Class 1 News

There is a beautiful steadiness emerging in Class One as the children begin to trust and become at home in the rhythm of our day. 

It is our last week of our “Alphabet Main lesson” and we have now discovered most of the consonants, each one introduced imaginatively through story and rich imagery from nature and the animal kingdom: M mighty like mountains, S slivering like a snake. 

This week we have moved into vowels. Unlike the consonants which came from the outer world, the vowels are brought through human characters and experienced as inner human expressions and feelings. Through story, movement and singing the children are exploring the unique qualities of each vowel and how it carries a particular mood. For example, we explored making an O shape with our arms and pretended we were hugging someone we loved. Then we sat in our circle as a class and moved our eyes in a clockwise direction, sending love to each other one by one, our eyes travelling in an O shape. This was done with such seriousness and reverence from the children it was a joy to witness! We have also begun weekly clay and wax modelling lessons. 

Working with these materials supports the development of the will and fine motor skills and is a therapeutic experience for the children. In our clay work we began by sculpting simple spheres, the beginning form from which many sculptural forms will emerge as we progress. Though each sphere began with the same intention we discovered that each clay form held the story of the individual maker’s hands. 

At the end of the lesson, we had a go at holding each other’s spheres and noticed how each one felt slightly different, some warmer, some firmer, some smoother and we experienced how our hands put a little bit of “ourselves” into the clay. 

In our beeswax time with have been enjoying discovering the “secret letters” the bees have hidden within the wax. The children listen for a sound for example “t” in T and then shape something that begins with that sound. We have also been practicing shaping our letters this way, consolidating our alphabet work with our hands.

With care and gratitude,

Erin