ECOLECLAIRE FONTAINE MARCH 2020
Features: We MissYou School from Home The Children are Listening
2019 / Volume 4/ Issue 7
CO N T EN T S Ecole Claire Fontaine
p2 p3 p4 p6 p8 p10 p12 p14 p16 p18 p20 p22
Contents Calendar Bir thdays Fr om Us to You Let's For age Botany & Bacter ia Fr om the Mountains to the Seas The Life of Ar tists The Mechanics of Magical Minds Wor king fr om Home The WAVE & Summer Camp by the Sea Adver tise with Ecole Clair e Fontaine
Cover ar t by Jula fr om Svetlana's online class in Water color s 2 ECOLE CLAIRE FONTAINE
CA L EN D A R Apr il 2020
The Month of Apr il Enjoy Your Online Lessons and our Daily 10:00 am Chat Sat, Apr il 4 Postponed: Tour for Pr ospective Par ents 9:45 - 11:00
Thur s, Apr il 16 Apr il Bir thdays, celebrated during our 10:00 am Zoom chat
Fr i, Apr il 17 Enjoy at home with your Families: Easter Hunt Wednesday, Apr il 22 Meet in Your Gar den via Zoom: Ear th Day Celebr ation Picnic 12:00 - 12:30 enjoying picnics in your outdoor space 3 ECOLE CLAIRE FONTAINE
BI RT H D AYS March & Apr il 2020
April March Alma
Alexandre Cassius
Audrey
Emilia
Graham
Émilie
Luna
Evelyn
Oliver
Indigo
Tiziano Vivienne Yumi
Liam Madeleine Margot Otis River Skylar Sylvie Wilder P
This month we will celebr ate bir thdays dur ing the Apr il 16th 10:00 am ECF Children's Chat on Zoom. Joyeux anniversaire enfants! 4 ECOLE CLAIRE FONTAINE
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possible, we all need to be outside as much as, whenever, we can.
From Us to You We miss you. We miss you parents, we miss you gr andparents, we miss you fr iends, we miss you neighbor s, we miss you colleagues, and most of all, we miss you children. In keeping with the Ecole Claire Fontaine philosophy, we encour age continued lear ning and living in ar t, multiple languages, and as much nature as possible. We know that many of you are enjoying par ticipating in the distance ar t projects, online classes and Zoom Children's Chats; thank you so ver y much for emailing photos of them to share. Please keep them coming to Media@LACLairefontaine.or g It is with this in hear ts and minds that we created a page on our website with activities and classes to enjoy. The distance lear ning content is being updated by the week, with some daily additions. Please take advantage of our spectacular community to share in the online lear ning we post, resources from our libr ar ies, children's websites, museums, and fr iends. Throughout, if 6 ECOLE CLAIRE FONTAINE
For the sake of the children, let us all focus on the good wherever we find it. The world being a kind, safe place is the belief that will car r y a child through the maze of life with confidence and eager ness. This blossom of tr ust will keep children r ushing for ward, taking chances, laughing and loving freely. This is the time to deeply connect with your children and really know them. For the love of new exper iences and wonder, we focus on happiness, health and positivism. To expand confidence and to suppor t cognitive, emotional and physical development, we remember that what children will keep with them about this per iod is what their exper ience at home was like. The online classes are excellent, the projects superb, but what they will tr uly retain in their essence is how happy, loved, safe, secure and welcome they felt at home because that is where they were. It is difficult for them to exper iment while questioning their safety. No matter what, please be mindful of what you say in front of your children and what they hear when you are listening to the news. Developing bodies, hear ts and minds need care, love and protection.
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Nasturtiums: Vitamin C and a Cup All in One! Art & Archery
Let's Forage! H ello Gardener s! Since we have not been together for most of the month, let us take a moment to remember our nastur tiums in the garden. You may have them growing at home - if you do not, yet can access seeds, it is a great time to plant them. They grow quickly, and last through the seasons. With a pepper y taste, both the leaves and flower s are full of Vitamin C. You can put them in your salads and smoothies and the leaves even work as dew catcher s for a quick sip of water. Ecole Claire Fontaine is a cer tified wildlife habitat, but if we are unable to 8 ECOLE CLAIRE FONTAINE
for mally host butter flies on campus this season, you can have a kit delivered to your home. As always with your distance lear ning, please send in your photos to Media@LAClairefontaine.or g for shar ing. The flower s, plants and entire ecosystem thank you for creating a habitat for these pleasant pollinator s. There is a great deal of fun to be had at home with whatever space you have around you. If you are relegated to the indoor s, you can sprout an herb garden in half egg shells. Poke the bottom of each with a pin for dr ainage,
Delicate New Growth Can be Misted Gently with a Spray Bottle of Water
Now is an excellent time to plant something, wherever you can. Since this is the spr ing season, you can star t chives, eggplant, green beans, jicama, snow peas, tomatoes and zucchini. If you do not have access to seeds, a dr ied bean from your pantr y will do. Remember, all you need is a seed, soil, Please join us in your garden for the sunshine, water and a little love. Ear th Day Picnic. Apr il 22, from 12:00 The best par t about being separ ated 12:30 via Zoom. Find activities here as we celebr ate the Ear th and remember r ight now, is that with fewer car s on what a pr ivilege the beach, hiking and the road and not so many air planes in nature are. From home we can the sky, the air is much fresher, and advocate for them and take the best the animals, plants and our Ear th are happier. care of our selves and our gardens.
nestle into the car ton, add soil and a couple of seeds, and give a touch of water. To grow bur n- healing aloe in a banana, star t with one clipped small leaf. Make a slit on the side of a whole banana, peel on, and push the base of the leaf inside.
