Dear Parents:
Recycling Garbage in our School
As you know, we have made recycling a real part of our day at Zimmer. Many of you shared with me the (obsessive?) attention our children seem to place on recycling…
This is the message we took to the children:
What is Recycling?
Each of us needs to do our part to protect our world. There are billions and billions of people living in our world. Each person throws things out every day...many, many, many things. One very important way to help protect our world is by REDUCING the amount of garbage we produce.
How can we reduce our garbage? One way, is by RECYCLING. Rather than throw certain items in the garbage, we think of ways we can REUSE these items - give them a new use. Reusing can be about finding ways to reinvent something
How Do We Recycle?
Things like plastic, paper, metal can be easily reused. In our classrooms, we separate these things and put them into distinct recycling bins rather than putting it with the rest of the garbage. We either use these items ourselves (for example: a yogurt container can be used to hold pencils) or we deliver them to a big recycling center in our town.
Extending This Lesson Beyond Recycling Garbage
We can learn a great principles for life, beyond the importance of recycling garbage.
· We can do things to care for the beautiful world we live in; that is our responsibility.
· It is important to open our minds and be creative (or re-creative!) when we are looking for solutions.
This unit of study does not have an end date since it is full of life messages important to impart.
What You Might Do At Home
These are all important messages we want to cultivate in our children. In addition to recycling garbage and helping children understand the how's and why's and our responsibility to the world G-d gifted us with, each of the messages described above can find expression in infinite ways. Here are some examples:
Let's look at the responsibility-message
- Help the child gain consciousness of the gift the world is to us. Point out things in nature and ground it back to the idea of gratitude and responsibility.
Let's look at the creative-thinking message
- If a child is playing with a toy in a predictable way and seems bored with it, encourage him/her to think of a different way of using it.
- If a child needs to find a solution for a problem (social or otherwise) expand the child's creativity by asking questions like, "Can you think of another solution? Is there any other way you might solve this? Etc."
Let's look at the finding-solutions message
- Children may feel like giving up too easily when facing a challenge. You might say, “Yes, it does seem like a big problem (validating their emotions, never squelching it – see last newsletter), but I'll bet we can find a solution. What do you think we can do?” If the child is not ready (or able) to come up with one, you can ask, “Would you like a suggestion from me?” Your suggestion may help jog their creativity and open them up to thinking.
Ultimately, for a child to have a full toolbox, s/he needs - in addition to information and rote skills – an openness to creativity, problem-solving and responsibility.
With respect,
Malkie
Please Note:
· Thanks to all who are contributing to our RECYCLING AREA. Our bins are brimming!