SJES NEWS April 2017
The Nature Connection Let the children be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it is raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water; and, when the grass of the meadows is damp with dew, let them run on it and trample it with their bare feet; let them rest peacefully when a tree invites them to sleep beneath it’s shade; let them shout and laugh when the sun wakes them in the morning as it wakes every living creature that divides its day between waking and sleeping. The Discovery of the Child. Maria Montessori Oh, the beauty of spring! Following Maria Montessori’s advice, it’s time to find simple ways to immerse your child in nature this spring and summer. Nature provides a rich source of hands-on, multi-sensory stimulation, which is critical for brain development in early childhood. There are so many inexpensive ways to draw your children outside and to increase their awareness of all that’s around them. It’s very important to make much of this open-ended, free play rather than super structured. The children’s creativity will soar when they get to investigate all nature’s rich bounty themselves. Thinking beyond gardening, here are a few of my favorite ways to connect your child with nature. Indoor Nature Study: Create a nature table or shelf for your child where they can investigate seasonal items.
Online Links: Pinterest (Follow my Natural Play Board); Happy Hooligans; Crafty Crow; Chasing Cheerios http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/view-document.html?gid=21290 http://www.naturerocks.org/ http://theimaginationtree.com/2012/08/60-nature-play-ideas-for-kids.html http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/2010/01/outdoor-and-natural-play-links.html
For Outdoor Fun:
Outdoor weaving
Music
Painting with water
Mud pie Making Station
Scavenger hunting
Playing outside
I built a version of the music wall that is a part of SJES Children’s garden experience! It was so simple to make and will hopefully inspire you to create your own. I hope you’ll share pictures of some of the ways you’re incorporating nature with your children! Ms. Loree
Resources: Nova Natural, Constructive Playthings, Fat Brain Toys, Hearthsong, Oompa Toys, Kid O Toys, Montessori Services, Magic Cabin Books: Jennifer Ward’s “I Love Dirt”, Amanda Blake Soule’s “The Rhythm of Life”, Rebecca Cohen’s “15 Minutes Outside”, Dawn Isaac’s “101 Things for Kids to do Outside”
Dear Parents, We had such fun at the St. James Annual Easter Egg Hunt, and enjoyed having so many of our beloved grandparents with us! Thanks so much to our parents for your help in making this very special day even more special. We hope that your Easter was filled with joy and the love of family and close friends. Alleluia! The Lord is risen! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous and perfect for talking about butterflies. We made our own pretty butterflies out of coffee filters! We had fun reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and retelling the story with flannel board pieces. We’re also learning “If I Were a Butterfly” and can’t wait to sing it for you. We had fun learning and singing about many different forms of transportation. “The Wheels on the Bus” and “I’m Gonna Drive my Car” took us many places! Our colors of the month were pink and yellow, which happen to be the Easter Bunny’s two favorite colors. We continued our study of shapes by learning about ovals, and science lessons included “Sink or Float” and the life cycle of the butterfly.
MDO
Saylor enjoys finding a match for each bunny clip.
Margot puts the finishing touches on her Easter egg wreath.
We always look forward to cooking on Thursday or Friday! The fresh strawberry jam that we made was divine, and romaine lettuce fresh from our very own garden made a salad that tasted as good as it looked! Cornbread is next on the menu. Lastly, we hope to see all of our parents at the Annual SJES Art Show and Auction, Saturday evening, May 6 from 7-10 pm. Put on your Kentucky Derby attire and come see the beautiful artwork that your children have created for you! All of the proceeds will go to making St. James an even more wonderful place to be!
The bunny toss is a crowd favorite!
Many thanks and much love, Eva, Mary, and Pamela
Bunny tongs make Elliot's transfer work "eggs-tra" special.
Walker peels a carrot for the Easter Bunny.
Toddler 1 has been tasting new foods, developing their taste buds and trying a variety of new works in the classroom. There is a huge process for making our snacks taste so good. For example, in making our salad we follow this sequence:
First, we harvest our lettuce from the garden, making sure we have enough for the whole class.
Next we wash the lettuce and prepare it for eating.
Now it's time to prepare and add extra ingredients such as apples, raisins, sunflower seeds and a little dressing.
Don't forget to set the serving table and dishes!
Finally, bon appetit, now you may eat!
