drawing a few pictures to go along with the spelling words.  When it is time to write the words, simply smooth over the cream and you have a fresh slate.  To spice things up, you can add some glitter or food coloring to the mix.  This tactile approach to learning helps kids perceive the word with as many senses as possible, plus makes it so much fun that they’ll probably be excited to practice.
Katherine Taylor suggests - Ask your kids questions about the months of the year or how we use schedules in our daily lives.

Up Next:
From Sarah Trout -  The next theme will focus around hearts and love.  If anyone has anything useful for this theme, please feel free to bring it in or share ideas.

From Sue McCrary - I’m very excited to begin cooking with our students.  The curriculum we use is fantastic because it breaks down each step required for each recipe, using both pictures and words.  It’s very user-friendly.  After we complete our recipe, we will sit down together to enjoy and reflect.

From Katherine Taylor  - This quarter we will be talking about Health, Nutrition and Exercise.  If there are any parents or family members who would like to come in and speak on one of these topics, please get in touch with Ms. Taylor and we can work out a time for the afternoon extended learning.   Hats off to our wonderful families of TWLS!

From Sarah Trout:
This week, we’ve been practicing the fundamentals of reading and writing.
The students are working hard on letter recognition and their sounds. Also, they are practicing correctly gripping their pencils for proper handwriting.  My wonderful Sonday class is making steady progress, each at their own pace.

There’s been some projects underway as well.
Last week and continuing into this week, the lessons were centered around a bear theme. We did the bear walk, acted out Goldilocks and the Three Bears, made playdough bear paws, and matched letter bear paws on scooters.

Any suggested topics for parents to ask their kids about?
Anytime you have a second, ask them “What sound does this letter make?” or “What is the beginning sound in this word?”

What’s up next?
We’re continuing with the bear theme!

From Katherine Taylor
Great developments in beginning writing, especially with the addition of new software.
I’ve had two new students progress to writing beginning level sentences using correct punctuation and sentence structure. This quarter, we will continue to work towards writing complete and correct paragraphs. The kids’ progress has been so awesome to see. Thanks to Suzie Fry who has brought in some new software called Co-writer to use with some of our beginning level writers.!!!

What’s up next?
Coming up next, we will be doing Health and Nutrition for Extended Learning in the afternoon. We’ll talk about the health reasons for exercising and practice some exercise techniques. We’ll also introduce the excitement of the Winter Olympics and will continue to discuss them as February approaches.

From Kim Gallant:
This week’s theme in the Sensory Integration classroom is “Learning Fun in a Winter Wonderland”. We will be working on beginning sounds, counting by 5’s, and telling time to the hour. Skill development will be incorporated into “minds on/hands on” vestibular, proprioceptive, and tactile activities. A fun activity to try at home to promote counting by 5’s (which is an important time telling skill) is a snowball fight. Simply wrap ten tennis balls in tissue paper and tie them with a rubber band. Take turns throwing the snowball into a laundry hamper or basket. Each snowball in the basket is worth 5 points. The first person to score 50 points wins. This interactive game is oodles of fun and you won’t even need to put on your boots!

• Why guardianship may be important.
• Tips for applying for federal disability benefits.
• What is a Letter of Intent and Why is it important to my family.
• What is significant about my child’s 18th birthday?
• What happens when someone wants to give a gift to my child?
• Why beneficiary updates are important.
• Why a special needs plan is important to my family.
• What gifts can legally be given to a child on government benefits.
• How to monitor a child’s assets.
• Why consulting an attorney is important for my special needs child.

This week, the kids have been learning a lot of practical skills - reading, ASL, and sports.

·         In Sonday, all the students have been making remarkable progress in their reading skills.

·         At recess, we’ve been learning the rules of basketball & playing some too!

·         In ASL class, we were introduced to new signs about outdoor adventures.  For example, we learned to sign “backyard”, “explore”, “forest”, and many terms for adventurous animals.

Not only that, but there’s been some creative work too.  One group is making holiday placemats using leaves, glitter, construction paper, feathers, markers, and crayons.

What should you ask your kids about this week?

Ask them to show you two new ASL signs!

TWLS students start the day with a set of warm-up exercises called Brain Gym, followed by either a cardiovascular workout or yoga. You may remember seeing further  pictures of yoga mats or the exercise room in the TWLS photo tour.

