Ms. Jen's Blog

Parents,

It was so much fun to see so many of you at the fall festival!

This week we will write our mission statement using several of the books that we have read this past month.  Once we get it written we will say it at the beginning of class every day.  I love writing these.  They are so powerful and help us begin each day with the end in mind!

This week we will be talking about the parts of a pumpkin, magnetic vs. non-magnetic and introduce our first continent study, our own continent of North America.

We will be learning two songs this month.  One is America the Beautiful and the other is I’m Lucky.  We will be performing these songs during our class feast. We will be joining Ms. Joy’s class and making a relish tray, butter, and corn bread.  Parents are invited and encouraged to come to this event.  It will be Friday the 17th.  I will be posting a sign up to bring items for the feast.  The items need to come unprepared the day of the feast as the children will be preparing them.  We could also use two parent volunteers to help the entire time so if you are interested send me an email.

At conferences many of you asked what their child does while they are in class.  This brings up one of Montessori’s core principles.  The concept of choice.  In a Montessori classroom children are free to choose what they would like to work on – within limits.  There are two basic ground rules: you have to have had a lesson and the material has to be available.  Maria Montessori said “These children have free choice all day long.  Life is based on choice, so they learn to make their own decisions.  They must decide and choose for themselves all the time . . . they cannot learn through obedience to the commands of another”.  In Angeline Stoll Lillard’s book Montessori: the science behind the genius she talks about the many studies that have been done that support the idea that having choice is a great benefit to education, learning and desire to learn more.  Let me share just one with you.  A study was done where children were asked to play a computer math game.  Half of the children were able to choose the name of their space ship that took them through the game and half were not.  The children who were able to choose the name of their space ship liked the game better and played it more than the children who did not name their space ship.  They also choose more challenging tasks in the game and asked for fewer hints.  They showed greater improvement from pre-test to post-test.  “Having a sense of control over one’s environment is associated with better learning and better performance in children.  A wide range of positive outcomes stemmed from a very simple choice manipulation” (Lillard, p. 84).

Many parents often confuse “choice” with “no limits”.  These two could not be more different.  The choices we offer to children need to be appropriate, direct and  simple.  One example might be “Sally which shoes do you want to wear today? Your tennis shoes or your sandals?”  Note that not wearing shoes was not one of the options given.  We empower our children when we offer them appropriate choices.

We would also like to have parents begin to come into the classroom to help with reading.  If you are interested in volunteering please sign up on the following link https://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/wrkwu I will post a new link each week.  Thank you so much for all of your support!!

We hope you have a great week!

Ms. Jen & Ms. Martha

I apologize for the late post, I have been under the weather.  Here are some of the things that we have done this week.

This week we  read “Roberto The Insect Architect” by Nina Laden.  This is the story of a termite who wanted to be an architect.  No one believed in him and actually made fun of his dream, but Roberto never gave up on his dream.  We discussed how each of us has special gifts and talents just like Roberto and we should always be on the lookout for what our talents, and others talents might be.  This goes along with our 2nd Habit which is to Begin With The End in Mind.  This habit helps us to not only make a mental creation of things first, but it also teaches us that everyone is an important piece to our community.

We will continue our study of land forms this week with the introduction of straight and isthmus.  we took turns building these land forms in the sand box.

We will be classifying animals as either vertebrates or invertebrates.  Vertebrates are all animals that have back bones, so fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.  Vertebrates are the animals without back bones so protozoa, flat worms, annelid worms, echinoderms, coelenterates, mollusks and arthropods.  We will then learn about spiders that fit into the arthropods.  Arthropods are any animal with an exoskeleton so bugs, crabs, and such.

As we continue our study of solid, liquids and gases we will be creating a delicious dessert that contains all three.  (Root Beer Floats!)  All the children will get a Dixie cup taste of a root beer float and will be asked to identify the solid, liquid and gas in their treat.