Mrs. Anna and Mrs. Andrea
Toddler 1
We can’t believe we are heading into the last weeks of school. Where has the time gone? The month of April was filled with a lot of fun activities. The Easter egg hunt and Grandparent’s Day was such a success. The children enjoyed showing their favorite works to their grandparents. It was such a special day for everyone.
T o d d l e r 2
As the end is coming to an end, our second year toddlers are working on some primary works to help prepare them for their transition to primary. We will be sad to see them move up, but we know they are ready to start a new journey to their life. Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who helped around the school this year. Thank you Toddler 2 team
Hello Sun! The end of the year is drawing near and spring fever is more profound than ever. The children have been begging for spring works and sunshine! In Ms. Coral's class we have rotated the works once again to help the children focus and be more engaged when the outside world is so tempting! New challenging puzzles have been put on the shelves to gear up the three year olds for primary next year. The children are working hard on on the knobbed cylinder block sets, the pink tower, cutting with scissors, along with new language works such as the life cycle of a butterfly. We are practicing problem solving with different situations in the classroom and the children are catching on quickly and are starting to do their own problem solving with works and friends.
Toddler 3
The Sensory Bin has been one of the favorite works among the students this year. We have experimented with various pouring works, rocks from the garden, digging for insects, and most recently rice with dried beans. The sensory bin is good for many skills, it helps the children refine their fine motor skills by pouring, kneading, sifting, and it also aids in them being able to clean their own spills (sweeping and wiping up water spills.) We are so excited spring is here!! Much love, Toddler 3 Team
Dear Toddler 4 Parents, The month of April has been full of fun and exciting new discoveries for the children. As the end of the school year approaches, the children are working on new and more challenging works in the classroom. Art and practical life continue to be popular areas of the classroom. Second year toddlers have now been introduced to cutting with scissors. They continue to work hard on holding scissors correctly and build the necessary muscles with continuous open and close movements of the hand.
Another favorite work in the classroom is kinetic sand. Working with kinetic sand has many learning benefits, including pre-writing skills, sensory processing, increased attention, and a sense of calm; just to name a few.
T o d d l e r 4
Logan practicing hand-eye coordination with the cutting with scissors work.
Cole working with kinetic sand.
Not only are the children working on refining fine motor skills but also gross motor in the classroom and outside. We utilize the blacktop area weekly during recess time. The children enjoy riding trikes, bouncing balls, jumping on the mini trampoline, and running! This month also brings all things Spring! We have enjoyed reading and listening to classic stories during circle time. The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Runaway Bunny are definite favorites in our classroom. We have taken a classic story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and have extended it to make it more challenging by sequencing from caterpillar to butterfly and building vocabulary.
Chapel discovers and examines a caterpillar while out on the playground.
Palmer riding a trike.
We would like to thank all of our wonderful families for making Grandparent’s Day such a fun event! As a reminder with the hot weather fast approaching, please be sure to apply sunscreen to your child each morning! Love, Ms. Ashley and Mrs. Amanda
Amelia, Oliver, Mae, and Penelope preparing for the Easter Egg Hunt.
Dear Primary 1 families and friends, April has been full of excitement and growth. With spring comes a lot of creativity and a new energy to the classroom. We have recently let the butterflies go from the habitat into our beautiful garden and celebrated Easter, which always reminds us of new life and new beginnings. The Easter egg hunt and Grandparent’s Day was a lot of fun for the children and adults alike!
One of the things we do in Primary 1 besides our daily devotional, is group prayer, particularly when we know of someone in our class who is ill. We are fortunate to have a beautiful prayer garden that our classroom windows look out to.
Primary 1
With summer fast approaching and plans being made, remember to pause and take note of your child’s growth. Ms. Anna and I enjoy seeing the delight in each child as they move towards new works and accomplishments. Our first year students have been diligently working on tracing their names and practicing writing letters on the various chalkboards. Their pushpin works continue to develop their pincer grip muscles and they are so proud to show the results. The older first year students have begun to work with the moveable alphabet and simple addition. The second year students continue to push themselves both with math and the moveable alphabet, and are very excited about reading Bob books. This past month the students have been exhibiting a real interest in creating their own staff of musical notes, then playing those notes with the rhythm sticks. Making art collages and complicated designs with the metal insets are also all the rage! The flowers are not the only things blooming - each and every child is blossoming as well with creativity and a renewed thirst for knowledge. Ms. Amaris and Ms. Anna
“April Showers bring May flowers.” GRACE AND COURTESY In a Montessori classroom the lessons in Grace and Courtesy set a tone of respect and kindness. The students are shown how to shake hands at the door each morning. They learn to wait and be patient when needing help from a teacher or when waiting for a turn to have morning snack.
