Donna's Bumblebee Room
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Where do I begin when we are so close to the end? I could thank my classroom volunteers, first.
Joe Franklin, Wenhua Hart and Kim Kuhle (Morin) have been listening to readers regularly ALL YEAR! They have watched
the struggling readers become more fluent and the new readers become more confident. They went from listening to a mere 4
or 5 children in September to 10-12 readers in April. Thank you for your patience! Krista Frazier and Melissa Robbins also
helped out.
Thank you, Leslee Walker (Meeker) for bringing in those lovely flowers the last few weeks. The children’s faces light up on
Mondays when Alexander walks into the room carrying a colorful bouquet.
Thank you, Chris and Melissa Roberts for helping us set up a collection for the orphans in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The children seem to look forward to bringing in their dollar (or more!) to put in the special box.
Thank you, Mark and Kim Lester for your great organizational skills used in putting together our Run for the Arts back in
September. The park was an excellent place for this event and you had plenty of volunteers!
Thank you, Kim Rigby and Sandra Gorla for helping our Atrium teacher, Danielle Benge every Wednesday. Although I miss
being a part of the Atrium (Good Shepherd) classes, I am consoled knowing the children are in your capable hands.
Thank you, Casey Stafford for coming on Tuesday mornings to stimulate and move our children with exercise. Although they
were at times very talkative, I could tell that they looked forward to it.
Thank you, Geoff and Melissa Robbins again, for organizing our playground maintenance day. It went so smoothly that our
volunteers only needed to be here for 2 hours to spread 20 yards of cedar chips!
All of you who took home the laundry, brought library books and helped in other ways, I thank you too. There is just too much
to do (you can’t even imagine) in a primary classroom and every little effort helps us.
Barbara, my dear friend and longtime assistant (since 1991!), I can never say enough about how much your presence and
devotion means to me. I love how you enjoy giving those Sandpaper Letter lessons, how you organize the book club and the
scrip order forms, how you haul our big easel up and down the stairs, how you set up and take down our hot lunch table and
dishes, how you clean the gerbils cage, even though you don’t like touching them, how you prepare snack in the mornings,
and how you speak gently and respectfully to the children. I couldn’t ask for a better person to work with!
As for the children who have become such a part of my life, I will be sad saying goodbye to my Kindergartners, Dorothy,
Stella, Joel, Sitara and Emili. They have come so far and have gotten such a good start on their education, that I am confident
about their success in their next school. Dorothy has gained confidence in her reading and comprehension especially when it
comes to performing her own science experiments. Stella has developed quite the hand at cursive writing. Joel took on
reading just this year and has come very far already! Sitara enjoys doing math just as much as she enjoys writing stories.
Emili has always been a voracious reader, enjoying chapter books already, but she also enjoys learning about animals and
history.
It has been a ride, to watch the four-now-five-year-olds building confidence and discovering their creative side. In September I
always wonder how they are going to mature enough to become the Kindergartner leaders next year and by May they prove
that they’re ready. Aaron is counting very quickly and catching onto patterns in numbers. He’ll be ready for more lessons in
subtraction and multiplication next year. Tommy H. is beginning to use a pencil more often and refining those small motor
muscles that will come in handy when he has to write down some math equations.
Autumn is building confidence not only in reading but in cursive writing. Next year she’ll probably be doing some research
projects. She’ll also be doing a lot of graph making! Alexander is practicing his ‘puzzle words’ which are words he can’t sound
out but must recognize on sight. He’ll be ready to read our “Ice Cream Book” next year and take a trip to Burgerville with me!
Luke has blossomed into a very conscientious person, gaining more confidence also in his math abilities. He’ll be exploring
more abstract ways of doing math, as well as continuing his work in reading. Olivia will most likely be involved in doing
subtraction and multiplication with our Golden Bead work next year, as well as doing more research projects.
