ECA has been working on creating their very own Superimposed Geometric Figures. By choosing two colors to form a pattern, friends experience gradations in two dimensions. They love this lesson!  ECB experimented with an art technique Claudia did when she was a child. They place four nuts on a piece of paper, then place a strainer covering the nuts. With a paint brush they paint all over the strainer creating a dust of paint arount the nuts. When they remove the strainer and the nuts they see the nuts stamp on the piece of paper. ECC is practicing using reusable art paper to make new creations. Collaging is a way to create unique pieces that exhibit contrast in color and shape. The act of gluing helps strengthen the hand for writing and hand eye coordination. LE had a geometry in art lesson by reviewing the tessellations of M.C. Escher .  They created their own tessellation designs and painted them in a pattern of their choice.  Tesselation b...

The foundation of self-regulation happens primarily in the first five years of life.  When a child experiences challenges or frustrations, we see this as an opportunity to help the student learn. The most powerful way we can help children learn self-regulation is by modeling and scaffolding it during ordinary activities. At Abintra, the Early Childhood program promotes self-regulation through providing choice and the opportunity to make decisions.  As children grow and learn, they internalize one behavior, then they move to learn self-regulation in a new area, always building on the self-regulation skills they began in infancy. As an infant, a child learns to self-soothe after basic needs are met. Toddlers learn to feed themselves. Young children learn to pour, cut, take turns, and interact with peers.  Regardless of the area of learning, we want the children to have the message that, even if something is difficult, they can complete it with concentrated effort. ...

ECA received a group lesson with Dave about the origin of snowflakes. Then they reviewed the colors of the crystals and observed which colors they could see in a snowflake. Patricia then presented a cutting exercise lesson, taking a piece of paper (square) and folding into 4. Then she proceeded to make the cuts. When she finished,  Patricia opened the paper and they could see the snowflake!! They loved the activity and worked on it for three weeks every day! ECB’s printmaking work was created using a stamp made by wrapping strings around a circular container. Printmaking by Zoe ECC students continue to work with primary colors. They select pieces of string, dip them in paint and place them onto paper to create pieces of art. They have been amazed to see what happens when primary colors mix together. It has also been fun to explore other techniques of painting besides the typical paintbrush. To align with their study of land and water forms, LE created paper mache...

No Name-Calling Week took place last week, January 21 st – 25 th . GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education Network) created No Name-Calling Week as a way to launch on-going dialogues in schools about name-calling of all kinds and provide schools with the tools and inspiration to do so. A national survey conducted by GLSEN in January, 2012 showed that “School climate and victimization can affect student educational outcomes and personal development at every grade level.” Some results from the survey are as follows. The percentages refer to the amount of students and teachers who heard this language regularly*: ·         Most common forms of biased language  in elementary schools, heard regularly by both students and teachers, are: The use of the word “gay” in a negative way, such as “that’s so gay” - Students: 45%; Teachers: 49% Comments like “spaz” or “retard” - Students: 51%; Teachers: 45%  Homophobic comments; usi...

ECA started the new year off with a collaboration project.  The students painted their hands and then spent a significant amount of time carefully making handprints to form this large piece art.  ECB & ECC also started the new year off with a collaboration . They first discussed the different biomes - ocean, jungle, and forest.  They talked about which animals live there and which plants grow there.  Then they split up into three groups and began by drawing the waves for the ocean, and the ground, sky and trees for the forest and the jungle.  They added more plants, animals, insects, and other things they would find in that habitat.  They were very creative and elaborate with their drawings! During the 3rd quarter, LE will be exploring different mediums in painting.  They started by exploring watercolor through creating winter trees.  This project was a great review of the elements of design. They first drew a tree using short ...

The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention .   Mary Sarton I believe it true that yoga is meditation in motion. As of late, our young yogis have been taking that motion into the woods of Abintra. Our walks through the woods exercise the body, and also provide opportunities for mindfulness activities. Walking slowly and quietly, we pay close attention to the muscles of the legs and feet, how we place our feet upon the ground, and how we keep our balance. We try to be aware of the things we might otherwise miss: the sound of the wind in the trees, the sight of woodpeckers and robins flitting from branch to branch, the textures and colors upon the rocks along the path. Occasionally, when available, we sit in a sunny spot just to pay attention to the sensation of warmth upon our faces. Our mindfulness hikes are certainly an enjoyable way to promote greater health and well being. -- By John...

ECA friends created a collaborative art piece completely driven on their own without the help of the guides. This included crumbling tissue paper and gluing it on a large piece of art paper.  ECB created jellyfish after looking at different types of jellyfish in their study of the oceans. This project involved cutting and gluing tissue paper bodies and cutting and gluing pieces of yarn for the tentacles. ECC is exploring music by using a keyboard through creative expression. Friends are learning to distinguish high and low sounds. This also helps strengthen the hand muscles for writing.  LE collaborated and created a salt map of Pangea as well as a salt map of Laurasia/Gondawanaland to go along with their classroom study of the formation of the supercontinents. ME learned the art of making sushi!  They spread the rice on the seaweed, put the ingredients of their choice on top, and then rolled their sushi all while learning the vocabulary in Spanish....