On Friday we will learn about the artist Jackson Pollock and will be recreating some of his artwork outside.  We will be working with non washable paint.  We will use smocks but we ask that you send them in clothes that may already have a small stain, or two or that are getting a little small.

Don’t forget the Fall Festival on Friday, I hope to see all the kids in their costumes! This will be our Halloween party.

I hope your week was great!

Ms. Jen

Hello fellow parents!
I’m Tyden Rappleye’s mom Crystal. I’ll be the room mom this year. We are looking forward to our field trip to Oaklawn park this Friday the 13th. You can drop children off at the park at 9 and pickup at 11:30.

I’m coordinating a carpool for students who need a ride from the school to the park and back. We will meet in the north shore parking lot at 8:30 and will leave shortly after. Please email me if your child needs a ride or if you can drive students.
Thank you in advance!
Crystal rappleye
801.391.3874

Parents,

This is our last week of our peace lessons. It has been great to hear the kids begin to use some of the things we have been talking about.  This week we will talk about the differences that people have and how we can appreciate them as well as the web of life and love.

We will begin our study of biomes this week with what makes up a biome.  Biomes consist of 6 elements; energy, soil, water, air, plants and animals.  Throughout the year we will be learning about the different biomes we have on earth, they are: dessert, rainforest, mountain, wetland, grassland, ocean, polar region, and temperate forests.

We will also talk about why the leaves change colors and continue our study of solids/liquids and gases.

Picture day is Wednesday. Your child should have brought home an order form.  If you did not receive one please check with the front office for another one.

Field Trip Friday:

We have a field trip on Friday October 13th.  We will be meeting at Oak Lawn Park in North Ogden.  You will need to plan on dropping your child off and picking up at Oak Lawn Park.  Just as a reminder the morning  class field trip begins at 9 am  and ends at 11:30.  The afternoon field trip begins at 12:00 and ends at 2:30.  At the park we will have a number of fun actives for the children. There will be a nature walk, pumpkin decorating, fall games, story time and a snack .  We are happy to have lots of chaperons for this field trip.  Please email me if you would like to help out.

Maria Montessori used the term “normalized” often when she spoke of children and classrooms.  The essence of this term means that the children feel comfortable and confident enough to work as if the teacher were not present.  The children are not strong armed into following the rules of the classroom/school.  They follow the rules because they have gained that control over themselves.  Typically the normalization process takes about 6 weeks, but sometimes it takes longer.  Over the next little while we will be focusing on a few components of this normalization process in our classroom that we want improve.  They are: cleaning up after you finish a work and choosing to work rather than goofing off.  Our goal is for the children to be able to monitor them selves.  We want the children to be aware of the choices they are making and be able to evaluate those choices.  One way you can help with  this at home is to hold them accountable for their responsibilities.  If they are supposed to clean up their plate after dinner then have them clean up their plate after dinner.  Often it is easier and faster for the adult to just do what ever it is that we want our children to do but this does them a great disservice.  We want to teach them how to be successful in society and that almost never involves waiting for someone else to do your job for you.  I know that there are those of you who are thinking that this will start a civil war at your house.  No one wants to engage in constant battles with their child.  Sometimes this can be diffused if you involve them in the decision of what responsibilities they want to have.  Even if you start small it is a start.

Have a great week!

Ms. Jen & Ms. Martha

Parents.

Here is the link for the upcoming parent teacher conferences.  This is for parents and teachers only.   https://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/gicya

Please take a minute to sign up.

Ms. Jen & Ms. Martha

Parents,

This week we will continue our peace lessons focusing on empathy.  We will begin our study of leaves, land forms and solid/liquid/gas.  We will also look at the different continents on our planet.

In class this month we will be focusing on the Steven Covey’s 2nd Habit: Begin with the End in Mind.   This habit teaches that we live by design not default, it helps us improve outcomes, prioritize important things, and gives us a greater sense of purpose.  We will be reading a number of books where the characters begin with the end in mind.  At the end of the month we will use the books we have read to help us write our class mission statement.  Once we have our class mission statement we will recite it everyday to remind us of what is really important.  The book we will be reading this week is called Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld.  This cloud, although small, can make a difference.

