2015
October NEWS
The Blessing of the Animals The Blessing of the Animals event is a wonderful example of what being a Christian Montessori School is all about. The children have such affection for their pet or stuffed animal and reverently prayed with Father Gardner and Mother Rebecca. Look at their peaceful little faces and the love and fellowship they are sharing! I’m grateful we don’t have to tiptoe around our Christianity… that we instead embrace it and live it with the children each day.
Maria Montessori herself felt there was a “window of spirituality” within each child. Montessori believed that society, the family, and teachers should introduce religious concepts. She felt that even babies absorbed the church services. By the time a child is 5, Montessori believed that the main part of religious development was almost complete.
When thinking about educating the whole child, isn’t this the part of our children we want most prominent as they grow? Especially knowing that their spiritual self will help shape their morals and assist in their choices through life?
Maria Montessori often wrote about a spiritual awakening within the child. I get to witness that with the children who come in and are simply working on sitting and listening who then begin to join us in prayer and can understand/respond to the Bible Stories. I have to admit my own spirituality has deepened since being with the children over the years. There’s something about praying with children and people who love children that enriches our faith. If you haven’t ever attended one of our Chapel services please put that on your to-do list for this year. Blessings, Mrs. Loree
MDO Parents: Well, the month of September has flown by like a leaf in the wind. All the children have adjusted well to the school routine and we are well on our way to a productive school year. The children are all excited about fall! We will be painting, stamping, and reading fall books. Our upcoming themes are all about pumpkins, acorns, leaves, etc. We are going to learn about The Life Cycle of the Pumpkin. The children in the class have enjoyed learning the practical life and sensorial Montessori works. We are continuing to work on practicing letter sounds and the children have been introduced to new sign language vocabulary words. Our colors this month are orange and black and the shape is the square. We also are learning numbers and colors in English and Spanish. As part of the “work cycle,� Ryder is learning to put his work back in the correct place after working with it.
Fall weather can be quite unpredictable and we try to go outside every day. Please be sure your child has a change of clothes that is appropriate for the fall temperatures. Please label all jackets, hats, gloves, scarves, etc. with his/her name. Enjoy the beautiful weather! Ashtyn is scrubbing a pumpkin. This is a seasonal work to develop the wrist muscle which will allow her to learn how to write.
Parent check list: • Please remember, if your child has an accident please return dry clothes the next day your child comes to school.
As part of practical life works, Henry washes his hands to get in the habit to keep his hands clean before eating.
Go over these ground rules with your child: • We use soft voices in school • We return work to the shelf when we are finished • We never disturb another child’s work • We walk in school Jacob practices how to put his socks on
We really appreciate all your feedback. Working together, we can provide the best classroom experience for your child. For information about our Halloween party, or to offer your help, please contact our room mom Christie Tinker. Thank you very much for all your support! Eva Soldevilla, Mary Peterson and Ashley Schlachter
Birthday Celebrations and Blessings for Toddler 1 Father Gardner came by to visit and gave blessings for the children that have or will be celebrating their birthday’s this month. Father Gardner is somewhat of a celebrity at when he visits‌ everyone loves to get a blessing and to hear about all the stories that are on his stole.
The holidays are upon us and the children love the color changes in the classroom, the pumpkin patch, and hopefully the cool weather coming soon.
In October, Toddler 1 is working on seasonal works, practicing our fine motor skills, and counting 1-5. Using tweezers, and strawberry hullers, the children are fine toning their pincer grasp. Reese is working on fine motor and counting as well as learning “big and small” with the “small, smaller and smallest” lady bugs. Julianne is practicing her pincer grasp and transferring poms. Andrew is counting 1-5 and matching. Vaughn is working on her fine motor skills with picking corn off the holiday Indian corn. The smaller the work the longer we hope to build up our focus and concentration! Thank you! Mrs. Anna and Ms. Annabel
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October means cooler temperatures are near and the mornings have an autumn breeze. It also means PUMPKINS! Toddler 2 have counted pumpkins, sang pumpkin songs, learned the life cycle of a pumpkin, and mixed yellow and red paint to make pumpkin orange. We welcome Winnie to our toddler environment.
