AprilNEWS

2016

Monday Morning Montessori Talks About the Kitchen:

This month I showed parents ways to bring Montessori Methods to your kitchen. Here are a few of my notes:

Toddlers Wish List- Able to sit up to age 3:

Table and chair - the child’s feet should be able to comfortably touch the floor and their arms should rest on top of the table. For beginning toddlers, choose a chair with sides (weaning chair). Independent snack shelfA stool for your child to safely reach sink and counters

Constructive Playthings

Primary Wish List-ages 3 to 6:

Adaptable table and chairSmall stoolArea on kitchen shelves and refrigerator for independent food works Step by step cooking cards

Both age groups:

CHILD-SIZED mixing bowls, wooden and plastic mixing spoons, bamboo cutting board, miniature whisk and mesh strainer, miniature cheese grater, vegetable peeler, small bamboo tongs, spatula, apple corer, egg slicer, orange juicer, pouring pitcher, small rolling pin, safe cutter, wavy chopper, bouncy whisk, apron (dry and wet), cups, plates, silverware, placemat, napkin, small cutting board, broom, dust pan, crumb broom, rags, mop, bucket, bin for dirty dishes.

I talked about the importance of your child independently being able to drink and eat a small snack. Where does your child eat their snack? Develop a cycle of activity for snack work:

1. Designate your space with an underlay (placemat) 2. Set your place with a plate, cup, napkin and silverware 3. Serve yourself snack4. Pour yourself some water5. Say your blessing6. Eat! 7. Place your dirty dishes in a bin8. Put the underlay away9. Wipe off the table10. Push in the chair!

A small flower arrangement and a piece of art hung on the wall at the child’s sitting eye level would complete the perfect snack table area!

As your child gets older, add more to the sequence. A child can make egg salad with you a few times; as you see the child has memorized the sequence, use step by step cards (see below) or pictures so that they can make it independently.

A few of our favorite healthy snack cook books that offer these step by step instructions are Kids in the Kitchen, by Sara Cotner and Kylie D’Alton; and any of the cookbooks for kids by Mollie Katzen!

MDO Parents:

This month we are practicing our basic classroom rules and taking our time with all of the works. We have practiced walking and not running, pushing in our chair, rolling and unrolling a rug, and carrying a tray properly. These simple actions may seem forgettable, but are a very important part of the children completing their cycle of work and memorizing the sequence.

We have great areas in our room and we need to remember to concentrate on each work and take our time to clean up for the next person. This shows that we care about our surroundings and our fellow classmates, which is a crucial skill to use throughout life.

self care

play dough sorting by size

train set

MDO

These past few weeks we have been working hard in all areas of the classroom. In our practical life area, we have switched up a few works to keep them fresh and appealing to all of our friends. We added a paper cutting work that the children can’t wait to get their hands on. Although it is fun for us to add new works, keeping old works in the classroom is also important because a child can always go back to a fa-miliar lesson and complete the task with ease. Repetition is imperative because a young child’s works are very different from the adults. When an adult works, he sets out to ac-complish some goal and stops working when the objective is achieved. A child however, does not work to accomplish an external goal, but rather an internal one. Consequently, they will repeat an activity until the inner goal is accomplished. The unconscious urge to repeat helps the child to coordinate a movement or acquire some ability.

Our children are ready to go outside and run off some excess energy. Please don’t forget to apply some sunscreen on them if it is considered necessary.

Thank you very much! Ms. Eva, Ms. Mary and Ms. Ashley

super-imposed geometric shapes

tracing numbers on a sand tray

clothes pins gluing tissue paper

The Toddler 1 class has been working hard. We are coming close to the end of the year and we are practicing many works in the class that emphasis strengthening our pincer grasp and fine motor skills. The children have been learning new songs and hand motions, and dancing with scarves and egg shakers.

Jules working on her pincer grasp with “Mr. Hungry”.

Ryan working on his pincer grasp by stringing beads.

In Christian Education we have been practicing the Lords Prayer and I might say, they are doing very well.

Toddler 1

Filling our tummies during a watermelon picnic.

Sun butter spreading, vegetable slicing, egg shell grinding, and orange juicing are just some of the favorite works in the classroom, along with apple coring and banana slicing.

Vaughn leaf polishing

With all the new works out each month, we stir up a great appetite. Practical life is always full of yummy goodies which they choose independently which makes it that much more fun for each child.

Mrs. Anna and Ms. Annabel

The month of April is quickly coming to an end. Spring is always a fun time in toddlers, the children have grown so much and are ready for more challenging work. They are asking more questions and craving to learn.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is our most popular story of the month (the children have been learning about the life cycle of the butterfly.) During circle time everyone gets a chance to look at the Very Hungry Caterpillar objects. We then place them on their matching pictures. The children love

working on this in a group and/or as an individual work. This is a wonderful way to take a classic story and extend it to more of a challenging work by building vocabulary, and using sequencing and math (counting the days until caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly).

