Welcome to all my students, parents, and their families. I am Ms. Brenda Ryan. I am blessed to be a member of the St. Frances Cabrini School community. I have been teaching at Cabrini since the 2000-2001 school year. I love teaching fourth grade. I am an active Catholic and I find it especially rewarding to take an active role in your fourth grader’s faith formation.
I grew up in California but have moved many times. I earned my undergraduate BS degree in education from Eastern Illinois University and my Masters in Teaching Graduate Degree from City U. I have two full-grown sons, Mick and Craig.
My Philosophy: I am here to not only instruct but inspire the students while making the curriculum relevant to the student’s daily lives. I believe in being their guide, facilitator, and motivator. I believe children learn best in a safe and nurturing environment that is Christ-like and displays mutual respect for all.
Spiritual
Fourth Grade is a transition year. They are moving into a broader context of life.
Most fourth graders are very spiritual and have many questions.
• Ask about sin and find it difficult to understand having a conscience
• Need lessons about good choices and morality
• Need adults who model Christ-like behavior and practice their faith
Social/Emotional
• Pre-adolescent, group-oriented, can be more sensitive and more emotional
• Need justice and moral order; fairness is extremely important.
• Can think and reason for themselves; the imaginative world is giving way to a more real world.
Physical
• Push themselves to physical limits
• Complains about aches pains and injuries
• May bite nails, play with hair, fidget with items, chew on paper … to relieve tension
• Better coordinated but still working on Physical control