The children enjoyed a beautiful morning walk through the St. James pumpkin patch, and we also used our senses to smell and touch the inside of a pumpkin. We then roasted the seeds and ate them during snack. The children have enjoyed reading the “Five Little Pumpkins� in circle time.
Samuel and Sienna work together pulling the pumpkin in the wagon.
Happy October! Mrs. April, Mrs. Lilly, and Ms. Eliane
Adam, Victoria and Michelle having fun in the pumpkin patch.
Ann Marie is gluing shapes to make a jack o’ lantern.
Emery is doing one of our most popular works in the classroom - pumpkin scrubbing!
Claire is experiencing feeling the inside of the pumpkin and scooping out seeds with her hand.
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Leaves are falling from the trees, squirrels are eating their acorns; Fall is in the air! We have been learning all about Fall and Halloween this month. The children have been very occupied by various fall works in the classroom. Some practical life works are pumpkin scrubbing, tong and hand transfer with fall manipulatives, and the Halloween sensory bin.
Friends having fun picking up the Halloween Sensorial Bin.
Fall art works include: cutting and tearing Halloween strips, gluing jack-o-lanterns and candy corn, and painting fall pictures with tempera paint, as well as many other works we have added to the room. Top: Ford strengthening his fine motor skills with tong work. Bottom: Will painting with Orange Tempera Paint.
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The weather has been beautiful and the children are taking full advantage! Many are running full speed on the playground to feel the breeze and others are basking in the sun enjoying the cool fresh air.
Madeline and Avery play “follow the leader� as they enjoy the sunshine on the playground.
Mrs. Loree made a special delivery to our classroom with baby and giant pumpkins to count, scrub, and dissect. We are currently learning the parts of a pumpkin and will be hollowing one out right before Halloween to get the full experience a pumpkin has to offer! Everyone have a Happy Halloween! All Our Best, Ms. Coral, Mrs. Amy, & Mrs. Amanda Lucy matching and counting The Five Little Pumpkins.
Families of Primary 1: We are so glad that it’s beginning to feel a lot more like fall! Excitement fills our classroom as the children are being given new lessons and experience working with new materials. Leaf sorting, pumpkin scrubbing, practicing putting on/taking off gloves, and tweezing corn kernels are just a few of the new seasonal attractions we have added to our shelves.
The children are bursting with creativity in making Jack-O-Lanterns using the Metal Insets—we have seen some pretty interesting work that we think you will be impressed by.
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The children in the afternoon enjoy collaborating together to create unique mazes with the Red Rods. We are pleased to still see older children taking a role in leadership and offering to help the younger ones around the classroom. Many of the children enjoy naming and identifying various shapes of leaves and making their own books of what they have learned. The Colored Bead Stair is a popular lesson that we have been giving to the children that are interested in Math. It is a great introduction to later work with the bead chains, and is a very concrete way to understand quantity and practice counting. We are so happy that the children are excited about the work they are doing in the classroom and we understand that they just can’t wait to take it home to share & show; each child has a folder at school that they put their finished work into, and towards the end of every month they will have a manila take-home folder that can be emptied at home and returned to school. At the end of the month we will be celebrating Halloween at school. Your children have been anxious to tell us about what they’re dressing up as for Halloween, and we can’t wait to see their costumes! It is a half day that day, but it will be filled with treats & lots of fun for the children. Mrs. Amaris & Ms. Kim
2 October is such a wonderful month. We had our Fall Break. The pumpkins arrived in the Pumpkin Patch. We are singing Halloween songs in the classroom. The leaves started changing color. The class gets to dress up for Halloween and have our first classroom party. The weather is FINALLY starting to get cooler which makes recess all the more enjoyable. And now for a glimpse into the classroom‌ PRACTICAL LIFE Practical Life exercises are the foundation on which all of the various exercises in all areas of the classroom are built upon. It is in these exercises the child begins to form control of movement, build concentration, hand and eye coordination, order, and physical as well mental independence. These exercises may appear very simple or even like “playâ€? to the child and the other adults in the environment. But as the child repeats various exercises he is working on perfecting a specific skill or movement. It is through this movement that the child develops and actually builds his own abilities. The child watches a presentation on a skill then is allowed to repeat the skill at his/her own rate. There comes a time when the child not longer feels a need to repeat the skill. The child no longer has to concentrate to bring about a certain movement, it gradually becomes an unconscious action. Through practice, the child builds himself. Finally, the child learns Good Working Habits as he finishes each task and puts away all of his materials before beginning another activity.
