SHOW AND TELL
Bring a thing made from an animal.
Topic: Domestic Animals
The animals that help us
The value is responsibility, which means to take care of something of value.
For cooking, we’ll have fun with popcorn.
Outside we’ll play Doggie, Doggie, Where’s Your Bone.
The songs we’ll be singing are Over in the Meadow, Little White Duck, Old MacDonald, Three Blind Mice, Farmer in the Dell, and She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain.
For creative dramatics we’ll learn names of animal families (e.g., bull/cow/calf) and play with mazes.
Our art activities are mazes, pig, what’s in a circle, chick in a shell, and corn on the cob.
For motor development, we’ll work on stamina with running. For vestibular function, we’ll do snake rolls, play compass, explore pathways, and pretend to leap a brook.
I WANT TO DO IT MYSELF
These words seem to strike fear into the hearts of all but the most secure parent. In our heart of hearts, we know that’s what we want. We want our children to value themselves, and a part of that is independence. A dependent child who is discouraged from becoming independent by a smothering parent will develop habits of low self-esteem that can accompany and sabotage a child through his whole life.
But the nuts and bolts of encouraging our children to be independent can set even a super-parent’s teeth on edge. The infant who tries to grab a spoon to feed herself, the toddler who struggles to get his pants on for himself, or the primary child who wants to cook dinner takes a lot of patience on the parent’s part. In the Montessori classroom, the child is taught independence by choosing her own work, the same work for as long and as often as she likes. The early work is largely self-correcting, only fitting one way so that no adult has to tell her what she’s done wrong. It’s obvious, and she makes her own corrections. The child in the classroom is “given a lesson” in how to do things. No child is expected to do anything without having first being instructed how to do it properly and with quality tools. If the child doesn’t do it correctly, another lesson can be given at another time. The child is given lots of time to do the work. When you’re first learning, it’s hard to do it well if you’re going fast. The child is encouraged to do as much of the work by himself as possible, and the encouragement acknowledges staying with the project, putting it away afterwards, getting most of the work accomplished, and various other totally positive reinforcements. If it’s a long project, the child is given until the next day to finish. If it’s cold, the child decides to wear a coat. If the child is thirsty, cups and water are available.
It’s an ultimate respect for the child as a person that she is able to do it herself. When our children have inner security, they have a sense of faith in themselves to be able to handle any circumstance, the willingness to believe in themselves, to know that real security is knowledge, experience, and ability. And the child really can do it himself for the rest for his life.
On the Calendar
Mother’s Day Tea – Our students get so excited to entertain the most beautiful woman in the world at our Mothers Day Tea. Please put Friday, May 12, on your calendar beginning at 3P.M. Your child will have the opportunity to give you a lesson and then to entertain you with a lovely tea. It’s a time for just the two of you to focus on each other.
Teaching Values – We all have values, and among us we even have a lot of common values. But sometimes we’re not real fluent in being able to verbalize what and why we believe those values. In our enrichment curriculum every week, we focus on a value with the what and why we believe those things. They’re things like courage and joy and integrity. Next week we’ll talk about responsibility and why it’s important. Check with your teacher if you want to know more.
Parent/Teacher Conferences – The forms are posted in the foyer for you to list the time you would like to visit with your child’s teacher. Due to some conflicting schedules we have had to make some adjustments. The Infant class will have conferences on Tuesday April 25. The toddler class with have conferences on Wednesday April 26, and Wednesday May 3. Conferences for the primary class will be Friday April 28, and Monday and Tuesday May 1 and 2. In consideration of all parents if you are more than 5 minutes late please reschedule.
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