At the beginning of every month, you can expect to see different cultural, art and science materials coming home.  The materials reflect the particular theme and subject matters found in our curriculum.  For instance, in our Science area we are introducing the concept of “vertebrates” and “invertebrates”  along with mammals.  Jobs on the shelves reflect these subject matters and any of the work that does come home is an extension of our monthly themes.

One of the areas that gets a big monthly update is called Practical Life. Currently, this area reflects fall colors and has jobs focused on fall activities such as tweezing plastic spiders out of their web.   

The Practical Life area offers students a chance to develop practical skills that help them do things in life like “slicing a banana and serving sections to a friend” along with plenty of other tweezing and pouring jobs designed to build the coordination and strength in the fingers to correctly grasp a pencil and learn to write comfortably.

Ever wonder what the themes are for the month?  We invite you to look carefully at the calendar your children bring home at the start of the new month.  A small art project (tied to the current theme) is made by the children and attached to the calendar.

You will notice on these calendars that we include monthly themes and also highlight important dates for you to be aware of. These themes may give you an opportunity to speak with your child about them, or enrich their new found knowledge with your experience.  

Exploring people of the Earth.

The year long curriculum can be found in the parent information packet we distributed earlier in September at parent orientation.

Doing colored bead addition.

The scholastic book fair was a big success and we appreciate the generosity of our families who donated books to our classroom.  

We also appreciate the time, effort and donations made to the PTO to create a wonderful Fall Festival.  It is the support and involvement of our FMS parents that makes a huge difference in the overall student experience at FMS.  We appreciate your involvement!

REMINDERS

Monday, October 10th – Rain Forest Assembly at 10:00 am

Grace and courtesy being practiced with the “banana cutting job.”

Tuesday, October 11th – Picture Day

Parent/Teacher conferences start next Thursday (10/13) in the afternoon.  Students are dismissed at 11:15 am.  NO SCHOOL on Friday (10/14) for students as we are conducting parent/teacher conferences all day.

World History day is coming to the FMS campus on Thursday (10/27).  This is a day where the whole campus is transformed into a hands on experience of walking through time; starting with the early invertebrate period and culminating in the Renaissance era.  More details about this event will be coming home.  Please note now that dismissal is at 11:15 am on 10/27, and there is NO SCHOOL on Friday (10/28) in honor of Nevada Day.

Working with the blue step board matching letters to the yellow strips.

THANKS

A great big thanks to Emmett and Carsyn (and their families) for providing savory and healthy snacks, and beautiful flowers for the classroom.

The fundamental philosophy guiding Montessori teachers in the lesson giving process, is to show order, concentration and coordination and ultimately to instill independence in our students.

At first glance, when a parent is looking at our practical life area, it may not be apparent the depth of experience a child is getting when they are pouring lentils from one pitcher to another.  But that is exactly where the Montessori journey begins.  

In the simplicity of this process is found the deeper lessons being learned.  There is the physical process of coordinating little fingers and thumbs in a comfortable position on the handles, then using the free hand to support the pouring process.

Concentration is nurtured and developed when a child takes the time to quietly complete a job, even one as simple as pouring or tweezing items from one container to another and using a large push pin to pin punch out shapes.  These jobs are especially good for strengthening the “pincer grip” (the thumb and first and second finger grip) used to hold a pencil when writing.  

Jobs in the Montessori classroom are positioned to be done from a left to right direction, training the eyes and hands to move the same direction as reading and writing.

 Coordination is tested every day as the children navigate around the classroom, remembering to put a work mat on the floor, before they reach for a job to perform.

We don’t shy away from using glass containers, as it teaches the children to pay close attention to how they are handling the fragile materials.  Using glass, wood and other natural materials also creates a sense of aesthetics and beauty in the classroom.  When materials are beautiful, they draw the child’s eye and engage the child’s attention.

If the glass containers break, a teacher quietly cleans up the broken pieces and the student is left with the realization that their bodies and actions create results in the classroom, and we hope it inspires them to slow down and understand the importance of their actions.

Gaining independence and feeling self sufficient is a lifelong process every person is challenged with.  Although it may be hard to imagine encouraging this behavior when your child is so young, it is exactly the right time to begin. Walking on their own two feet to the classroom, carrying their blue bags and lunch boxes, blowing their own noses, washing their hands…all of these are opportunities for the child to become more aware that they are an individual person.

Laying out the short bead chains, from 1 to 10.

Each time the child experiences these daily routines, it signals to them that they are responsible for themselves thereby building on their self confidence and developing a healthy self esteem.

THANK YOU

Thank you to Mrs. Khadija Muhammad (Omer’s mom) for sharing the recent Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Fitr with our classroom.  This special holiday is celebrated at the end of Ramadan (a month of fasting during daylight hours), and Muslims usually give zakat (charity) on the occasion.  We not only learned about Omer and his family’s tradition, we ate delicious dates that are part of the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr.   We welcome the chance to learn about the different cultures found among the families in our classroom.  Please let us know if there are other family traditions you wish to share with our class.

THANK YOU

We also thank Karri (Gabrielle’s mom) and Mae (Vivian’s mom) for delighting our class with their healthy and generous selection of fruits and vegetables when they made smoothies today.

