September 16
Back-to-School/Curriculum Night
Primary at 6 p.m.
6-9 at 6:30 p.m.
Zoom - check Bloomz for your classroom's link.
October 9 & 12
Parent Conferences for Primary, Elementary & Middle School
Toddler classes will continue as scheduled on these days.
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Fall has arrived: Outdoor Clothing
As you've stepped outside during the past few mornings, you have probably noticed that we are transitioning quickly from summer to fall weather. This week has been far less humid - which has been welcome - and a bit cooler.
As we explained when we shared our return-to-campus plan, children will be outdoors a great deal more this year than in the past. It is important to send your child in clothing that will keep them warm, cool, dry and comfortable. Temperatures at this time of year fluctuate greatly from morning drop-off through the end of the school day. Extra clothing may be kept in lockers and will be sent home as it is worn and becomes dirty.
Our priority is safety as always and decisions about the amount of time spent outdoors based on temperature or weather conditions will be made each day as necessary. Thank you for helping ensure your children are able to comfortably enjoy their outdoor classrooms.
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Drop-off/Pick-up for Families with Multiple Children
As we previously shared, families with multiple WMS students should drop off both children in the location designated for their oldest child, and pick up in the location designated for their youngest.
With this in mind, we realized there was some confusion regarding days on which one child is absent (either due to illness or because a younger child attends a three-day program). To simplify, we are asking that families continue to pick up and drop off at their regular location, even if one child is not present.
For example, if a family has one 9-12 student and one three-day toddler:
- On Mondays and Fridays, the family should still pick up the 9-12 student from the toddler exit in the afternoon.
- If the 9-12 student is out sick on a Wednesday, the family should still drop the toddler off at the elementary entrance in the morning.
Thank you for your understanding as we continue to tweak these procedures.
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Free Family Mental Health Information Session |
There is a free parent event being offered by the Delaware Readiness Teams regarding parent well-being and reducing stress, especially during the pandemic. It will be held on Tuesday, September 22 from 1 to 2 p.m.
Click here to learn more or register for the event.
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Help Enhance Our Outdoor Classrooms |
From time to time, teachers will be requesting items you may no longer need or use to enhance our outdoor classrooms. Currently, we are looking for:
- Pots and pans
- Cooking utensils such as large spoons, whisks, scoops, old cups, ladles, etc.
- Small outdoor tables
- Child-sized outdoor chairs
If you have any of these items at home and don't need them, we will put them to good use! Items can be given to a teacher or administrator during drop-off. We appreciate anything you might be able to contribute!
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As a new school year begins, toddlers spend much of their time getting to know their new teachers, routines and classroom environment. This year, that environment includes indoor and outdoor classroom spaces. |
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"The children are progressing nicely as we continue to adapt to our classroom environment. This week, we did some flower-arranging. The children loved taking turns arranging our flowers in the vase while we discussed the parts of the flowers. Soon, we will be trying different types of apples and making comparisons as to which ones we like the best."
-Hillary McDonald, Room 3 Lead Teacher
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"The highlight of our week was celebrating our first Birth and Life of the school year. In a Montessori classroom, a Birth and Life celebration is a way for us to acknowledge and honor each child's special day. The celebrant helps the teachers set up the sun and month tiles, turn on the LED candle, then walk around the sun once for each year. It's a simple and fun way to wish each of our friends a happy day!"
-Leanne Callaway, Room 4 Lead Teacher
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In the Primary Program, we welcomed many new students to our classrooms (both moving up from the Toddler Program and some who are new to WMS altogether). Like the toddlers, there have been many new routines to which students are adjusting - drop-off, pick-up, outdoor learning, mask-wearing, social-distancing and more. With the help of our families, Primary students are adjusting to these changes quickly, and getting down to the business of "work time!" |
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"We are already beginning to find a rhythm in our daily schedule. New friendships are forming daily, and smiles and laughs are abundant! The children continue to explore the outdoor environment and how we can utilize it in our learning.