Next time you see a butterfly ask your child about the life cycle. They just might be able to give you a lesson! :)

Toddler 2 April, Lilly, Eliane

Toddler 2

Toddler 3

Gardening in Early Spring

The weather has been beautiful lately and we have been having so much fun outside and in the garden! Outside time is one of the children's favorite times of the day! They love being in the sunshine, playing with sand, and learning to pump their feet on the swings. The tire swing is very popular when we are outside; some of the older toddlers love to push the younger ones. It is very sweet to see them work together this way. This kind of play strengthens the relationships among the children and teaches them to take turns and wait their turn.

Alexandra admires Kale in the small garden.

Martina stops to smell the roses!

The garden has been filled with blooming flowers and growing vegetables! One of the children’s favorite flowers is the “Sweet William” which is beautiful. Ms. Loree also gave us a lesson on the different types of earth worms. They even got to touch the earth worms! They were very excited about this! Some other activities the children love to do during gardening are: egg shell crushing, rock hopping, laying mulch blankets, and rock scrubbing (this is their favorite)!

Please remember to apply sunscreen to your child before sending them to school. Thank you! :)

Ms. Coral, Amy, & Amanda

Mrs. Loree shows Cate and the other students how to use a dibbler to plant seeds!

Mrs. Loree teaches the students the proper names of the plants and shows our friends how to hop rocks.

Coco loves rock scrubbing!

A huge thank you to Lindsey Edison, Gina Wright and the auction committee for throwing an amazing event on Saturday! Taco bouta party...it was nacho average fiesta!

Thank you also to all of our wonderful families who attended the auction, bid, and bought. It wouldn’t have been a success without your participation and support.

We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful and generous school family. We woudn’t be where we are today without you!

Dear Families of Primary 1,

You’ve heard the adage, “April showers bring May flowers,” and that’s what we’re hop-ing for after all of this rain we’ve had lately. On the days when there is a break in the clouds and we do get a chance to go outside, Ms. Amaris leads the afternoon children out into the Prayer Garden. This is a great space to find peace and just breathe! In the classroom the children are happily going about their work, just like the butterflies we observe on the playground and in the garden--fluttering from one flower to the next. They’re asking for more, so we’re giving them more!

This month our class has had quite an interest in the Continent Puzzle Maps. Children who have already worked with and mastered the World Puzzle Map are now learning about the Continent of North America and working to identify and name the different countries. Other children are really challenging themselves by working with more detailed maps like the Puzzle Map of The United States of America. Think about it—fifty (nifty!) states, traced and pin-punched out, then glued onto its correct location… That’s quite the task for such a small child! Patience, motivation, concentration, fine motor skills, and determination are all necessary ingredients for this recipe. This is a process, and it sure does make that child feel so incredibly good when he or she has successfully completed such a big work. You’ll hear them say “I did it!” and then you’ll have to show it off to your friends and family, and, of course, find space in your home to put it on display.

Primary 1

In Mathematics we are discussing the Long Bead Chains and working with them by counting units and skip counting. The Long Bead Chains represent the concept of cubing numbers 1-10. For example, with the Long Chain of 5 the child counts the first units (1-5) and places the corresponding arrows with the numeral indicating each of the first five beads. From this point on, the child continues to count each unit, but only places an arrow that indicates the specified interval. Once the child has counted the length of the chain by units and placed the arrows, then they experience skip counting by using the numbers on the arrows to count the chain. So for the Long Chain of 5, the child would start by counting, “5, 10, 15, 20…125”. If you have noticed that your child is working with the bead

chains and you would like more information on them, please ask us! We would be happy to give you a lesson.

We have begun issuing work folders to some of our second-level students, especially those children that will be returning for their third year with us next year, with assignments related to writing and simple mathematical functions. Each day the child comes into the classroom, picks up his or her folder, and completes one math work-

sheet--addition or subtraction--along with whichever material they choose to help them work through each equa-tion (in the photo, Benjamin is using the Addition Strip Board), and one Rainbow Writing handout.

As always, if you have any questions/com-ments/concerns or just want to say “HI,” we’re available and here for you and your family.

Hasta la vista,Ms. Amaris & Ms. Kim

“April showers bring May flowers.” From the forecast for rain we should have a plethora of beautiful flowers in May.

GRACE AND COURTESY

In a Montessori classroom the lessons in Grace and Courtesy set a tone of respect and kindness. The students are shown how to shake hands at the door each morning. They learn to wait and be patient when needing help from a teacher, or when waiting for a turn to have morning snack. From our practical Life works, the students learn to say “Yes, please” or “No, thank you.” We always have several boxes of tissues in the classroom and students are consistently encouraged to use them as needed. We work on “conflict resolution” — the students involved talk and work out their differences in the presence of a teacher and the teacher intervenes and helps when necessary. Closing classroom doors quietly is emphasized and practiced. The students are expected to walk around “rug works” without stepping on another students work. When a work is dropped or broken and scatters all over the floor the student is taught to pick/clean up independently. The third level students teach lessons in grace and courtesy when they help younger students as needed. Being in the Montessori classroom for the kindergar-ten year allows the child to experience this role of leadership.

