NOTES HOME

04/3/2020
Creative student substitutes Poker Chips for the Stamp Game to practice Math
Share photos of your children working at home!
Thacher News
A Note from the Head of School

Dear Thacher Community,

Welcome to week three of Notes Home from what feels like a futuristic world. Certainly not one I ever envisioned we would be sharing virtually or otherwise.

I shall attempt here to provide you a view through our administrative lens of the challenges we face in creating virtual learning from a Montessori hands on, independent learning environment.
 
Our goal, with what we are able to provide, is to give parents the resources and tools that will be useful with “learning from home.” The experiences that your children have at home with you during this time will not replace or even come close to replicating the classroom experience - and although there are no expectations for this to happen, we hope that what we provide will give you the content you are seeking, as well as inspiration to create your own! 

Most people who seek out Montessori education do so purposefully, due to the little to no use of technology in the classrooms or in our homes. And now, here we are in this incredibly unfamiliar territory where the only way to share Montessori education is only online through the use of technology. Our guides, who all possess AMI or AMS or both Montessori diplomas, as well as Masters’ degrees, have little to no formal training in online resources/platforms and “teaching Montessori online.” 

The uniqueness of this situation has pushed us, as an ENTIRE staff to learn more ( in a very short time ) and also will propel us to work harder, in a different way, to provide you, our families, with the best support that we can - remotely - from our own homes, with our own children, and families “working” in the background within a very short distance of our work space. Your patience and understanding - at this challenging time for us - is greatly appreciated, to say the least. We fully understand and empathize with you as you are experiencing this same situation in your families.

Though learning and teaching will now look different, our commitment to reach Thacher’s mission is unwavering. We are nervous and excited about this journey we are on with all of you. The list of ideas for lessons and videos that our staff crafted is nothing short of extraordinary! We want to be sure that we are presenting our best to you all, because you deserve it. Thank you for your patience as we, and the rest of educators around the WORLD, are trying our best to quickly formulate and execute a plan. We look forward with excitement to the new ways we will be connecting with your children and your families in the coming weeks. We appreciate all of you for your support in this process and can’t wait for you to begin to experience our staff and their diverse talents in creative and heartfelt new ways. 

Strive for joy and understanding; pause and take a breath; think of all we have to be thankful for in the midst of this world pandemic. Be safe and healthy. 

In partnership,

Deba
Zoom Security

We are aware of the recent Zoom security issues and are taking steps to ensure that our meetings are safe. Our Guides :
  • always use a password
  • don't share invites on social media
  • are keeping their software up-date to stay on top of security patches

As new security measures are introduced, we will follow them.

We've updated the home page of our website using the photos families are submitting of children working at home. We also plan to make a video next week.

We invite you to add photos of your child(ren)'s home life during the school closure. (Photos in landscape mode are best.)
Remote Learning Update
Toddler & Children's House
Music with Melanie
Melanie bas been writing a Children's Music blog with several fun sing-along-videos.
Art with Renay

Renay teaches Children's House students how to make a finger-print alphabet.
Reading Time with Kim Storch
Kim has been reading stories for us every day! Subscribe to her channel.
Dance with Clarissa and Keiran

They're back with another three-part dance class!
Lower Elementary
Art

Renay demonstrates how to make a Folded Fish Surprise for Lower Elementary students.

Music

Exercise along with Victor's Stop Dance class featuring the Band of Victors.
Upper Elementary & AP

Google Classrooms

Guides are emailing students with Zoom classroom links and times so please be sure your child checks their school email regularly.

Students can access their mail by going to: gmail.com and logging in with their Thacher account.