Vol. 5, Issue 10: June 2019
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Message from Matt Simberg, M.Ed.
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Dear Parents,
First and foremost, I hope everyone is enjoying the start of their summer! I like to look at each school year as a phase in your child's growth. This quote speaks to what I am saying here. As you know, your child is a growing being. Like anything that is alive, it grows. Your child has their characteristics and tendencies nurtured throughout the school year. Throughout the summer, you begin to see what sticks, and we get to see it when they return. What preparations for life throughout the year prepared him or her for the next year? What needs to be reviewed? What did you see differently this summer compared to last summer? You may have heard me say, I like to think about your children as having seeds within them. What we nurture and care for grows. Much like caring for a plant. If we nurture it and treat it appropriately and in the right conditions, it flourishes. It is the same idea with us. What is nurtured, grows. The classroom has frameworks and guidelines? Things are set up for children to be independent and interdependent. As the summer progresses, what frameworks have you or can you set up for your child? What activities are they or can they do which will foster interdependence? How are they contributing to your family culture on a daily basis?
I hope you find this useful food for thought, and I have given you a little more insight into how I view certain things. It has been a blessing and an honor to be a part of your children's education this year. Furthermore, I am really looking forward to our 6th year together in our new location! I hope you all have a safe and fun summer.
Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions, thoughts or concerns!
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Dear Parents,
The contractor has the floor covered throughout the whole house. Tools and such are here and ready to be used. There has been a significant delay, not on our end, to be approved to do the work we said we are going to do. Things have been moving along much more swiftly the past few days. I have been persistently communicating with every professional to get things moving the way they should or faster. There has been some good help and cooperation from the right people in Moorestown. I did get good news today that certain things that I have been waiting for to be approved should be stamped and approved before July fourth. After speaking with my general contractor, he is still confident that we will get everything done on time.
Planning briefly into the future, at this point, my realistic worse case scenario is that we start the Monday after Labor Day. Although difficult, but still realistic, I really think we are going to pull it off to open, starting a day or two after Labor Day. It is my plan to wait a few more days before sending out the finalized calendar. Another idea, to go along with this and being solution-oriented is that we could offer childcare in Merchantville starting the day after Labor Day. I would just have to collaborate to work out details. If it is any help at all, we will be following, almost exactly, the Moorestown Public School Calendar, which you can view online by googling it. One thing I can tell you is, we will end basically when public school ends if we start a week later. One other difference is that January 3rd is a Friday, the children will have off that day too. If we start on time, we will be done with school the week before the week that public school ends. I will of course send out a communication next week and continue with updates throughout the summer!
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Take a Tour with Mr. Matt
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I understand that next week includes the fourth of July. However, I wanted to extend an invitation for a tour to parents who have not seen the property or the building, so you can see it before construction happens. I can meet Monday or Tuesday afternoon. Almost anytime on Wednesday could be an option too. If I get communications from families then I will coordinate days and times to hopefully include small groups.
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Dear Parents,
It seems as though the last weeks of school just whizzed by. The Toddlers were busy preparing for our Father's Day Celebration and its many aspects! There were practice days with Mr. Carl’s class and collaboration days about invitations, work days spent creating our gifts and cooking days to prepare the treats. We think that all of our dads really enjoyed their day!
All of the children who will move on to Primary in September each spent three sessions accompanied by either Ms. Julie or Ms. Tori up in Mr. Carl’s class. They were all very excited about their visits and engaged easily in the new work possibilities available to them. Mr. Carl worked with each group, presenting the sound game, which is an initial sound awareness activity that begins to lay the foundation for reading.
Each of the children practiced their color recognition abilities and enjoyed making rainbows. We also worked a little on our bird theme project.
We hope everyone enjoyed viewing our art work at the art show. The class was so proud of their “masterpieces!"
Thank you for all of the support and kind words during Ms. Chris’s unfortunate absence. Ms. Tori, Ms. Julie and I did our best to run the class as Ms.Chris would have liked!!
We wish Daisy and her family well in their new home in Boston. We will certainly miss you all.
So we hope everyone has a lovely restful summer, and we look forward to seeing you all in September in our beautiful new home.
Happy Summer!
Ms. Mary
Ms. Tori
Ms. Julie
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Dear Primary Parents,
Happy summer! This month has been meaningful for all of us. We celebrated friends, loved ones and reflected on fun experiences we have shared with one another. Truly, it has been a fantastic year. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend it with all your children, and I cannot wait for the new adventure that awaits us in Moorestown.
