7 to 9 Years
A deeper understanding of money skills are an important part of navigating through life. Students can learn the basics of money with recognizing the value of coins and paper money. We will check out currency from around the world and learn about coin collecting. We need all the math operations when dealing with money. Money lends itself to numerous games, activities, and stories. The book, A Chair for My Mother offers a lesson about the rewards of hard work, thrift, and savings. In the book Money, the history of money and how coins and paper money are made are explained. Counting by 5s, 10, and 100s will be easy by the end of this class!
Kirsten Karlsrud
1 hour Wednesdays, 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
$340
This class is back by popular demand! We’ll explore the universe from our solar system to our galaxy and beyond! Students will learn about planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and many kinds of stars as well as how these celestial bodies behave. We’ll look at constellations and learn their stories as well!.
Abby Polakow
1 Hour Wednesdays, 10:00 am- 11:00 am
$340
My goal is to promote the joy of reading. Our students have strong verbal skills and we can turn them into reading skills! Emerging readers will enjoy singing, rhyming, acting out stories, making storyboards, and of course listening to fiction and non-fiction books. After assessing the level of the class, I apply whatever method works best, combined with the topics the children are drawn to as a group. An example of related themes for class would be The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and the nonfiction book Tell Me, Tree by Gail Gibbons. These books lend themselves to art and science projects. Ramona, a children’s librarian at the Atwater branch read to my class this year and she has agreed to come again. With support, the class can go to the library, get a card, and take out a book. Books can get us to infinity and beyond.
Kirsten Karlsrud
1 hour, Friday, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
$340
We are creating a time and a space to dive into Ancient Civilizations. Our class will step into the daily life of people from Greece, Mesopotamia, and Japan. They can spend the morning being able to concentrate on one aspect of our studies when necessary, or change gears to a different but related task. We will learn about ancient people by studying their geography, government, religion, sports, and children’s toys and games. Our class will always go outside for a break and perhaps some Olympic training, hunting games, and Samurai exercises. We will read stories from each area, learning morals from the Greek author Aesop, seeking the first superhero, Gilgamesh from Mesopotamia, and poetry from Japan. Their music and art will lend themselves to on-going projects. Math and science can be incorporated according to the children’s interest and level. Each civilization’s ingenious inventions made way for their societies’ progress. Have you seen The Olympic Stadium, The Towers of Babylon, or a Buddhist Temple? We’ll travel to these places on The Mediterranean Sea, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and the Pacific Ocean.
Kirsten Karlsrud
3 hours Fridays, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
$595
This math class is for students who are new to math. We’ll practice writing numbers neatly, introduce basic operations like adding and subtracting, with use of tactile work and visual work before moving on to written equations. The goal for the students will be to be able to perform math visually as well as in their heads, and we’ll work toward adding and subtracting with multiple digit numbers using borrowing and carrying over. If there is interest and the students seem ready, we may even introduce multiplication, but all will be handled at a comfortable pace and with meaningful skill exercises to keep things from getting too abstract. The overall purpose is to strengthen ability, but also comfort and confidence.
Abby Polakow
1 hour Wednesdays, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
$340
Hands on Science explores the lives of animals, plants and people, as well as Earth and Physical Science. Observation, vinegar, corn starch, baking soda, and FUN are the main ingredients of this class. We look at the lives of plants from planting all the way to nutrition. We share the metamorphosis of various living creatures, from bears to butterflies. We look at our five senses. And finally, we look at our world from the sky to the weather.
Abby Polakow
1 hour Wednesdays, 9:00 am – 10:00 am
$340
A joyful exploration of theater and drama, through the art of storytelling. Using different voices, characters and physicality, we create stories together, based on folk and fairy tales. Rebecca helps students create all the parts of the story, developing confidence, narrative skills, stage presence and love of storytelling.
Rebecca Martin
1 hour Wednesday, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
$340
Younger math concepts cover a huge range. We use various activities, games, and projects to learn about whole numbers, simple operations, basic fractions, time and money. We develop an understanding of two and three dimensional objects. It’s fun to work with patterns in sounds, shapes, and numbers. Math is all around us and we can use estimation, predictions, manipulatives, and measurement to enjoy it.
Kirsten Karlsrud
1 hour Mondays, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
$340
Part art history, part super awesome art class, students are sure to capture the spirit of some of the most well known artists of our time.
We will begin each week with a short history discussion of our artist, their place in time and location, style and technique, famous works and individual details which make each artist unique and special. Following our discussion, the class will create their own unique art piece mimicking either style, technique or other qualities of inspiration. From Michelangelo, to Dali, to Kahlo, students will get an opportunity to let their creativity shine through the use of multiple mediums and techniques.
Julie Leary
1 hour, 12:30 – 1:30 pm
$340 + $25 materials fee = $365
Our class is going to take off with the book, Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up. This book will set the stage for our investigations to come. Please do not read it in advance so we can discover the treasures inside together. The main character keeps a journal and we are going to start one too. This becomes a keepsake we will use throughout the year. We will read about The Great Mouse Detective, Nate the Great, Encyclopedia Brown, Cam Jansen and certainly a book on Houdini from either The Magic Tree House series or the Who Was books. I like to use books from a series because if their interest is sparked, then there will be more for you to share at home. We will do art projects, experiments, some cooking, and learn some tricks. The question is … will those tricks be mysteries, magic, or mischief?
Kirsten Karlsud
1 hour Mondays, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
$340
Our community starts with our family and at school. We will begin with our family trees and then add people who work at UHS. We can have a short interview with other teachers and staff about their roles in the school. Branching out to community helpers and how they make things better for us would be our next step. Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, veterinarians, dentists, a mayor, sanitation worker, and letter carrier are the people we will learn about in class. We will find out what kind of training/education is needed for the various helpers and hopefully we can talk to some of them at school or where they work. We will look for an opportunity to become involved with our community.
Kirsten Karlsrud
1 hour, Mondays, 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
$340
We learn new games and play outside. Children experiment and learn how to work together. Good sportsmanship, fairness, and sharing are emphasized. Hide and Seek, Sardines in a Can, Hopscotch, and jump rope are some of the favorite schoolyard games. All you need is a little direction and some friends.
Kirsten Karlsrud
1 hour Mondays, 9:00 am – 10:00 am
$340
After we figure out how the continents were formed, we will study these landmasses. There will be a general overview comparing their incredible differences and similarities. We’ll take an panorama of all the continents with their languages, animals, population, interesting geographical or man-made features, products, arts and music. We’ll find the highest, largest, smallest, driest, wettest, and the most interesting things!
Kirsten Karlsrud
1 hour Monday, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
$340
We will finish our trilogy of books from Who Was, to Where Was to now, What Was! These are historical books presented in a friendly manner. Children can learn the background of social movements, natural disasters, or other events that led to turning points in history. Climate change, the world cup, the San Francisco Earthquake, the Twin Towers, Rock n’ Roll, and the wild west are all options. I choose the first book, What is the Statue of Liberty and then we will vote on suitable topics that will be appropriate for the composition and maturity of the class. I combine weekly readings with follow-up activities and projects.
Kirsten Karlsrud
1 hour, Friday 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
$340
This class is for students who know their alphabet and are ready to begin using it to create words. The focus is on smoothing out the writing of printed letters and to begin using words to form simple sentences. There is also work with spelling and word recognition, and the ways letters come together to create so many different sounds. This includes work from the Dolch Sight List.
Abby Polakow
1 hour Fridays, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
$340