Category: Owlets

Music Enrichment Classes

We are excited to offer music enrichment classes this fall! The classes, listed below, will begin on Thursday, September 30th and run through December 16th.

  • Music & Movement for Preschool & Pre-K on Thursdays from 2:30 – 2:50 p.m. Students will experience music through play, movement and singing games. Students will work towards development of perceiving and performing the steady beat in music, identifying and understanding musical form, and recognizing musical opposites such as fast and slow, loud and soft and high and low. In addition, the classes will emphasize the development of proper vocal technique and health. Students in this class will receive complimentary Extended Day care from 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. on days the class meets.

  • Beginning Choral Habits for K – 2nd Grade on Thursdays from 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. The K-2 after school music course will be an opportunity for students to develop beginning choral habits and structure. Students will learn proper body alignment, breathing and vocal techniques and will work on developing beautiful blend with several unison choral arrangements. Later on in the year, students may work towards arrangements in canon and two-part harmony. Singing games will also be incorporated to allow for musical enjoyment and allow the students to engage the music with movement, imagination and creativity.

To sign your child up for one of the above classes, please click on the class name.

#SaklanWellRounded

Five Senses

The Owlet class has been learning all about the five senses: sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing. The students learned that using your senses helps you learn about the world and be mindful and aware of things around you. The Owlets used all of their senses to experience a variety of fruits and vegetables, including celery, bell pepper, lemon, cabbage, and apples from Saklan’s apple tree! Some of the students tasted a new food they’d never had before!

After looking at, listening to, smelling, tasting, and feeling the produce, the Owlets then used the cut fruits and veggies as stamps on ink pads to make beautiful prints.

#SaklanAcademic

Saklan has CLAS

Students share appreciations during the first CLAS

Last year gave us time to think about some of the things we have done for years and how to do them better. One of those things is Friday Flag- a long tradition that we have held out in front of School every Friday morning. After conversations with parents, teachers and students, we will be moving to a new Friday morning assembly called CLAS (Community, Learning, Appreciation, and Sharing). 

The impetus to move to CLAS was to emphasize the aspects of Saklan we sincerely appreciate: our community, that love of learning is central to everything we do, that gratitude and appreciation is our lifeblood, and that sharing is how we all grow as individuals. 

CLAS will be held on the Saklan Sports Court every other week. This allows each division to meet on the off weeks and hold assemblies that bring them together as a smaller group; the Saklan Sports Court provides a more protected gathering space. 

Parents are invited to join us for CLAS by entering campus through the fire lane near the church right at 8:30 a.m.

Thank you to everyone who joined us this morning for our first CLAS! It was so wonderful to see our entire community in the same space and to hear the words of wisdom and appreciations that the students shared with us. Check out pictures from today’s gathering below.

#SaklanCLAS #SaklanCommunity

Signs of Spring

Spring is in full swing and the Hoot Owls and Owlets in Ms. Jessica’s class are seeing signs of it everywhere! They’ve been learning all about the parts of nature they’re seeing more of as the world comes alive.

For almost a month, students have been tending to and observing the radish seeds they planted back on Earth Day. To further their plant learning, the Owls created and labeled the parts of a plant. They’ve taken the opportunity to observe and interact with many different types of plants by using magnifying glasses, dissecting flowers, and creating collages with plants as well! As a class, students planted bean sprout and pea plant seeds in a transparent planter so they could observe the seed coat softening and the roots growing down into the soil. The Owls made their own plant life cycle wheels while observing the bean and pea plants, and noticed which plants were in different parts of the cycle.

Beyond plants, spring also brings new bugs! The class has been using nets and bug catchers to collect and observe bugs from the play yard! They learned that all insects have certain feature: six legs, three body sections, and antennae.

The Owls will bring their learning to life with a special performance at next week’s Friday Flag, so tune in on May 28!

#SaklanHandsOn

Learning About Famous Authors

The Owls in Ms. Jessica’s class are bringing classic children’s books to life by learning about famous authors in a hands-on way! First, the Owls read books written by children’s author Laura Numeroff, including If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Cat a Cupcake. To further engage with the book, they used messy foam paint to “frost” giant cupcakes of their own, complete with sparkly sprinkles!

Next, the Owls learned about Mo Willems, who wrote and illustrated books like Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, as well as various books featuring the characters Gerald and Piggy. After watching a video of Mo Willems and his friends acting out one of his books, they created Gerald and Piggy art of their own.

As the Owls continuing learning about famous authors, they will also begin writing and illustrating books of their own. We can’t wait to see what stories they will share!

#SaklanHandsOn

Owls on the Move

To wrap up their transportation unit, the Saklan Owls turned their sights skyward, learning about airplanes and helicopters. They incorporated math learning and built fine motor skills by cutting and assembling different shapes like a puzzle to make a helicopter.

They also tapped into their inner artists by doing marble painting on airplane shapes, creating unique lines and patterns. The tracks that the marbles made across the paper were reminiscent of the condensation trails planes make when they move across the sky!

The Owls closed out their transportation unit with a fun celebration! Each student brought in their own method of transportation from home, and had a blast zooming around the parking lot on their bikes and scooters!

#SaklanHandsOn

Studying Modes of Transportation

The Hoot Owls and Owlets in Ms. Jessica’s class have been learning about different types of transportation. First the class took a vote to see what the students were most interested in learning about. The Owls love practicing voting and making their own choices! Cars and space travel tied as the top choices to explore first.

Some unfortunate but serendipitous car troubles for Ms. Jessica kicked off a conversation about tires, how they work, what happens when you get a flat tire, and how tow trucks carry other cars!

The Owls enjoyed some messy collaborative painting with cars and trucks, observing how different tires made different tracks.

The Owls also made their own traffic lights to go along with a song they learned called “Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light,” which they were excited to share at Friday Flag this morning!

#SaklanEmergent

Holiday Traditions Around the World

The Owls in Ms. Jessica’s class enjoyed learning about holiday traditions from different countries and cultures. The children love to look at the globe and map together! During December, they located Russia, Sweden, Norway, Mexico and Africa. With winter growing nearer, the Owls first took a look at the Russian Winter Festival: colorful lights, decorations, costumes, horse-drawn sleighs (called “troikas”), ice skating, and music are just a few of the ways the season is celebrated. After seeing the impressive ice sculpture display at the Moscow festival, the Owls got the opportunity to work hands-on with different shaped ice cubes to try and create their own sculptures! 

Next the Owls learned about St. Lucia Day, a holiday celebrated in Sweden, Norway, and other European countries. One of the traditions is to celebrate light overcoming darkness in the winter season by lighting many candles and singing songs. The class watched a short clip of children dressed as St. Lucia singing together. The Owls then got to make their own woven heart, a traditional holiday decoration from Sweden. It was a little tricky, but with practice everyone was able to make a beautiful heart!

Ms. Jessica’s class then learned about a Christmas tradition originating from Mexico called Las Posadas. It is a nine-day celebration during which families reenact the story of Mary and Joseph searching for a place to stay. Large groups of people, often in costumes and carrying candles, travel throughout their neighborhoods singing carols and knocking on doors looking for las posadas (the inns). On the ninth day everyone comes together to share food and drinks and the children break open a star shaped piñata. Of course the Owls couldn’t pass up the opportunity to celebrate with a piñata of their own!

The final holiday the class learned about was Kwanzaa. The Owls learned that much like Hanukkah, a candle is lit for each of the seven nights of Kwanzaa. For each night, a different principle is celebrated: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. They learned that many of the traditions of Kwanzaa are based on customs from parts of Africa, used to celebrate their heritage.

#SaklanHandsOn