Karen Coon

Happy New Year! I just wanted to share some pictures of our first harvest from the aqua pond. After a beautiful Founderʻs Day, first graders returned to class to eat a salad grown in our aqua pond. It was so ono! Mahalo to the moms who came to help with this- we are onto to a new batch as we head into a new year of learning and growing together!

We all enjoyed our ice cream social, making cards and ornaments, then exchanging gifts! Mahalo to all of the ‘ohana who came in to help us!!!!

The first graders had the privilege of learning about the history and purpose of Hiloʻs Merrie Monarch celebration from Aunty Luana Kawelu this morning. SHe had much to share about itʻs background history and rich pictures of the many performers from years past.
Hereʻs an interesting part of her mana‘o: At the first festival there was a hukilau in Hilo Bay with over 2,000 people in the water throwing the huge net! There also was a beard contest for who looked most like King Kalākaua and a relay that used a live fish! So interesting!
The keiki truly enjoyed listening to this Hawaiian treasure and spontaneously broke out into singing Pauahi Nona Ka Lei for her! Enjoy some pictures and a video of our singing another male, Hilo Hanakahi.

IMG 1424 from KSH Kula Ha'aha'a on Vimeo.

Last week the keiki made Christmas cards to send to veterans overseas who are in hospitals and will not make it home to be with their ‘ohana this holiday season. The children stamped Hawaiian fauna stencils to design a card and wrote heart felt notes inside. We hope this gesture will lift some spirits and remind us about the importance of caring for others.

The following was shared with me from Miss Richardsonʻs tech class:

Congratulations to Niau and Rhian for demonstrating pono pilina and kuleana in their school work. Both keiki enjoyed eating lunch with their ‘ohana today.

With our aqua-pond up and running, our learning focus is on what makes up an ecosystem: a place where plants and animals live and grow together. The keiki learned that there are five main parts to an ecosystem: the sun, non-living, plants, animals and recyclers. This past week as well as this week, we are taking a closer look at each part and gaining an understanding on how they all work together and are interdependent! Having the pond outside is an excellent resource for watching a system in action. Enjoy some pictures of our days exploring and learning together.

I am pleased to see who has worked on ixl skills each week. Our current focus in math is addition and subtraction skills as well as writing numbers to 100 and beyond. I would suggest your child work on these for now. I will update our skills for future practice.
Mahalo for your support!

We added five tilapia to our tank last weekend and have begun our garden above it, planting different varieties of lettuce. The keiki learned the word “interdependence” and are using their observational skills to watch it in action! We will integrate this experience with lessons connected to the idea of ecosystems as well. The week after Thanksgiving we will be asking for a small soil/rock sample from everyoneʻs backyard as we look at the non-living elements within an ecosystem.