2012
December
NEWS
Primary 3 Year Cycle Loree Birkenback
This past Monday Morning Montessori
confidence for bigger works. The third
meeting centered on the Primary three
year gives the child the opportunity to be
year cycle. I’d like to share just a bit of
a leader and share what has been learned
what we discussed.
with the younger children. Walk into
The three year cycle benefits by having
any Montessori primary room and you
a mixed age group in the same room,
will see all the younger children being
and performs exceptionally well when
assisted by the leaders, who themselves
we have a good number of third year
are learning responsibility by helping the
students. The first year in a primary
younger ones. When a child can teach
room the 3 year old learns a lot from just
another child what they themselves
observing the others who have been
have learned, we know they’ve reached
there longer. Yes, they get lessons from
a higher level of understanding for that
the teacher, but they are learning all the
work.
time by just observing and listening to
Our third year students also become the
the other lessons. The second year the
leaders of our Chapel, and spend extra
child is in the room is a time of more
time with Mrs. Ashley talking about the
exploration, lengthier focus and building
Bible lessons.
We ask our third year students to think of themselves as mentors to the younger. They are setting the example for working, problem solving, and making friendships. The third level has a certain amount of works they are required to accomplish: they practice and test over spelling words form Houghton Mifflin’s first grade edition, daily math work, creative story writing, and of course, all of the cultural studies. Our third level also gets to leave school for field trips! If you haven’t considered staying through the third year at St. James I hope you’ll stop by my office to discuss it with me. We believe we offer an excellent environment for well-rounded learning. -Mrs. Loree
MDO
We can't believe it's already time for the Christmas holidays. This year is just flying by. The children have come so far. We have seen so much progress in all of our children this year. Since Thanksgiving break we have been working on a lot of Christmas works, as you can see. The children have enjoyed this so much. They are really excited to sing at our parties! Potty boot camp is starting in January! Please start working with your children over the break so that they will be ready when we get back next year!! Please look for our flier that will be sent out soon. Thank you to all of our parents who have donated such great snacks for us. We appreciate it so much! We hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! See yall next year!!! - MDO
Olivia doing water transfer with blue water
Philip sponge painting
Chloe decorating her Christmas tree
Alex making Christmas ornament with Cheerios
Tip!
Toilet Learning 101 Beginning in January, the toddler classrooms will begin toilet training!! We are very excited and anticipate a smooth transition. By creating a positive, peer supported learning environment we know the toddlers will get the hang of using the toilet. With the holidays around the corner, many of you will be spending lots of extra time with your toddlers. This is the perfect time to prepare them for what is to come. Starting the process at home will really make the transition to a diaperless community at school much easier. Here is what you can do to support your child in the upcoming months: • Return your child’s laundry each day • Clearly label everything – socks, underwear, etc… • At home, take your child to the toilet often. Don’t ask if they need to go, simply say, “It’s time to sit on the potty.” Be positive and relaxed but do not offer a choice. • Once your child begins using the toilet, DO NOT put them in diapers again unless they need one for nap or bedtime. They need to know what an accident feels like so they will be motivated to use the toilet. Here is what your child will need at school: • 10 pairs of cotton training pants – (Gerber and Hannah Anderson make some or regular underwear can be easily reinforced if you sew) • 3 pairs of baby legs – (available at Target or on www.peppermint.com, they can also be made inexpensively with adult socks – just cut the feet out!) • 3 pairs of sweat pants – NO ZIPS, BUTTONS OR SNAPS PLEASE • 3 long sleeved shirts • 4 pairs of socks • (optional) wet bag for soiled clothing) Toilet training takes a lot of love, patience and sometimes time but we are really looking forward to it and are happy to support you in any way we can! ~The St. James Toddler Team
Toddler
Our toddler class has been working hard getting ready for our Christmas program, I am sure some of you may notice them singing some of their songs at home. In Christian Education we have been learning the story of "The birth of Christ". We have used the story felt board and a wooden manger that my husband made for our class. The children have really enjoyed holding the baby and singing happy birthday to him. This time of year in the toddler class is a wonderful time. Working with ornaments and decorating the tree and who can forget the sparkling glitter. Everyone is becoming more independent and taking care of themselves in the restroom and with their food preparations at lunch. Some of them can even dress themselves from head to toe which is so exciting to see this early in the school year. Which leads to the coming semester and getting ready for lessons in self care, for example brushing hair and brushing teeth. All lessons to come in the new year. I hope everyone has a safe and merry Christmas and a happy new year. In His love, Mrs. Anna and Ms. Bea
Making Christmas Trees
Making Ornaments
Stocking Sticker Work
Snowflake Color Rubbings
T
he children have been asking for more challenging art work. Ms. Martha was so kind to think up ideas and draw the children pictures to paint. Here, Astrid shows her refined Fine Motor skills by painting inside the lines. She was so proud!
