October
NEWS
Items
Monday Morning Montessori - Loree Birkenback
head of school
A
*Placemat *Napkin *Plate *Bowl *Drinking glass *Child’s flatware *Spreader knife *Small dull cutting knife *Small serrated knife *Small glass pitchers Small mixing bowl *8 slice apple corer 2 Mini- scrub brushes-1 for veggies and 1 for cleaning Lamb’s wool duster Vegetable peeler *Spreader Mini masher Rolling pin Oven mitt Wavy chopper Small whisk *Small bamboo cutting board Small juicer Spatula Glass creamer Mini colander *Broom, brush, mop, cleaning cloths *Dust pans Wooden mixing spoon
nne Bailey and I just presented “At Home with Montessori” during our Monday Morning Montessori chat. This month’s topic was how to set up a space for your child in the kitchen. We discussed the importance of a weaning table, which is basically a child’s size table and chair. The shelf can hold several choices for breakfast, snacks and lunch. We focused on the snack options. Healthy choices for the toddler could be a whole fruit…pear, banana, or Clementine orange. A spreading work…almond butter or cream cheese on a slice of bread; cashews, and dried mango now allows 4 different healthy snack choices.
The older primary child could still have the same fruit choices, but would also be in charge of washing and preparing the fruit. Adding more complex snack options like a fruit smoothie, or a bean salad will be more mentally and nutritionally satisfying for this child. I loved the phrase from author of At Home with Montessori- “It is easier to teach a child to help rather than keep the child occupied”.
I hope you’ll join us next month on November 15th! Diana Barrineau will be co-hosting as we discuss language in the Montessori home.
Toddler shelf
Primary Shelf
MDO Happy Fall everyone!!! We are so excited fall has finally arrived, and very happy that we made through the hot, hot, hot summer. Here at St. James we love October so much because we have our own pumpkin patch. The children love going to the pumpkin patch to see all the different kinds of pumpkins there are. We also love to have fun snacks in October. So far we have had pumpkin muffins and some homemade pumpkin butter. Anything pumpkin or fall like snacks are great to bring in right now. The children loved the pumpkin flavoring. Once it really cools down we can make some vegetable and chicken noodle soup together.
W
e are bringing out the fall works in the classroom now. We will be bringing in pumpkins for pumpkin scrubbing. We also have a scooping work with acorns and all of our arts and crafts are pumpkin related this month.
O
ur song for the month is “Five Little Pumpkins.� The children are in the process of learning it and we will be singing it for you all at the Halloween party this month.
O
ur party is October 28, 2011 from 10-11 AM in the parish hall. Feel free to bring your child in his/her costume to celebrate.
If your child is staying all day that day please bring a change of clothes in case he/ she would like to change after the party.
W
e would like to welcome our new class pets, Tom and Jerry, to the Mothers Day Out family. They were donated to us by an old family friend and are already so loved. The children love to sit and read books to them already. I think they may be some spoiled guinea pigs by the end of the year.
Toddlers Changing Seasons
We can hardly believe fall is already here! Along with the change in seasons come a few exciting ways to spice up the environment and add an autumnal element to our toddler community. One change the children really love is our new seasonal snack menu. The children enjoy preparing our Fall Harvest Salad. We mix organic brown rice, baby sweet corn, edamame and bright red bell peppers. It is a huge hit and the kids eat it up! We love offering healthy snacks as way to introduce the children to positive eating habits at an early age. We are always thinking of new and exciting ways to entice the children to try delicious healthy new foods, and the peer pressure really helps!
Fall Harvest Salad Organic brown rice baby sweet corn edamame bright red bell peppers
P
is for Pumpkin Scrubbing
In
Tip!
our practical life area we have added pumpkin scrubbing. The work consists of a few simple elements. This activity helps to refine motor skills and teaches the children to follow through with the cycle of activity and learn to care for the shared environment. This a fun and easy work to replicate at home.
How To at Home
1
On a tray place a small dish with soapy water, a child sized sponge, a small cloth and a pumpkin in a shallow bowl.
2
The child dips the sponge in the water and begins to scrub the pumpkin in a circular motion.
