Karen Coon

Mahalo to all the elves who showed up to assist us in putting together our Christmas trees!  The was a lot of frosting licking and candy nibbling as the keiki assembled away!

What a joyful morning we had visiting the radio station and Veteranʻs Hospital.  KWXX has been hosting our keiki for at least 20 years, helping them see directly what a radio station is all about.  I think we all had the opportunity to sing on the air and see how radio commercials are made. Then off to the Veteran Hospital where we shared our songs and cards we had made.  I was so proud of how much joy the children brought to the people there!

Mahalo to Kumu Kanani, Mr. Aganus and Mrs. Rosehill for their collective work in sharing a celebration of literature and art as we celebrated our Caldecott reading goals!  The keiki enjoyed hearing their principal read to them and did an iPad art project with Mrs. Rosehill.  It was a fun and full hour at the library!

Some of the high school orchestra students joined K and 1 to share seasonal songs and teach us about their instruments.

Mahalo to the Ha-Ahu and Henderson ‘Ohana for joining our Kula for lunch and celebrating their keiki!

A Voice from the Village

By Karen Loo, K-2 Resource Teacher

Aloha! They say it takes a village to raise a child. As a Resource Teacher, I am honored to add my “voice” to your child’s success at Kula Ha’aha’a. In this message I would like to share some thoughts about math.

“Master Counters.” That’s what Kindergarteners must become. According to Wes Yuu, a math consultant to our campus, without solid counting skills, young learners will struggle with more complex mathematical thinking. Counting requires accuracy. It develops into efficient ways of seeing quantities but that takes practice.  We used to say that practice makes perfect. Now, we’ve learned that “practice makes habits.” Giving your child frequent opportunities to practice efficient and accurate counting will build habits that will pave the way for higher levels of mathematical thinking.  Following are some examples of simple habits that you can oversee or enjoy with your child.

IXL: With this app, your child is able to practice math using a format similar to the standardized MAP test that we use to measure learning as a school. The skills practiced are also aligned with the Hawaii Common Core Standards and the Hawaii Early Learning and Development Standards. Each month the names of all Kindergarteners who have completed at least 7 skills at 100% are put into a jar for a drawing of a Jamba Juice gift card. Although only one child is chosen, all students achieving the minimum of 7 skills are practicing and reinforcing learning from school. Congratulations to these students for representing the habit of independent practice:

Home Activities:

Here is just one site where you can find simple activities to give your child a variety of opportunities for counting. Check out “Treasure Hunt” and “In the “News(paper)” as rainy-day, weekend, and over-the-break activities at home.

http://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/math/part_pg5.html#p5

Baking:

Baking offers countless opportunities for building habits of accuracy, measuring, and counting, just to name a few skills that are the building blocks of math. Here are two recipes that you might find fun to do with your child:

http://www.pbs.org/parents/adventures-in-learning/2015/09/easy-chocolate-croissants-math-lesson/

An easy way to make a yummy kid-friendly pastry while naturally talking about math concepts that include shapes, numbers, and patterns.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/kitchenexplorers/2015/05/28/peanut-butter-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/

You can’t go wrong with peanut butter cookies!

Games:

Games are the perfect way to enjoy time with your child while practicing basic counting skills. Games that involve carefully counting your way around a board while matching the number on a die or spinner board to the number of jumps on spaces will immerse your child in counting. Counting the number of bounces or kicks it takes before a ball hits the ground, or the number of times family members can jump with a jump rope are just a few more ways to make fun family times “count.”

Aloha!

If your keiki came home extra tired on Wednesday, thatʻs because we had an extra busy day here at school.  After our Christmas Concert rehearsal, we walked up to Middle School where Mr. Floroʻs sixth grade class taught us about how to see whether kalo is ready to harvest.  We had the fun experience of working all together to pull out two very mature taro plants.  (We will cook the corm and possibly make pop smoothies!)

Then after lunch we walked up to High School to meet two seniors and their friends to participate in exercise, games and learning about good eating habits.  Mahalo to our seniors for another great legacy project!

Enjoy our pictures!

https://animoto.com/play/KHT8wumaW2vgC5LsozmNTg

We have had our second harvest this week:  lettuce and green beans. The keiki had a salad and we were proud to have grown most of the ingredients ourselves!  Further good news is that MOST of us enjoyed it and ALL of us tried it!

Over the past couple of weeks we have invited aunties and uncles who work in various roles around our school to come to our class and share their jobs.  We were fortunate to have Kumu Wai- our Hope Po‘oKumu, Uncle Kawika- a grounds person, Auntie Hea- secretary in the office, Auntie Nikki- librarian,Uncles Kalani and Ka‘imi- custodians and Auntie Mary- Food Services.  The keiki really enjoyed learning from them and made a book about it on their iPads.  Check it out on Book Creator when they bring home their iPads home for homework.

https://animoto.com/play/sjo6NNyn8LnabGEwx7H3Zw