2016
March NEWS
Spring is here - it’s a time for new beginnings! Not only do I see the beauty of nature’s handy work, but also that the children are showing signs of growth spurts and loss of chubby baby cheeks. These children are growing and changing right before our eyes!
As we put together the butterfly habitat so we can watch the lifecycle of the Painted Lady Butterfly this year, I couldn’t help but make a connection with my own life. A little over 23 years ago I began teaching here at St. James with my infant son Logan in a carrier. This Easter Monday he leaves for Special Forces boot camp in Chicago. He has worked so Logan, age 3, dressed in a Navy uniform. diligently for the last two years that he’s actually been accepted into the Navy’s Dive School which he’ll leave for after he finishes boot camp. My cute, fuzzy little caterpillar has gone through quite a metamorphosis into a manly butterfly! As an experienced mom I should be totally prepared…I mean I’ve had four other children go through such a metamorphosis into their own wonderful butterflies…but alas I am not. This parenting thing is such a roller coaster ride of emotions, isn’t it? It’s our job to raise them to be strong, good people, who stand independently from us. But when they do, well, just be ready for some pride mixed with this weird heartache feeling. Please keep Logan in your prayers over the next eight weeks. I’m so very proud of him for making his dream come true. Maybe sneak a prayer or two in there for me too.
Don’t forget to stop by the butterfly habitat in the hallway and check for signs of the Swallowtail caterpillars on the fennel in the Children’s Garden. Be sure to soak up every precious moment with your little ones, and enjoy your glorious Easter holidays together.
Blessings, Mrs. Loree
Dear MDO parents: Wow! March newsletter is here! Our school year is going by very quickly. It’s always a pleasure to see our children develop and grow day by day. Our month of March was full of a lot of St. Patrick’s activities. We worked a lot on our green and yellow colors. It’s very important to stimulate all of their senses by painting, coloring, singing, reading books, and a lot of music. Our shamrocks and our rainbows were all made by the hard work of our children. It’s so rewarding to see them paint and just enjoy what they are doing. As we are getting into the spring season, we have also been spending more time watching the birds at the feeder outside our window. We put out a few new works that are in our practical life area. We also have our dish washing station. Exercises in grace and courtesy such as walking, sitting, manners, passing objects, following directions and body control are all a part of our daily routine. We want the children to develop refinement of social interactions, be polite, and learn respect for others. We look forward to adding a variety of food for individual snack. This is the time of year that we notice the social relationships between the children when they really begin to grow. They are now very familiar and comfortable with each other and enjoy engaging each other on the playground and in the classroom. We see them wanting to play together more frequently and when we see this happening, we try to facilitate their ability to do this successfully. The children have enjoyed working with tongs, water pouring, dry pouring, gluing, painting, sewing, stacking, color mixing, sorting, and more. Some of the songs that the children like are “TEN LITTLE BUNNIES,” “HOT CROSS BUNS,” and “THE BUNNY POKEY.” As the weather gets warmer, please remember to put sunscreen on your children to keep them protected during our outside playtime. Thank you, Mrs. Eva, Ms. Mary and Ms. Ashley
mdo
These are some of the Montessori activities that the MDO children have been working on
GLUING
SORTING BY SIZE
JUMPING CIRCLES
THE FARM
SQUEEZING/POURING
MATCHING
PREPARING SNACK
TRAIN SET
COLOR MIXING
The Toddler 1 class has had so much fun working on new works in the classroom. The second semester is full of more complicated works, which allow us to practice our focus and concentration. We also practice choosing works that we enjoy and sticking with them. We still love our gross motor skills to get our wiggles out, so then we can go back to work. We are refining our basic skills and learning how to strengthen our pincer grasp, and making art work for the many fun holidays.
It started with searching for Mardi Gras beads and coins‌
and learning about Lent in Christian Education. We enjoyed birthday blessings from Father Gardner.
Then we moved on to St. Patrick’s Day‌ all the class wore green!
We made mosaic crosses for Easter.
Happy Easter, Hallelujah! Mrs. Anna and Ms. Annabel
Toddler 1
Happy spring! This is our favorite time of year, when we watch everything start a new life. Trees begin to blossom, flowers begin to bloom, and we anxiously wait for the arrival of new birds in our garden. During circle we have talked about the meaning of Easter. We are learning the signs for Jesus, resurrection, and love. The children love hearing stories from our “Children’s Bible” and The Story of Easter by Patricia A. Pingry.
