2013
November
NEWS Bring on the Pumpkin Pie, already!
Please, Let Them Complete Their Work! As we inch closer to December I can’t help but overhear some of the parents of our second level Primary students discuss their dilemma to leave in order to secure placement at another school. While I understand the pressure and sympathize with your plight, I agonize over the thought of a child not being allowed to complete the three year cycle. Some of these schools communicate that you must attend kindergarten in order to secure a spot, but we see that the majority of our kindergarten children are accepted to their desired schools for first grade. Most of our second level students have been with SJES since they were in the Toddler program! For years they have been observing the older children and working through the Montessori curriculum. The four year olds are on the verge of stepping into the more abstract variations of the work as well as building social skills that will prepare them for their leadership role. The third year student internalizes the academic skills and will often give younger children lessons based off of this knowledge. When a child can actually “teach” a lesson to another we know that a deeper understanding has occurred! That is just one beautiful gift that Montessori gives us. You are not the first parents who have struggled with this decision…please take to heart these comments from just a couple of parents who’ve gone through this:
From Jennifer Hargrave in 2011 – “A Montessori education is an investment-it is not simply a place to pass time until your child is ready for “school”. It is a foundation for the love of learning. My oldest son is in 5th grade-he is a leader in his class, well-respected by his peers, and frequently recognized by his teachers for his intellectual insight and abilities. My second child followed in his brother’s footsteps at St. James, and is also an avid learner. His kindergarten year was filled with his own hand-written books about birds, dinosaurs, tress, butterflies, etc. He is in second grade now, and thriving thanks to this solid foundation. My youngest child is in her first primary year at St. James, and I can’t wait to see how she “explodes” into learning. We have been blessed to witness the “return” on our investment-which comes to light in that kindergarten year The Kindergarten year is a magical time-when the “mystery of Montessori” is revealed. From Julie Koellner in 2012- I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you and the staff of St. James, and tell you how well Katrena was prepared during her time at St. James. I truly believe that one of the main reasons she was so well prepared was because she completed all three years of Primary. During her third year she really came out of her shell and developed as a leader and role model. She gained so much confidence by helping the younger children while also further developing her own skills. When it was ultimately time for her to leave St. James, we were fortunate in that she was accepted at multiple places, including our first choice.”
I have a stack of similar letters from parents, each recounting what the third year has meant for their child and family. I hope I have given you cause to stop, think and ask questions of your child’s teacher and of me. I hope you will also consider your investment you’ve made thus far and allow your child to complete their work. Mrs. Loree
Photos of The Kindergarten Year in Action:
Love of writing and language Self-confidence
Collaboration
Hand’s On Math
Spirituality Grace and Manners
Leadership
Pride
MDO
Hello all! We have had such a wonderful month! The Children have been memorizing the cycles of work... choosing a work, designating where they would like to work, focusing on that work, and then putting it away when they are finished. Because of this we have been making more complicated snacks, stamping, painting, gluing, and a lot of different sorting and matching works. Their favorite is gluing feathers on turkeys. We have use a small paintbrush to apply glue to increase fine motor skills. Their favorite circle time activity is reading together "Going on a Bear Hunt". We keep a rhythm and practice the movements for prepositions that are in the story! MDO has been taking our older children out to the garden on Fridays and receiving lessons from Mrs. Loree on gardening. The children have absolutely loved every minute that they are outside gardening on Fridays. They know lessons on rock scrubbing, mulching, and various pumpkin works. We are so happy that all of our families have officially started for the year. A big welcome this month to Hannah and Joshua Carter, Noelle Lewis and Jackson Hill. We are so pleased with all of wonderful students. They have all started so well this year! Sincerely, Your MDO teachers!
Annabelle and Mason are preparing rice and broccoli casserole for our group snack.
