SHOW AND TELL
Bring a thing made from something that came out of a mine or the ground
(copper wire, clay brick, asphalt shingle, gypsum sheetrock, etc.).
Topic: Geology
Understand about how the ground works
and how we use materials from it
The value is self-reliance, which is a confidence in our own judgment and abilities. We’re working on making our own decisions about what we think and about what we do.
For science we’ll learn about how gas explodes, how rivers run, and how a cave makes stalactites and stalagmites.
Outside we’ll do a water brigade.
The songs we’ll be singing are This Land Is Your Land, Catch a Falling Star, Today, Down by the Bay, and Do Your Ears Hang Low?
For creative dramatics we’ll flow like a river, erupt like a volcano, or grow like a crystal.
Our art activities are crystals, sponge gardens, rock painting, and food color migration.
For motor development, we’ll work on flexibility with yoga poses. For vestibular function we’ll play beanbag toss, wind-up top, twist and shout, and hop with a ball between our knees.
PRACTICAL LIFE EXERCISES
Practical life is the foundation of the Montessori classroom. All other areas flow directly from this base. Young children have a compelling desire to know about and participate in the environment in which they live. If he sees his mother dusting and vacuuming, he wants to dust and vacuum also. If he sees his father mowing the grass, the child also imitates this activity. A mysterious inner drive moves him to become a purposeful member of the society into which he was born.
One of the most fundamental exercises of practical life is table washing. Its purposes are three-fold. First, it helps the child to feel secure and at ease in his surroundings. Table washing offers the child an opportunity to be purposeful, to participate meaningfully in his environment. It allows him independence. Having accomplished a meaningful task independently, the child feels good about himself, capable and at ease with how things are done.
The second purpose of table washing is to offer the child possibility for gross and fine movement that can be refined. Pouring water without spilling, scrubbing large and small areas of the table, getting the soap off, drying the table, discarding the dirty water, and refolding the floor cloth gives the child many opportunities to perfect his motor skills. This refined motor control is a direct preparation for more advanced work in the classroom.
The third purpose of table washing is to develop the ability to concentrate. Beginning exercises of practical life are simple and call for short periods of concentration. Table washing is a complex task which calls the child to longer periods of intense effort. It includes setting the tools out in a precise order, step-by-step washing, rinsing and drying the table, and cleaning and replacing the material. This ability to carry out such a complex task with skill, attention to detail, and concentrated effort prepares the child directly for advanced work in the classroom. Having been prepared, the child meets with many successes in his growth towards maturity.
At home, allow your child to work with water. Children love to help and to make their environment beautiful. Demonstrate what your expectations are and then allow the child to do it. An important part of this lesson is the cleanup. If the cleanup really is not acceptable to you, show the child again how to do it better. Patience and tolerance here are virtues. Encouragement for how hard he worked, for how much drier the floor is this time, and for how happily he worked will motivate your child to want more of this happy closeness with you.
Coming Up
Classroom Seminars – We’ll be talking about the expectations of your child at this new stage. Even though you might have been in the same class for a while, it’s different every year because your child’s developmental level is so very different. The seminars are scheduled by class. The infant class seminar will be Tuesday September 26, toddler class, September 27, and the primary class seminar will be Thursday September 28. All seminars are from 5 – 6 P.M.
Newsletter – If you would like to receive our weekly newsletter via email send a request to mmgs737@aol.com
Tuition Payments – After paying your tuition you should receive a payment receipt within a few days, on the receipt you will find our tax ID number, you may need that number for taxes. Tuition is due the first working day of the month.
Pictures – On Tuesday October 3, we’ll be taking individual and sibling pictures. The photographer will begin taking pictures by 8 a.m. If you want your child in special clothes bring them to school dress and we’ll help them change into play clothes after their picture is taken.
About the Show and Tell – We’ll be talking about how things are made from minerals that come from the ground. You could share about sources for all the things in your home such as porcelain, metal items, glass, and sheetrock. It helps our children more aware that things did not just magically appear
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