Vol. 5, Issue 2: October 2018
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Fred Rogers, host of “Mister Rogers Neighborhood,” said that, “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.”
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Mr. Rogers captures so nicely something so important. That important thing is the connotation we as adults associate with the word "work." This is a word that was never meant to have a negative effect. Our children do not know the difference and we as adults impose our will inadvertently. We should be teaching our children and retraining ourselves for them. “Work” at school is fun; it is play. The goal of this communication is to have you reflect on work/play and think about how you can communicate and think about this differently.
“Activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result,” is the definition that google gives for work. Is this not done during both of our versions of what is work and what is play? During conferences and throughout the year, parents want to know how they can best help/serve their child. There are specifics for each level of development, obviously. At one age we want our children to be helped to do things themselves. Then our focus becomes about helping around the house, helping others, feeling empowered. So many of us do not have a positive experience getting our children to look at work as a positive experience, or to easily help around the house. Why would they when we don’t?
If we want our child to do something we cannot present what we want and give them an option to say no. For example, “Mary, I need your help cutting the carrots, or Mary come with me and help me cut the carrots.” You are inviting your child, depending on their age, to help them help themselves or to learn responsibility and help the family unit. They need to know that and/or feel it. If there is a little struggle, we can tell them that, “I need your help or I want to show you this so you can do it yourself if I need you to or you want to.” You can say things like this is a good work. When you are playing, say, “this is a fun work.” Maybe you will have a little laugh and say, “actually, play and work are the same thing. Work is not a bad thing and neither is play.” If they are older, you can add, “actually, work really just means, “activity involving mental or physical effort to achieve a purpose. So, when I say I am going to work, yes it is a place, but what I really mean is that I am going to involve some mental and physical effort to achieve a purpose, just like you do at school. Everytime we do something for some purpose, we are working.”
Let’s let this be a community goal for the year. We can reflect and take action with the word work. This is something everyone who is a part of our school can do. Life is about perspective and what we do with it. This is a work all of us can do for ourselves and our children.
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We expect to send out a property update within 2 weeks.Thank you for your support and continued positive thoughts and prayers.
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Dear Parents,
I am pleased to say that your Toddlers have been happily working very hard and the class has become a quieter, calmer environment for them to learn and grow, which is so very important at the Montessori Toddler Level.
The color of the month for October was orange and the Shape of the Month has been the square! A new work in the Practical Life Area was watering plants which is a Toddler Favorite! The Art Area works included collage pumpkins and pumpkin sponge painting. A new concept introduced in the Language Area was object to card matching animals, which the children just loved. This work helps to build your child’s vocabulary for different kinds of animals! In the Sensorial Area the children were introduced to a nesting/stacking work which is a precursor to the pink tower that they will be using in the Primary Classroom. We made homemade applesauce for a food tasting activity and the Toddlers just gobbled it up!
Please remember to label everything that you send into school for your children, including coats/jackets, backpacks, lunch boxes, water bottles (if your child is in our Aftercare Program), as well as diaper packages and any bags that you send in with new clothing or anything else for your child.
Thank you to all of you who came out for Our First Collaboration Night on October 4th, “How to Bring Montessori Into Your Home, Making the Connection Between Home and School For Your Toddler”. I hope you enjoyed getting together as much as I did! Our next Collaboration Night is on Thursday, November 15th and the topic is, “Toilet Training Your Toddler the Montessori Way!” I hope to see many of you there!
I would like to thank all of the New Parents that attended our New Student Parent/Teacher Conferences, it was nice chatting with you about your little ones, and it has been a joy getting to know them! We will be having our Mid Year Parent/Teacher Conferences on January 23rd-January25th. As always should you have anything you would like to discuss with me regarding your child, please feel free to contact me by phone here at MSOE or e-mail me at
chris@montessoriseeds.com
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Best Regards,
Ms. Chris, Ms. Julie and Ms. Tori
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“The child…who perseveres in a task for a considerable time, and organizes himself upon such a fundamental phenomenon, is sustained and guided by an intelligent purpose. Without this his persistence in work, his inner formation, and his progress would not be possible…”
Maria Montessori
Hello Primary Parents,
The month of October has been a productive month. Mrs. Mary and I are encouraged by the growth and progress we are observing in the classroom every day. It was fantastic to have the opportunity to meet some of the new families during conferences last week! It’s always helpful for me to get a sense from you on how things are going with your children and share observations on development happening in the classroom.
Subsequently, we have been observing the classroom carefully and practicing consistency in all areas. Additionally, Mrs. Mary and I have been taking time to see where each child is at and setting a plan of action for the year. There is much possibility and potential in the paths ahead. We continue to follow the children and look forward to the horizon.
October Excursions
We started with activities on Christopher Columbus. The children sang songs and heard true stories from Mrs. Mary on the Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria too. Next, the children did many exercises that focused on the visual discrimination of leaves. For example, finding pairs of identical leaf shapes, leaf rubbing, and tracing different leaf forms from the leaf cabinet. Also, identifying the different trees, composed different leaf shapes and coloring each leaf in lightly and carefully in preparation for writing.