Joshua is practicing getting on and off our balance beam
Top Left: The children are walking through the garden with Mrs. Loree while she tells them what is growing. We are also deciding which plant to sprinkle eggshells around! Top Right: Luke is decorating a turkey. Bottom Right: Our friends have really enjoyed going to gardening and getting lessons from Mrs. Loree. This is eggshell crushing with a mortar and pestle.
Toddler
"In the beginning", God created everything and we are very thankful. With Thanksgiving coming and the feast celebration and Grandparents day, our class has been learning about appreciating the world around us. The sun/moon and stars, water/ land, animals and of course, our families. The children have been sharing all the things that they are very thankful (happy) about. Mr. Anna and Ms. Bea
Thanksgiving has come and gone and we can't believe we are gearing up for the Christmas season already! We want to say Thank You to all the grandparents and visitors who came and made our day extra special. It is so enjoyable seeing the children showing off their favorite works to each of you. All month long the children worked diligently gluing feathers to make turkey's, painting their hands to create grandparent cards and exploring in our sensorial bin with corn meal and fall items. Next month our seasonal works will focus on winter and the Christmas holiday. We will decorate our class Christmas tree, sing Christmas songs, and baby Jesus felt storyboard Mrs. April, Mrs. Lilly, and Ms. Eliane
Mastering fine motor skills is a year round work for a toddler. Ms. Coral’s class has been busy working on their fine motor abilities and hand strength to gear up for the years ahead. We have brought in several new works to build hand strength such as large tong transfer,large chalkboard work, and introductory into sewing which requires a dull needle, yearn, and felt hearts; the children really love this work! Transitions throughout the day happen often in a Montessori classroom. At these times if you were to walk into the toddler classroom you may assume what you see is chaos. The chaos that seems to be occurring is actually all of the children working together to achieve a common goal. At these times we are changing shoes, going potty, and (being the strong independent children they are) some of the older children volunteer to move all of the tables in a straight line or “family style” so we can sit and eat snack and lunch as a whole. The younger children, then, move the chairs to the tables to do their part in the community. Having them work together in this way has helped build a stronger bond among the children. We are starting to hear less of “my work” and more of “can I help?” Which is a beautiful thing to see and hear in a toddler classroom. Ms. Coral’s class has also been busy painting and making Grandparent’s Day projects and cards which are looking beautiful! The children are so excited to sing their Grandparent’s Day and Thanksgiving songs to you; I bet you have already heard them at home! We hope everyone has a great holiday. Happy Thanksgiving from our class to you. Ms. Coral, Ms. Martha, and Ms. Jana
Christian and Edith doing big work moving the tables to get ready for snack time.
Eva working in the red reading chair, stacking rings 1-4
Jane in gardening class she exclaims whoa to describe how heavy the rock is
Violet learning to use two hands to drink from a cup.
Madie concentrating on an Introduction to Sewing work
Primary
Dear Families of Primary One, We are thankful for each of you! In class this month we have been discussing the things we appreciate in our lives. We compiled a list together: We are thankful for... 1. Our friends and families. 2. Healthy food to eat. 3. Toys to play with. 4. God’s love. 5. Our school, St. James. This year at the Thanksgiving feast we dress as pilgrims. To help the children understand the historical significance of our shared meal we have been studying the history of our country. We began with the discovery of The Americas by Christopher Columbus and learned about the pilgrim’s journey to a new land to pray and worship God in their own way. We talked about the pilgrim’s friendship with Native Americans and the challenge to produce food and hunt to provide for families. Tying the lesson’s together, we discussed the need of families in Dallas who may not have enough to eat and may have trouble feeding their families. The children made suggestions of many ways to help and in turn, worked with you to bring groceries to donate to the food pantry. Thank you for giving your children the opportunity to share and understand how much they have to be thankful for!! We are eagerly anticipating grandparents day and the children have been busy making cards for them with Ms. Marla. We look forward to a room filled with Grandparents on Tuesday. Happy Thanksgiving! - Ms. Charlotte, Ms. Kalindi and Ms. Marla
We have started singing Thanksgiving Songs in our classroom. The class really loves to sing seasonal songs. It is great fun to watch them sing. (Oh, if you could only be a fly on the wall!). We are particularly enjoying practicing the song the class will sing to the grandparents on Grandparents Day, November 26th. During circle time we have been talking about the blessings in our lives. The students take turns naming some of their blessings. We got a Cornucopia and filled it to overflowing with plastic fruits and vegetables.