All the best,Mrs. Barrineau and Ms. Marla

Primary 2

April has flown by so quickly! The children have kept busy with our monthly continent study, Earth Day celebrations, and plenty of new lessons.

We studied the continent of Africa this month. The children have been learning about the diverse languages, countries, peoples, and climates that span the continent. We have given special emphasis to the African savannahs, the deserts of Northern Africa, and the language of Swahili. The children have especially enjoyed learning to count to five in Swahili! Our two favorite books about Africa are Moja Means One by Muriel Feelings and A is for Africa by Ifeoma Onyefulu.

On Earth Day, the children enjoyed visiting the Perot Museum’s planetarium. In the classroom, we also discussed everyday ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Our April birthdays were Madeleine Shalley, who turned five, and Tara Talati, who turned four. Levi Wester also became a big brother to two twin brothers, Seth and Evan! Hooray for life!

David and Levi work together to match the umber arrows to the long chain of 9

Left: Madeleine just finished matching objects to the initial sounds h,c,o,p

Right: Tara polishes a mirror

Ms.Jaymie and I love to step back and observe how much the children have grown over the course of the year. We can see this growth in their increased focus,

attention to detail, and academic abilities. We can also see maturity in their friendships and their self-awareness. I am sure that you can see this growth too, both in your child’s daily activities and in the work that they bring

home from school each month! At this point in the school year, it is

easy for grown-ups and children alike to become focused on summer plans and to miss the milestones that the children are achieving right now.

Each moment is precious and each child is capable of incredible things, even on the most challenging days!

Ms. Tamara and Ms.Jaymie

Primary 3

The children wait in line to have a turn viewing a moth through a magnifying lens on the bug catcher

Aidan checks his work and looks for odd and even numbers with Cards and Counters

The afternoon children work together to complete the compound word puzzles

Daniel helps Chloe sort and match the country labels for the South America map

Primary 4We have spent the month of April exploring our 5 senses. Ms. Bianca and I noticed the children pulling out many different items off the Sensorial shelf over the month, so we took their lead and ran with it! The children refined their sense of hearing using our sound cylinders. The sound cylinders allow for children to hear sounds from soft to loud and then find its match using only their ears. We worked on our sense of touch by grading our sandpaper touch tablets from smooth to rough and also by using different textiles of fabric that each child was able to feel and match.

Next, the children used their sense of smell to differentiate the scents in our smelling jars (orange, coconut, and mint). They matched these as well using only their noses! A lesson on orange zesting was also given and the children were all in awe over how much orange scent comes from the peel. Tasting was next on our list. The children were given cups of liquids that were sweet, salty, sour and bitter. They quickly realized they could not use their nose to smell what was in the cup and that the only way to find out was taste. The children were pleasantly surprised when tasting the sweet liquid; however, their faces quickly changed to puckers when tasting the remaining liquids!

As a child’s senses are re-fined through the use of the Sensorial materials, they are ultimately creating a better understanding of the world around them. The child becomes aware of beauty and aesthetics. The child is able to begin to articulate and analyze information. But most importantly, however,

the child is given knowledge through his own experiences with the materials created by Maria Montessori.

Ms. Sarah and Ms. Bianca

“Our sensorial material provides a kind of guide to observation, for it classifies the impressions that each sense can receive: the colors, notes, noises, forms and sizes, touch-sensations, odors and tastes. This undoubtedly is also a form of culture, for it leads us to pay attention both to ourselves and to our surroundings.” -Maria Montessori

Finally, we worked on our sense of sight. This sense is the most utilized in the classroom and probably the most obvious when looking at the works in a Montessori classroom as many of the Sensorial materials are built to aid in the sense of sight. The Pink Tower is built from biggest to smallest; the Red Rods are built from shortest to longest; the Color Tablets are graded from darkest to lightest.

As you can imagine, spring in the garden is one of the more spectacular events that nature gives to us here at SJES. The children become aware of new life in a variety of ways…the green leaves and buds emerging on the perennials, sightings of weeds and insects in abundance, the appearance of the Black Swallowtail caterpillars on the Fennel, the birds and squirrels collecting nesting materials…it’s a flurry of excitement and activity here!

GardenApril in the Children’s

Eliza Jones holding one of the Canadian Night Crawlers. We learned the parts of the worm on these excellent examples!

Charlie Fox observing the Black Swallowtail Caterpillars using the large magnifying glass.