Additionally, as a class we had discussed the ovate leaf form, and had the children identify many ovate leaves from the outside world. Subsequently, the older children practiced writing the word as well. To summarize our discovery of leaves, the Primary and Toddler children went on a leaf walk together!!! As always this was a wonderful experience shared by all. We ended the month of October with many opportunities related to pumpkins. For example, washing a pumpkin, making Jacko Lantern art projects, pumpkin collages and feeling the inside of the pumpkin! This was a great opportunity to share enrichment of vocabulary on parts of the pumpkin as well as get our hands dirty.
Preparing for the Change of Season
- The cold weather is upon us. Bring in a pair of warm change of clothing for your children (long sleeve shirts, pants, extra warm socks etc...) Please make sure to LABEL EVERYTHING!
- Practice with your children putting on winter gear. Make sure they are getting the satisfaction of putting everything on by themselves. During the transition to recess all children need to be zipped, buckled and ready to go before we head outside. If you can practice this procedure at home, it will be supportive of their sensitive period for order.
Events to mark on your Calendar
- November 9th(The pilgrims arrive in America… we will be doing lots of true stories on what the experience of what arriving to America was like.)
- November 13th Primary Collaboration Night! (We will be doing it on the area of Practical life as it relates to inner discipline and laying the foundation for all areas of the Montessori curriculum)
- November 21st School Thanksgiving Feast (The children will be preparing a meal together and inviting all of you to join in on the celebration.)
Best Regards,
Mr. Carl and Mrs. Mary
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Dear Parents,
We are now getting into the full swing of things even though it feels like we have been in school for months. It is a good thing in case you were wondering. I decided that you all have had the opportunity to see what your children have been doing for the most part. So, I want to take the opportunity to share with you a quote that I found that is so important for your children to begin to or continue to get in the mindset of having. “In our class (life) we don’t do easy. We make easy happen through hard work and learning.” I did not find who said this and I would like to alter it from saying class to life. Here is where I am going with this.
As parents in this day and age we have a specific and special dance to do with our children. We have to encourage, inspire, and celebrate concentration, repetition, self-direction, interdependence etc. Yet, when and how do we teach our children? You do not have to like what you need to do in order to get it done and failure and feeling bad is okay as long as you learn from it. And yes, you don’t really fail if you learn and act accordingly from it.
Here is what I do and maybe you will like to take some things from sharing my experience. Believe it or not, children do not always want to do what I want to offer them. It is shocking, I know. Anyway, there are times where they might have something else to offer that I find completely acceptable. Other times, they are blatantly just trying to get out of working. When good independent choices are made, I find ways to give positive encouragement such as, "I can see you are working hard; that must feel good." "I like how you came up with an alternative that is productive, we will revisit this lesson later today or another day."
However, the flipside is this, “Do you know what the difference is between you and an animal in the wild?” I get all sorts of awesome answers for this. However, my answer is a deer gets scared and has to run or freeze. It has no other choice. If it does not want to run or does not want to freeze, it cannot choose anything else. You, as a human being get to do something, even if you do not want to. This is an awesome thing that you can learn to practice doing now. You know adults have to do things they do not want to do all the time and they had to learn that when they were children, and now you get to. Then as we go through the thing that they do not want to do, I try to make it fun, use humor and/or challenge them to find one thing they do not mind about the task. Either eventually, or in most cases, they develop a habit to do what they need to do, but also to be able to follow their joy or passion, no matter how small or minimal it might seem to us.
The last thing I want to share for this month is to practice single and multi-step direction following opportunities. Give simple one step directions for your child to follow. Make sure you do not pose them as questions or options if you do not want "no" to be a choice for them. Then, for a few days or a week, follow two-step directions. Here is what I mean. Please, go brush your teeth. I would like you to brush your teeth and get your pajamas on before I am ready to (choose an activity they enjoy) with you. I need you to get the mail, sort it, and take this to the recycling. There are different variations, but the idea initially is to not offer a choice and put a time limit on it that is contingent on them doing something they enjoy. It is best not to use screen time as an option here to entice. This will definitely lead to other challenges. You can eventually segway into direction following without something to look forward to. You can put a realistic time limit on it based on their age.
This is just a communication to share in the collaboration of education between home and school. I have really been enjoying and appreciating all of your children. They all have their positive contributions that they bring to the classroom. I am grateful to be able to participate in their education. Please feel free to send me communications during the coming months. Thank you for your continued support, communications and collaboration regarding your child’s education!
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The adolescents have been very busy this month. They have been eagerly working on their historical presentations as well as their position papers for their model UN conference. The students love to discuss, negotiate and compromise on different aspects of the adolescent program. They love to debate and vote on different protocols, for example, whether their character for the historical presentation had to be deceased or not. The students are getting very good at articulating both sides of an argument. They love to identify controversial issues and have quite a running list of topics on our project management app. Various lists that the students have been compiling include a repository of relevant vocabulary words, topics for further exploration, possible reformations (ways to improve our program), their self defined code of civility, and details on various fundraisers and activities throughout the year.
