“The prepared environment” is a concept you will hear often when describing the Montessori classroom.  This is an overall idea of making sure that the areas of the room are clearly delineated from each other, and that the “jobs” on the shelf are logically sequenced and address a full range of abilities from the simplest and concrete materials to the more complex and abstract versions.

The materials need to be refreshed and straightened out daily so that the shelves appear visually stimulating and have the effect of “calling out” to the children to pick up the materials and work with them.

 As the room is tended to with a disciplined eye of the teachers, the overall effect is to show the students an ordered pattern of behavior of using the materials in the classroom.

Individualized lessons are given very carefully, so that the materials are used in a respectful and careful manner, creating a pathway for the academic aspect of the lesson to be delivered to the child.

This approach helps the child internalize a way of approaching a job in a  specific order so that the child can repeat the process successfully.

As a child experiences the job successfully they begin to increase their concentration and coordination.

Ultimately, an engaged student internalizes their own discipline and is drawn to the work around them because they have fostered their ability to approach the jobs with confidence and independence.

Reminders:

Please be sure to sign up for our parent/ teacher conferences scheduled for Thursday, Oct.2^nd and Friday, Oct.3^rd.  If you are unable to make any of the times posted, please let us know and we will arrange an alternate date and time.

The Book Fair is happening the last week of September, (9/29-10/3), please come and browse and maybe find some books to add to your child’s library.

 Next Wednesday, 9/23, the Kindergartners will be attending their first field trip to the fire station located down the street from school.  Please have your child wear their new, blue FMS shirts.  This will be a good way of reinforcing our “safety” theme and give the children a real life example of people who work at keeping our community safe.

Thank you’s:

A big thanks to Police Officer Lynn DeSpain (Zoey’s mom), for visiting our classroom in full uniform, and delivering an easy to understand presentation on safety.

We are also grateful to RJ’s grandmother, Barbara, for her help in the outside classroom green house, and for her continued help in planting seeds in our classroom planter box in the main courtyard.

Delicious snacks and beautiful flowers were provided by Zachery and Phynix and their families, and we are grateful for their contributions.

We have settled easily into our first few weeks of school.  Since the vast majority of students are returning from last year, the children are familiar with the fundamentals of being in a Montessori classroom, such as applying the grace and courtesy lessons which help guide the children to handling materials with respect and focus, and also to treat each other with care and awareness.

The children are practicing with familiar works in a manner that shows us they understood the core lesson involved.

Once a solid foundation is laid on how to use the materials in a specific way, the child builds confidence each time they engage the job, and the more focused and satisfied they look when they are doing it.

The handful of children, new to our classroom, have also integrated easily due to the positive influence of their peers.

There is a group awareness of how to move in the classroom, how to handle materials, how to listen to directions and it is positively affecting our new students.

Our foundation is laid, and the positive growth is there before us.

Please continue sending in healthy lunches.

We ask the children to lay out a napkin on the table and set their food upon that during lunch. We provide paper napkins when necessary, but ideally a cloth napkin should be sent in with them.

We were nurtured by the wonderful snacks and flowers brought in by Zoey and Eli (and their families) and we are grateful to them for doing that.

If you would like to sign up to bring in snack or flowers, see the sign up sheet by the door.

Thank you for a wonderful start to our 2014-2015 school year!