We are so lucky to have our very own 'Monarch Waystation' on the Primary playground where we began to learn about Monarch butterflies and their lifecycle today. We will be searching for Monarch eggs in the coming days in hopes to see the metamorphosis take place from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis and then eventually into a beautiful butterfly."
-Jocelyn Hall, Room 17 Lead Teacher
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"This week in Room 20, we reinforced the rules, continued to build community and started to study shells. We learned that shells are made by animals, and shells are animals’ homes. We also discovered that many times, the shells we collect at the beach are actually only one half of a full shell. Some shells grow larger as the animal inside of it grows, and some animals switch to bigger shells as they grow. The children enjoyed our discussion comparing an animal’s shell to our own home (and school). We concluded that both provide safety and warmth.
To celebrate our home-away-from-home, we all scrubbed and painted shells to show our favorite colors and placed them near our outdoor classroom. This serves as a reminder that each member of our community is unique and when we are all together, we create something beautiful!"
-Marilyn Faralli, Room 20 Lead Teacher
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Elementary & Middle School Programs |
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Though school looks different for our elementary and middle-school students, they have quickly adjusted to new routines like car lines, social distancing and outdoor learning. Small class sizes have allowed the students to connect to each other and build strong communities, even in these early days. With that foundation, and an ongoing focus on social-emotional skills, students are ready to begin more academic work. |
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Lower Elementary (6-9)
In this excerpt from Bloomz, Lead 6-9 Teacher Melissa Connelly describes how the outdoor learning is integrated into Maria Montessori's cultural (science) curriculum:
"We are discovering and exploring our outdoor environment every day! At this point in the year, that begins with building our observation skills. What do we see, hear, smell, notice? What do we wonder? What is living - and what are some non-living things - found in each area, and how can we classify living/once living separately from non-living things? What plants and animals do we see throughout the school property, and what life seems to enjoy one habitat (for example, meadow) over another (stream or forest or marsh or grass or even pavement)? Why might that be? How does weather impact the environment from day to day? It will be exciting to hone in our observation skills as we learn what to look for, and to see what changes as autumn falls upon us and what stays stable throughout the year."
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Upper Elementary
(9-12)
The 9-12 students have also been enjoying outdoor learning, including Montessori lessons, morning meetings, writing exercises, class discussions and even using technology in their outdoor classroom. They are enjoying new outdoor adventures, taking daily walks into the woods to explore and gather rocks for an upcoming project.
Developing strong writing skills is an important aspect of the 9-12 curriculum. As we prepare to celebrate the U.N. International Day of Peace as a school next week, students read I Am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness and wrote about what peace means to them:
"We are the next generation," wrote 9-12 student Max Wake. "We will not give up on ourselves and watch the world die. We will change the world. Climate change will be a myth. Poverty will go extinct. People will have homes. We are the people to change the Earth. Society will change, life will change, and soon we will pass it on. We are the next generation. We've got to work hard and stay strong to make our dreams come true."
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Middle School
(Grades 7 & 8)
Middle school students have jumped right into their busy daily schedules. As part of their summer homework, the students were asked to begin preparations for the Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN), which sixth- through eighth-graders will take part virtually this February. As individuals, or in small groups, students prepared presentations about the Charter of the United Nations, which they presented to their classmates last week.
Students also read the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Lead Middle School teacher Mandy Balanetsky describes the mini-projects (photo below) that resulted from the class discussions: "In the book, Gladwell discusses how an overwhelming majority of Canadian professional hockey players are born in the months of January, February and March due to the youth hockey cut-off date of December 31. Being that they are the oldest players, they usually end up being the biggest, fastest and strongest on their teams which results in them being chosen for all-star teams which results in more playing time with better coaches. To put this theory to the test, we looked at data in other areas including professional football, baseball and basketball as well as the spelling bee."
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The Wednesday Weekly shares WMS news and events that are relevant to the families in our community.
Please send submissions to wednesday-weekly@wmsde.org by 4:30 p.m. on the Friday prior to the issue in which you wish to include your information. Content may be edited for length and style and may be held for a future issue due to space constraints.
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WILMINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL
WWW.WMSDE.ORG
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Copyright © 2020, All Rights Reserved. |
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