The month began with our annual Father’s Day celebration. It was awesome to see so many of you there. The children absolutely had a blast sharing this experience with you, and we hope that all of you enjoyed yourselves. Soon after, the children performed for all of you during the Seedling Spectacular. As you know the show was a smash! A big thank you to Barry Moore for working with the children on the song “Magic Penny." After the show, your children exhibited art in the toddler room followed by refreshments.
Additionally, we shared many fun experiences in the classroom. As a community, we hosted a friendship ceremony. We talked about the value of friendship, and shared stories of all the wonderful friends we have made this year. The ceremony was followed by a picnic with the toddlers and a special treat. Many thanks to Hannah MacGregor’s mom, Ruth, for coming in to make friendship bracelets with all the children.
Subsequently, Mrs. Mary stopped in for a historical presentation on the adventures of Sacajawea. The children heard tales about her adventures with Lewis and Clark through the Rocky Mountains and the treacherous journey to the Pacific Ocean. Lastly, we ended the year with the Field Day event. All the children did many fun activities and games before we sent them off to enjoy the summer break!
Special Announcement
- Coming soon! We will have the Primary Cookbook available to order! It is made with special care from all your children. In it you will find handwritten recipes and adorable pictures made from each on some of their favorites. We hope that you will enjoy it!
Many thanks to all of you for your continued support! I hope that you and your children have a wonderful summer. I look forward to welcoming you in September at our beautiful new space.
Best Regards,
Carl Levie
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Dear Parents,
What a great year it was to be a part of your children's elementary education! I hope everyone feels they had a really good year too.
Instead of recapping the year and going over various activities or making suggestions about additional activities to do in the summer, I'd like to think ahead to next school year. There are definitely things I would like your help to improve on and just get help with in general. So, I want to send this out for you to think about over the summer, and let me know what you may be willing and able to do.
In my mind, the first priority is to get two room parents. The hopes for these roles would be as follows:
- Being available to welcome and speak with new families
- Going shopping for school events
- Trying to start a Montessori Discussion Group
- Recruit and coordinate support for volunteering (classroom support, school events and trips).
- Send out periodic reminders
- Maintain a list of Elementary Parent emails (Parents may decide to not have their email shared)
- Another possibility, keeping a running list of classroom needs that families might be able to support.
The main task of the room parent is to facilitate communication between other parents and also myself. The goal is to maintain more order, awareness, and community.
The second priority is to get a list of availability that parents have to drive children to different activities outside of school during the school day. For example, 3 children might take off on identifying flowers! A great resource would be Longwood Gardens or something smaller scale and local. I really want to get the children out more. My goal is for all who want to, to get to go to different places several different times throughout the year to facilitate education and different experiences outside of the classroom.
The third priority is simply that I want to improve and I want the classroom to improve every year. If you can share anything that you are thinking with me, that would be great. If you are not sure that it is something we can do relating to pedagogy or whatever else, just share it anyway. My goal is to make every year better than the last.
I hope everyone has a safe and fun summer! I will be available pretty often throughout the summer if you have any questions relating to the summer reading email or anything else.
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The first year of our adolescent farm school program in Merchantville has been very rewarding and productive. A great framework has been established for the adolescents. Dr. Maria Montessori's Plan of Study and Work provided a great foundation, and the adolescents contributed greatly to the success of the program through their participation and hard work. Each individual student was able to express his/herself through their own innate talents, abilities and interests. The freedom that is provided through the Montessori curriculum allows adolescents to truly develop their self-identity within the context of social organization. We look forward to seeing our community grow as we transition to Moorestown.
This year, there were various trips to the farm as well as other experiences that expanded the borders of the classroom. It was so valuable to have the various experts contribute to learning, such as parents and community members who shared about their careers and perspectives with the students. The beauty of a child centered philosophy is that it ebbs and flows with the changing dynamic of the group, so every year is different based on the participants. Each year is rich in relevant content that resonates at the heart level and is practical in application within the context of a changing society. At the same time, the same values of grace and courtesy, conflict resolution and effective communication are constantly practiced. Executive function skills are modeled by the adults in the environment, who are the true material in an adolescent program.
Academic advancement is a natural byproduct of such a pedagogy. The absence of homework, grades, tests and textbooks facilitates an intrinsic motivation for learning that does not diminish, but rather increases with time. The interactions between the adolescents and the younger children have made a positive impact on the whole student body. The adolescents in this program have truly gained a valuable experience this year, which will continue to be built upon, regardless of their future direction. We are excited for the continuation of the program and its evolution as we settle into a more permanent space. Here's to the future of MSOE.
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www.montessoriseeds.org | 609-832-2546 | info@montessoriseeds.org
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