I Can

Last Fall we had the opportunity to move Ava to the Downtown School. We put Ava on the waiting list for the school when she was three months (yes months) old and she was admitted when she was six. We love the learning environment she is participating in... The school uses multi-age classrooms instead of grades. They stay in the same classroom, with the same teacher for two years. The class size is small, 1-16 ratio, but each room has two classes allowing the teachers to use a team approach. There is a significant emphasis placed on parental involvement and parents are encouraged to drop by during the day. The Downtown School uses project based learning for their students - so they have units of varying lengths up to six weeks where the class centers their learning around a specific topic. (Plants, Restaurants, Pasta, Shoes....) At the end of their units they do a culminating event where they present what they've learned.

This week, while John and I were away, Ava's school had poetry night. For the past ten days or so her class has been working on poetry, both original works and reading other authors. Papa Ray took Ava to poetry night in our absence where she presented her original work, "I Can."

I Can

I can jump from lots of boulders.

I can see me.

I can do it.

I can see my mom.

I can be me.

I can swim.

I can do it.

Reading "I Can....."

Photos courtesy of Papa Ray.