Level Updates

Kindergarten:

Kindergarten is in full swing. Our kinders were able to experience their very first QUEST Feast. They had a blast! They visited the creek for a nature walk and demonstrations. They also ate a feast prepared by their hallway community! They are looking forward to exploring their new planner “Let’s Celebrate”. During this planner they will inquire and explore celebrations and holidays. This is a perfect time as they prepare for their upcoming celebrations! JOY Shop is right around the corner to. Kids will have the opportunity to purchase homemade gift for their family members. Many of the homemade gifts will be made by QUEST students and families.

Winter is upon us too! KInders will preparing for outdoor weather by practicing becoming independent when dressing themselves in their winter gear! We are excited for it to snow so we can get outside for some winter play!

Tip for Kinder parents: Have your littles practice dressing in snow gear. Time them. See if they can continue to beat their time each practice!

 

Primary:

The primary team has been hard at work! We are just finishing our planner How The World Works. The kids have learned all about land features and slow and fast changes in nature. We are now beginning a social studies planner under How We Express Ourselves. The central idea is families are diverse and change over time. We will be inquiring into characteristics that define a culture, how artifacts help us to learn about the past, how tradition and heritage shape culture, and how culture is expressed. We have asked each family to send in some artifacts or pictures of artifacts to help us. It is a great time to tell family stories and share traditions!

We also finished up our personal narrative writing unit. We will continue to write narrative small moment stories so please keep reminding kids of stories that have happened to them that they can write about at school! We will be moving into writing nonfiction stories and asking them to be experts on topics they can write about. Please keep reading with your child each night. Fiction and Nonfiction make good read alouds. We will continue to send home books for the kids to read each night so please be a cheerleader for your developing reader!

Thank you for all of your support!

Elementary:

Currently the Elementary Level classrooms are wrapping up a unit of study on Indigenous Cultures. Students learned about the Haudenosaunee and researched about other cultures to explore the unique way of life that each group of people had. Some classes shared their knowledge through presentations and plays during the Thanksgiving Feast Day celebrations. The Elementary level also enjoyed hearing Perry Ground, a member of the Onondaga Nation, share stories from the Haudenosaunee Culture. Later in December, members of the Parma Historical Society will be joining us to discuss the Haudenosuanee connection to our local area, along with sharing some artifacts.

Our next planner is a science based unit about forces and how information is transferred. Students will be engaging in a variety of hands-on lessons to investigate different types of forces, see how waves can transfer information, and learn about binary code.

Intermediate:

Intermediate students are well into the routine of the school year and working hard! For inquiry, the intermediate grade level is currently immersed in the Early Human planner where they are exploring the transition from the Old Stone Age to the Neolithic Era. Reading groups have begun and for writing, students are finishing up their informational unit and working on their final pieces. In 6th-grade math, we're concluding the ratios, rates, and percentages unit and moving on to fractions. In 5th-grade math, the focus is on solidifying multiplication and division skills while also working on volume. Upcoming in January will be the sled race, in December classes will start preparing their designs and the sled building process.

Special Areas:

All students have been learning a variety of dances during their Music and PE classes this month! Next week we will welcome guest judges from all over the district to check out our dances! Everyone will get a chance to show off their best moves during our Annual Dance Showcase on Thursday, December 21st at 9:00am. Families are welcome to join, but please note that there will be limited space and standing room only since the whole school will be in the gym at that time. Although standing room is limited, we will record the performance and share it out for all to view.