Vol. 5, Issue 3: November 2018
|
|
Message from Matt Simberg, M.Ed.
|
|
There are too many things that I have been reflecting on recently. One comes from a gift I received with the quote, "I am deliberate and afraid of nothing." That journal was given to me by an administrator in a leadership course I took, which I will mention more about shortly. I was touched that she thought this of me after having known me in this course for three years. Half of it I agree with whole heartedly. I am deliberate, but I am human and have fears. In my mind, everyone does, even though our intention might be to not be afraid. I say I embrace the fear and focus on being BRAVE. To be scared and to do it anyway. Being brave is a focus I share with your children and the children I meet at the Montessori Model United Nations. So, I want to invite all of you and future families to have the intention to be positively deliberate in our communications, thoughts, feelings and actions. Be honest about our fears and choose to be brave as much as possible!
Secondly, I have been reflecting on having many things to be thankful for and how big of a month November and the beginning of December has been for me and MSOE. I wanted to share a little bit about that with you. First and foremost, as you know, we closed on the Property in Moorestown! Families were so involved this month with several things including the Thanksgiving Day Celebration. We have a great Fundraising Team established, thanks to the initial and continued efforts of Emily Copeman and Kate Jenkins. You will be introduced to the team briefly during the Winter Concert Celebration. I am sure you will also find out how you may contribute as well!
I just graduated from a three year Whole School Leadership Certification through Whole School Leadership and Loyola University and with that submitted and presented a 49 page practicum which is in the process of being used as a case study to help other Montessori Schools and Administrations. It is a new option for Montessori Leaders lead by a well respected and experienced member of the AMI and Montessori community at large. Personally, I am hoping that it will soon be recognized by AMI as well. This is a brand new program and I was one of the first 6 to graduate of a larger international community!
With all of that said, several parents have been popping up and offering their help with various avenues. This is so very much appreciated! This leads me to want to touch on something that will always be prevalent and so much more important for us as a community to make sure we have a hold of as we transition to the Moorestown property. The theme that I would like all of us to reflect on is communication. I want to make sure that we have systems in place for various successful communications between parents, parents and the school, parents outside of the school and various other dynamics. MSOE’s community has done a great job thus far, and with an anticipation to grow, it is important for that to continue and for everyone to be on the same pages as much as possible for ourselves and future families. The only thing precipitating this is preparation for growth and our move.
It is a very exciting time for most and an equally and understandably disappointing time for any family that cannot make the move with us, as it is for me to share these sentiments. This is aside from the hope of being able to keep one classroom in Merchantville. I know parents have come to me and shared with me that they are spreading the word and good feelings towards potential families. This is awesome and very much appreciated. Things like this might be a good example to have a system in place for communication.
There might be other avenues like how Kate Allen collaborated with Mr. Carl and put a system in place to enhance their primary collaboration night from a parent perspective! Please feel free to share your ideas with us. In the past few months we have been contacted from families in Mexico, Finland, and now Siberia expressing interest in enrolling in our school! Some are native to the area, some are not, all in all, it is pretty exciting. What is additionally significant to note is these families are being referred by other Montessori Schools or simply interested because of what they read on our website. Speaking of our website, I like to keep it as fresh as possible, so if you have ideas about that or things for us to note let us know!
My excitement and appreciation cannot be successfully expressed in words, but I wanted to try to give you an idea of that. I want us to be as prepared as possible for the future to ensure experiences for success and fulfillment.
|
|
Thank you for participating in our MOD Pizza fundraiser. We are happy to announce that we raised $547.41. We got some great feedback from our families and will probably do this one again in the future.
|
|
Dear Parents,
The Toddlers have had one busy month!
They also got a special treat. They got to go out and play in the snow during our first snowfall of the season!
November brought in thoughts of what we are thankful for during our Thanksgiving Feast. As you know, they are all very thankful for all of you, as I wrote down their thoughts on the beautiful beaded Indian Corn that they made for you! Their comments were so sweet!
The Manipulative Area included new works that the toddlers enjoyed such as the connectors and the large and small bead works that help the toddlers to develop fine motor movement.
The Art, Language, Sensorial, and Math Areas all included work about Thanksgiving!
Just some of the work the toddlers enjoyed this month were sponge painting pumpkins, learning all about what a cornucopia is by working with a real one, counting turkeys, amongst many other work that your children brought home to you.
The toddlers loved making the cornbread for our school Thanksgiving Feast and especially loved taste testing it!!!
Thank you all for contributing to our Feast and to our Room Parents for coming in to help prepare the food and serve the children. Your time is greatly appreciated!
This is a very important reminder:
I completely
understand
that we are all busy, but I am noticing communications that are being sent out are slipping through the cracks. Maybe parents can just mention things on the fly to other parents and this could be of help, but it would be so helpful to make sure you are reviewing ANY and ALL emails, letters, and texts that you receive from MSOE.