REMINDERS

The annual book fair begins Monday, 9/26 and runs through Thursday, 9/29.  It is a good time to expand your home library.

No School on Friday, 9//30, as the teachers have an in-service training day.

Matching fruit and learning the Spanish names of each one.

The FALL FESTIVAL is on Friday, 10/7.  This is a great time to spend time with old friends and make new acquaintances as you enjoy our school campus decorated with fall colors.  It is one of two community wide events that our PTO sponsors and we encourage all of you to attend.

Learning about the parts of an apple.

On Tuesday, 10/11 we will have school picture day.

Enjoying healthy smoothies!

Parent/teacher conferences will take place on Thursday, 10/13 (with dismissal of students at 11:15am) and all day Friday,10/14 (no school for students).

THANKS for our FLOWERS and SNACKS!

Thank you to Vanessa and Jonny, and their families for providing our classroom with delicious snacks and beautiful flowers.

Welcome to the new school year in our P1 classroom.  Every year is filled with the promise of new beginnings not only for our students and their parents, but also for the teachers.  One of the most interesting features of teaching is the complexion of the class and how it changes from year to year depending upon the children.

Because Montessori education is structured on a multi-age basis and a three-year cycle, we get to witness the profound growth our students experience from year to year.  It is amazing to know that our Kindergarten students (who are all of 5 years old) are considered the seasoned Montessori students.  We depend upon them to show our younger, newer friends the way to conduct themselves in the classroom.  We are continually impressed with the level of maturity our students show, especially when our expectations are clear.

Independence is the ultimate goal of any Montessori classroom, and there are numerous steps and reinforcements that must be done on a daily basis to establish this foundation.  Consistent process and repetition are key to building the muscle memory for a student to know what to do, and how to do it in a way that is effective for the individual child, and for the overall experience for the class as a whole.

For example, we ask that children put their work away when they are finished using it.  The work or job goes back in the same they place that they got it from, so that the material is ready for the next child to use.

We reinforce this lesson over and over again, until the children are able to do this independently and it becomes part of the process of the classroom.

Dr. Montessori began her work in the slums of Italy working with children who had never experienced school, let alone a school that was focused on communicating with the children in a practical natural way.  Her intent was to give her students an environment that was interesting, “sized for children,” and directly addressed their status as developing, individual people.

She revolutionized the perspective that these young children could learn academically along with developing their social skills to becoming productive, independent thinkers.  This is a tradition we continue in our classroom today.  

We look forward to you attending our Parent Orientation Night on Thursday, 9/8 at 5:00pm in room P2.  This is an important time for us to communicate practical and philosophical Montessori concepts and for you to get questions answered.  Thank you for making the time to attend!

Spanish lesson in food sorting.

Our PTO is hosting its first general meeting on Thursday, 9/15 at 8:45am in our multi purpose room, we encourage all to attend.   PTO movie night will be held on campus on Friday, 9/23 at 6-8pm and is a great time to meet new friends and catch up with old ones.

The FMS Book fair will be held Monday-Thursday the last week of September.

A great big thanks to Guillermo and his family for getting our school year off to a great start by providing delicious snacks and beautiful flowers for our classroom.

Thank you to all of our families for helping us to make the 2015-2016 school year a great success.  We hope that you have a restful, safe and invigorating summer.  We look forward to seeing our returning students next school year, and wish all the best to our students who are moving up to first grade.

See you next school year!

Ms. Nancy, Ms. Diana and Ms. Melissa

Transitions are a natural part of life, and as we approach the end of our school year the daily routine of going to school will shift into summer vacation time.

Summer is a great time to decompress and let the demands of the school year settle, giving children the chance to have unstructured time.  It also is a great time to engage children in exploring the world around them.

Visiting the library, playing at water parks, and taking early morning walks can give children the time to observe their experiences and put into action all of the verbal skills they have developed throughout the school year.  

Reading is encouraged throughout the summer, not only to keep skills fresh, but we encourage you also to read chapter books to your children (even if the sitting time is short) as this transports both of you to new worlds of discovery.

Math can easily be integrated into summer routines as you playfully ask your child to count, to add, or to subtract any combination of objects and things in front of you.  Questions can be framed like, “How many forks will we need for dinner?  Will you please set the table?”“If all of us are going to the water park, how many towels will we need?  Will you please go gather that many towels.”  

Morning times become the best time to be outdoors during our hot summers, and it is a great time to sit outside, listen to the birds, watch your pets in the yard, and have that sweet simple time together.

Structured daytime activities may be a natural continuum of the daily schedule.  There are many opportunities for summer programs, including those that we are offering at FMS. The FMS summer schedule is listed on our website.

If traveling is on your agenda this summer, please enjoy the time away.  Each new adventure you take with your children adds another layer of experience for you and them, and a new memory that will become part of the tapestry of their childhood.

Thank you to all of the parent volunteers who helped to make our Kindergarten Late Night a great big, fun party!

Field day is set for next Thursday, 5/26 from 8:45-9:45.  Please remember to have your child dress for water play, lather on the sunscreen before leaving home, and please bring a towel and a change of dry clothes to school.

Kindergarten moving up ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1 at 1:30pm.

Thank you to Francesca and Chloe, and their families, for bringing in delicious snacks and beautiful flowers for our classroom.