From our Practical Life works, the students learn to say “Yes, please” or “No, thank you.” We always have several boxes of tissues in the classroom and students are consistently encouraged to use them as needed. We work on “conflict resolution”— the students involved talk and work out their differences in the presence of a teacher and the teacher intervenes and helps when necessary.
Primary 2
Closing classroom doors quietly is emphasized and practiced. The students are expected to walk around “rug works� without stepping on another students work. When a work is dropped or broken and scatters all over the floor the student is taught to pick/clean up independently.
The third year students teach lessons in grace and courtesy when they help younger students as needed. Being in the Montessori classroom for the kindergarten year allows the child to experience this role of leadership. All the best, Mrs. Barrineau and Ms. Sheila
Primary 3 parents, Welcome to May! We are in the home stretch of the school year and have been working hard to meet our end of the year goals! Our Kindergarten students are finishing up meeting their Texas state requirements and our younger children are getting ready to take on the role as leaders for next year. The past few months we have seen a huge increase in reading fluency skills and are further developing those skills to lead the kids into summer! The younger children have been working on their number and sound recognition as well as their fine motor control. The second year students have begun to master more works and are able to move through the classroom in a productive manner. The next month of school we are going to continue to let the children embrace their creative side and let them turn their skills into purposeful and fun work. Each child in our class is so unique and we want to be able to let them each explore their different talents. -Mrs. Eloise & Ms. Jaymie
Primary 3
“Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.� -Maria Montessori
April has been an eventful month in Primary 4! The children have kept busy learning all about transportation, spring time, roots, and Earth day. We started out our month learning all about transportation. We defined what transportation means and learned the three main methods of transportation: land, air, and water. The children have learned about these different types of transportation through reading many books, working with our transportation three part cards, and using our land, air, and water mat that has been transformed with transportation items. They have really enjoyed talking about and learning about how different people use transportation to get to school and work. We also loved all of the construction themed books brought in by many of our friends! On Earth Day this year, we got to go out in front of the school and watch Ms. Loree raise a flag with an Earth on it! We sang happy birthday to the Earth also. Back in the classroom, we read the children a story called Earth Day and then discussed with the children how they could help protect the Earth. On the playground we found that many children had decided to forego playing and chose to wander the playground looking for things to recycle. Spring has officially sprung and the children have absolutely loved being outside. They have spent lots of time searching for ladybugs, caterpillars, butterflies, and all types of flowers.
Primary 4
With this invested interest in the change of seasons, Ms. Bianca and I have been discussing all that goes on in the spring time and we began a plant study, beginning with roots. Our afternoon children were able to fill clear plastic tubes with soil and different types of seeds (carrot, onion, and radish). We watered each tube and placed it by the window. The children have been very excited to be able to observe what has been happening in these tubes since the planting and were thrilled to find small roots in one tube, long roots AND leaves in another tube, and nothing in the final tube. It has been such a delight watching them ponder and guess what will happen as each seed begins to grow! April is also the time of year that the Kindergarten children get to set up the butterfly habitat with Ms. Loree. The children were able to observe the complete life cycle of the butterfly and were so excited when the caterpillars emerged from their cocoons as butterflies! In the classroom we saw a continued interest in the life cycle of the butterfly as the children enjoyed setting up the butterfly life cycle cards then creating their own life cycle with stamps. Ms. Bianca and I have enjoyed taking the time to take a step back to watch the children socialize and move about the classroom. We see them growing in relationships, helping each other with works, and becoming deeply engrossed in the larger Montessori materials. It is a true testament to the teachings of Maria Montessori and her theory, “The greatest sign of success for a teacher...is to be able to say,
‘The children are now working as if I did not exist.’”
