Division 10's News of the Week

Our BODY SCIENCE workshop with Saleem Noon was fantastic! I hope you were able to attend the session the night before to get a preview of what the children learned. If you didnt have time, here is a summary of waht was covered in the 45 minute workshop: 1)the four private parts of the body: mouth, genitals,breasts and buttocks. 2) that they have ownership of their bodies (basics of consent) 3) the scientific words related to anatomy and reproduction (vulva, penis, testicles, vagina, urethra, anus, uterus) 4) that reproduction happens when a sperm joins an egg, usually (but not always) through sexual intercourse 5) that the baby grows in the uterus (not the stomach) 6) that the baby is usually born through the vagina 7) that families are formed in different ways and are all unique 8) not to pick up condoms or needles. Then Sarah, our moderator, took time for questions. I was very proud of the children as they handled the information wiht maturity and took the discussion time seriously. One of the main messages that was was relayed to the children is that talking about their bodies is NOT a secret, but it is a PRIVATE topic. This means that conversations about private body parts needs to be done with a trusted adult in an appropriate place at the appropriate time: it is not expected to be talked about on the school bus, in the grocery story, on the playground, etc. If you would like to further support your child's sexual health education Saleem Noon has an excellent website and you can google her name. In class we will be continuing to process these concepts as well as continuing our unit called "Let's Talk about Touching". On Wednesday the children participated in another STEM challenge. Spring is a time for birds to build their nests for their eggs so the children were challenged to build a tree to hold a bird nest with two marshmellow eggs...they had to first build it with 6 cubes, then 10, then 18...they had to think about how to balance the cup and eggs on popsicle sticks that needed to be intersected as well as a base to support the entire tree. They had a blast!! They encouraged each other and shared ideas. Check out their smiles and their trees. Our Painted Lady Caterpillars arrived on Thursday and we did some observations...they are already wanting to build their chrysalis's!! They are our new class pets! It has been a busy and wonderful week. We are on our homestretch now. Only about 6 weeks left! Isnt that crazy??? I hope the children are having as much fun as I am. (Did they tell you I had a zero day one day???) argh...flat tire coming to school , then getting a parking ticket because i couldnt drive it past where I did and thought I was parked legally, but I guess I wasnt!!) That was how my day started, but the children said they would work hard at filling my bucket and by the end of the day..it was FULL! and I was a TEN and that is all i have for you today..enjoy the pictures!! xo ms. t