ECOLECLAIRE FONTAINE OCTOBER 2017
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C al en d ar B i r t h d ay s N at u r e i s o u r En cy cl o p ed i a Fl ow er s f o r t w o M on th s N ew C l asses N ew T each er s Geo m et r y i n A r ch i t ect u r e T h e M oon Art A p p r eci at i o n
O u r O cean s U si n g Sh el l s Sav e o u r So i l En v i r o n m en t al H eal t h C o m p o st i n g T i p s T h e C am p er Ru g
CA L EN D A R O ct o b er 5, T h u r sd ay, B o o k T r ee, 8:30 - 9 :30 am A b b o t K i n n ey C am p u s O ct o b er 9, M o n d ay, SC H O O L C L O SED f o r I n d i gen o u s Peo p l es' D ay O ct o b er 18, W ed n esd ay C l ass Ph o t o s, 9 :30 am C am p er C am p u s, 11am A b b o t K i n n ey O ct o b er 19, T h u r sd ay, 10 :19 am Sh ak eo u t saf et y d r i l l O ct o b er 31, T u esd ay, 5p m A K H al l ow een Po t l u ck
BI RT H D AYS
Ayden Bodhi Esme Gauthier Har per Joel Maya The children will celebr ate October bir thdays with their classmates and teacher s after lunch on Thur sday, October 12th by shar ing a school- made treat. p4
Confidence, fine motor skills and olfactor y senses are awakened while baking bread, cakes and tor tillas...
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Nature is our Encyclopedia?
Inspired by the Tableau PĂŠriodique des ElĂŠments, The Per iodic Table of the Elements, we filled this display box with dr ied botanicals to loosely represent the 118 elements thus far discovered - seven hor izontal rows of elements called Per iods and 18 ver tical columns of elements called Families.
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Behold the magic of flower s. In September we honor as Flower of the Month, the Mor ning Glor y, for its daintiness, love and magic.
The flower for the month of October is the Mar igold, representing strong love. The flower s are growing beautifully in our gardens.
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New Classes
A br ight, new r ug. The children are developing their appreciation for the har p by r unning their finger s down the row of thin str ings and listening to its sounds, while studying the works of composer s from the classics to Alice Coltr ane.
Our new Jour nalism Class met budding repor ter s with dreams of investigating, ?the world.? One student announced, ?Rainbows. I will go in the sky when it r ains.? p8
Chr istiane, ECF alumnus Milan's mother, is teaching Yoga! The children are off to a relaxed star t.
New Studio Teacher s Dance & Movement class is being taught by Astr id Kar senty this year, sister of ECF's Botany & Natur al Science teacher Emilie.
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You say Geometry? We say Architecture!
On the fir st day of Architecture Class we sang, "The Architecture Class Song.? It goes a little something like this: Welcome to Architecture Class Where we design buildings, buildings Lines and Curves? they are everywhere! We make houses, we make stairs We make windows, we make chairs We love Architecture!
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Using r uler s and dr awing templates, the children made lines and cur ves while discussing what architects do, and all of the places we see their designs at work ? all designs that are inspired by nature.
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The moon guided our poetr y and gardening classes this month. When do we plant our seeds? At the new moon, lunar gr avity pulls water up so seeds swell and bur st. This, along with increasing moonlight, creates balanced root and leaf growth - the per fect time for planting broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celer y, lettuce and spinach. We also had a lovely realization ? when birds sing, it helps plants grow. We are gr ateful for ever ything that lives in our gardens. p12
Following the Moon
Sewing Class: Lavender Sachets
The children began by selecting fabr ic. With Angelina they sewed 3 sides of a rectangle or square. They chose from bunches of dr ied lavender and filled the pouch. After stitching the 4th side, Voila!
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In Ar t Appreciation Class, the depths of emotion were exper ienced by the children while viewing what they perceived as the beauty of Monet, the reds of Matisse and the disintegr ation of daily objects in pieces like Ar man?s ?Chopin?s Waterloo.? A child comments, ?I like it because it is broken.? Another asks him hopefully, ?Because you can fix it?? The young ar t appreciator responds, ?No, I like it broken and messy.?