First, let’s talk about Brain Gym. It was developed in the 1970s as one of the first forays into “enhanced learning through movement”, or Educational Kinesiology. The exercises students do are based around the acronym PACE – Positive, Active, Clear, and Energetic. After Brain Gym & exercise, students should feel positive, active – and so on – and ready for their day. The PACE acronym was chosen because students going through Brain Gym steps should do so at their own pace and when they need it. If they find they need to take a few minutes during the day to re-center themselves, that’s normal and encouraged.

So, what does PACE mean? The exercises are actually performed in reverse order of the acronym:

1) Energetic – Students sip water, letting it soak into their systems and making sure they’re fully hydrated and ready to exercise and focus. Lack of water is a common cause of headaches and difficulty focusing. At TWLS, students track their water intake to ensure they maintain good hydration all day. No waiting until the end of class here; we recognize that until the body’s needs are met, it’s hard to meet those of the mind.

2) Clear – Students practice a technique called Brain Buttons intended to help get them centered and ready to think, exercise, and study. Students press lightly on certain points on their chest in a regular pattern. The concentration and regular motions can help students feel calmer, more centered and able to think more clearly.

3) Active – Students reach across their body to hold their opposite knee as they lift it. This exercise incorporates crossing the vertical midline (the center of the body) and helps improve coordination and communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain by getting both sides of the body involved.

4) Positive – An exercise called Hook Ups integrates elements of the previous two, where students cross their legs, then intertwine and pull in their hands to their chest, holding the position for several minutes. Like the others, it promotes centering and calmness in the body, and through it, in the mind.

Following PACE, students begin a thirty minute cardio workout or yoga/Pilates class. The combination prepares students for optimal thinking and learning throughout the day.  In addition to just writing about these, today we can show you.  Take a look at the following video:

As you come up the drive you can see the blue sign for TWLS, and beyond that, just behind the building, a playground for the kids.

We share the building with a few other great organizations, but this is our entrance. Inside, we have four classrooms, a workout room, and some office space.

Before we head inside, lets check out our awesome playground! At recess, the kids love to come outside and play.

Now, lets head inside. Once in, you can go straight ahead into the office, or left and right to the classrooms. Well head right first.The walls of the hallway are lined with pictures, maps, posters, and kids’ projects.

We turn right again into the first classroom. On one side, we have a traditional-looking whiteboard with desks set out before it. At TWLS, education has a thousand facets to it: learning through play, learning from books, learning at a desk, learning through music, and all individualized to the needs of each student. On the other you’ll see another facet, with a jigsaw puzzle and shelves of books.

What kinds of books are the kids reading, anyway? Well, there’s quite a combination, from Life Skills Math, full of practical skills lessons, to Roald Dahl’s Matilda, a book to spark a love of reading in any heart.

At the other end of the hall is the Sensory Learning room, and on the right is the drama-and-lunchroom. We can see the kids in there now, eating lunch. Lets leave them to it and look into the sensory classroom.

After a few more minutes, the kids are done with lunch and off to their regular activities. Now we’re going to move around a bit more, from kid to kid and room to room, as we see what TWLS students are up to in their classes.

Yoga & Cardio exercise:

American Sign Language:

DEAR (Drop Everything And Read - wherever you are!):

Writing exercises, math, and a collage of other intermingled lessons and games:

We hope this gave you a feel for what our campus and our great students are like. Thanks for taking a virtual walk around TWLS with us!

Here’s a schedule from one of our classrooms: (click to see)

8:30 - Arrive

8:45 - PACE (a Brain Gym exercise program to get the body and brain up to speed in the morning)

9:00 - Mind/Body (cardiovascular exercise and yoga)

9:30 - ASL (American Sign Language)

10:00 - Math, Reading, Writing, Sonday (the Sonday System, a reading instruction program)

12:00 - Lunch

12:30 - Playground

1:00 - ASL

1:30 - Science Life Skills

2:30 - Social Skills

3:00 - Literature Circle, DEAR (Drop Everything And Read)

3:30 - Leave for Home (tired but happy)

Today, kebabs, flowers, and a student-composed song saw her off in grand style.  She will be missed, but at TWLS, we never say goodbye - only “see you later.”  We hope to see you again soon, Ruth!

Highlights:

-Read about the growing American Sign Language (ASL) program at TWLS, started just last year to enhance brain processing and allow students to overcome their communications barriers to make new friends.

-Until 8pm tonight, GiveMN has agreed to match all donations made through their website to the Whole Learning School.  Take a look at www.giveMN.org.