May will be a month of reflection and celebration as we see all of the progress our students have made this year and cheer for their hard work and growth! Spring brings with it a bit more independence in book choice, as little readers who stayed in the first two or three book baskets for much of the year, have branched out to enjoy a variety of self-selected picture books and even a few early chapter books! We cheer with equal enthusiasm for the writing our students are doing. We hear their voice, rejoice in their word choice, are intrigued by their unique ideas, and celebrate their growth with conventions! Understanding all of the special marks that authors use to pause, slow down, question and emphasize certain thoughts has given them increased expression and fluency in reading, and has trickled over into their daily writing as well! The growth is amazing and so rewarding for both teachers and students!

It only takes a few moments of reflection to note the fluency our kids have developed with math facts and patterns! It is so beautiful to hear their many ways of adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying each morning to reach the same number in a variety of ways on a variety of levels. Our younger kids have such terrific conceptual understanding of fractions and measurement and the hands-on tasks are ones they enjoy as they discover over time how much quicker they can solve the challenges. Our older girls have developed a great number sense with fractions, decimals, positive and negative integers and algebraic equations. Perhaps our most exciting growth has occurred in problem solving, as groans have grown into "I can do this" through the use of models, tables, number lines, and time lines.

So, what is left for May? We will be continuing our whole group mystery adventure through many of America's most well-known national parks to grow even better comprehension skills! These stories also encourage the use of map skills that kids have learned this year and can implement to help solve the mystery. Our investigations in Science will continue to allow students to build on scientific ideas to use the process as they learn about systems and interactions.

Social Studies will introduce new heroes and celebrate many names students have heard of before, but with additional insight. Helping our students to develop a sense of time and space in history is a big goal we have because we believe that all of the events in history must be studied with a focus of historical sense that reflects the time period. When we view all of our study in Science and Social Studies through a Biblical lense, we give kids the best opportunity to see where we have been as a nation and give them hope for where we can go next.

May will be full of celebrations and stretches, challenges and a bit of extra focus on any skills that have not yet developed completely. We are looking forward to each day!

We love each student as our own, and dream big dreams about what they will accomplish in the future! Our safe little cocoon is the perfect spot for creative kids who are ready to soar into the future on wings of faith, on their own individual timeline of learning. It is also the perfect spot for two passionate teachers who are blessed to nurture, inspire, and pour God’s truth into each of our student's hearts. We believe it is a one-of-a-kind learning family that each of our students will always cherish as well!

As we close out the school year it is such a bittersweet time. This is such a special group of extremely talented students. So much was learned during our Voice and Acting classes. Your children have learned how to use their voices in a healthy and proper way. Sight singing and pitch matching has been a focus and they have excelled in both. Monologue study and improvisation during our Acting classes have been fun for them and great progress has been made in their Acting skills. We are so excited to share our Graduation program with you!

We have had a wonderful year experiencing piano lessons together. Our students have grown so fast as young musicians and students. Our students have become comfortable with the piano instrument and are able to perform songs in front of others with confidence and excitement for the music. We have worked on their creative skills in composing and singing along to pieces we learned on piano. We are so proud of our Explorer Elective students for this progress in piano skills and ability to express themselves through music. 

During the month of May, our Explorer Elective class will be filled with engaging STEM projects that demonstrate how our students have blossomed! As we wrap up another enriching school year, we are thrilled to highlight the exceptional accomplishments of our young explorers in our hands-on elective class. Throughout the year, these adventurous students have embarked on exciting, multi-sensory journeys of discovery.

Through hands-on activities, experiments, and creative projects, they have demonstrated remarkable curiosity, resourcefulness, and teamwork. It has been a joy to witness their enthusiasm for learning and their willingness to dive headfirst into new challenges. As their teacher, I am incredibly proud of their growth and accomplishments, and I have no doubt that their passion for exploration will continue to inspire them in the years to come!

Over the entirety of this school year, the ballet students can now move with grace, form, and precision. Their hard work and dedication have paid off; they can now correctly stand at the ballet barre, use ballet terms during class, and perform beautiful ballet routines. They can also spot and correct their mistakes, giving them the confidence to continue improving. They have become passionate about ballet and have set goals for the future.