The question I get asked a lot is how to get their child to give them more information about what they did at school.  Here are some questions you could try on the way home from school, during dinner, or while getting ready for bed:

1. What was the best part of your day? (Worst part?)
2. What was the funniest thing you saw today?
3. Which books did you read from today?
4. What was your teacher wearing today?
5. Which part of your classroom do you think I’d like the best?
6. What do you wish you could do more of at school?
7. Which activity at school today was your favorite? (Least favorite?)
8. What games would you like to be able to play at recess?
9. What did you eat for snack today?
10. What’s something your teacher said today?
11. Which kid in your class needed to be cheered up today?
12. If you were the teacher tomorrow, what would you do differently?
13. What made you feel happy today? (Sad, confused, bored?)
14. How did you get to be a helper today?
15. What do you wish your teacher would have done differently today?
16. What would you like to forget about from today?
17. What would you like to be learning more about?
18. Which topics do you wish you didn’t have to learn about at all?
19. Did you get or give any compliments today?
20. What do you think I’d like best about your teacher?
21. Which kid at school would you like to get to know better?
22. Which color crayon or marker did you use the most today?
23. Did you get to spend time with the class pet today? If not, what did you do instead?
24. What was the hardest part of your day?

Have a great week!

Ms. Jen & Ms. Martha

Parents,

I apologize for not posting last week.  Here is a recap of what we did.  We went a solar system walk.  We visited each of the planets and talked about what is unique to them.  On Friday we made a planet cake and then ate it. It was delicious!  The morning class choose earth and the afternoon class chose Mars.  What a great way to end our study of the solar system.

We took a closer look at our 5 senses and talked about how they send our brain information.  Each day we looked at a different sense.  We also talked about how we care for the living things in our classroom like watering the plants and feeding the class pets.

This week we will talk about positive and negative choices and how our mindset affects these.  We will tie this into the first habit of happy kids which is be proactive.

Throughout this year we will be studying Steven Covey’s Seven Habits for Happy Kids.  This is a spin off of his best selling book for adults.  The seven habits are:

1. Be Proactive
2. Begin With the End in Mind
3. Put First Things First
4. Think Win-Win
5. Seek First to Understand then to be Understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the Saw

We will talk about how certain things that happen to us that might push us into having a  negative mind like when a friend hurts our feelings or we become angry over something, or we lose something we love.  We will then talk about how we can choose how we react to these feelings.  This is called being proactive as opposed to reactive.  A reactive person may say “He made me mad!” A proactive person would say “I chose to forgive”.  A reactive person would say “I am like this because of how I was raised.”  A proactive person would say “I chose to do things differently than how I was raised.”  Being proactive is about choice.  We can not prevent or protect our children from all the hardships that they will face.  However, we can teach them to be proactive and choose how they will react to hardship.  Thus turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones.

To go along with our habit of being proactive we will be reading a book called Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin.  The cat gets new white shoes but throughout his day many things happen to those white shoes and they do not stay white.  Pete never gets upset.  He choses to remain happy.

We will begin our study of plants by looking at what parts a plant has.  We will talk about how our earth is made up of land, air and water and we will talk about gravity.  The week will end by doing a gravity painting.  There is something so fun about dropping balls soaked in paint and watching them splat on paper below.

We are missing several small items from different materials in our classroom.  If your child brings home something that you do not recognize, such as beads, small animals or other small objects  – it might belong in our classroom and we would love to have it back.  I know how appealing the small objects can be, it’s part of the reason we use them but often we cannot use the material if even one piece is missing. Thanks for your help with this.