We discussed that the Cornucopia is a “horn of plenty”. It represents the overflowing, abundance of blessings we have in our lives. And, hopefully, the students learned a new word: Cornucopia. It seems every year that the children sense the holidays quickly approaching and the social activity in the classroom starts to rise. We have discussions about “working in the classroom, and playing on the playground”. There is a time and place for everything. Speaking of playing: the students absolutely love the new balance beam on the playground. After it was installed and ready to use we told our class that there is a new balance beam on the playground. That is all we said. Our class happened to be the first class out to recess that day, and the entire class immediately went to the balance beam and stood on it. There was no fussing or pushing or shoving. They were just all standing there. It was beautiful! Mrs. Barrineau & Ms. Ana
The children of Primary 3 are busy preparing for Thanksgiving in a variety of ways. At circle time, we have been discussing what it means to be thankful. Pets, family members, vacations, favorite toys, food, and shelter have been recurring things that the children are thankful for. The kindergartners have each written down a list and have also brainstormed ways to show kindness to those in need. It is precious to hear the children discuss ways that they share their toys, clothes, Astrid tracing the words Happy assist their grandmothers, and care for their pets. Thanksgiving on the light box Each child’s answers have shown been creative and thoughtful. The children have been also been practicing a song to perform on Grandparents Day, November 26. We have enjoyed watching the children grow in their care for each other within the classroom. Our kindergarteners have been very focused to help each other tie the laces on their school shoes recently and we have added a new wooden shoe work with easy-tie laces to assist them in this process. On cool weather days, we have observed the older students eagerly helping the younger ones zip up their coats before recess. And not to be left out, the youngest ones in our class are always the first to get the mops, brooms, and towels to help clean a classmate’s spill. Ava helping Audrey with her coat zipper
These actions reveal the children’s love for each other and their respect for the environment. They want to maintain the classroom and help each other, as they are able. We are thankful for these precious acts of kindness and for each student in our class. We wish each family a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving! Ms. Julia & Ms. Tamera
Eloise sewing a Thanksgiving turkey
Timo sweeping up a spill with the whisk broom
Emory practicing the shoe tying work
Happy Thanksgiving from Primary 4! We have been very busy this month! Some of our favorite fall works include; parts of the turkey, parts of the cornucopia, using the moveable alphabet to write out Thanksgiving words, nut classification, parts of a pumpkin, autumn sorting and life cycle of the acorn. It’s getting colder outside so please remind your child that they need to bring their labeled sweater or jacket to school everyday. Friday the 22nd is our school Thanksgiving feast! Our class will dress as Native Americans on that day and enjoy some of the same foods that the Pilgrims and Native Americans shared all those years ago. The feast begins at 11am in the Parish Hall. Parents are welcome.
We are preparing for our upcoming Grandparents Day! Your child’s grandparents are invited to join us for Chapel and then go to the Parish Hall for a special performance given by the children. After the performance, the grandparents are invited to the classroom to observe our sweet children hard at work! There will be an 11 o’clock dismissal that day, November 26th. We hope that you all enjoy the Thanksgiving season as we remember all that we are grateful for! Happy Thanksgiving! Ms. Elizabeth and Mrs. Ashley
November in the Children’s Garden Thank you for the eggshells! Eggshells contain calcium, phosphorus, sulfur and potassium, which help make plants healthy. Eggshells also are rumored to keep snails away! The children use a mortar and pestle to grind the shells. They then sprinkle the shells around the plants that have nibbled on leaves.
