Thanks to technology we were able to safely watch Monday’s eclipse online multiple time and from multiple locations. Lots of interesting observations and knowledge were shared. We also heard about how some ancient cultures explained an eclipse. Six of our classmates witnessed the total eclipse with their own eyes! We’ve been enjoying hearing about their travel adventures and their impressions of this incredible and inspiring experience. Back here on earth, we made some art to capture our impressions of the eclipse discussing how precious is our little blue marble in space. With the eclipse beh ..read more

The Solar Eclipse on April 8th provides some wonderful learning opportunities indeed. But there are hazards as well. Here in the classroom, we have discussed the importance of being very careful about how we may observe the eclipse. Although Vancouver is not in the path of the full eclipse, it will experience a noticeable 20% of the eclipse’s effect. Those of us who are at school on the 8th will watch the full eclipse, livestreamed from a zone of totality, on the big screen in the safety of our gym. Recess and Lunch times are being adjusted to keep students indoors or under adult supervision d ..read more

This week we’ve enjoyed sharing our stories about what we got up to during Spring Break, had fun with challenging math games, music, and discussions about current events. We have begun studying marine mammals on the BC Coast. We learned that seals hunt by detecting motion with their whiskers, and that orcas communicate with sound, and hunt using echolocation. We are hoping for the best for “kwiisahi?”(which means “Brave Little Hunter”), the baby orca trapped in a lagoon near Zeballos. We were interested to learn how marine scientists are trying to use recordings of kwiisahi?’s pod to entice i ..read more

Portfolios for term #2 have now wrapped up. There have been many wonderful “catch up conversations” as we settled back into in-person learning this week. The Primary group also enjoyed a field trip to Lynn Canyon. There we studied some of the invertebrates who live in the river and on the forest floor nearby. Back in the classroom, we explored the concept of how small acts can lead to great change. One particularly evocative resource for our discussions was “One Hen” by Katie Smith Milway. It’s based on the life story of Kwabena Darko of Ghana, and the concept of Microlending. Check it out! Sp ..read more

Portfolios continued this week.  Absolutely love to see all the amazing learning activities happening in your homes. And I am thrilled to hear about the family friendships being forged as well! In-person learning re-commences on Monday, March 4. Keep in mind that on Tuesday, March 5th the Primary-aged group will meet at Lynn Valley Ecology Center at 9:45am for our guided programs. Monday, Tuesday parents: If you haven’t already done so, please email me with your intention to join us there or work from home. We are still collecting metal boxes for the Intermediate instrument building activ ..read more

We are deep into our portfolio presentations this week and next. There is so much to celebrate about the projects and progress our kids are experiencing while they work from home. I am continually delighted to learn about the hands-on engagement, philosophical musing, and deep conversations taking place in our community. I’ve loved hearing about science experiments, creative writing projects, video production, robotics creations, coding successes, art explorations, and breakthroughs in math and spelling skills. Even spectacular cooking mishaps inspire learning when the child brings a growth mi ..read more

Lately we have been deconstructing song lyrics to look for strong visual language. Lots of tuneful and creative fun with old Traditional Folk Tunes these days! The Kindergarteners had their hearing tested this week… So…no more excuses for any “Selective Listening!” September 2024: We are victims of our own success and are already bursting at the seams for next year. There is an extensive waitlist of families hoping to join our program. If you have not already done so, please email by noon February 16th me to let me know if you intend to keep your child in the program in September 2024, or will ..read more

How did it get to be FEBRUARY so quickly? And a Leap Year at that?! February is the month of Groundhogs, Valentines, Portfolios, and special school events. It is also Black History Month. And there is Pink Shirt Day, and Family Day. It’s a good thing it’s a leap year so we have an extra day to accomplish everything! We will celebrate all these good things with an afternoon of games and music, and by sharing Friendship Fruit Salad, on the last day of classes before Portfolios start: Friday, February 9th and Tuesday, February 13th. On that day, please send along a small container of washed and c ..read more

What fun to see everyone so rested and excited to reconnect with classmates! Just as many grownups like to mingle and catch up in the staffroom with colleagues they haven’t seen in a while, we spent a bit of time on our first day back chatting and sharing our stories of our time off over Winter Break. Lots of laughter and smiles, then we buckled down to work! The Primaries have a goal to learn more about parts of speech, deepening our thinking, and adding details. We’ve started with Nouns and Adjectives. Soon we will move on to Verbs and Adverbs. We will also work toward improving the legibili ..read more

Some folks say that letter writing is a lost art. This week our Intermediate Students refuted this claim by participating in The Great Canadian Mail Race. We received a letter from a student in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan addressed to “Any Grade 4-7 Student” at our school. A classmate volunteered to write back. Then, we all chose a town somewhere in Canada, tracked down the name of an elementary school in that community, and wrote a letter to “Any Grade 4-7 Student” in that school! We wrote to students from Nunavut to Newfoundland. The race is now on to see who will receive a response first! H ..read more