Just some quick reminders:

There is no school on Monday, January 20th.  Enjoy your long weekend!

There is no one signed up for snack next week.  Please help us with this if you can!  http://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/qgsbx  Most of February is also open if you want to look into that.

On Wednesday, January 22nd is the school’s ski night at Wolf Mountain.  See the school’s website for more information.  http://mariamontessoriacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/January-2014-Newsletter.pdf

The See’s Candy Fundraiser orders are due on Thursday, January 23rd.  Please support the school in this fundraiser!

I haven’t heard anything more about pizza Fridays.  I will let you know if that is still happening next week.

Monday, January 27th is the Biztown Fieldtrip for the 5th Graders.  I will pass out the permission slips when we come back to school on Tuesday.

The book reports are due on January 28th.  This is also the day that the 4th grade county reports are due.  I apologize for having two assignments due on the same day.  The 4th graders have had a few months to work on their report and the book reports were assigned several weeks ago, so hopefully the students haven’t waited until the last minute to start working on these.

The school’s International Festival is on February 6th and 7th.  The Upper Elementary students will be presenting on the 7th from 9:30-11:00 AM.  Parents are invited to attend!  These are the same days as Parent/Teacher conferences.  Be looking for a sign-up sheet for conferences in the next week or so.  These conferences are student led, so your student will need to come with you.

The science fair is on February 19th.  I passed out packets about the science fair again yesterday, so ask your students to show them to you.

Having all of these assignments due has brought up a concern for me.  Some of the students make comments such as, “Nobody will care if I don’t turn in my assignment.”   We are in a unique situation in our school because the students don’t receive formal grades.  Some of the students have the attitude that it doesn’t matter if they do their work or not because they are not being graded.  I plan to talk with the class about this, but I am asking for your support at home.  Most of these assignments are home-based projects.  Please encourage your children to work on them and do their best work.  Let them know that YOU will care if they don’t turn in their assignments, and that THEY should care, too.

Thank You for all of your support.  Enjoy your long weekend and I look forward to seeing your children again on Tuesday!

Kirsten

Hello!

Well, I must say, I think we started off on the right foot for this new year!  I feel like we had a productive week!  Lots of children got new lessons and we are making good progress.  One morning this week, the children came in and got their morning work as usual.  Most of the time, they are very chatty first thing in the morning and have a lot to say to each other.  I usually have to remind them several times that they have work to do.  On this particular morning, though, it was completely silent.  Every one of the students was sitting and working quietly.  It was so beautiful and peaceful.  I loved it!  That peace carried into our morning circle time.  I feel like we have a new spirit of productivity and peacefulness in our room.  I will do my best to nurture that spirit and help it to grow.

We have a lot of things going in the near future.  See the school’s January Newsletter for information regarding the upcoming Ski Night at Wolf Mountain.  http://mariamontessoriacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/January-2014-Newsletter.pdf

The 5th graders have a field trip scheduled on January 27th to JA Biztown.  This is a really fun opportunity!  Thank you to the two parents who have volunteered to go with us.  There is still a need for more chaperones, so if anyone else would like to go, please let me know.  We would love to have you!

Because of the Biztown field trip, I am postponing the due date for the book reports until January 28th.  Your children each received a paper this week detailing what I expect from their book reports.  I am guessing that many of you did not see it.  I will e-mail it to you since I am not sure how to attach it to the blog.

Your children each received a paper today about the See’s Candy fundraiser that the school is doing.  These are due back on January 23rd.  Please support the fundraiser and help the 6th graders pay for their trip to the Redwoods.

I have heard a rumor that pizza Fridays will be starting back up on January 24th.  Be looking for more information about that in the near future.

The school’s International Festival is coming up at the beginning of February!  Each of your children has chosen a continent to study.  They need to pick a country within that continent and come up with a creative way to share that country with the rest of the school.  Most children do a 3 sided display board.  You can also bring any artifacts you have from that country.  The children love having food to sample, too.  They can also dress up in clothing from their country.  Most of you are familiar with the International Festival.  For those of you who aren’t, I will be going over the expectations with the students next week.

The other big thing that we have coming up is the science fair.  This is scheduled for February 19th.  The 4th and 5th graders got an extensive lesson this week about the science fair and some of the expectations.  (I hope to do the same thing with the 6th graders very soon)  I also gave each of them a lab journal to record all of their science fair information.  Please, please save yourselves a lot of stress and start working on the science fair now.  I sent home a science fair packet at the last parent/teacher conferences.  I hope some of you still have it.  I will try to get new copies made next week for those who need one.

I know this is a ton of information and a lot of work.  I will do my best to help the children accomplish all that they need to, but the will need your support at home.  They will need to be working on all of their assignments outside of school.

Speaking of working at home…  The spelling test scores have been pretty abysmal lately for many of the students.  I asked them all to write down their spelling words for next week today so that they could bring them home to show you and start practicing.  I have been getting their words from a spelling program called Wordly Wise 3000.  You can download a free app for this program and that might make practicing their spelling words at home a little more fun.  Here are their words for next week, in case they didn’t follow directions.  (That never happens)

Red Group:  aloft, attain, buffet, elude, flammable, hover, inflate, jeopardy, moor, plummet, pollute, propel, stationary, superb, swivel

Blue Group:  active, astound, attend, cherish, contract, eager, expose, grace, impose, modest, parallel, paralyze, pessimist, recite, respond

Green Group:  average, border, cocoon, flutter, moisture, nectar, process, span, suitable, timber

Purple Group:  oil, boil, coin, point, join, voice, choice, noise, toil, foil

I have Gracie signed up for snack next week.  The following week is open, so please sign up if you think you can help.  http://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/qgsbx

Thanks so much for all that you do!  We have a lot coming up in the next couple of months and I need your continued help and support!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Kirsten