Ms. Sarah and Ms. Bianca
April in the Children’s
Garden
I was such a lucky child in that I was almost always surrounded by gardens, woods, lakes, streams and/or ponds to play in. My parents as well as both sets of grandparents were avid gardeners and made sure we were playing/working outside most of our days. Playing in nature led me to many discoveries, one of which I shared with the children last week. I introduced them to a variety of Evening Primrose. I’m sure you’ve seen this hardy wildflower (weed) growing all around the metroplex and beyond. This flower is sometimes called Pink Lady or Mexican Primrose. The fun comes in if you have a friend that doesn’t mind a little prank being played on them. I always make sure I ask the children if they’re okay with a little joke and ask that they do the same before trying this on a friend. After you’ve gotten the okay from your friend, you ask them if they would like to smell your flower.
When they do, gently touch the center of the flower to their nose and tadah‌ they will have a yellow pollen nose! Connecting the children to nature through interesting facts or fun antics not only helps the child remember the plant’s name but hopefully builds some of the same fond memories I still cherish today.
Garden on! Mrs. Loree
It has been such a busy month - I can’t believe it is almost May! The children have been working hard on their art projects this month. The second level students finished their Mondrian piece, which took several weeks. They painted their squares with dark colors first (blue and red), and then the next week they were able to paint with yellow. By allowing the blue and red paint to dry, they avoided mixing colors and making orange and green. After all their squares were painted and dry, they were able to outline their squares with black. This gave their piece the classic Mondrain look. I’m so proud of the concentration and hard work they put into this project. The paintings tured out great!
Art & Technology
The Kindergarten students started a 3D sculpture project this month. It has been super fun, and super sticky! The children are making their sculpture out of rolls of paper with a wooden base. The students started with a piece of wood as their base. Then they took sheets of paper in all different sizes and colors, and rolled them up. It is tricky to roll paper tightly and keep it round, so they used a pencil as a rolling tool. That helped a lot! Once they had a roll, they glued the edge. To make the roll of paper stand up on the piece of wood, they cut small slits all the way around the end of the paper roll. Then they pulled out the fringes, put lots of glue on it, and pressed it onto the base. They had so much fun, and a little bit of frustration, creating their sculptures. After they had a good base layer made, we let it dry. The next week in class they got to build their sculpture up. Here is where they got really creative. I love seeing their brains work and figure out how to make their creation stand up! In technology, we have continued our unit on photography. The Kindergartners took more pictures in the garden, and have been working on editing them in on the computer. We are using PicMonkey to edit the photos because it is very user friendly for the children. They mastered it in no time! They are having so much fun altering their photos, and I can’t wait for everyone to see them. Look for some of their masterpieces at the auction on May 6th! Happy Spring! Ms. Hanna
The year has flown by, May is approaching, and along with April showers and May flowers, I am sure it will be hot before we can blink an eye. We will be sure to keep the children hydrated. They do not bring their water bottles to ASC but we do have cups and water fountains to make sure they are receiving plenty of fluids. We certainly have enjoyed the year with your children. We hope that they have enjoyed the year as well. Stretch and Grow has been a great addition for the ASC kiddos this year and we have had so much fun watching them run the obstacle courses, dance and play with Ms. AJ. We are having a lot of late pickups and I ask that you call if you are going to be late. After school care ends at 6 p.m. The ASC staff cannot leave until everyone is out of the building. Thank you for your consideration of their time. Lisa Wilson
ASC
He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Mathew 28:6 These past few weeks in chapel have taken us from Palm Sunday to the cross and eventually to the joy of an empty tomb and new beginnings through Christ! For our Palm Sunday service the children got to wave their palms as we walked into chapel. We learned about how Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, as a king, while the people shouted “Hosanna� which in Hebrew means "God Saves." We also learned that Jesus didn't want to be " king for a day" but rather The Lord of our Lives! He willingly went to the cross to bridge the gap between man and God, that our sins had created. The cross became the "bridge of forgiveness" for us. The most exciting lesson was of course our Easter chapel lesson. We know the tomb was empty for God had raised Jesus up and He is the resurrection and the life for all who believe! We were blessed to have Mother Rebecca with us for our special service honoring or grandparents. We have begun the last couple of weeks to talk about some of the parables Jesus told. The parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the sower. The children are learning that parables were stories that Jesus told to get the people thinking about things in a different way. For example, in the parable of the lost sheep, the children learned that everyone, big or small, matters and our Great Shepherd cares for each and every one of us! Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Ms. Amaris
Chapel