In the toddler community we try to keep things simple and focus on the positive parts of the Easter story. Jesus died and it was sad, but then he came back, and he has risen! Jesus loves each and everyone of us.
Emery Walker focusing on stamping with a cross cookie cutter
Samuel Philyaw recreating the Easter story on the flannel board
Alisha Stafford decorating her egg carton
Sienna Jaimez refining her gluing skills by placing cut out eggs on an Easter basket
Thank you to all the grandparents who came and spent the morning with us. We love watching the children light up when they can show their classroom to someone special. We hoped you enjoyed the children singing some special grandparent songs to you. Toddler 2 team April, Lilly, Eliane
Toddler 2
Well hello there early Spring! The classroom has acquired a low hum as the children work. Socialization and gross motor have been a huge focus in the classroom lately. At this age, their vocabularies are exploding and they can’t get enough conversation with their friends and teachers! It’s beautiful to see the children learning and socializing at the same time.
Alexandra works with Easter egg pouring
Fitz discovers eggs and rubber duckies in the Sensorial bin
There are now several dry transfer works on the shelves with tongs and spoons to refine fine motor skills, as well as dry pouring. The Easter egg sensorial bin (filled with confetti grass, Easter eggs, small eggs, and rubber duckies) and Kinetic Sand are two works all the children have been very eager to have a turn with!
Avery, Olive, and Will read books peacefully and independently
Anna works hard on parts of an animal puzzle
On rainy days, friends gather on the if blue rug for block building time!
A few of our students spend their mornings engrossed in water exploration by washing snack dishes peacefully at the large sink. They really enjoy this and it gives them a proud sense of purpose in their individual work. We are still working hard on potty training! Please remember labeling your child’s belongings is super important at this time. :) Have a Happy Easter! Ms. Coral, Amanda, & Amy
Toddler 3
Dear Families of Primary 1:
Primary 1
Happy Spring! What a wonderful season it is to be outside and absorbed in nature, and to witness the promise of rebirth and the beauty of life blooming all around. The treetops are beginning to fill in with the green lushness of leaves and colorful flowers are popping up along the roadways, in our garden, and on our playground. As the earth keeps turning, and as the moon sets and the sun rises, we keep the good times going with our work in the classroom. The children are really enjoying themselves by taking turns with a new work in Practical Life that involves using a screwdriver to drive screws into a block of wood. With applied pressure, the whole hand — the wrist, in particular — pushes and twists in a downward motion to insert the screws, and the reverse process enables the child to remove each screw from the block of wood. Concentration and the ability to control movement is required to successfully complete this process. The direct aim of this exercise is to further develop and strengthen the small muscles of the hand. In Sensorial, many of the children in our classroom have displayed interest in the Baric Tablets on our shelf. The Baric Tablets correspond to differences in weight. A box containing two of each: glass, slate, steel, wood, cork, and felt are matched and then classified from heaviest to lightest in weight. It is especially exciting for the children when they do this blindfolded! This work develops and refines the tactile sense and satisfies the young child’s need for order, concentration, and independence.
We appreciate everything that you are doing with your children at home that better enables them here at school to become successful and independent members of their community. Your love for them and dedication to their well-being is very much a reflection of what we see in our classroom. Thank you for being awesome supporters! Together we all make a great team.
We hope your family has a wonderful and happy Easter! And, as always, if you have any questions/concerns/comments, you know where to find us!
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.”
– Fred Rogers
Sincerely, Ms. Amaris & Ms. Kim
We have been enjoying some perfect playground weather. We will gladly accept rain when it comes; but when it does not come, we sure do enjoy the outdoor, unstructured play time. In the classroom we are talking about seasonal changes and how wonderful rain is in enabling new growth. We discuss how Spring is a season where the grass and the trees bloom green, and how certain trees and shrubs bloom in vibrant colors. We discuss this during “group time” so everyone has an opportunity to add to the discussion. We talk about how nature and the environment change in such a wonderful way. The students have so much to share about what happens to our environment during different seasons. It is fascinating to hear a child’s perspective about what happens in nature.
