PN May 8 2015 - Brookfield School

May 8, 2015 Edition
Rising to the Challenge!
Pre-first Student Urges her Schoolmates to be Good Stewards of our New Campus
Every day is Earth Day, according to Brookfield Pre-first Student, Annamika Bains, who took her Earth
Day lessons about conservation and stewardship to heart. Annamika spent part of her weekend making
beautiful signs to post around campus to remind her fellow students to respect our environment, recycle,
and keep our beautiful new campus clean. Thank you, Anna! As the grass takes hold in the soccer field,
the flowers come into bloom in the planters, and the primary students go on imaginary flights on the new
airplane/teeter-totter, it’s important to remember that maintaining our beautiful 5-acre campus is everyone’s responsibility.
Mr. Bernard Marks, a Holocaust survivor, sponsors an annual essay contest, that encourages young people to learn
about this tragic event in history, and to honor those who died in the Holocaust , as well as those whose efforts
saved the lives of Jewish citizens during the Nazi regime. Pictured left are our school’s runner up and co-winner,
Queenie Lee and Riya Shergill, who were recognized at a special “Day of Remembrance” held at B’nai Israel Congregation. On the left are all the students who participated in the essay contest, with our other co-winner, Matthew
Gunning and our English Teacher, Dr. Tracy, who includes this essay contest as part of the student’s writing assignments. Thank you to Mr. Marks for providing our students with the opportunity to participate.
The Fourth Grade Class came by to bug Dr. Jo (literally!) in her office with their creative renditions of various
insects. Each student shared at least one interesting fact about his or her bug. The students' fun critters were constructed from a curious variety of materials, including cucumbers, pipe cleaners, kiwi fruit, and socks!
Welcome to the Brookfield Prairie…
Second graders enjoyed culminating their study
of Laura Ingles Wilder’s book, Little House on
the Prairie, with fun stations where they tried
some activities that were popular with pioneer
children. Parents assisted with butter making,
carding and spinning yarn activities, doll making,
playground games, and more!
More photos on next page...
More Pioneer Day Fun!
Students sampled corn bread and made homemade butter, made simple toys and dolls like those pioneer children used in play. Thank you to Mrs. Laborde LaGrave
and her parent volunteer helpers for organizing this fun
morning for our students!
Twenty states in our country have policies that prohibit “early enrollment” in kindergarten. California is
one of those states. As principal of an accelerated school, I question who has the right to make that determination? Is it in the best interest of children to ban those who are developmentally ready to start school
based on an arbitrary birth date? Whose interests are being served?
The trend in our state is to push up the starting age for kindergarten, and in many cases, to postpone the start of
kindergarten even more by advising parents to enroll their children in transitional kindergarten. I’ve observed this
trend in both public and private schools in our region. One of my grandsons was recommended to transitional
kindergarten at his Catholic school based solely on his birth date. This is a child who was starting to read, had
highly-developed fine motor skills, and excellent focus. I recommended that his parents push for admission to
kindergarten. I sound like a pushy grandma, don’t I? Well, that little fellow is now in second grade, and while he
is the youngest child in his class by nearly a year, he is also the highest performer. As a person who spends much
of her time screening children for admission and placement in our accelerated school, I knew my grandson was
ready, and more importantly, I knew that delaying his start would do more harm than good. Education is NOT
one-size-fits-all. Experience has taught me that children should be placed in kindergarten when they are ready,
and readiness has very little to do with one’s date of birth.
So what is behind the trend to start “real school” later and later? A 2006 study (Bedard and Dhuey) may have
misled well-meaning educators. The study concluded that there was “substantial evidence that initial maturity
differences have long lasting effects on student performance,” and that “the youngest members of each group (of
4th graders studied) scored 4-12 percentiles lower than the oldest members.” Additionally, this study extrapolated data from Canada and the United States to predict that the youngest members of each class are less likely to
attend college. That’s a frightening assumption!
