Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (March 24, 2014)

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

                In a past newsletter I referred to a “Buddha Day” during which we take the time to be the learner in our interactions with our children.  I hope you have had the opportunity to do that.

On Saturday, I found myself very much the learner as we spent the day with our newest grandson in New Haven, Connecticut.  He’s just seven-months-old, but provided us with an amazing demonstration of how quickly the learning process takes place at very young ages.  Not having seen him since Christmas, you can imagine how much he has grown in that time.  Of course, he is a genius and has surpassed all the child development milestones for a person his age – of course!

But honestly, it was so amazing to see how he has progressed in just three months.  I watched as he tried over and over to grab a 4”x 4” wooden floor sample while at the same time untangling his legs from under himself so that he could get better leverage to complete the task.  The little hands tried in vain to pick up the sample, but were just too small to grasp it.  He also hasn’t figured out how to incorporate his other hand to provide a fulcrum so that he can get under the piece with the other hand.  As he taught me his problem-solving techniques, I observed that this little guy is decidedly right-handed – so far.  In the end, he found that sliding the piece along the floor was just as much fun as picking it up, and he repeated that activity until mastery apparently led to boredom, at which point he moved on to another task.

This time, he crawled into the kitchen and attempted to open the refrigerator.  Evidently, he has learned that one can pull the door at a certain spot and direct his energy to the left and the door will open.  He has also apparently learned that the shelves on the door make excellent handholds in order to get up one his feet.  From that position he has access to numerous things that rattle and clank when he moves them around.  But perhaps the best thing I learned about him in refrigerator mode was that he can solve the problem of removing a pot that is blocked by other containers in front of it.  Naturally, he was supervised by his “Poppy” while working on these tasks and I held some plastic bottles in front of the pot so that he could not actually yank the pot and its contents onto the floor.  He became somewhat frustrated with this situation, and he tried to solve the problem by simply exerting more force on the pot.  Finally, when that didn’t work, he actually attempted to move the obstacles in front of the pot by pushing them aside!

Think about it.  I actually witnessed learning happening.  Pathways were established in his brain that will be reinforced every time he realizes that he must move something out of the way of something else.  What a miracle this learning process is.  And if we watch our children carefully and pay attention to what they are doing, we can watch the learning happen.  Then they become the teachers.  Happy learning!

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (March 18, 2014)

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

                Yesterday, spring was just three days away. Now, it looks like it’s really far away. Oh, I believe in yesterday.  Actually, can you believe yesterday?  That was one of the strangest winter storms we have had so far.  Unfortunately, it started just in time to mess up rush-hour traffic and then continued showering us with what looked like tiny salt crystals for much of the morning.  And then it was gone.  I hated to make the call to close school, but many accidents had been reported, and when I finally arrived here at school I could see that it would have been difficult for you and the staff to use 30^th Street and the walks.  Today, thanks to our stellar shoveling parents, the walks are clear and it was safe to open on time.

The bad news is that Monday took us into overtime and we have to make up that day somewhere.  As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, we will be adding a day to the end of the year, making June 9 the last day for students.  That’s not great because it’s a Monday, but the alternative would have been Easter Monday.  If we took that day, parents might be rushing from hither and yon, quite possibly covering long distances to get back in time for school on Monday.  Additionally, if we had another snow day, we would then take Easter Monday and add June 9 to the calendar.  In that case, I feel it would be rather better to add June 10 to the calendar.  So, keep your fingers crossed that we don’t have to add another day!

            Tim Parmer addressed the students at this morning’s meeting and informed them about a unique theme project that you will be receiving at home today.  Each child in a homeroom class will be getting a piece of a painting and a wood block that Tim primed.  Each will paint his or her piece on the block by March 31, after which the pieces will be assembled to complete the puzzle and form the finished painting.  All six art pieces, representing the various movements from the Baroque to Modern periods, will be displayed.  The students were encouraged to interpret their piece of the puzzle and use any one of a variety of mediums.  Detailed directions will accompany the folder that you receive.

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (March 10, 2014)

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

                The third theme has begun and all classes are getting revved up to learn about this vast period from Rembrandt to Rothko.  I think the students are excited and I know that the teachers are.  The kindergarten students began this theme by describing art in their own words:

Well, art is something that you make that you really like.