We change the “rotating” works in our classroom to materials that reflect Spring. We will soon start taking a “nature basket” to the playground so students can collect “nature.” We will put what is collected in the basket on our science shelf and it will be a “work” available for students to independently choose.
Primary 2
Enjoy the outdoors and the Spring with your children. All the best, Mrs. Barrineau and Ms. Marla
March has been an action-packed month! Between spring break and preparations for Easter, time has truly flown by. Our classroom has enjoyed discussing the change of seasons and all the wonderful things that happen in spring. At morning circle, we talked about the variety of weather that occurs in March and the important role that strong wind and heavy rainstorms play in preparing plantlife for the heat of summer. Seedlings prepare to burst through the soil, trees are budding, and flowers begin to bloom. It is so wonderful to hear the children discuss their observations from nature and to follow up with lessons on the parts of the flower or the lifecycle of the butterfly! The older children also enjoy using our Jackson uses stencils and colored pencils to illustrate the reference materials, such as the animal encyclopedia and story that he wrote dictionary, to learn specific information about animals.
This month, we have studied the continent of Europe. We have read Antole Over Paris by Eve Titus and The Littlest Matryoshka by Corinne Demas Bliss. We have discussed the flags, foods, animals, and different languages in Europe. And, of course, we pointed out Italy - the birthplace of Maria Montessori and Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day. Sterling works diligently to match the nomenclature cards for all the flags of Europe
Nico uses a variety of water colors to paint spring rabbits
Asha looks at the book The Littlest Matroyshka and lays out our matching set of nesting dolls
Our March birthday is Chloe Tinker, who turned five. We wish each family in our class a very joyful Easter and a happy season of Spring!
Jolene colors and cuts out a geometric designed shamrock in honor of St. Patrick’s Day
Ms. Tamara and Ms. Jaymie
Primary 3
Primary 4 Spring has officially sprung! The month of March started it out with us introducing lots of colorful works into the classroom! The children have been busy sorting bunnies and chicks, pouring green water, and decorating the classroom with the beautiful tulips that have been brought in for flower arranging. Our classroom is looking more Spring-y by the day!
Anna and Tate color mixing
With the new season also comes lots of new weather changes. Our classroom has been very interested in spring weather. We have our own meteorologist who checks the weather daily (we have seen A LOT of windy days lately) and keeps us updated on what it is like outside. The children have been reading and looking at books about the weather, writing their own weather stories, and working with our different types of weather 3 part cards. Our little meteorologists are hard at work this season!
The second level students have a lesson on beginning story writing
Noah sorts the weather cards and writes a weather story
Walker works with Animals of the Continents cards
The children also celebrated St. Patrick’s Day and Easter this month. They discovered the history of St. Patrick in chapel with Ms. Amaris. The children learned that St. Patrick was taken captive in Ireland and, after escaping, he felt a strong desire to teach the people in Ireland about God and Christianity. It is said that St. Patrick used the three leaf clover to teach about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The children were thrilled to celebrate our chapel before the Easter holiday with their grandparents. We read a book about the Easter story and learned that God’s love was so big for us that he gave us Jesus to be the bridge between us and God.
Vivian works on beginning research while William observes
Mark working on creative writing
Noelle and Annabelle enjoy the library corner
Happy Spring! Ms. Sarah and Ms. Bianca
Jetty builds with magnetic blocks
Eva challenges herself using the blindfold with the Cylinder Blocks
Alumni Party
Happy Easter
I can’t believe March has come and gone already! I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful spring break, a fun St. Patrick’s Day, and blessed Easter. We have been busy in the art room this month! The Kindergarten students printed their printing plate, and the second levels finished their Panda drawing and started their new project painting on canvas.
The Kindergartners printed their printing plate that they worked so hard on! We created our own printing press by using a piece of fleece cloth as the “printing blanket,” and a rolling pin as the cylinder. We put the printing plate down, covered it with a piece of paper, put the blanket on top, and then rolled the rolling pin over the whole thing. Each child got the chance to roll their own print! They had a blast, and it worked well! We first printed our collagraph without any ink. We soaked a piece of paper in water, applied the wet paper to the printing plate, and then rolled it out. The result is an impression of the printing plate, which comes out really well, thanks to the wet paper. For the next print, we used ink. The children used brayers to apply the ink to their plate. Then we used damp paper to cover the printing plate, and rolled it out. I absolutely love how these prints turned out. The details and textures that were revealed are amazing! The children were so excited to see their prints! Check them out in the library hallway!