Berlyn can’t seem to get enough reading or math. I anticipate that she will excel in both of those areas next year, writing her
own stories or even starting her number chain of writing #’s 1-1000 this year! Kelsey is also anxious to learn more math and
create books. She is currently working on her Addition book which she will probably finish before this year is over.
The children in my room whom I have another two years to enjoy working with are KimberAnn, Aby, Shiven, Tommy M., and
Gage. KimberAnn knows most of her letter sounds so I anticipate that next year she’ll turn to reading and writing more. Aby
loves to explore with the sensorial material so I am guessing that next year she might exhaust that desire and turn more toward
learning how to read. Shiven and Tommy M. already know all of their letter sounds so I will not be surprised that they will start
reading by the end of summer, if not before. Gage has a strong desire to draw and trace things. I have a feeling that he will
probably go through many of my “Parts of…” books, as well as turn his attention toward more science experiments next year.
Sneha and Amelia get to spend another three years with Barbara and I-yay! Because Amelia has already learned to read,
she chooses to explore the other areas of our classroom. She enjoyed making a ‘dot’ book of #’s 1-10. I loved watching her
go back to each page of that book and recount the dots, finding that the ‘7’ was missing a dot and adding one. Sneha is
conversing more with her peers and even using some polite expressions. She is becoming more helpful, breaking out of that
‘me’ mode that typical 2-3 year-olds have.
I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone whose child I omitted from previous newsletters. It is when I am
feeling the pressure to get our newsletter out on time that I forget to make a checklist of each child’s name and go back to
make sure that I included something about each child in my classroom report. Please be assured it is NOT because I think
any less of your child! Without my little checklist, I try to remember each child according to their last name but my sense of
recall isn’t always what it should be. Chalk it up to just being forgetful, it’s never intentional.
Finally, I would like to say goodbye to another wonderful year, full of butterfly releasing, show-watching, bloody noses, happy
singing, movement mornings, orphan helping, and celebrations of little feats. Barbara and I enjoy working with your children
and they will always have a special place in our hearts.
Enjoy the summer with your child!
Yours,
Donna
Joe Franklin, Wenhua Hart and Kim Kuhle (Morin) have been listening to readers regularly ALL YEAR! They have watched
the struggling readers become more fluent and the new readers become more confident. They went from listening to a mere 4
or 5 children in September to 10-12 readers in April. Thank you for your patience! Krista Frazier and Melissa Robbins also
helped out.
Thank you, Leslee Walker (Meeker) for bringing in those lovely flowers the last few weeks. The children’s faces light up on
Mondays when Alexander walks into the room carrying a colorful bouquet.
Thank you, Chris and Melissa Roberts for helping us set up a collection for the orphans in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The children seem to look forward to bringing in their dollar (or more!) to put in the special box.
Thank you, Mark and Kim Lester for your great organizational skills used in putting together our Run for the Arts back in
September. The park was an excellent place for this event and you had plenty of volunteers!
Thank you, Kim Rigby and Sandra Gorla for helping our Atrium teacher, Danielle Benge every Wednesday. Although I miss
being a part of the Atrium (Good Shepherd) classes, I am consoled knowing the children are in your capable hands.
Thank you, Casey Stafford for coming on Tuesday mornings to stimulate and move our children with exercise. Although they
were at times very talkative, I could tell that they looked forward to it.
Thank you, Geoff and Melissa Robbins again, for organizing our playground maintenance day. It went so smoothly that our
volunteers only needed to be here for 2 hours to spread 20 yards of cedar chips!
All of you who took home the laundry, brought library books and helped in other ways, I thank you too. There is just too much
to do (you can’t even imagine) in a primary classroom and every little effort helps us.
Barbara, my dear friend and longtime assistant (since 1991!), I can never say enough about how much your presence and
devotion means to me. I love how you enjoy giving those Sandpaper Letter lessons, how you organize the book club and the
scrip order forms, how you haul our big easel up and down the stairs, how you set up and take down our hot lunch table and
dishes, how you clean the gerbils cage, even though you don’t like touching them, how you prepare snack in the mornings,
and how you speak gently and respectfully to the children. I couldn’t ask for a better person to work with!