Art is pictures

Art is creating.  Art is something you can invent, like a painting.

Some art is parts of the human body.

Art can be something you find and see and discover.

People from long ago taught us about art.

Art is making something that is real, like a painting.

Art is concentration. You have to concentrate on what you’re doing

Earth.  (A kindergartener came up with that)

            Ms. Laura can’t wait to see how these ideas change when this theme is complete.

            Speaking of kindergarten, a wise mentor of mine told me many years ago that when the day becomes tiring, when you have had enough of paperwork, misbehaviors, phone calls and directives from the central office, just go to the kindergarten and spend 30 minutes interacting with the children.  Never have I received better advice.  This is a place of pure joy and curiosity.  Every five or six year-old is just completely immersed in learning about books, why water freezes, how the calendar keeps track of days in a row, why an /8/ is so hard to draw.  They are fascinated about history – things that happened a long time ago (like last Thursday) or what happens when we learn to share.  They learn how to take care of themselves and the things in the classroom that belong to EVERYBODY.  They learn that when the teacher says that she likes the way a classmate is following directions they should be doing what he or she is doing.  They learn that with a seed in a Styrofoam cup, the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.  They make amazing connections about people, nature, and the way things work.  And they tell us everything – “Mommy has a sippy cup for wine!”  Laughter is a natural part of a kindergartener’s communication tools.  They love new words and try to say them, providing non-stop entertainment for the adults in the room.  But beyond all the fun and pure joy is a learning curve that will never be steeper.  Let’s all try to keep the kindergarten spirit in all of our children, and in the adults, too.

                Finally, at our morning meeting today we celebrated the fact that we will finally get to go outside for recess.  And thanks to the work of parents, the playground is clean and ready for us.  However, it may be a while before we are able to use the fields. A lot of vehicle traffic has left the area a quagmire and it looks like it will be some time before we are able to play there.  I have cones up to discourage vehicles from going on the field, so please do not remove them.  The field is not part of the property we lease.  It is Wyman Park and we have no right to drive on that property.  Once everything is dried out and we can get the grass growing again we will be able to sneak back out there to park in time for the theme event in May.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Cheers,

Steve

Weekly Message from Steve Warner, Head of School (March 4, 2014)

Greetings, GreenMount Community,

                At today’s morning meeting we all chanted, “Go away snow, go away snow.”  Students were also instructed to wear pajamas right-side out and to refrain from any more snow dances.  I think they all agreed.  And for children to want the snow to go away, you know that this has been a tough winter.  The good news is that we are four days into the meteorological spring.  Can you feel it?  Actually, the seasons are defined in three-month periods and spring turns out to be March, April, and May.  So rejoice - it’s spring! (Yeah, right.)

            I hope that you don’t mind that we were two hours late today.  I know that this can be inconvenient, but I wanted to make sure that the walks were clear and free from ice.  Thanks to our shoveling crew who came last night, all that needed to be done this morning was to scatter salt, which took some time to have any effect.  I am surely hoping that this is the last of it.  And in case you are counting, Monday was our last built-in snow day.  If we have to close any days from here on, we will add days to the school calendar beginning with June 9.

            This morning we also talked to the students about the spread of germs.  We have had many students fall ill due to the “thing” that is going around.  We reminded them about hand-washing and sharing things like Blistex (yes, they do that).  It would help if you also have these conversations at home (and please, do not send sick children to school).  The spring (which we are now in) can be especially germ-infested as temperatures fluctuate between warm and cold (warm?).

            Many of you, as well as visitors to the school, have enjoyed the portraits of families that are displayed on the bulletin board in the lobby.  These will have to come down to make room for theme-related information.  Please feel free to take photos of your family to keep before all of the photos are taken down by this Friday.

            Finally, as I am 118 days from “graduating” from GMS, I continue to enjoy every single moment with you, the staff and your children.  Winding down is exciting and yet sad for me.  So if I seem to hold onto you in conversation or problem-solving together, forgive me if I am over-attentive.  When we know the end is in sight, we tend to cherish each day more.  Believe me, I do.

           

Cheers,

Steve