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The children welcomed back Pinchy, a one- eyed baby lobster, who lives with their Oceanogr aphy teacher Tim. Dur ing class students dissected sea gr ass, also known as Witch Hair Gr ass. They discovered a mess of natur al objects from the sea: Br yazoa, feather s from seagulls, macrocysts, seashells and seaweed. Also found was a tennis ball, which led to a lively discussion on litter ing and our collective responsibility to combat climate change. p16
Oceanogr aphy
Re- purposing Shells before returning them to the beach This leads to our request that the use of plastic str aws and container s be strongly discour aged. ECF uses open shells to hold school beads, glue and paint.
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Save Our Soil! With a season of abundance upon us, we remind our selves to look at our plates, in our refr iger ator s and on our stoves. Our super power s are tr ained to detect food waste. Dur ing lunchtime at ECF, the children are lear ning to take only what they need, and ask for more if they are still hungr y. We are reflecting on food waste, composting and soil depletion. When land is over- far med to produce more than is necessar y, the soil is depleted and no longer offer s a r ich bed for healthy food to grow. The United Nations repor ts that soil degr adation is a centr al threat to human health. The UN?s Food and Agr iculture Or ganization declared 2015 the ?Inter national Year of Soils,? while the Par is Climate Accord includes soil improvement. p18
Instead of continuing the trend of dousing land in har mful pesticides in order to tur n a profit with more soy and cor n, a movement to br ing back the high quality of soil is under way. In their gardening classes, the children are lear ning to make r ich soil by combining their composted table scr aps (it's all or ganic!) for nitrogen with decomposed leaves for carbon.
Wor ms and the other small bugs that are necessar y for soil health are invited to stay. We have lear ned that compost is the single most impor tant supplement that we can give our garden soil. It is also cr ucial for the environment as one- third of landfill waste is made up of compostable mater ials which is creating methane instead of enr iching the soil. Great composting tips can be found by clicking here.
For a fascinating read, tr y this from Politico: ?Promoting soil health comes down to three basic pr actices Make sure the soil is covered with plants at all times, diver sify what it grows and don?t disr upt it. What this means in pr actice is rotating crops, so fields aren?t tr ying to suppor t the same plant year after year.? When Halloween is over, remember to compost your Jack O?Lanter ns! p19
The children make the connection between their own health and that of the environment. Pomegr anates are har vested from our garden tree.
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Composting Benefits -
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Soil conditioner : With compost, you are creating r ich humus for lawn and garden. This adds nutr ients to your plants and helps retain moisture in the soil. Recycles kitchen and yard waste: Composting can diver t as much as 30% of household waste away from the garbage can. Introduces beneficial or ganisms to the soil: Microscopic or ganisms in compost help aer ate the soil, break down or ganic mater ial for plant use and ward off plant disease. Good for the environment: Composting offer s a natur al alter native to chemical fer tilizer s. Reduces landfill waste: Most landfills in Nor th Amer ica are quickly filling up; many have already closed down. p21
A new, blue r ug, hand- stitched with love by Camper 's gr andmother for all of us to enjoy... notice favored objects inter woven through the letter s. What a beautiful family visit with Camper 's family.
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A D V ERT I SE
W IT H
ECF
Take advantage of this unique oppor tunity to reach a select group of families and colleagues throughout the French and Amer ican communities in Venice and the Westside by adver tising in the Ecole Claire Fontaine News Magazine. For dates, dimensions and rates, please contact: digital@laclairefontaine.or g
Book Tree
BookTree combs through thousands of books per year to find the ver y best for member s to read with their children. Have 10 illustr ated, age- appropr iate new books in a per sonalized tote- bag waiting to be picked up at school each month. When you and your child are finished, retur n them for your new batch. They will be on the Abbot Kinney Campus from 8:30- 9:30am on Thur sday, 5 October.
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