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Life Science As
a Botanist, Geor ge Washington Car ver taught us to care for plants. Along with trees, they make the air we breathe and nour ish our bodies. From his earliest year s, Geor ge loved nature. As a young child he explored the woods around his home in Missour i. He kept a secret garden where he called flower s and plants his pets. Later in his life, he became the most prominent Afr ican Amer ican scientist of the early 20th centur y. In ar t school, Geor ge liked to dr aw plants more than anything, so he decided to go to another college to study botany. He discovered that soil is healthier and crops grew better if they Using beans, moss and were rotated. shells a spectacular sea scene comes to life.crop in the same Growing the same 10 ECOLE CLAIRE FONTAINE
place time after time will dr ain the soil of the par ticular nutr ients needed by those plants, reducing annual yields. Rotating crops keeps your soil healthy, at the same time disr upting the life cycle of pests and soil- bor ne disease. Soil is full of good bacter ia. There are microbes all around and within us; they are per fectly natur al with most being beneficial and some har mful if over grown. The categor y Microbes includes algae, archaea, bacter ia, fungi, protozoa and vir uses. They fill our world and inspire ar tists.
Puppetswith Canadian Artist in Residence, Marla
Yogurt eaten during an early March goรปter isfull of healthy bacteria
There are billions of microbes under water, including those that eat methane and nuclear waste. As the "invisible backbone of all life," bacter ia play centr al roles in many ecosystems including the atmosphere, oceans and the soil. Bacter ia make it possible for all other life on Ear th to exist. As always, wash your hands, cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze or cough, eat well and sleep soundly. 11 ECOLE CLAIRE FONTAINE
Natural World If
you find your self at home more than you would like to be, it may be time to take to the sea. Not liter ally, but there are options. You could sail the oceans in a 24 hour quest for Moby Dick, or join the Monterey Bay Aquar ium on a vir tual r ide next to a pod of dolphins. There are color ing pages for pr inting that will remind you of Tim's Oceanogr aphy class. You can also go under the sea with live web cams! LA's own favor ite cougar, P- 22 and his fr iends can be seen roaming the mountains where they live, and now a project is in the works to build a br idge for them to cross the freeway. Tr y dr awing your own little lion with the steps on the next page. 12 ECOLE CLAIRE FONTAINE
For all time access to a trove of infor mation, please remember your public libr ar y. Students and card holder s, plus any new patrons, are welcome. That means ever yone. If you do not already have a Los Angeles County Public Libr ar y card, click here to get one.
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The Life of Artists The fine motor skills pr acticed in Sensor y and Tactile class at Camper Camps will be brought to life. ow that we are all at home, Composition of color on pallets can be physically distanced from one another explored with any paint set, including and Ecole Claire Fontaine's atelier, watercolor s or liquid- dipped cr ayons. classrooms and gardens, the skills that With Qin, students manipulated paint children lear ned in their ar t splatter s on glue by blowing through workshops can still be utilized. str aws. Now, she is at home sewing
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In Cer amics, children lear ned to shape for the kiln, keeping the walls of their pieces thin for fir ing. If you do not have potter y clay at home, playdough can be used in its place for shaping, but not fir ing of cour se. 14 ECOLE CLAIRE FONTAINE
masks. How are you spending your time? Be sure to send your photos to Media@ LAClairefontaine.or g
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Enter Marina'sMathematicsClass
The Mechanics of Magical Minds M ar ina
is still teaching Mathematics to the wonder ful students of Ecole Claire Fontaine, albeit remotely. Closely linked to languages and music, math is par t of the rhythm of our day. For all of the magically mathematical minds out there, quiet the news and take some equations to the mystical world of potions, or join Yan as she presents stor y time in Mandar in. For our latest musical offer ings, catch Sandr a singing and Freder ic playing. Remember, the children are listening. We hope to see all of the children dur ing our weekday mor ning chats at 10:00 am. We miss you. 16 ECOLE CLAIRE FONTAINE
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Water Turtle
The Lions
Working from Home
Butterfliesmade from flower petals& leaves
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Watercolorswith Svetlana
Dur ing our
time apar t the children are par ticipating in our activities and online classes, and then shar ing their creations with one another through fantastic photos sent to Media@LAClairefontaine.or g Mindfulnesswith Connie at 11:00 am M-F
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Each
year in May, the Education Committee of the Venice Chamber of Commerce gather s in honor of teacher s for an Oscar- like ceremony that elevates the status of education. We hope to see you on schedule, but if not, we will update ever yone via our website VeniceWAVEAwards.weebly.com 20 ECOLE CLAIRE FONTAINE
Registr ation is Open! LAClairefontaine.or g/ Summer- by- the- Sea
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W IT H OUR
A D V ERT I SE CO M M U N I T Y V enice Flying Carousel
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Marie-Paul Baxiu, CCH, CHI, ICE, Childbirth Hypnosis Training www.easybirthing.com
SucrenSel.j c@gmail.com Jill Cleret (424) 354-7949
www.VeniceOceanarium.org
Robin Lithgow's Blog
Art's Education, Books & Rhetoric
Mindfulness Monday - Friday at 11:00 am via Zoom. Find details at WorthyBeyondPurpose.com
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