Another fun fall job is placing “mulch blankets” around the base of the plants and “dead heading” the Marigolds and Zinnias.
Ms. Coral and Jane placing a mulch blanket around the lettuce.
To dead head a flower, look for a flower that has finished blooming and has dried out. Use one hand to hold the stem of the flower and your other to pluck the bloom from the stem. Marigolds and zinnia’s calyx can be peeled apart to expose the seeds. Save the seeds in a dry place and plant in the spring. Taylor and Gabe “dead-heading” Marigolds.
Happy Gardening!
Art
with Ms. Judi We are finishing up our fun fall leaves projects. They were able to draw different types of leaves and then use oil pastels to color them in and scratch on top of the leaf to create some great textures. Please be sure to stop by the Lake Highlands Cafe. The Kindergartnen student’s butterflies are on display until the end of November. Each child did their rendition of a sapphire butterfly. The Sapphire butterfly is a symbol of 45th anniversaries and this year St James celebrates its 45th anniversary of Montessori education.
The Lake Highlands Butterfly display
Riley is seen here blending the different orange, yellow, and red oil pastels to create a fall leaf.
Technology with Ms. Judi
T
his month in Technology, the children were introduced to Lego Robotics! They had so much fun building the legos
step by step then seeing the mechanisms move with just the click of the mouse! Each class was able to build a Monkey that moved it’s arms and two tweety birds that turned! Also with Thanksgiving and Grandparents day, the programs featured fun games that referenced both days! Happy Thanksgiving!
Leo and Louie working hard on the lego robotics
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. Each year the program is a little different. Some years the primary will play a lot of games or really like puzzles. This year they are in love with arts and crafts. Every afternoon, the more stickers, glue sticks and markers, the better! We don’t use color sheets, just plain pieces of paper, I love how creative the primary students are with a blank canvas. The toddlers also enjoy blocks and coloring but I do believe their favorite activity this year is play dough. Please remember to send a jacket with your child. We have baskets that we keep the coats in, please make sure to label their jackets. The ASC staff is not as familiar as your child’s classroom teacher is with their jackets and it is difficult for them to help with jackets and if they are not labeled. I notice that there has been several jackets left in Ms. Charlotte’s and Mrs. Barrineau’s baskets. If you are missing a jacket, please check the basket. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Lisa Wilson
November in Chapel is filled with thanks! One of my very favorite lessons in November comes from the New Testament. It’s the story of the Good Samaritan. As a Jewish man lay wounded on the side of the road, several people walked by without stopping to help. This continued until finally a man from Samaria came by. The Jews and Samaritans were known for not getting along. But this Samaritan man did something completely counterculture. He stopped. He helped the man up, took him to an inn and cared for him. All bills paid, no expectation of payback. Just kindness. Jesus uses this example of the Good Samaritan to ask the Disciples, “Who is your neighbor?”. The answer? Everyone! What we can take from this story is the constant presence of love and kindness. Jesus teaches us to love our neighbors and enemy’s. I encourage us not to be limited to helping only those we know and care for, but also to strangers and “the least of these”. This month the children at St. James were able to be Good Samaritans by donating canned foods to the Austin Street Shelter. Thank you for making this donation so successful! I know that the people who receive these gifts will be eternally grateful. This Thanksgiving I am grateful to be the Christian Education Director at St. James. Each week with each new lesson, the children teach me something new about God’s BIG love. I am forever indebted to the children of St. James for teaching me more about grace and The Fathers love then I could ever teach them. What are you thankful for? :) Blessings, Ashley Woodruff Christian Education Director
‘Howl at the Moon’ with the DOGS November 15th
Upcoming Events December December 9th- Monday Morning Montessori Discussion with Loree December 19th- ( After School Dismisses at 4:30pm) & Christmas Pageant (5:00pm- Toddlers, 6:00pm Primary) December 20th- Holiday Parties (Noon Dismissal- NO AFTER SCHOOL CARE) December 23rd- January 7th- Christmas Holidays