Throughout the year the Practical Life activities gradually increase in difficulty. The child will continue to choose the same works, such as sorting, pouring water, weaving, stringing beads, etc., but the teacher modifies the content to make the work more challenging. All the best, Mrs. Barrineau and Ms. Marla
own, d g n i l fal fallin g dow Autumn leaves are falling down, , n! llow e y and brown! d d n e a r e g n
Autumn leaves are falling down,
ora
The children of primary three have embraced the change of seasons with gusto! The classroom is a flurry of autumn artwork, finger plays and Halloween songs at circle, and seasonal works on the practical life and language shelves. Ask your child about “pumpkin hammering,� the life cycle of the pumpkin, or Indian corn kerneling with tongs. It is wonderful to observe the joy and calm that the children demonstrate when they are deeply focused on their work. Each child is finding favorite things to do in the classroom and new skills to master. Tara carefully lines up a peg to hammer into the pumpkin.
Left: Cole takes down her finished painting and places it on the drying rack. Right: Madeleine is very focused on scrubbing the pumpkin.
This month we celebrated birthdays for David (who turned 6) and Cole and Aidan (who both turned four). We have also been discussing North America in our continent studies and practicing our alphabet sounds at group time. We had a wonderful turn out at Open House and we look forward to seeing you at the end of the month for our Halloween parade and class party! Ms. Tamara and Ms. Jaymie
Nico is engrossed in his book at the reading corner.
Hunter and Aidan work together to build the nesting tower.
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Happy fall! What an enjoyable October we have had. It seems to finally be cooling off and we have been able to relish in those beautiful fall days we have been waiting for!
Taking a tour of the St. James pumping patch
Carson and William making a book of the different bones in the body
The month of October is always a month that is jam-packed with countless themed studies for the children. Our classroom has enjoyed spending time in the St. James pumpkin patch, naming and observing the parts of a pumpkin, and learning the scientific names for the bones in our body! Ask your child at home to sing the “Bone Song� for you and keep checking in on Montessori Compass to see the bones we have learned thus far. Once our study is finished the older children will be cutting out and creating their own skeleton with moveable parts!
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Our older children have spent much time working with nomenclature cards. Nomenclature cards are a huge part of our classroom as they allow for the child to identify and name various parts of objects or animals by isolating each part individually and providing the correct vocabulary. Once they are able to successfully identify a part, they are able to make their own books. The children’s favorite books this month have been the parts of a skeleton and parts of the pumpkin. Annabelle using the pumpkin nomenclature cards
Noah using metal inset to create Halloween images
The younger children have been enthralled with all of the themed Practical Life materials. We have enjoyed hammering tees into a pumpkin and scrubbing a pumpkin! These are not only great works for the hand, but also a useful means for teaching the child how to properly use a tool, such a hammer, to pound the tees into the pumpkin using the head as well as removing the tees using the claw. Ms. Sarah and Ms. Bianca Jetty hammering tees into a pumpkin
In the Children’s We have had lessons on the Parts of the Pumpkin, Pumpkin Hammering and Pumpkin Matching. (Please note our squirrel, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, is studying the parts of the pumpkin himself!) Thankfully Alison Bray gave me the terrific tip to apply peppermint oil to the pumpkins and it has worked like a charm! Abby pumpkin hammering
Jetty using the push broom to sweep the rocks off the sidewalk
Each time we walk through the garden I say the names of the plants and play word association games or tell them something unique about the species to help them remember the plants name… The Okra is fuzzy and stands tall; the Pineapple Sage leaves smells like pineapple; Lamb’s Ear is as soft as, well, you probably can guess the rest of this one. The children have also memorized most of the pumpkins hidden throughout the garden. I’ve attached pictures and their names. You could use a Montessori Method to see how many your child knows by asking “Can you place your finger on the ________ pumpkin?” Feel free to walk through the garden with your child and let them show you what they know. It’s a wonderful time to be in the garden! Mrs. Loree
Fairytale Pumpkin
One Too Many Pumpkin I explained that it has 1 too many colors :)
Tiger Striped Baby Pumpkin
Knucklehead Pumpkin
Cinderella Pumpkin
Peanut Pumpkin
Millionaire Squash
Swan Neck Gourd
It has been a pumpkin patch palooza in art class this month! In honor of October, Halloween, and fall, both groups of children have been working hard on pumpkin projects. While working on the pumpkin projects this month, we have learned some new vocabulary words. We learned that a sketch is a simple drawing you make before you start your project. We learned that the horizon is the line where the sky meets the land. We also learned that dimension means adding a lifelike or realistic quality to our painting. The kindergarten students are creating a pumpkin painting on canvas. The children are excited to see the results of their painting because it is so much different than painting on paper. The canvas adds a lot of texture to the painting, and they are turning out beautifully. First we made a sketch of a pumpkin on our canvas. Then we added the horizon line. After those simple steps we starting painting! We started painting the farthest things away first, which means we painted the sky and the grass. Then we started painting the pumpkin. We are using two different shades of orange and two shades of brown to make our pumpkin and add dimension. After we are done painting the pumpkin we will go back and add details to our grass and our sky.