Korah shows us the proper way to do the “Pom Deposit�
Stringing Cheerios Ornaments for the Garden
With the Christm
Ms. Coral’s clas
as Holiday righ t
s has been busy
around the corn er,
working on Chr istmas work s and practi cing their fine m otor skills. Many of our sec ond year children are turning thre e and switching work has become vita l in the classroo m. While first year studen ts have been wor king hard to esta blish routine, some of the older children have been occup ied looking for new way s to challenge th emselves. We h ave recently put on th e shelves new Ch ristmas work s s uch as the Light Bulb T ransfer, Christm as Tree Gluing, Peeling Christmas T hem ed Stickers, and we even brought our own lit tle Chris tmas Tree in the classroom for th e children to decorate. T his is one of their fa vorite work s an d it is great for keepin g the mood in c lassroom light h ear ted and in the Holiday s pirit! -Ms Coral
C
hristmas Tree Gluing Work
Toddlers in the Kitchen
apple cinnamon pancakes
Making Apple Cinnamon Pacakes with Hoyt and Nate
Yummy!
In the Classroom
Add the Dry Ingredients
Add the Wet Ingredients and Mix.
Mix Well
Tip!
cook with care
top with apple butter and serve
Primary
We would like to take this opportunity to wish Sienna Montalvo a fond farewell as she moves with her family to Hong Kong. The Montalvo family has been at St. James for a total of 6 years. Sienna's two older sisters, Hannah and Sydney attended St. James when they were younger. Her parents, Linda and Richard, have been strong supporters and volunteers of our school. We wish them health, happiness, love, and all the best. Good luck. We will miss you. Keep in touch. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We have had a fun December in the classroom. Enjoy this Blessed season with you children, friends, and families. May we always remember to count our many, many blessings. Much love , Mrs. Barrineau and Ms. Ana
Merry Christma s from our class room! We are pre paring for Christmas b y lighting the c andles on our A dvent Wreath and by counting the da ys on our Adven t Calendar. T his week w e will be writing the names of Sa nta’s reindeer, string ing cranberries and singing Ch ristmas carols. Happy N ew Year to all! Ms.Baily and M s. Woodruf f
Elise is cutting out a green Christmas tree. All of the Christmas works in the classroom are fun for the children while they continue to develop their concentration, control of movement, and sense of order.
Henry is counting the Short Chain of 10. He is pointing to the red arrow for “100�. Now he is going to fold the chain into a golden bead square. He makes the concrete representation of the square of 10.
Andrew is punching cloves into a tangerine. This is a Christmas Practical Life work that not only prepares his hands for handwriting but makes our classroom smell like Christmas.
Hannah is making a Christmas collage. She is cutting, pasting, and artistically arranging her colorful shapes.
Freddie is matching the red and blue Sound Cylinders. This is a Sensorial lesson for refinement of the auditory sense. The language of “loud” and “soft” is introduced.
December is in full swing and we are loving all of the festivities, lessons and excitement that comes with it! During the Christmas season we always try to make sure that our shelf work is seasonal! That means lots of Christmas works especially on the Practical life shelf. Practical life in the Montessori curriculum is so important! . Practical life helps the child gain control in the coordination of his movement, and help the child to gain independence and adapt to his society. Practical Life Exercises also aid the growth and development of the child’s intellect and concentration and will in turn also help the child develop an orderly way of thinking. Many children benefit from practical life exercises by increasing success, sense of order and life skills. Practical Life prepares children for reading, writing and math in many facets. When working the children are taught to work from left to right, up and down and therefor prepares the child for reading. Many works in the practical life area are done using the pincer grasp enabling the child to
develop correct writing habits. For example: if a child spills beans from a pouring work, the child should pick up each bean using their pincer grasp. While doing a food preparation work many times the teacher will ask he child to count the number of students within the classroom to prepare enough for the whole class. This allows the children to begin concrete number concepts. Practical Life is one of our very favorite areas of the Montessori environment. Practical life has allowed us to watch the “aha� moments of children. The children thrive in problem solving while working in this area and they love to complete a task! So much life is experienced through this area. Children grow in knowledge of themselves, others and the world that surrounds them. We are not only teaching them academic ideas, but also about kindness, consideration and care of environment. W are developing the whole child and in essence the spirit of the child.
Audrey concentrates on the lock and key work.
Tip!
We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and we look forward to the new year! Blessings, Elizabeth Stark and Ashley Woodruff
December is a magical time of year and our class has definitely been in the Christmas spirit. We have decorated the classroom with miniature Christmas trees, two nativity scenes, and multiple holiday themed works in the practical life area of the classroom. The children love to discover these new works and they practice them over and over until they have mastered the lesson. Please see photos for some examples of favorite holiday works in our classroom We have been practicing our holiday songs for the Christmas pageant and all the children are very excited to share their holiday cheer with you. Merry Christmas with all our love, Ms. Tamara and Ms. Julia
Saylor is weaving holiday ribbon onto a wire frame. This lesson requires attention to detail and strong eyehand coordination in order to weave the ribbon under and over the frame. The children become very excited once they “get it� and are able to complete this lesson independently
S
oon we will be preparing for the Christmas season. The stuRiley is completing the bead stringing work. Bead stringing requires fine motor control of the pincer grasp in order to hold the tiny beads and string them. It also requires concentration and sequencing, as many of the children choose to string the beads into various color and shape patterns.