Jean Piaget said “The principal goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done”.  In our classroom we often ask students to try new things or do something that has typically been done for them.  Some children love the challenge while others are frustrated with the thought of doing something that is new to them.  Our goal is not to frustrate but to challenge and show the children what they are capable of.  Maria Montessori said “Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed”.  As teachers we would challenge you as parents to help your child by not doing things for them that they are capable of.  Each child has different abilities, but they are all capable of more than we think.  Just some food for thought.

Have a great week!

Ms. Jen & Ms. Martha

Parents,

We will continue our peace lessons this week, focusing on the making sure we have calm bodies and recognizing when we need to “reset”.

This week we will continue our study of the solar system by looking at the sun and stars.  We will talk about the difference between plants and animals and we will look at some nocturnal animals.

As the children become more comfortable in their classroom and with their peers we will begin asking them to do more challenging work.  Many of the manipulatives that we began the year with will be replaced with materials that are related to the curriculum we are studying.  We refer to what the child does in the classroom as work and not play (even though many times it may look like play to adults).  Maria Montessori explained why the work of a child is so important “A child’s desire to work represents a vital instinct since he cannot organize his personality without working: a man builds himself through working. There can be no substitute for work. . . a man builds himself by carrying out manual labor in which he uses his hands as the instruments of his personality and as expressions of his intellect and will, helping him to dominate his environment . . . work becomes fascinating and irresistible and raises a man above his diverted self . . . enabling him to express his own individuality” The secret of childhood p. 186.  As teachers we look forward to seeing the amazing individuals that these children become because of the work they have done.

Have a great week.

Ms. Jen and Ms. Martha

Parents,

Our first week of school was amazing!  I have never had such a smooth first week.  Thank you for having your children at school on time and ready for their day.  Ms. Martha and I are looking forward to getting to know all the kids better.  We are very excited for the year.  I apologize for the long post – they will not always be this long.

Peace

We will spend the first 6 weeks or so focusing on our peace curriculum.  These lessons come from the book Honoring the Light of the Child by Sonnie McFarland.  Last week the lessons focused on our love lights.  A Love Light is the feeling you get when you do something that makes you feel good inside, it is also that place inside you that tells you right from wrong.  You may refer to love lights as a gut feeling, the Holy Spirit, your conscience, intuition, inner voice, etc..  At school we will call them Love Lights, but this would be a great conversation to have with your child to help them tie this vocabulary with whatever vocabulary you use at home.

Last week  we had our first opportunity to make silence.  This is a very common activity in an Early Childhood classroom, but it is also very misunderstood. We are not forcing the children to be quite.  This exercise helps them become more aware and sensitive to the sounds around them.  It also helps develop willpower and self control over their bodies.  Finally this activity shows children that we must work together to achieve a collective goal.  In the beginning of the year our silence may only last a few seconds but by the end of the year we may be able to be silent for several minutes.  It is beautiful to see the joy that making silence can bring the children.

Our focus this week in our peace lessons will be on conflict resolution by using a peace rose.  Each class will be making their own peace rose that can be used as an aide in talking through conflicts.  It is used much like a talking stick.  Students can take turns talking to each other in order to resolve an issue in the classroom.  We find that this is a very valuable lesson, one that creates good life skills and empowers children to problem solve and resolve conflict without adult intervention.  This leads me to the concept of saying sorry.  When someone does something to hurt another they should apologize, this is the socially and morally acceptable thing to do.  We often try to teach our children to apologize by forcing them to say sorry.  Two things happen when we do this.  The first is that the apology whether sincere or not looses it’s power to heal.  Have you ever received an apology from someone who was forced to do it?  You may feel better in that your feelings were validated, but it does not bring about good feelings toward the person who wronged you.  It is the same with children, and some children will refuse to apologize putting you in a power struggle (Always avoid power struggles!).  We must treat children with more respect.  When two children enter the peace area each child will get a turn to hold the peace rose and tell their side of the story without any interruptions.  If they need my help, I will validate how each child was feeling.  Throughout the discussion, I will do my best not to make any judgment calls on who was right, and who was wrong. I will also ask questions to help the children better understand what happened or how their actions may have contributed to what happened. Then I will ask each child (if necessary) to ask the other what they can do to make it better. This is better than an apology in that an apology does not always make things better and it puts the power into the hands of both students.  Sometimes a student will ask for an apology, sometimes it is just saying they won’t do it again, sometimes it is a hug/handshake or other appropriate physical contact and sometimes it is nothing.  I also allow the students to refuse to do what is requested and offer another solution instead, this does not happen often in that students are usually willing to fix a problem when they see that their side of the story matters too.  In the end both children hold on to the peace rose look each other in the eye and say “We declare peace”.