3
Next, a small cloth is used to dry off the pumpkin and tray. Happy pumpkin scrubbing!
Primary
classroom news
Montessori philosophy recognizes that a child’s environment greatly influences development. A child’s home, community, and school environment all have an impact on their development. Children encounter food in all of these places, and the Montessori classroom is a great place to help children learn about and develop healthy eating. Diet and nutrition are essential for health as well as learning. The children in our classroom are presented with opportunities each day to practice good nutritional habits.
“Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.”
Snack is prepared and presented each day by the children. They help choose the menu as well as wash, peel, and slice fresh produce. Snack always includes a wide variety of fresh fruits or vegetables. Snack preparation is often a lesson in language and vocabulary; this week the children learned to identify kiwi fruit and zucchini! Food preparation works are also available as part of practical life. Juicing oranges, peeling carrots, and stirring and spreading natural peanut butter allow the children to independently prepare healthy snacks while also developing focus, hand strength, and coordination! Lunchtime in the Montessori classroom provides even more opportunities for children to practice healthy habits. Setting the table and sitting with friends during mealtime allows the children to take their time and enjoy eating as a community. The beginning of Fall is a great time to teach children about seasonal fruits and vegetables. The children have learned the parts of a pumpkin, eaten pumpkin muffins, and read Pumpkin Soup. Other Autumn themed activities which the children enjoy include gourd sorting, acorn scooping, corn tweezing, and leaf stringing. Several children have used the circle metal inset to make jack-o-lanterns and others have made fall leaf collages using the leaf cabinet! - Ms. Ashley and Ms. Elizabeth
Primary 3 and 4 in the classroom
H
i everyone I hope you are enjoy this wonderful fall weather, I know that we have! Tamara and I started to show the children some new fall works like: gourd scrubbing, acorn sorting and parts of a pumpkin 3 part cards. Also we have added a snack menu with a special cooking project for every Friday; when it’s your turn to bring the snack we will give you the grocery list with the ingredients we will need for that week. This week was homemade apple sauce with cinnamon and it made our classroom smell wonderful! - Julia and Tamara Tip! What you will need
Skeleton and Brain Dip
1/2 cup lettuce leaf 1 cup Kraft light Ranch Dressing 4 cups assorted fresh
by Healthy Living
vegtables( red and yellow bell pepper strips, cucumber slices, snow peas, mushroom slices, celery sticks, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, broccoli florets, cauliflower florets)
1
2
3
LINE half of small bowl Place at one end of large tray or ARRANGE vegetables on with lettuce for the skelbaking sheet for the skeleton’s tray to resemble skeleton’s hair; fill with dresshead. eton’s body. ing.
Lunch Bunch “Lunch Bunch” in the Montessori environment is an extended Practical Life activity that is honed by each child, individually, daily throughout the year until… voila! “Independence and Tranquilly Happy Munching” is suddenly and finally achieved by all! As with all areas of the Montessori Curriculum, the success of the child is dependent on the supportive relationship between the parent, child and teacher. -Bailey/Gavin
A
s with all areas of the Montessori Curriculum, the success of the child is dependent on the supportive relationship between the parent, child and teacher. onsider how the Lunch Bunch experience for your child might be one of the most appealing and positive experiences of his or her day: inspiring creativity through a sensorial and aesthetic experience; encouraging independence by offering choices: placemats, napkins, milk or water, picnic or table seating, various sizes, colors of bowls and plates; allowing for plenty of movement back and forth from the sink to wash hands, to the table to unpack, to the pouring shelf, dish shelf and microwave; developing self-esteem by successfully managing the orderly sequence of events as well as the sometimes heroic task of opening containers and fitting all that food onto one plate without even one little mishap or spill.