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The second year students are making a pumpkin pointillism painting. Pointillism is a style of painting where the image is formed from small dots of color. To create the dots, the children are using Q-Tips! First, we made a sketch of a pumpkin on our paper. Then we added the horizon line. Then we started painting! The children are excited to paint with Q-Tips because they are easy to use and you can throw them away when you’re done! Although it takes a lot of dots to make the image, the students are starting to see the results of their hard work. In the end they will be amazed that their whole project was created using only little dots of paint! In technology, we have started working on a special project. We are learning how to draw on an electronic tablet with a stylus. Although it sounds simple, it is actually very hard! It is natural to look at the surface you are drawing on, however, on an electronic tablet, you won’t see your image. You need to look at the computer screen to see your drawing! The children are having so much fun trying to figure out where to move the stylus to create their picture. Despite some initial frustrations, they have figured it out and have created some great pictures! We will continue to work on this skill to create our project at the end of the semester.
Vivian
Happy fall and Happy Halloween! Ms. Hanna Nate Mark Davis
Madeline
This month, we are doing some fun and spooky poses! We are reading Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and doing accompanying yoga poses. I also found a fun and short sequence I taught the kids. It is ten poses in ten minutes. Namaste, Ms. Charlotte
HALLOWEEN Ghost, Scarecrow or Skeleton - Mountain Pose Moon - Moon Salute or Extended Mountain Pose Crooked Tree - Tree Pose Witch on a Broom - Chair Pose Bat - Standing Forward Bend Spider - Table Top Pose Haunted House - Downward-Facing Dog Pose Cat - Cat Pose Owl - Hero’s Pose Pumpkin - Child’s Pose
After school care continues to be a buzz of activity. Everyone has settled into a routine and I see lots of smiles and hear lots of happy chatter during the afternoon. The toddlers love their circle time routine. They sing songs that they are familiar with from their classrooms. The primary children love crafts during ASC. Crayons, markers and stencils are always the favorites! The ASC staff certainly enjoys their time with your children. We like to keep their day similar to their classroom routines and that holds true for their snack time. We post the snack on the bulletin board outside the school lunch room area. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Just a friendly reminder that we are asking all ASC families to park in the back for pick up. Cooler weather is approaching, please make sure that your child has a jacket WITH THEIR NAME LABLED, thank you. Happy October, Lisa Wilson
God’s Love Is Big Our chapel services have been going quite nicely. The kindergarten children have been doing a wonderful job leading songs, leading the Lord’s Prayer, ringing the bell to call us to Chapel, carrying the banner and being the Crucifer. We are all very proud of their commitment. All the children are starting to respond in prayers and love to be called on during the lesson. We have been taking about the Garden of Eden, how Adam and Eve had everything they needed but only one rule. Do not eat from the tree in the middle of the garden. We heard about the “sneaky serpent” and how he tempted them to eat from the tree. First, they said “no, no, no” but their “no” turned into “maybe” and then finally they did eat. Even though they made a mistake (sinned) and had to leave the garden, God forgave them and still had big love for them. God loves your child and you. BIG!! Ms Amaris
Audrey, bell ringer