Some of our parents are setting up their own gardens!

Rock Scrubbing 1. Get a mat and designate a place to work. 2. Choose a rock. 3. Choose a pink spray bottle filled with soapy water, a brush and a blue spray bottle filled with clean water. 4. Squirt rock with soapy water and scrub with brush, making loads of bubbles! Rinse rock with clean water. 5. Place rock back in the bin and clean the work up.

Planting Marigold Seeds 1. Make a small hole with the dibbler. 2. Choose a marigold seed from the bowl and place it in the hole. 3. Cover the seed with soil. 4. Water!

Ryan Foley

Walker Edison

It has been a fun month in art and technology! We have been painting, drawing, and taking photographs! The children are so creative, and I love seeing their creativity shine through their work.

The second level students have continued to work on their prickly pear painting. They have painted their background, the cactus, and the fruit. Now they are adding the details. The first detail the children painted is the highlight. They learned that a highlight is the lightest area of the paining. They painted a portion of the cactus with a lighter color paint to represent the sun hitting the cactus. Next they will add the prickers, which I think is the part they are most excited about!

The Kindergarten students started a new project this month. They are drawing their self-portrait! This is a challenging lesson, but also very fun. They have learned a lot about the placement of features on the face, and how to draw them correctly. Although it is not an easy task, everyone is doing a great job! Next, we will do our final self-portrait drawing, and then paint it!

ArtTechnology&

In technology, we finished our unit on photography! The children loved taking pictures in the garden, and they captured some amazing moments. David and Vivian were able to take pictures of the newly-released Painted Lady butterflies, Roman was able to capture a bee collecting pollen from a flower, and Levi and William wer able to photograph a lizard sunning him-self on a rock. All of the photos are amazing!

Carson

David

Noah

Talula

Cameron

LeviThe children chose their favorite photo to work with and imported it onto the computer. First they cropped it, then they changed it to black and white, and then they took the black and white photo and turned parts of it back to color. The photographs are so great! If you have an old digital camera, I would encourage you to allow your children to take pictures. I think you will be impressed with the results!

- Ms. Hanna

God’s Love Is BigThe last few chapel lessons, in my opinion, have been a lot of fun and very rewarding to see the students becoming more and more involved in the stories and re-telling them, either in Tuesday chapel art lessons or in our Wednesday service.

We started the month, as we always do, with the celebration of the Eucharist and birthday blessings. We are so fortunate here at St. James to not only have a beautiful church in which to learn about God’s love, but also to have Father Gardner be with us every month.

How appropriate that our next two lessons would talk of seeds and soil, given that we are in the middle of Springtime. The children heard the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the sower. They also learned that a parable is a simple story that conveys a spiritual lesson. Jesus often used parables, I believe, to cause the listener to really think about what He was trying to teach them.

We had a lot of fun with the parable of the mustard seed, which compares a tiny seed to the Kingdom of God. A tiny mustard seed which is barely visible to the naked eye can grow 10 ft or more. Just as with one small beginning, great things can happen. We talked of how, if we show and share God’s love with one person and they share with another and so on, we are growing the Kingdom of God. I have to say it was a lot of fun to physically demonstrate this concept during chapel! We started with one child saying “I want to share God’s love with you” to another, then that one sharing, and before a minute had passed we had many children at the front of the chapel!

Our next lesson was really more about the soil, than the seed. The parable of the sower teaches us that God wants our hearts to be like a good rich soil, where His word can take root, grow and spread to others. Once again I had amazing helpers in the children, to act out what happens when the good news of God’s big love falls on a path or a stony ground or a thorny bush as opposed to when are hearts have been tended to, and are a rich soil in which His love can grow and bloom!

The Kindergarten students signing “Pharaoh, Pharaoh”

Now we are going back to the Old Testement, we just heard about the miracle of the burning bush, God speaking to Moses to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt. Through all the plagues, God passed over the Isrealites and Moses kept faith in God, and God never wavered in His love for His people.

The year is quickly coming to an end, too quickly I sometimes think. This was my first year to lead chapel, and I had big shoes to fill from the gracious lady before me, Ms Ashley, but I have been more than fulfilled in the trying! Each of your children has in some way filled my heart, whether from a simple smile in my direction as I am talking or a full conversation on the playground about our lessons, I can honestly say I am truly blessed!

As always remember God loves your child, and you BIG!

Ms. Amaris

Chapel

ASCThe year has flown by! May is approaching and along with April showers and May flowers, I am sure it will be hot before we can blink an eye. We will be sure to keep the children hydrated. They do not bring their water bottles to ASC but we do have cups and water fountains to make sure they are receiving plenty of fluids.

I am having a lot of late pickups and I ask that you call if you are going to be late. After school care ends at 6 p.m. The ASC staff cannot leave until everyone is out of the building, thank you for your consideration of their time.

Lisa Wilson