Studies like this one were likely to spur the trend to delay kindergarten, but more recent studies contradict, or at
least put these other studies into perspective. One such study published in 2012 (Pellizzari and Billari), introduced a control for potential selection effects as well as for differences in cognitive ability, as measured by an
attitudinal entry test. With the control in place that started with a group of bright children who demonstrated
early readiness, the Pellizzari and Billari study concluded that “contrary to most of the existing evidence for
younger pupils, we document that at the undergraduate level, youngest students perform better compared with
their oldest peers. This finding is only partly explained by differences in cognitive ability and rather seems to be
associated with differences in social activities.” These early-starters not only went to college, they actually performed better than their older peers!
Additionally, a longitudinal study , A Nation Empowered, that was conducted by researchers at the University of
Iowa, examined decades-long data and concluded that acceleration can have a very positive impact on some students. As one of the study’s authors points out, “There’s a huge paradox out there where we know acceleration
works, but we have actual policies against it.” Another contributor noted that ,“When high-achieving children
aren’t challenged, they get bored and run the risk of becoming disengaged.” As the principal of an accelerated
school, I love to see bored, disengaged children who transfer to Brookfield suddenly rediscover their love of
learning. Even classroom behavioral problems seem to melt away when bright children are appropriately challenged. The old proverb, “an idle mind is the Devil’s playground,” comes to mind!
Every child who is admitted to Brookfield is carefully screened for readiness and placed in the class/grade level
that is socially and cognitively appropriate for that individual. The child’s birth date is not a determining factor.
For this reason, you will find an age gap of approximately two years between the youngest and oldest child in
each class. Contrary to the belief that placing younger children in classes with older, larger, and “more developed” children is harmful, I have found that very bright children tend to gravitate to older children as companions
when they can’t relate well to their classmates, due to their advanced social and cognitive maturity. Brookfield
students benefit from being part of a community of “like-minded peers.” To quote one of our students who transferred to our school, “I finally have friends in my class who are just like me!”
- Dr. Jo
Brookfield Third Graders Share their Newbery Book Projects
Brookfield Third Graders created wonderful projects from Newbery Award Winning books that they read during
the month of April. Do you see one of your favorites represented in these sculptures? Preston included photographs of his work in progress. The finished bust of the main character is at the far right. The projects included
student-created newspapers, mobiles, and even a “live” TV commercial. What a great way to get children excited
about reading high quality literature!
The 7th and 8th Grade classes enjoyed a week in Yosemite as an outdoor education trip. Everyone had an awesome time. The y had great weather which allowed for spectacular views throughout the trip, and enjoyed staying
in Curry Village , surrounded by Granite Point, Half Dome, North Dome, and Yosemite Falls.
The group hiked many miles and explored just a fraction of this wonderful National treasure - Mirror Lake (about
5 1/2 miles), Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls (11+ miles) and a trek to El Capitan (shuttle to Camp 4 and then 5 or
so miles). The parent chaperones report that our students were wonderfully behaved.
We (literally) rose to the challenge!
The 6th Grade Class had a
blast and learned to depend
on each other and work together as they participated in
a climbing and rope challenge at Sacramento State.
Some students managed to
overcome their fear of
heights with their peers’
encouragement and support.
It was a great day!
Students in all grade levels had fun
showing off their groovy disco routines to their parents on Disco Inferno Day, an event that is rapidly
becoming a favorite Brookfield tradition! PE Teacher, Mr. Flolo, challenged the students to choreograph
original dance routines that featured
strength, balance, and conditioning
moves in their dances. The end
products were both impressive and
hilarious! These photos feature
some fancy moves from students in
grades 2 and 3. Watch some video
clips on our website:
Www.brookfieldschool.org
Many classes planned special tributes for their mothers on May 8th, when students sang songs, performed recitations and skits, or pampered mom with a nice manicure. Here are some of our Pre-first
students enjoying the day with their mommies. Happy Mother’s Day to all our Brookfield Moms!