We had our first Family Night of the school year on Wednesday, Jan. 25. Those who attended enjoyed some good conversation on raising children now vs. the past, planned for some upcoming events, and organized a fund raiser. The next Family Night will be Wednesday, Feb. 15 – more details will be sent out.
The mid-year benchmark assessments are complete and preliminary results look favorable. With the growth that is shown with this assessment, I know the end of the year assessment will be positive also.
With the amount of snow we received, the students have had a wonderful time shoveling, sledding, and building snowmen. Experiment with freezing water in a balloon, observation of what can be found in melted snow, and what type of water melts snow faster took place. When the temperatures allow, the students are outside every day. Thank you for sending snow gear so they can enjoy this beautiful, wintery wonderland we live in.
Montessori Tidbits
While Maria Montessori observed children in the classroom, she thought about their developmental needs and what materials she could develop to suit those needs. Following up from the last Pɵˈɵkwatʉ article, where I wrote about math, I will focus on one traditional Montessori material: The Pink Tower.
If you’ve ever been in a Montessori classroom, you will know exactly what this specific material is. While some might say it is just a stack of blocks, it is not merely just that. The Pink Tower is a carefully calculated instrument to educate the senses and to implicitly introduce the decimal system. Each block is 1 centimeter longer on all sides that the one before it and there are 10 such blocks going from 1 cubic centimeter to 1000. In other words, each block is increasing exponentially. But why is it called the Pink Tower? There is no research to determine the answer, so I am going to surmise that it was developed in February due to Valentine’s Day!
Positions being advertised: Just like schools all over the nation, we have some job openings throughout the school. You can find applications by going to: Southern Ute Indian Tribe Jobs, click on Career Portal – Government, then click on View Current Jobs. It’s as easy as that!
Nuu’apaghapi – Ute phrases and sentences
Even though it may seem like tamaritʉ is around, we are still in tɵmɵri. Repetition helps with the retention of language, please continue using the Ute language at home.
- naghakáachoghopʉ – winter hat
- sʉpʉrˈa – cold
- paraˈsikyatʉ – frozen
- ‘agharat’aqh tʉʉravachi? How is the weather?
- Nʉvwayaqh. It is snowing.
- Kawayaqh. It is frosty.
Upcoming events – ‘Fancy Fridays’ and early release every Friday!
- Feb. 13: 100th Day of School
- Feb. 15: Family Night in person
- Feb. 20: No School – Presidents Day
- Feb. 21: PAG Meeting via Zoom
- Feb. 28: Elementary students ice skating