The students have also developed a strong sense of teamwork, as they are now working together and supporting each other. They have also better understood the importance of discipline and dedication. The students have become more independent and self-motivated, as they can now work independently without constant supervision.

The students have also become more creative and think outside the box, as they have had to find new ways to approach challenges. Because they showed that they were such hard workers, respectful, and great listeners, they had a fun day where they played twister and wanted to create their own dances in small groups. They loved working together and were proud of the results. The students have also learned the importance of teamwork and collaboration. They also gained confidence in their ability to create something. They continue practicing and perfecting their ballet routine for the 2024 Let It Glow, Spring Recital. They can dance by themselves and have worked hard to perfect it. 

With the same enthusiasm as the beginning we have reached almost the end of a beautiful journey. It has been a pleasure as a teacher to guide our talented students through this year in their Tap an MTD class and witness how much they have improved. This is one of the MOST beautiful part of a scholar year, when we are able to look back with pride and forward with excitement for what lies ahead. Words are not enough to express how much these little ones have taught us, and we are very sure that this feeling must be reciprocated! We have grown a lot in many ways, but above all we have to take a minute and give a big round of applause to our students who have achieved so much during the course of the year, they now are able to perform lots of great, challenging and fun tap steps like “Shuffles”, “Flaps”, “Paradiddles and Variations “, “Cramp Rolls”, “Crawl”, “Buffalos”, “Drawbacks” and “Pull Backs”. This is only a big example that is always room for improvement when you work hard for something, and can only say GOOD JOB!

During April, we were introducing Tap Terminology and it history, something very important not just for dance but in all aspects of life, to then be able to build our own personalized style of dance based in its background. We watched an amazing documentary “American Tap History” that really enriched us in all senses, especially because knowing from where we came helps a lot to understand to where we’re going. And on the other hand we have continued to practice our choreography for the spring recital, which is looking very good in cleanliness and precision and they are already able to do it on their own.

For the rest of this month and the next one, we will focus on learning the choreography for the beautiful songs that they will be performing at the Graduation!!! and we will ensure that everything looks spectacular for the upcoming recital. Both shows are just around the corner! So let's enjoy what we have left of this school year doing what we love with the grace and the gift that our lord has given us! Your teacher is very proud of you!!! 

It is always difficult to decide...what are we going to study this last month of Bible class? Our students have been so interested in learning about the words of Jesus and the example He gave us! The older students have immersed themselves in the creation of game boards to share with the younger students the life of the disciple, Peter. They are so articulate in explaining all of the traits God gave to Simon Peter from birth, that were shaped and molded by his time with Jesus,that led him to be a powerful evangelist and church planter after Jesus ascended into heaven. These projects were designed to be two weeks long, but have stretched over several weeks as the girls have dug deeper, learned more, and created beautiful projects that will be remembered by our younger crew for a lifetime. There is probably no message more organic, authentic and inspirational for one of our littles to hear than an older student talking about what she read in the Bible and what she feels the meaning is to us.

The younger students are learning about each of the parables Jesus shared, and are delighted to discover the message of each. Plays, puppets and mini-books give them a chance to take these messages home and talk about them with their families, and they love sharing what they have learned!

The month of May will give us a chance to complete our study of the disciples and the parables, to continue to learn about people like Zacheaus and Paul, whose lives were changed upon encountering Jesus, and their actions showed this change of heart. May will give us a chance to bring this all together and create personal goals for OUR daily walk with Jesus, preparing ourselves with a plan for ways to dig into the Bible and walk closer to Him. 

As the year draws to a close we will revisit our initial lesson of the year, looking at the importance of filling our hearts with things that are good and lovely and true, so that when we react to situations, people see the love of Jesus in our actions. 

Our premise is one many have heard before: Many people who do not know Jesus will not read the Bible, but they will read us as Christians. We want to walk so full of joy, peace, and love that they want to know our Savior who gave us all of those things.

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