A Note to Families
Posted on January 5, 2006
I have been lacking in adding specific entries to the Family Area. I hope you realize that the entries added under the other areas of the blog are also for you! The books I have highlighted in the classroom area are also great books to read at home with your children. If your children attend a school that is using the supportive classroom, they should be learning the core concepts and some collaborative skills. When you read together, ask them to point out when the action in the book addresses a core concept or a collaborative skill. If you allow them to teach you about the core concepts or the collaborative skills, they will actually learn the material better than if you attempt to teach them! Of course, you can help them if they don't see the connection and you can share your point of view with them also. It is so important the your children understand your point of view about the importance of respect, sharing, trust and belonging. You, after all, are their first and most important teacher!
Reading for Love
Posted on September 27, 2005
Reading with your children is a great way to spend time together. It is a great way to share yourself with your children. Even very young children love to be read too and enjoy looking at pictures. This can lead to instilling a love of books and of reading in your children, but I think even more importantly, it can lead to the sharing of very private, fun, loving, snuggly moments that are some of my most precious memories with my kids. I can even remember the special moments I spent sitting on my mother's lap in her rocking chair as she read to me. Although she has been gone for many years, I can feel her, and smell her and hear her voice as I remember those times. It feels safe and puts a smile in my heart.
Reading to your children also provides an opportunity to connect the books you are reading to the concepts of Belonging, Sharing, Respect and Trust in a very natural and interesting way. It provides us with a window into how our children think and feel about how the world works and how they would approach and deal with the challenges presented in the books.
Thank You Ambrose Parents
Posted on September 2, 2005
I want to thank you for the dinner and polite company you provided me last Tuesday evening. You made me feel that I "belong" and I really appreciate it. Thank you also for talking the time to listen to me "try" to explain the Supportive Classroom curriculum. Some of the questions were difficult for me to answer since, it is really your children, their teachers and administrators (with your help and guidance) who will decide the details of how the curriculum will be used at Ambrose. When any curriculum is implemented in a school, it is the students, families, staff and community members who make it live. My desire is for every child to feel welcomed, safe, supported and an important part of the learning community. There are many ways to accomplish this. I only offer ideas on what myself and others in Vermont have done. You can take our ideas and others and create a supportive community unique to Ambrose School.
I look forward to meeting your children and hope to see each of you again as well. Thanks again.
Tim
Welcome to the Family Area
Posted on May 13, 2005
The family area is where we hope to hear from families on their experiences with a child who is a part of a Supportive Classroom. It is also a place to share ideas on how families can help their children to use the Core Concepts and Collaborative Skills at home and in the community.