The second level students finished their charcoal panda drawing by adding green oil pastel. They are so adorable! They are hanging in the library hallway, so take a look when you have a minute! They also started a new project this month - painting on canvas! We are painting a prickly pear cactus for this project, and I am excited to see how they turn out. It is a multi-step project, so we are working slowly and carefully. First, we drew our simple sketch on the canvas with pencil. Then we added our background color. In the coming weeks we will fill in the cactus and add our details. I’m excited to see how they turn out!
In technology, we have started a new unit on photography. The students have learned the parts of the digital camera, and how to use it. We went out in the Children’s Garden and each student got a chance to take five pictures. We will download their pictures onto the computer, and the children will be able to edit them! We will crop the pictures, change them to black and white, and play with the hue and saturation. I think the children will really enjoy this project - especially when they see how they can change their picture!
Art & Technology
Happy Spring! Ms. Hanna
March in the
Children’s
Garden
The Kindergartners helped create the Painted Lady science experiment that we all will be watching unfold in the hallway habitat. First, the students had to make sure their hands were clean. They then placed half a spoonful of caterpillar food into the plastic cup. If we put too little food the caterpillar wouldn’t have enough to eat; too much and the caterpillar wouldn’t have enough room to grow. Now it was time to use gentle fingers to get a small caterpillar on the tip of our sterilized paintbrush and gingerly place him into a cup and cover the cup with a lid. Next, it was time to make our observations. We documented the date and the measurement of a caterpillar at 1/8”. We’ll be recording our observations over the next few weeks and we hope you will as well!
The Toddlers enjoyed filling the bird feeders. We are seeing a lot of song sparrows in the garden right now! We planted carrots, radishes, potatoes and Brussels sprouts.
We also had lessons on the use of a salad spinner. We sampled our red leaf lettuce and the butter crunch. The butter crunch was the most popular amongst the children, but several liked the red leaf ’s richer flavor best.
Happy Spring gardening! Mrs. Loree
The toddlers and primary are both enjoying new crafts and the lovely spring weather - may it continue without too many rainy days! I have had several parents ask about playtime outside. To keep the children safe, we must allow the toddlers and primary to have separate playtimes. The primary will be on the playground until 4:30 and the toddlers will be on the playground from 4:30 – 5:30. As always, if you need to contact me during ASC hours, please call the school 214-348-1349 and listen for the prompts for the ASC extension. Happy Spring, Lisa Wilson
ASC
God’s Love Is Big Happy Spring everyone! Spring always reminds me of beginnings and new life. We recently began our annual butterfly watch. Ms Loree has placed caterpillars in the hall of our beautiful school and we will wait patiently as they grow and become chrysalises before finally emerging as Painted Lady butterflies. Gods creation is truly a wonder!! The theme of going through a change and emerging even better can be seen in all three of our chapel topics this past month, beginning with the story of the prodigal son. The son left a selfish and ungrateful man, lost all he had, and returned, humbled, to his father. We made party hats for our lesson to demonstrate that the father threw a joyful celebration because his lost son had come home. We spoke of how our Father in Heaven longs to throw a celebration for us as well. The story of St. Patrick was very inspiring and showed us that it is possible, with God’s help, to forgive those who have really hurt you. We spoke of how we are able to love and forgive because God first loved us and forgives us. The children made 3 leaf-clovers in Chapel art lessons to demonstrate the Trinity just as St. Patrick used them to tell of God and God’s love to the people who were once his captors. Amazing! And now Easter. In chapel we went back and recalled the creation story from the beginning of the year. Knowing that God is perfect and we make mistakes, God sent his only Son to show us how to live. In the book of John, chapter 15, we read that there is no greater love than that of a man who lays down his life for his friend. We spoke of how Jesus is our friend and he laid down his life for us to bridge the gap that separates us from God. We learned that the eggs at Easter represent new life, that though Jesus laid down his life, he didn’t stay down, after a few days he rose again with a glorious new body! Now that’s a chrysalis!!! May you all have a blessed Easter and as always remember God loves your child, and you, BIG! Ms. Amaris
Chapel