As for the children who have become such a part of my life, I will be sad saying goodbye to my Kindergartners, Dorothy,
Stella, Joel, Sitara and Emili. They have come so far and have gotten such a good start on their education, that I am confident
about their success in their next school. Dorothy has gained confidence in her reading and comprehension especially when it
comes to performing her own science experiments. Stella has developed quite the hand at cursive writing. Joel took on
reading just this year and has come very far already! Sitara enjoys doing math just as much as she enjoys writing stories.
Emili has always been a voracious reader, enjoying chapter books already, but she also enjoys learning about animals and
history.
It has been a ride, to watch the four-now-five-year-olds building confidence and discovering their creative side. In September I
always wonder how they are going to mature enough to become the Kindergartner leaders next year and by May they prove
that they’re ready. Aaron is counting very quickly and catching onto patterns in numbers. He’ll be ready for more lessons in
subtraction and multiplication next year. Tommy H. is beginning to use a pencil more often and refining those small motor
muscles that will come in handy when he has to write down some math equations.
Autumn is building confidence not only in reading but in cursive writing. Next year she’ll probably be doing some research
projects. She’ll also be doing a lot of graph making! Alexander is practicing his ‘puzzle words’ which are words he can’t sound
out but must recognize on sight. He’ll be ready to read our “Ice Cream Book” next year and take a trip to Burgerville with me!
Luke has blossomed into a very conscientious person, gaining more confidence also in his math abilities. He’ll be exploring
more abstract ways of doing math, as well as continuing his work in reading. Olivia will most likely be involved in doing
subtraction and multiplication with our Golden Bead work next year, as well as doing more research projects.
Berlyn can’t seem to get enough reading or math. I anticipate that she will excel in both of those areas next year, writing her
own stories or even starting her number chain of writing #’s 1-1000 this year! Kelsey is also anxious to learn more math and
create books. She is currently working on her Addition book which she will probably finish before this year is over.
The children in my room whom I have another two years to enjoy working with are KimberAnn, Aby, Shiven, Tommy M., and
Gage. KimberAnn knows most of her letter sounds so I anticipate that next year she’ll turn to reading and writing more. Aby
loves to explore with the sensorial material so I am guessing that next year she might exhaust that desire and turn more toward
learning how to read. Shiven and Tommy M. already know all of their letter sounds so I will not be surprised that they will start
reading by the end of summer, if not before. Gage has a strong desire to draw and trace things. I have a feeling that he will
probably go through many of my “Parts of…” books, as well as turn his attention toward more science experiments next year.
Sneha and Amelia get to spend another three years with Barbara and I-yay! Because Amelia has already learned to read,
she chooses to explore the other areas of our classroom. She enjoyed making a ‘dot’ book of #’s 1-10. I loved watching her
go back to each page of that book and recount the dots, finding that the ‘7’ was missing a dot and adding one. Sneha is
conversing more with her peers and even using some polite expressions. She is becoming more helpful, breaking out of that
‘me’ mode that typical 2-3 year-olds have.
I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone whose child I omitted from previous newsletters. It is when I am
feeling the pressure to get our newsletter out on time that I forget to make a checklist of each child’s name and go back to
make sure that I included something about each child in my classroom report. Please be assured it is NOT because I think
any less of your child! Without my little checklist, I try to remember each child according to their last name but my sense of
recall isn’t always what it should be. Chalk it up to just being forgetful, it’s never intentional.
Finally, I would like to say goodbye to another wonderful year, full of butterfly releasing, show-watching, bloody noses, happy
singing, movement mornings, orphan helping, and celebrations of little feats. Barbara and I enjoy working with your children
and they will always have a special place in our hearts.
Enjoy the summer with your child!
Yours,
Donna
Camas Montessori School