I suggest this so that you stay informed of MSOE’s mission, vision, policies, procedures, as well as any fundraisers that may be of interest to you and your family.
The toddlers are getting ready for our holiday program by learning new songs and are practicing very hard for the program. I look forward to seeing you all there on Thursday, December 20th at 6:30pm.
|
|
Dear Primary Parents,
It’s hard to believe that your children have already successfully completed three months of school! During the course of the month the children have built a lot of momentum. Mrs. Mary and I have observed an explosion of reading and writing from the four and five year olds. Additionally, all the children are taking large steps in the direction of self-construction and we are engaging with each of them on this path.
November Highlights
We began the month by highlighting “Diwali” (the festival of light). As a classroom, we talked about the different rituals surrounding the holiday. Additionally, the children made a collage of a diya candle.
Soon after, we continued our saga of the pilgrim’s story. Each day Mrs. Mary gave a report during lunch of the long journey and the events that followed the “land ho” at Plymouth rock.
Most importantly, we focused on the gift of gratitude. We began a gratitude tree on the door of our classroom where the children can cut out different shaped leaves and write down what they are grateful for. Additionally, the children did many works of art related to the holiday as well.
The children enjoyed a variety of activities surrounding our own Thanksgiving feast. All the children worked together to make apple pie with Mrs. Jamie. Soon after, the oldest children in the classroom wrote name cards for each student. The lunch itself was very nice. Truly it was a pleasure seeing some of you there! As a classroom we shared our first meal together and it was very delicious.
Supporting your children’s developmental period
In closing, all your children are all blossoming in the language area and there a couple of ways you can be instrumental to their success, if you are not doing these things already. Number one, read to your children every night. This is huge in terms of providing them a foundation into reading and writing. Additionally, it creates an emotional connection to learning in a very effective way. Also, if your children are beginning to read, have them read to you every night! Not only will this provide them more confidence, they will additionally be gaining more practice and exposure.
Lastly, as much as possible, use precise language and give them experiences that they can relate the language to. Whether it is smelling the different spices in your cabinet or taking them to an outing to the orchestra. Use as much specific vocabulary as you can. More than any other period in your child's life your child will gain the most momentum in the language area from birth to age six.
Key Information
- Mark on your calendar the Holiday Concert (It will take place on December 20th at 6:30 p.m.)
- Our Collaboration night will be rescheduled for January (Date TBD)
- Please make sure to label each item of clothing that comes in with your child to school. As you can imagine, things can get easily misplaced if we don’t have everything labeled.
As always, Mrs. Mary and I look forward to another meaningful month of learning! We hope that all of you had a wonderful Holiday and can’t wait to see you at the next school event.
|
|
Dear Parents,
We have continued to do so much in the classroom since the last newsletter. All of the children are doing a variety of work at or above grade level. We continue to work on a wide range of skills. The younger children are working on not interrupting, becoming more independent, asking for help, making eye contact, shaking hands, expressing feelings, listening, learning about the world, previous civilizations, components of music and all of the things expected to be learned at their age.
The older children are taking more responsibility and becoming better engaged role models for the younger children. We are polishing off things from last year and we are working on doing activities with different people so as not to get in a rut with the same few children. This is often a natural tendency of elementary children to work with the same children. Practicing working with others is a good skill and experience for later in life, as you well know.
I would appreciate any offers or help to get children on more going outs to places like a museum in Philadelphia. It would be helpful to have a list of parents who can drive on certain days and times. Going outs would include 2 to 5 children and one or two parents. If more children are interested, we can do more than one trip. If someone could start a list, that would be great! With regards to agendas, lastly, I should have something put together relatively soon for feedback to have an elementary collaboration night in January or very early February.
Please let me know if you need any ideas for things to do or continue at home so the children are still doing things over our “long” winter break. It does not necessarily have to be homework, but activities like making dinner together. It’s easiest for everybody to have some continuity through the break for what are probably obvious reasons. Also, please feel free to share with me and write to me improvements, developments and milestones being reached at home to continue to have a more consistent stream between home and school. There will be one more newsletter in December, so whatever feedback you can contribute will be helpful for that as well. I want to make these articles as relevant to you as possible and not just something that you acknowledge receiving, but are too busy to read.
|
|
The Adolescent adventures continue with lots of baking activities as the students prepared for the Thanksgiving Feast. It is so great to see them participating with the younger children. The students are slowly realizing what an impact they have and how they are always teaching, modeling and being observed by those around them who also aspire to be just like them. It has given them a certain confidence and practice in patience as well as opportunities to encourage the children to persevere. The adolescents are often engaging in conversations that are very insightful and very important. They are often asking big questions and feel very comfortable having discussions about such topics as gender roles, addiction, and the challenges of life in general. The adolescent program is a great setting to have these kinds of dialogues because there is always someone to listen and to guide them towards a positive outlook and towards the hope that human solidarity exists.