C
Lunch Bunch continued The Nobel Peace Prize for Lunch Bunch for the first week of October in honor of the lovely spirit of St. Francis of Assisi is given to the family that created this Beautiful, Healthy and Independently Unpacked Lunch: Tuna Salad Sandwich on Whole Wheat Bread, Cut into triangles, 3 large and lovely washed Strawberries One quarter Apple, cored and ready to eat One Cheese Stick, easily peeled open
Fall Harvest Salad
Oops! I almost forgot to light the candle! Make Chapel Hands! The Children then sing the Blessing and now that everyone is ready, we all may eat! The Nobel Peace Prize for Packing Up Awarded to this Same Lunch: All Eaten, No Fuss
Care of self and the environment Care of self and care of the environment are
“The child can develop fully by means of experience in his environment. We call such experiences ‘work’.” - Maria Montessori
PRACTICAL LIFE lessons that are used in the Montessori classroom daily. 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 as mental independence. To an adult practical life skills such as care of the body and house are necessary chores. To the child in the Montessori classroom, learning to care for self and the classroom can create a sense of accomplishment, pride and independence. If a child has a spill (water, Tip! milk, applesauce, part of a work, etc.) they are taught, then expected, to cleanup after his/her self. When a child completes a work he/she is taught, then expected, to put the work away properly. If a child has a bathroom accident they are taught, then expected, to clean up after him/her self. The child learns that he/she independently takes care of self and environment. As a group we clean, straighten and organize Tip! the works on the shelf. We work on care of self and environment consistently and conscientiously every day.
-Mrs. Barrineau and Ms. Stacy
In the Garden
with Ms. Loree
exploring parts of the gourd in the garden “A gourd is a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae. The term is also used for their fruit which include crops like cucumbers, squashes (including pumpkins), luffas, and melons. However, the term ‘gourd’ can, more specifically, refer to the hard-rinded inedible fruits of the plants of the two Cucurbitaceae genera Lagenaria and Cucurbita and to their dried fruit shells, often used for ornament, instru-
ments, utensils and vessels.” - Wikipedia
Life Cycle of the Pumpkin
T
he younger students are currently learning about the artist Paul
Paul Klee
18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss[a] painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism
Klee, and have been working on their own artwork inspired by his painting titled head of a man. The children have enjoyed using shapes and color to create their own “Paul Klee Head”. They are using watercolors in class and learning how to create “new” colors using the mixing palette. The children have enjoyed the process of adding water to “wake up” the colors, and having more control over the colors they use through mixing.
Art
with Ms. Ashli
Technology
with Ms. Ashli
T We are learning
Motherboard Hard Drive Ram (Memory) CPU Fan Power Supply
he kindergartners are working hard on their alphabet books in Technology class. Using Corel Painter, they are practicing controlling the mouse, clicking, and using Type. They are working on publishing a visual A-Z word and picture book to keep in their classrooms. See below for a sneak peak. The students have also been learning the parts of a computer and practicing plugging parts into the Motherboard, installing RAM, and making sure the CPU has a fan installed with it to keep it cool
D
o you have an old non working desktop computer or laptop you would like to donate? I love for the children to be able to explore and learn from real computer parts. Please contact me if you would like to donate to our technology class. Thank you. -Ms. Ashli acheung@stjamesdallas.org
Wish List
old desktop computers (without monitor) old Laptop
Chapel Lessons with Ms. Ashley
Lessons we have learned
C
reation, Adam and Even in the Garden of
Eden.
N
oah and the Ark
J
onah and the Big Fish
C
elebrating St. Francis’ Day
October Photos
Upcoming Events October October 20th is our Open House! It’s from 5-7 p.m. Please come with your children october 20th to see their classroom, and also invite your friends and neighbors!
Oct 31
Halloween Parties October 28th Noon Dismissal Private School Preview
October 31st Halloween Parties - Noon Dismissal
November November 7th Conference Day - No School November 14th Monday Morning Montessori Discussion with Loree Birkenback 8:30 am November 18th Thanksgiving Feast
November 22nd Grandparents Day - 11:00 am dismissal November 23rd - 27th Thanksgiving Holidays
Dont Forget To visit the Pumpkin Patch and support the St James Episcopal Church Youth Ministry. The
funds support youth outreach activities as well as local, national and international mission trips, particularly by providing scholarships.
Congratulations to Miss Coral! Jolene is here and healthy!