(Nina apologizes for completely forgetting to post last week's blog. She owns it 100%! So sorry!)
Spring is the time of year for enormous academic growth in the typical Grade 3 student. Developmental psychologist have also identified this time as a particularly significant moment for emotional and social development. We capitalize on your child's cognitive readiness for complex SEL concepts by waiting until now to teach Michelle Garcia Winner's Social Thinking curriculum, featuring the texts You Are A Social Detective and the characters Superflex and the Gang of Unthinkables and Thinkables. We make decoding the hidden and explicit rules of social interaction, and working/playing with others, fun and engaging!
Winner asks, "How can we help children communicate effectively and express themselves creatively?" The answer appears to be in teaching them more about the "why" behind the social behaviors we are trying to coach. When children are taught the reason for the behaviors we seek to promote, they are more likely to generalize these behaviors across a variety of settings.
So, ask your child about the tools one needs in order to be a Social Detective. What is an "expected" behavior? What is an "expected" thought? What is a smart guess? A wacky guess? An unexpected behavior? An unexpected, weird, uncomfortable or surprising thought? What is a Friendship File (yours and others')? What are Social Smarts? How are Social Smarts different from School Smarts? Why do you have to be really good at BOTH to succeed in school and life? These are the ideas and concepts your child is exploring and we hope you take a moment to visit Michelle's website so that you can support your child's SEL development at home: https://www.socialthinking.com/what-is-social-thinking
Other highlights:
(Not So) Gentle Reminders!
With love and appreciation,
Nina and John
Spring is the time of year for enormous academic growth in the typical Grade 3 student. Developmental psychologist have also identified this time as a particularly significant moment for emotional and social development. We capitalize on your child's cognitive readiness for complex SEL concepts by waiting until now to teach Michelle Garcia Winner's Social Thinking curriculum, featuring the texts You Are A Social Detective and the characters Superflex and the Gang of Unthinkables and Thinkables. We make decoding the hidden and explicit rules of social interaction, and working/playing with others, fun and engaging!
Winner asks, "How can we help children communicate effectively and express themselves creatively?" The answer appears to be in teaching them more about the "why" behind the social behaviors we are trying to coach. When children are taught the reason for the behaviors we seek to promote, they are more likely to generalize these behaviors across a variety of settings.
So, ask your child about the tools one needs in order to be a Social Detective. What is an "expected" behavior? What is an "expected" thought? What is a smart guess? A wacky guess? An unexpected behavior? An unexpected, weird, uncomfortable or surprising thought? What is a Friendship File (yours and others')? What are Social Smarts? How are Social Smarts different from School Smarts? Why do you have to be really good at BOTH to succeed in school and life? These are the ideas and concepts your child is exploring and we hope you take a moment to visit Michelle's website so that you can support your child's SEL development at home: https://www.socialthinking.com/what-is-social-thinking
Other highlights:
- We have completed the Grade 3 cursive handwriting curriculum! Because your child is so precocious in cursive learning, we will begin the Grade 4 curriculum mid April.
- Math=Fractions! We have been creating puzzles and riddles using fractions. Who knew fractions could be so challenging and engaging?
- Also-thank you for supporting those important multiplication and division facts at home. We wish we had enough time in the day to practice our fact fluency at school, but we don't. We count on you to keep the fact learning going at home so that your child will be a fluent multiplier/divider by Grade 4.
- In History, we are creating resumes. Except we are not modern workers, but workers during Colonial Times! So you say you're a blacksmith? What kind of skills do you have, what kind of experience? Do you have your own set of tools? What's your specialty?
- Writing Workshop-possessive nouns. Don't forget that apostrophe!
(Not So) Gentle Reminders!
- Plenty of snacks, please!
- Plenty of water, please!
- Healthy lunches (no Lunchables, Subway or candy)
- Arrive to school on time! (7:55 LATEST). Yes, we mean you. Your child has been late. And it really has an impact on his or her morning, and readiness to learn. He or she is upset by lateness, and wishes he or she could drive themselves. Account for sleepy heads, dawdlers, traffic, older siblings, younger siblings and other snafus. Leave ten minutes earlier. Ask us for help. We have a whole toolbox of ideas to share!
- Doctor's appointment? Illness? Early dismissal? Please email Jeanette Helgesson. We sometimes can't read emails until late in the day.
With love and appreciation,
Nina and John