SHOW AND TELL
Bring a picture of a wild animal that lives in your neighborhood.
Topic: Wild Animals
We share the world with many wild animals.
The value is frugality, which means we only use what we need and never take more than our share.
For ecology, we’ll learn about how valuable the land is.
Outside we’ll go on an animal hunt.
The songs we’ll be singing are The Bear Went Over the Mountain, Animal Fair, Five Little Speckled Frogs, Pop Goes the Weasel, and Today.
Our art activities are paint on burlap, Teddy Turtle puppet, Ginny Giraffe puppet, and goofy animals.
Creative dramatics will be the folktale How the Rhinoceros Got His Wrinkled Skin.
For body development, we’ll work on flexibility with yoga poses. For motor development we’ll do motor planning exercises with squats, swimming strokes, stunt relay, and traffic lights.
FREEDOM VS. DISCIPLINE
As we’re entering into the new school year with bright hopes and strong hearts, it is appropriate to focus on a society of new children, children who are free to become their best. The Montessori environment is a movement toward this ideal. The material in the classroom is a help. It is beautiful and the children strive to maintain its beauty. There is also only one set of material, so if one child is using the piece another child wants, he must wait until the first child has finished with it and puts it back in its place.
But the class does not consist of the equipment. What appears to be totally opposite concepts is what makes Montessori work, indeed also our society of democracy and free people. Freedom and discipline come together. Generally they are thought to be opposite things. Instead we find that there is no freedom without discipline. They are strictly connected with one another. After a time, the teacher understands that if there is a lack of discipline, the children must have been insufficient freedom. If we give perfect freedom, we get perfect discipline. Order is the basis necessary for this harmony. The children become orderly and obtain a harmonious discipline, a discipline in which each has his different interest. It is different from the discipline of a soldier with forced obedience, all having to do the same thing at the same time. Montessori is a social discipline, and it brings people into harmony with each other. It should be like this in the family, too. The father should not have to order the activities of his family, but all should act harmoniously together. In ordinary schools, what is known as discipline is a social error. It is the discipline of the school, but it is not a preparation for social life, because in society each one chooses his own work. Each does different things but all must work together in intelligent harmony.
Another interesting phenomenon that comes from freedom is obedience. We think of freedom and obedience as being two contrasting things. Instead, free children are singularly obedient. Obedience must come from the formation of an individual as the result of inner growth. Otherwise it is repression. It is the manifestation of the perfection of an individual. Only one who is master of himself can obey. If we do not have this inner discipline, it is difficult to obey. Children who are happy, harmonious, and at peace with themselves obey the teacher, the teacher who asks but does not command. The children are proud of being able to obey. This is a complicated concept, but one you’ll want to use for your family and your life. Think about how you can apply it in your home.
For Your Information
About the Silence Game – Research is confirming more Montessori concepts every day. In the silence game, the children practice sitting totally still and listening to whatever sounds are in the environment. Children relax their bodies, lengthen their attention spans, develop self-discipline, and most importantly, appreciate the beauty of silence. You might want to notice your family’s reaction to silence. It changes brain waves. The adult buzzword on this is “mindfulness”.
Labor Day Holiday – The school will be closed Monday, Sept. 3, in honor of all those who work.
Toddler Class – Look for the “toddler daily report,” to see what your child did each day while at school, you can find the report on the bulletin board as you enter the class.
Carpet Donation – The flowered pattern carpet was donated years ago and it’s now shedding a bit too much, if you have an old solid colored carpet you no longer need please consider on donating it to the school, see Ms. Farhana for questions.
Water Bottles – We are giving each student a water bottle for them to use while at school on the playground. We will put your child’s name on the bottle and it should go home every day along with the lunch box for cleaning. We will pass out the bottles by Tuesday August 28. You might want to tie a ribbon or colored string around the bottle so your child can distinguish which one is theirs. If your child already brings a water bottle to school you may not want to change.
Text messages - A “test” text message was sent on Thursday 8-24 around 6 p.m., if you did not get it let us know during drop off or pick up.
CLASSROOM NEWS
In the toddler class Asher enjoys the shape sorting work; this work will help with color recognition, improves his attention span. Ellie took a few days to warm up to her new teacher but by day three they were like old friends as Elle had a lesson on painting with various textures. This work helps to learn the difference between ruff and smooth and wet and dry. Ian is improving his fine motor skills and his attention span as he works with the straw inserts. In conjunction with this week’s curriculum on Africa; Berkley made an African mask and after the paint dried she played a few rounds of pee-a-boo with her teacher, Berkley laughed and smiled.
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