This past week I read an article from The International Literacy Association that confirmed my philosophy of best reading practices, practices that thankfully PNA embraces as well.  The article, "Creating Passionate Readers Through Independent Reading," reaffirmed the...

This week we began our unit on becoming avid readers, readers who do not just read books, but love them, enjoy them, savor them, and share them with others.  One of the goals in kindergarten literacy is of course for our students to learn to decode text, but perhaps...

This week, we built on the research we had done during the previous few weeks about the way our families celebrate holidays by studying how different people around the world celebrate holidays.  For the most part, there were many similarities and only small...

It's that time of year when traditions are at the forefront of our lives as we host family and friends and celebrate holidays.  Merriam-Webster defines tradition as the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs and also as cultural continuity in social...

One of the key components of a PBL project is student choice.  The extent of student choices and which choices belong to them changes project by project.  Sometimes, they choose a subject they would like to study or create.  This was the case for our first project,...

"I can't believe we're actually making REAL books!" one of our sweet little ones squealed as they carefully transferred their rough draft of a patterned text onto a chunky board book.  I heard others whispering to their classmates, "We have to do our best because...

Our progress reports provide a very detailed picture of your child's current academic, social, and emotional development.  However, they can also be overwhelming if you are not sure exactly what they mean.  In my previous blog post, I outlined some of the key factors...

So often what you see is just the tip of the iceberg of the work your little one does at school.  At PNA, we so desire you to have a glimpse into the depths of what we do, to share and celebrate it with you through our blogs, online portfolios, home assignments, and...

Our progress reports provide a very detailed picture of your child's current academic, social, and emotional development.  However, they can also be overwhelming if you are not sure exactly what they mean.  Here, I am outlining some of the key factors of reading...

THIS... this is why teaching is my passion, why I pursued it as a career, and this is why you trust Pacific Northern Academy to partner with you in the education and upbringing of your little ones.  At PNA, our mission is to educate students to be exceptional learners...