Snack

Beginning this week we will introduce individual snack.  Each day we have snack available in our room.  Our snack is provided by donations from you.  Snack is a very important part of our day.  Last week  we had group snack.  We all sat together and used our best manners, saying words like please, and thank you, waiting for others, and cleaning up after ourselves.  The main purpose of snack in our environment is to teach grace and courtesy, it also fills hungry bellies, but our focus is to teach us to take care of ourselves, the environment, and others.  Once we begin individual snack, the children will have the opportunity to feed themselves when they have a need.  However, we do encourage the children to only have snack once to make sure everyone gets the opportunity to eat.   It is the child’s responsibility to regulate their own bodies, a skill that will help them throughout their lives.  If Ms. Martha or I notice a student appears to be having a drop in blood sugar, by behaviors such as tired, frustrated, overly emotional, or mental blocks, we will ask some leading questions to help guide the child into having some snack.  We will not however, be reminding everyone to eat.  Some children don’t need snack or find it exhausting to follow all the procedures as in washing hands, getting snack, eating, and washing plates.  So don’t be too surprised if they choose not to eat snack. 

Here are the guidelines for snack.  Typically we like to offer one fruit or veggie and one whole grain each day.  Our snacks portions are small, (think 2 apple slices and a 1/4 cup of goldfish) but we have 28 students in each class.  Check the ingredients on any processed food, if the first two ingredients contain sugar than they are not appropriate for school snack.   If we are not able to serve snack items in our class we will send them home with your child.    Please know we are not passing any judgment.  There are plenty of snacks in my cupboard at home that would not qualify as school snacks.

Here is a list of some appropriate snacks: (you may have other ideas and that is great!)

Unprepared produce (we will prepare them in class)-   Apples, bananas, oranges, strawberries, grapes, celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, blueberries, jicama,  cherries, olives, sweet peppers, cucumbers etc.

Grains:  Goldfish crackers, Ritz crackers, wheat thins, corn chips, pretzels, sunflower seeds, popcorn, club crackers, graham crackers (check sugar), veggie chips, bagels

Other:  Cheese, humus, guacamole, salsa, yogurts (check sugar), dried fruit, fruit snacks (check sugar), cream cheese, milk

This week we will be introducing our solar system, talking about the differences between living and non-living things, talking about why we have day and night and introducing the artist Piet Mondrian as we continue our study of primary colors.

Back to School Night

This year we are hosting a parent/guardian only (sans students) Open House on September 7th from 6-7:30 pm.  The schedule was set-up to accommodate families that want to attend early, attend later, and who have more than one child at this school. From 6-6:30 pm there will be classroom tours. From 6:30-7 pm we will host a Montessori 101 workshop in the gym for elementary and in the yurt for junior high. Then, from 7-7:30 pm there will be classroom tours again. If parents work late and want to attend the Montessori 101 and then do the later classroom tour – that works for them and vice versa for parents who want to attend and leave earlier. If parents have two children at the school they can attend both classroom tours. If our seasoned Montessori parents do not want to attend the Montessori 101, they can attend either the early or late classroom tours. We hope to see you there.

“Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future.”

― Maria Montessori

Have a great week.

Ms. Jen & Ms. Martha