Treebrook School

Dear Prospective Families,

In the mornings, from 8:30 to 11:30, I will have eight Kindergarten and First Grade children. We start with a meeting time followed by reading (and learning phonics rules), language arts and arithmetic.

In the afternoons, from 12:30 to 3:00, I will have eight to twelve students (with a volunteer parent assistant) for First Grade through Fifth Grade. We will also start with a meeting time, then follow with history and science.

Studies show that the most successful student has parents that are very involved in their child’s school and learning. I communicate regularly with parents so that they know what their child is learning, and how they can help. During the long period that I had my own state-licensed preschool (30 years), Fearon Publishing Company (a division of Simon & Schuster) published the teacher manual that I wrote, The Sharing Circle: Themes for Home and School Involvement. It was a successful model for me and others, including some teachers at the famous Bank Street College's lab school in New York, who wrote me a lovely letter of appreciation.

Our study of history is chronological which makes the best sense to students, and to me! We learn history as a narrative story in a four-year cycle. The first year starts with Ancient Times. Successive years we study the Middle Ages, early modern times, and the modern age. Through each cycle we learn in greater depth, and read some Great Books, simplified, or modified for the age group. Since this is our first year, we will learn about nomads, then the Mesopotamian
city-states that developed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. We follow with the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, and all the way to the last Roman emperor, looking for patterns. We find out what is happening in other parts of the world (India, China, Africa, and the Americas) as they develop their civilization. We learn about the history of the Jewish people and the beginning of Christianity. Also in ancient history, we learn about Siddhartha (the Buddha) and Confucius. Next year, when we study the Middle Ages, we will learn about Mohammed. When learning about history we do map work and read literature that represent the civilizations. For example, in learning about the Greek civilizations, we read Greek myths and Aesop Fables. For the Jewish people, we listen to stories about the patriarchs from the Old Testament, and for Christianity we read stories about Jesus, especially his Sermon on the Mount. Children will collaborate with another student or two to read and do projects together, becoming the class experts on a civilization of their choosing, and then give a class presentation of what they learned and show their projects. Students will bring a three-ring binder to school so that they can review the chronological history, including their map work, summary, drawings, and coloring pages. I will give parents a book list (non-fiction and fiction) that the Iowa City Public Library has in its collection to augment the learning of history.

All the sciences, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, human body, and health are integrated into our study. I will begin by telling a few stories of “Big History” from the beginning of the universe with the Big Bang, the beginning of planet Earth and its geologic eras, and the beginning of life and its evolution. I continue to believe that God is our Creator, and science does not conflict with my faith. With our study of ancient history, it will be fun to identify a few constellations. I have a large children’s non-fiction collection of books in my extensive library. I have books about famous astronomers, like Copernicus and Galileo and many biographies about famous women astronomers throughout history, including dozens of other age-appropriate books about astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, the human body, and health. For all the sciences I emphasize inquiry-based learning, discovery, and collaboration. The students do “hands on” activities. I hope to pique the children’s curiosity so they will want to learn more.

Since my husband, Steve, is a professor emeritus at the University of Iowa in physics and astronomy, we are lucky to have him guide our observations in some family stargazing events, both in our backyard and field trips to the Eastern Iowa Observatory and Learning Center at Palisades-Dows Preserve. He is a wonderful teacher, not only with university students, but with young students, too. Steve often gives talks to Scouts, school groups, public talks at Cedar Amateur Astronomers and the Iowa Star Party.

My motto is “Love God. Love Learning--Engaging the heart and mind”. I think it is more appropriate to leave the teaching of religious tenets to parents and their chosen church, synagogue, or mosque. At Treebrook, we will interact with others by “The Golden Rule”: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” as a core principle. I will support parents raising a moral child by reading and having group discussions of short selections from literature that are examples of universal virtues. I expect children to be kind and respectful of others. Of course, I will do my best to lead by example.

Treebrook’s program is perfect for hybrid homeschooling. It is also great for the gifted child who likes to be challenged! I have high expectations of my students.

