1st Grade

Jack Frost iced over our familiar hiking path, but we did not give up! We found a new one, and met a new friend on the way. The first graders experience and enjoy all seasons on their hikes through Lakewood Forest Preserve each Wednesday.

1st Grade - Math

The first grade has finished their "Four Processes" block. It was a happy time of discovery and understanding. On the last day of the block the children put on a play about the four siblings who lived with their mother and father by a lovely orchard of hazelnut trees.

Adellie-Addition, Sebastian-Subtraction, Molly-Multiplication and David-Division have been given new nicknames by their beloved grandfather, who taught the children the different ways of counting the hazelnuts.

1st Grade - Candlemas

February 2nd is Candlemas Day. This ancient festival marks the midpoint of winter, halfway between the shortest day of the year and the spring equinox. Candlemas is a day which holds many different customs:

Candlemas is a traditional Christmas festival that commemorates the ritual purification of Mary forty days after the birth of Jesus as well as the first presentation of Christ at the temple (Jewish custom 40 days after the birth of a boy.)
In pre-Christian times this day was known as the "Feast of Lights" and celebrated the increase of strength of the life-giving sun as winter gave way to spring.
Romans had a custom of lighting candles to scare away evil spirits in the winter.
In Scotland, Candlemas was the day when children brought candles to school to light the classroom on dark days. As gas lighting overtook candle lighting, children brought money instead, which the teacher would spend on treats. The child who contributed the most money was declared King or Queen of Candlemas and "ruled" for six weeks with special powers of declaring play time for one afternoon per week and pardoning any classmate they wished from punishments.
And of course people have practiced the belief that the weather on Candlemas Day predicts the weather for the remainder of winter—a precursor to our modern-day Groundhog Day.