|
The elementary children have also mustered up the courage to prepare a presentation for the adolescents on how to give a captivating and interesting presentation. At first, the adolescents seemed a bit offended, but then they chose to embrace the constructive criticism and apply the feedback to their continued mini course on anti addiction that they have been sharing with the Upper Elementary children. One of the most rewarding things for a Guide is to be able to sit back and watch the students teach one another.
|
One of the most exciting experiences for the students is getting to spend time on the farm. Adolescents often struggle with anxiety and stress due to major changes in their limbic systems,
the part of the brain that connects
sensory information to emotional responses and is critical to the formation of memories and emotions
. Being out in nature and working with animals helps to create an equilibrium as the prefrontal cortex starts to gain greater control and helps adolescents have better planning, impulse control and higher order of thought. Students have many educational experiences in addition to positive social development as they learn to care for the animals on the farm. For example, they learned how to give the horses a diatomaceous earth dewormer and groom the horse's hooves in preparation for the blacksmith to come work on them.
|
As part of the Adolescent program, the students also create a micro-economy, which helps them learn about production and exchange. The students have explored a few options including fecal testing for farmers. The goats at Knowhere Farm have benefited from this service, and the students have also observed that the goats showed a reduced worm egg count after eating pumpkin seeds. They concluded that pumpkin seeds are a natural dewormer. They also learned about the concept of evolution as dewormers lose their efficacy due to the protozoa developing an immunity to the deworming medication. The students explored various options to make their own floatation solution to save money, which includes using a hydrometer to test the specific gravity of the solution so that the protozoa or worm eggs float to the top and can be counted accurately.
|
The adolescent students have various responsibilities that they have volunteered for. For example, we have a field trip manager, a baking manager, a social media manager, a goat manager, and a technology and communications manager, based on the individual interests of the students. Our technology and communications manager for example is exploring the digital microscope and using walkie talkies to test the range of the wifi signal on the wireless hdmi receiver that we would like to use for presentations. Our field trip manager is currently planning a dual field trip to the Federal Reserve bank and the Mint in Philadelphia as part of a mini course he is teaching on money. The students have enjoyed learning about credit, the economy, and budgeting. The Model UN conference also provides great practical experience in managing a large expense.
|
Another interesting activity the students participated in was an owl pellet dissection. The beauty of a student led program is that the Guide does not need to force students to learn, rather the students get inspired to do activities they want to explore themselves after the Guide provides them with the keys through a simple lesson. For example, the students learned about the various predators on the farm, including owls and rats. Immediately the students got excited about the prospect of catching a rat on the farm and allowing that rat to contribute to science by dissecting it. They also dissected an owl pellet and looked at the contents under the digital microscope.
|
We often enjoy going out into the community to meet interesting people who do interesting things, but we also enjoy when people in the community
come visit us and share some of their experiences. For example, Officer Cruz came to visit and share with the students about leadership skills. She has been in law enforcement for 24 years, 19 of which were in Camden City. She shared with the students the importance of reading and making good choices when it comes to friends and activities. The students enjoyed asking Officer Cruz questions and
she was very encouraging. By the time she was done some of them were even considering a career in law enforcement.
In addition to all of these activities the students participate in great math lessons with Mr. Steve who is very enthusiastic about math. He always finds ways to incorporate math in everything the students are doing. He even
joins us on the farm. In all, the students have been really enjoying the adolescent program and are looking forward to the future.
|
|
Laura Rubino has recently joined our team to bring yoga and mindfulness to the elementary students. Benefits of the program include improved concentration, focus, self-regulation and reduced anxiety. Each week a specific theme, breathing exercise, positive affirmations and yoga poses will be introduced. This past month the focus has been on respect and peace.
Click here
for ideas to reinforce at home.
|
|
In elementary STEM we have moved on to our new module called "Meet Edison". Edison is a robot, and so far we have been introduced to his preprogrammed capabilities. We learned that he can follow a designated path, avoid obstacles, follow a light source and change directions when the surface changes. As we continue learning about Edison we will find out how we can program the robot to do what we want it to do. What, I wonder, will our scouts come up with next?
|
|
Ants on a Banana
Ingredients-
8 bananas
1 container of sun butter
1 box of raisins
Directions-
1. Peel bananas then slice into 1 inch pieces
2. Spread sun butter on the bananas
3. Put raisins on top of sun butter
4. Put banana slices onto plate and enjoy!
|
|
The children practiced their fine motor skills during cooking. They had to practice holding a knife properly and slicing a banana into 1 inch pieces. Then they carefully had to spread sun butter onto the bananas and then put raisins on top. The children had to be extra careful and patient to make sure the sun butter didn't get all over the place.
We then went back to the classroom and shared with the class what we made and then got to taste it. The kids loved it and it was one of their favorites.
|
|
www.montessoriseeds.org | 609-832-2546 | info@montessoriseeds.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
