PART 1 - GEOGRAPHY & WALDORF EDUCATION

The teaching of Geography is central to the Waldorf curriculum. With its two roots: Gaea, the earth, and graphia, writing, Geography is actually learning to decipher the writing of the earth. A natural question to ask is "In what way does this writing reveal itself and what are the letters of that script?" Well, the letters are the rocks, plants, animals, mountains, canyons, lakes, rivers and configurations of the different continents. We might also add that everything that we perceive with our senses is part of geographia. What we see, hear, touch, and taste is all part of that great writing.
     Like all other subjects in the Waldorf curriculum, geography is treated imaginatively in the early grades. As kindergarten children are introduced to plants and encouraged to care for them as they grow— in the classroom or outside— they develop a sense of wonder and gratitude for everything the earth gives so abundantly. Nature stories then reinforce the relationship between the child and the land on which he lives. Nature stories and studies continue throughout first and second grade. In the third grade, there is a farming block, and the children learn about the farmer's dependency on the seasons as he raises his crops and livestock. While the block is introduced in the classroom, the children also visit farms (or ranches) and have the opportunity of plowing, sowing, making butter, baking bread and so on. Then in the fourth grade, we introduce local history and geography. At a Waldorf-Methods school like MOCS, fourth grade children learn the geographical configurations of Prescott and this high desert and mountainous region. They also learn about the history: the Spanish, the Native Indigenous people, the early settlers and settlements. They learn about the incredible diversity of Arizona and especially its relationship to water and the rivers. This leads into drawing maps and painting them and eventually to studying atlases. Because the children become familiar with their area through drawing and painting, they become more involved with it than they would if we had simply presented them with a printed map.
     As we develop the geography curriculum through the grades, we start from the center, where we are, and then move out peripherally. Next week, we'll look at the fifth through eighth grade geography curriculum. It is important to remember, while the subject of geography has virtually been dropped from mainstream public education during the last several decades, Waldorf education has never abandoned the teaching of this all important subject.

- Merrill Badger, Principal

Happening This Week:

Friday morning is our 5th & 6th grade Tea Garden. Please join us.

Kindergarten Parent Meeting “Storytelling Part ll Puppetry and Fairytales” Tues., March 2nd, 6:00—8:00 pm.

10:00am til 1:00pm
- Come Anytime!

Share the great opportunity we have here in Prescott to give our children a Waldorf Education for Free! Families around the world pay an average of $9,000 to $11,000 (or more) per year for each child they have in a private Waldorf school. Let your friends and/or families come see how beautiful and awesome our school really is. We will be sending home 2 post card invitations that you can use to send out personally (feel free to sign them.) There will be more available in the office. Thank you so much for your help as we work together in growth.
-Mia Connolly and the Marketing Committee

 

A Snowy Day

Oh, I do love a snowy day. Sometimes the snowflakes are big, sometimes the snowflakes are small. Soft, white, quiet, silent snow. You can even see the shapes of the snowflakes; because it melts right when you touch it! Everything is white, white trees, white houses, it blankets the ground like a white quilt. The snow tastes like everything delicious in the world, soft white snow. It makes you feel cold, but it also makes you feel happy, gay and wonderful at the same time. It looks like little angels floating down, down to the ground.

Feliz Manzanedo
(4th Grade)

SCHOOL NEWS

THANK YOU!

To the few, the proud, the Angel workers that showed up Saturday for school clean-up. Working side by side with fellow parents is not only a great experience but also another opportunity to strengthen our community! If you missed this clean-up , don’t ya worry none, we will do it again in the Spring!! The school looks great!!! Way to go Mountain Oak!!

P.S. Many hands make light work and we had a few hands on this important clean-up day, which reminds me of the story of The Little Red Hen….please read it on the next page and reflect on its meaning and how we are or are not teaching our children through our own examples of helping or not helping grow a strong, mighty Mountain Oak School!

Soil Needed

Looking for a pick-up truck load of good soil for our front flower bed. Please let Ms. Therese know if you can help

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO BENI GARCIA
who is saving Mountain Oak Charter School approximately $100 per month by changing our phone long distance plan! Way to Go Beni!

30/30 Fundraiser Update

A big thank you to Carol Kennedy and Steve Democker for filling in the last two spots in the 30/ 30 club. Now we have (30) $30 contributions each month. Also, a big thank you to Susan Grandjean who has been filling in when needed. A big big thank you to all of the 30/ 30 club members for their continuous monthly support and making this fundraiser a great success. It wouldn't happen without all of you!! Three months left...Who will be our final winners?

Lost and Found

Please remember to check our lost and found and our recycle bins. We must start to beautify our school for the Open House coming up next week.

A local nursing home has requested any art work from our children. Please forward to our school office and we will make arrangements to deliver it to the nursing home.