SHOW AND TELL
Bring a joyful thing.
Music is called the universal language
The value is joy, which comes from excellent values, enjoying goodness, being grateful, and interesting work.
For science we’ll learn how sound works.
Outside we’ll play clapping games, Simon says, and have a 76 instruments band.
The songs we’ll be singing are Singing in the Rain, I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing, Do-re-mi, 76 Trombones, Rock Around the Clock, and Day-O.
For creative dramatics we’ll learn to be a conductor.
Our art activities are drum, rubber band guitars, soda can shakers, and paint to music.
For motor development, we’ll work on coordination with ribbon dancing and music freeze. For motor planning we’ll listen and repeat, find the sound, blow ping pong balls, and goofy walking along a track.
HOW TO RAISE A PARENT
The period of greatest importance in human development is the period from birth to age six. By the same token, the period of greatest importance in parenting life is the first six years. Habits are formed that not only are hard to change, but that have an indelible impact on the child.
The first rule in Montessori is to follow the child. This means that the child has in her all the heart, mind, and soul it takes to become the person she is meant to be. It means that if we observe carefully and create an environment in which the child can work, the child will bloom as beautifully as any flower in the field. Observing the child means to focus on the child, studying his unique talents and drives. It means providing nurture for his emotions and work for his intelligence so he can emerge fully perfected.
Unfortunately, we frequently hear impatient words as the first greeting from a harried parent who’s still focused on a tough day at the office or on a lot of chores to do this evening. The parent is the one who teaches this little child what to think of himself. What is the child to think about who he is in the universe? About his ability to contribute to the universe? First and foremost, the parent must pay attention to the child as soon as she sees him, she must greet him warmly, and she must ask for and listen to his responses. This will be the child’s understanding of how the world perceives him.
Then the parent must set the pattern for how the child is to consider those about her. Our children are taught to speak gently in the school, softly and kindly. When the parent comes in and shouts across the classroom, the child understands that is actually the correct way. Our children are taught to sit on the chairs and work on the tables. When a father sets a child on a table to tie her shoe, the child learns to be inconsiderate of furniture. We teach the children to take responsibility for themselves, cleaning up spills, hanging their own coats, and choosing their own work. Then a mother rushes her son out of the school after he steps on a cracker, explaining that she’s really in a hurry. The boy learns that other people repair the damage he’s done. Parents keep their fully potty-trained child in diapers all weekend. The child understands that she’s not really competent to direct her own affairs. Dad consistently brings the child to school after 10:00. How will this father react to his 16-year-old son who sleeps too late to get to school?
It’s called the law of the harvest and it’s one of the immutable laws of nature. All the research says that it’s the values in the home that most accurately predict a child’s outcome. Whether the parents value learning, integrity, and relationships or things, rushing, and inconsideration, the child becomes an intensifying mirror. We can partner with you in achieving your goals. Please understand routines that we teach at the school, and know that your child will put his work away, eat what you prepare, and be potty trained at home as well as at school. We can be extraordinarily effective when we work together.
On the Calendar
Do You Play an Instrument? – If you play a musical instrument, it would be wonderful to share it with your child’s class. Please speak with us to arrange a convenient time for you.
Morning Glory Team – Recently the Mglory team attended a training seminar where we learned communication techniques to better help us with our students. We attend training seminars throughout the year. In addition every team member has had CPR and first aid training.
Coughing and Sneezing – As the cold season approaches we’ll be teaching students to cough and sneezing not in your hand but in the inner part of your elbow, modeling and enforcing this can be helpful in keeping viruses from spreading.
Winter Open House – On December 15, we will have our Winter Open House we’ll begin with students demonstrating the work they enjoy doing while at school, then we’ll gather round the fire place for a sing-a-long and the end by meeting outside to take our family portrait. The event begins at 3 P.M. and should last about an hour.
Giving Project – For this year’s giving project we are partnering with Child Advocates and sponsoring a toy drive. This is an opportunity for you, and your child to bring NEW unwrapped toys and clothing for the children. Child Advocates serves children from birth to 18 years old. Check the frequent wish list for additional suggestions at www.childadvocates.org your toy donation provides Christmas gifts for children who have been victims of life-threatening abuse or neglect and – as a result – have been placed in protective custody of Child Protective Services. The Santa’s Wish List program makes the holiday season brighter for these children who might otherwise be without gifts for Christmas. We’ll need toys and clothes at the school by December 6, look for the box as you enter the school to drop off your donation.