Colton is sorting tiny Christmas presents by color. He has sorted the white, red, and green Christmas presents into each of the three compartments. This is a simple sorting work but the children love to return to works like these for breaks in between more challenging lessons. Order is very important to young children and they thoroughly enjoy sorting things and putting them “in order� in the classroom.
Ellie is relaxing with a book in the reading corner. The reading corner provides the children 2 chairs for quiet, independent reading. The children love to look at the tiny Christmas tree in the reading corner and examine its tiny ornaments.
In the Garden
with Ms. Loree
In The Children’s Garden... We have finally had our first winter weather in our garden! We’ve had to do a lot of clean up, but we also planted more winter hardy plants such as kale, spinach and Swiss chard. It’s fun to watch the garden change through the seasons! We also made Christmas ornaments for our bird and squirrel friends who visit the garden. I hope this Christmas season is a time together with all those you love and hold dear.
Christmas is Forever Christmas is forever, not for just one day, for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf. The good you do for others is good you do yourself.
Merry Christmas! Mrs. Loree
I
n Art, the students were able to finish up their beautiful skylines and they turned out great! With these masterpieces, the children were able to learn how to blend and color with chalk pastels. (Picture of Kate, she is using a paintbrush to touch up the black lines to make them stand out) We will start off fresh in the New Year with new, fun projects such as self-portraits, still life and work with clay. With the new projects, the children will continue to learn about artists such as Jackson Pollock, Picasso, and Van Gogh. Merry Christmas and Happy holidays!!
Art with Ms. Judi
Technology with Ms. Judi
I
n technology, the children are continuing to go through the Lego robotics building each animal. We recently finished the roaring lion! They have also mastered learning how to click on the Internet (Mozilla FireFox, which is referred to as the “red fox�) from the desktop and navigate through different educational websites. One new website that I introduced them too has been Lego builder creative island. The children had so much fun with the Lego robotics, I wanted them to build their own creations and use their skill with the mouse to explore the site.
W
e are welcoming winter with open arms and great anticipation for Christmas! Christmas is “Coming”! Advent itself! All of the children have loved the stories that are told during Advent in Chapel. We’ve learned about the Advent Wreath, The Nativity Story and even about a few guys in a meadow watching sheep that were called upon to worship the Baby Jesus! Chapel lessons are a unique setting where all the glamour’s of the holidays slowly fade away and the children are solely focused on the birth of Immanuel. This name literally translates to: God with us. He is with us! “Mary will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”--which means, “God with us.” Matthew 1:23. I know many of the Teachers here at St. James have been giving lessons in the classroom using the beautiful Christmas materials such as the Nativity. All of the children love to reenact the story using these materials. What great fun! In light of the recent tragedy in Connecticut I wanted to take a moment to remember those students and teachers.
Here at St. James we have the amazing gift of sharing our faith with one another. In times like these it is hard to know what to say in order to offer a bit of comfort. We ask that you stand with the St. James staff in praying for those families and remembering these scriptures. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you.” (Isaiah 41:10a) Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. (2 Thessalonians 3:16) Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Roman 12:12 od is with us. Our hope lies in Him. During this Christmas season remember that God will send His light and love to us all. “The people living in darkness have seen a great light” Matthew 4:16a May your Christmas be filled with love, light, hope, peace, and goodness. We send you all of our love and we look forward to seeing everyone in the new year.
G
Many Blessings, Ashley Woodruff Christian Education Director
“Look Ms. Ashley it’s a teeny tiny baby Jesus!”
The after school care area continues to be a burst of activity. I have been thankful for the wonderful weather this school year. Each age group continues to have a lengthy outside playtime between snack and activities. You have probably noticed the primary children playing in the parking lot area with the new tricycles. Everyone is building strong leg muscles as they wheel around the parking lot. I wanted to take a moment to thank the staff that helps me each afternoon; they do such a wonderful job working with your children. Lilly Petrini, Delaney Cotten and Hannah Sparks work with the toddlers and Julia Contreras and Elizabeth Stark help me with the primary children. We enjoy our time in the afternoon with your children. As always, if you need to reach me after 4:00 p.m., please call the school phone 214-348-1349. Tip! Merry Christmas and Very Happy New Year to all of the
St. James Families, Lisa Wilson
Tip!
Upcoming Events January January 8th Return to School
Oct 31
January 21st Halloween Parties Noon Dismissal Conference Day - No School January 31st 100th Day of School