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The students have also enjoyed interacting with some of the younger children in the school. On Wednesdays, they enjoy serving the pizza for lunch. They also volunteered to teach a mini course on anti-addiction to the upper elementary students on Monday afternoons. They have been discussing topics such as goal-setting, decision-making, and identifying and managing emotions. The adolescents have also been very successful at organizing fun cooking activities with the afternoon primary children. They have made such delicious snacks including honey roasted chickpeas and banana, sun butter, honey sandwiches. All of the snacks are allergen free and have been quite tasty. All the Primary children get to enjoy them the following morning.
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Thank you to everyone who made it out for our goat yoga fundraiser, which was very successful. We met some lovely new people who came from Philadelphia and got to spend some time with the new baby goats. We have so many baby goats on the farm, and
they are all adorable, even though some have a more desirable
genetic makeup than others. We are also looking forward to our yard sale and star party tomorrow, and are very appreciative to those who have donated items for the yard sale and rsvp’d for the star party.
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The activities on the farm have been amazing. There are now two new cows and a few more goats on the farm. The students have been very diligent in doing their chores and making the most out of their time on the farm. They have observed how quickly the time goes on the farm. They are able to enjoy a bit of free time and explore, as well as give their weekly presentations on the various academic subjects that they have studied during the week.
Emma, the farm vet, came out to make sure everyone was healthy. She shared with the students some important facts and the students were fascinated by everything she was doing. The students will be using a microscope on the farm to explore different protozoa. It is important for the students to understand that, even though they cannot see it with their naked eye, it doesn't mean it is not there and
can't potentially cause harm.
Even though there are cows, chickens and pigs on the farm, the adolescents have been focusing on the goats for their science occupation, which have provided a plethora of interdisciplinary learning opportunities. Some of the activities that the students are looking forward to doing on the farm in the near future are interviewing the former farm owner, Edith Sprague, making preparations for beekeeping in the spring, growing an indoor garden with a vermicompost, as well as doing a workshop to learn what other vegetation on the farm may be edible. The students have also helped winterize the barn and chicken coop in preparation for the colder months.
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On national Spain day, the students had the opportunity to Skype with Mrs. Cristina San Juan who is a certified Montessori Adolescent Guide in Valencia, Spain. They had great questions for her and she even showed them the futbol stadium from her back patio. One of our students has almost completed her mini course on the Model UN conference and the students will be soon ready for the MMUN conference in May. Our next mini course will be led by a different student who will focus on money and will culminate in a trip to the Mint in Philadelphia. Some of the questions the students asked about money are: 1) what are bitcoins? 2) can we learn more about taxes? and 3) why can't we just print more money in order to get out of debt?
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As much as the students love using technology, they also enjoyed exploring what makes technology work. One of the students donated an old iPad that was no longer working and the students researched the best and safest way to take it apart to discover the different internal elements of an iPad. They are planning on deconstructing an old laptop next. An important part of the Montessori Adolescent Program Syllabus is the concept of a Museum of Machines where the students gather and explore machines from the past. Perhaps this experience will inspire a Museum of Machines featuring mobile devices.
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As you can see, the adolescents have been very active during the month of October. They have been practicing a lot of organizational skills and balancing their schoolwork with other responsibilities, contributing to the experiences of the younger children, as well as taking ownership over their own learning. They are building a great community of young adults as they develop their individual identity and are a testament to the ethos of Montessori.
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In elementary STEM we are continuing to learn about electricity, understanding input and output, energy source and conductivity. The students had fun creating a sound activated burglar alarm in the form of scary googly eyes. The students also learned the same process can be used to move things like a sound activated robot-like arm. Last week they created a closed circuit with their bodies and by drawing with graphite on paper (they created buzzers and played Jeopardy!)
If you have an elementary aged student in the school or know of kids outside the school who may be interested, there is still plenty of room and tons of fun to be had every Wednesday from 4:30pm till 6pm.
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Mindfulness with Mrs. Marcella
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This month, the students worked on techniques to let go of worry, calming the body, emotions and mind by using:
- a worry rock (involving physical rhythmic movement)
- a palm stone (exploring weight, shape and energy that feels good in your hand)
- bubbles (draws you into the moment, and just good, clean fun!
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Veggie Taco Roll-Ups
Ingredients-
1 package of soft tortillas (20)
2 green bell peppers
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans
1 package of cheese
1 packet of taco seasoning
Directions-
1. Cut up peppers
2. Add beans, corn, and cheese into a bowl
3. Add peppers and taco seasoning to the mixture
4. Mix everything together
5. Spoon mixture into tortillas and roll up and enjoy
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One of the snack we made at MSOE is Veggie Taco Roll-Ups!
Before we started making our roll-ups we first looked at the bell peppers. The students got to smell, feel, and taste a yellow and a red pepper. We explained that there are different colored peppers and they all taste slightly different. Peppers are packed with lots of vitamins and minerals and are very healthy for growing kids!
Next, the students got to cut up the bell peppers into little square pieces and added them to a mixing bowl with corn, black beans, and cheese. Then they put spoonfuls of the mixture into tortillas and rolled them up all by themselves.
We then went back to the classroom and shared what we made with the class. Everyone then got to taste the veggie taco roll-ups! They were delicious!
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