Dec. 6, 2013
We welcome you here to take a glimpse into the school day and the curriculum, and we wish you a wonderful holiday season.
- The DVWS Faculty
Early Childhood
As the natural world has transitioned into a winter mood, so
has our seasonal nature table. The root children are tucked in
sleeping in Mother Earth's winter home down below whilst
Mary has begun her star journey above. We dutifully and
reverently help move her along from star to star on her Advent
journey while we sing in circle time of the blessings and
treasures this time of year provides.
Miss Ieva's class spread seeds in the prairie (see photo). Oh how
the children loved to watch the wind take the feathery wings!
1st Grade
Math Skills: Number bonds, counting forwards and backwards
to 100 and continuing practice with all four operations.
Painting: Color studies of complementary colors and the color wheel.
Practical Arts: We made birdseed pine cones to hang on the tree outside our classroom window.
Spanish: Students have delighted in hearing "The Gingerbread MaN" in Spanish. They've quickly learned the famous words of that quick little fellow in Spanish! Like the fox, we will enjoy delicious gingerbread men at the end of this month. 
Handwork: Knitting a square.
Music: Introduction to the lyre.
Movement: Farm listening game-animals in the barn.
Extra Lesson: Picking up, counting and sorting marbles using toes. String games. Spiral forms with feet.
2nd Grade
1st and 2nd grade movement class.
Block: Language Arts, Continued consonant and vowel blends. Introduction of digraphs and sentence composition.
Math Skills: Increasing speed and complexity with vertical addition and subtraction problems.
Spanish: (2nd through 8th grades) We will spend the month learning about the Mexican tradition of Las Posadas, a re-enactment of Joseph and Mary's search for room at an inn. All children will have a part in making and eating delicious tamales, a tradition of this holiday.
Handwork: Finishing knitting and purling a rainbow ball.
Music: Revisiting the lyre and making our own songs on the flute. Preparation for Santa Lucia festival.
Movement: Farm animal listening game.
Extra Lesson: Spirals using feet. Finger tip clay modeling.
3rd and 4th Grade
Block: Norse Mythology. Creation of the Nine and stories of the gods.
Math Skills: Increasing speed and accuracy of facts.
Language Arts Skills: Parts of speech, punctuation. Rehearsal of lines for pageant-finding our performance speaking voices.
Arts: Color study painting (see photo) and modeling.
Handwork: Crocheting and knitting individualized projects.
Music: More and more sounds in the major mode. Preparing for
Solfege (Do, Re, Mi). Preparation for the Christmas pageant.
Movement: Blob tag- a group tag game.
Extra Lesson: Developing finger strength and dexterity. exercises to increase flexible thinking. Secondary color painting exercise- what colors are hidden in orange?
5th & 6th Grade
Block: Astronomy-calendar and stars. Prior to this block the class performed
A Wrinkle in Time, a play they wrote after being captivated by the novel.
Math Skills: Business math.
Language Arts Skills: Adjectives.
Spanish: Las Posadas. (see description above)
Music: Singing in parts. Recorder playing.
Orchestra: Exploring the sounds of Christmas through improvisation.
Handwork: 5th-Knitting the cuff of the sock. 6th-Embroidering handwork bags.
Movement: Soccer.
7th & 8th Grade
Block: The American and French Revolutions. There will be an exploration of how these wars put forward new ideals and how these ideals influenced modern history.
Math Skills: Group 1- Pre-algebra, writing and solving more complex equations. Group 2- Pre-Algebra, using algebra to solve word
problems. Group 3- Algebra, fundamental operations, applying the four processes to monomials and polynomials.
Language Arts Skills: Recognizing compound subjects and verbs. 
Arts: Continued carving of linoleum blocks (see photo)
Spanish: Las Posadas. (see description above)
Handwork: Learning about pattern shaping. Making pajama pants (see photo) in machine sewing which connects with their studies of the Industrial Revolution.
Music: Circle of 5th Study through sound as compares to organic geometrical design. Preparation for the Christmas pageant.
Movement: Soccer.
Orchestra: Improvisation, and enjoying the sounds of Christmas.
