Happy New Year, all! It’s been a vibrant start to 2024 in the Madrona classroom.

Upon returning from break, children delved into physical science with Sun and Earth and Composition of the Earth lessons. We reviewed and reinforced math skills and students are moving forward in sequences steadily. Creativity wastes no time and a class play is underway, rehearsals and props punctuate the afternoon rhythm.

We began our second Lit Circle this month and are reading: City of Ember, A Wrinkle in Time, and The Giver. Each book features a dystopian society or reality, which we are unpacking during our Thursday meetings. Ask your child to share with you about the characters, setting, or plot to get a conversation going. Or, ask what “role” they have in the week’s discussion. We’ll be wrapping up before the mid-winter break and children will share their final projects after the return.

January has also been our month of preparedness and we have been discussing earthquakes alongside our read aloud about the great Alaska earthquake of 1964. We Hope all families had a chance to review Meghan’s letter, draw a floor plan, and come up with an emergency plan.

Thanks for everyone who shared their family migration story with their child. Each child was proud to share their families’ journeys and it was fun to notice both similarities and differences. In the coming weeks, we’ll situate our personal histories in the context of human history. We visited the Suquamish Museum to learn more about the indigenous people of where we live. We will spend the rest of winter learning about tribal nations and indigenous groups of North America.

Next month will provide occasions to learn about Lunar New Year and to honor Black History Month through stories and read aloud.

Finally, it has been wonderful welcoming parent observations. Thank you for taking the time to come in. We hope you find the progress reports a helpful glimpse into your child’s time with us as well.

Jaclyn and Zach