The reason I changed my program from a long afternoon session to offering separate morning and afternoon sessions is that the Iowa City community offers so many wonderful after-school activities from which to choose, whether it’s music lessons, art classes, sports, Scouts,
4-H, STEM classes, or a family outing.

I’m currently taking online classes to earn re-certification credit to keep my elementary teaching certificate current. In the first class I am asked to compare my generation (I’m a Boomer!) to Generation Z or Alpha, and how I will adapt my teaching approach. It’s very interesting, as well as disturbing, unfortunately. I have re-arranged the history class. Rather than teaching about all the civilizations myself, students can collaborate reading and doing projects together on the civilization of their choosing, and then, as “class experts,” share it with the rest of the class. I continue to believe a classical education is the best training for the heart and mind. We will make reasonable use of the computer in our class, especially to differentiate instruction, however I think reading books keeps minds much more active. The students will learn to write in D’Nealian cursive. Starting in third grade, the children will begin Latin. It will greatly increase their vocabulary and make learning a modern language, such as French, Spanish, and Italian, much easier. My husband is also a classicist, reads the Stoics and can read Latin and some simple Ancient Greek (also Italian and German) if he can give more of his time.

The best way to make initial contact with me is by leaving me a text phone message. My telephone number is (319) 354-5465. After that I will put you in my contacts list and will know it is not spam. We can have a meeting to determine if Treebrook would be a good fit for you and your child; set up a time for me to interview your child; and later I can arrange a group tour.

Tuition will be pro-rated by your income level.

Sincerely,

Carol

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Here's a boast about our grandson, Miles, (Erik's son) published in a Baltimore newspaper.

The Baltimore Banner
7/21/24 5:30 a.m. EDT
By Amisha Kumar

These Baltimore high schoolers are traveling somewhere few humans ever go—for science

Miles Spangler got off the phone and ran down the stairs. He circled the 3rd of August on his calendar and applied for a passport.

The 17-year-old was going on the trip of a lifetime.

Spangler is one of 10 Baltimore high school students who will camp under the dancing northern lights, watch beluga whales at lunch and see polar bear cubs splash around streams in the Arctic this summer. He’ll make the journey to one of the most remote parts of the world with other students at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and The Park School to study climate change in a way that’s usually reserved for graduate students.

“I get to go and do the exact work I’ve always wanted to do, study animals in their natural habitat out in the Arctic,” Spangler said. “I thought I would have to wait until college to do this sort of research.”

The annual science and culture immersion trip has been bringing students to Canada’s Wapusk National Park—a place with no roads and just 150 visitors annually—for 15 years to work on a long-term research project. They’re measuring the Earth’s active layer thickness to determine how fast the permafrost—the ground layer below the Earth’s surface—is melting.

The organization that runs the trip is called International Student-led Arctic Monitoring and Research. It was founded in 2005 by Julie Rogers, a science teacher at the private Park School in Baltimore County. She was inspired by the nonprofit Global Explorers, where she helped design science and service immersion trips to destinations like the Amazon and Costa Rica.

https://youtu.be/4lsPdVtIuWE
The odds that YOU exist at all are basically zero.
A miracle is an event so unlikely as to be almost impossible. By that definition, you are a miracle. Now go forth and feel and act like the miracle you are.

What Are The Odds Of Being Born? What did it take for you to be born? What had to happen in order for everything to come together so you could exist? Subscribe: https://youtube.com/c/allourq...

Wow!

The blue glowing Coconut Octopus

📸

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Treebrook Learning Center | Hulafrog Iowa City, IA 6-wk. 2023 Summer STEM program for ages 5 - 12. Our Cosmic Story: Our Birth, The Universe, The Earth, Evolution Story; Ecology. Carol B. Spangler, the owner and operator of the former Treebrook Preschool in Iowa City for 30+ years. Guest: Steven R. Spangler, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and Physi...

The connectedness of life

Today most beautiful photo ❤️
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I made this poster for my preschool forty years ago! It’s been in storage but I found it yesterday. Promoting nature based learning and a sense of wonder was important to me from the beginning. I have always loved the quote from Rachel Carson.