Room 130

Around the Classroom

Thank you for coming to the Open House. It was wonderful to have such a good turn-out and the children enjoyed showing off their work to you.
On Friday we read about Johnny Appleseed, and made applesauce. The  children enjoyed making their Johnny Appleseed characters. This last involved quite a few steps: coloring, cutting, folding and pasting. The children followed directions well though and the results were impressive.
We had excellent participation in our first spirit day. These are held once a month. The next one, in keeping with the book fair theme, is safari day. We will make animal headbands to wear that day as not everyone has safari clothing.
We have finished our apple unit and are starting to learn about the body. Children will be taught correct nomenclature. We’ll be including the Great Body Shop unit “My Body Is Special”. Next week Nurse Pattie will come in one day to do a lesson about personal safety. It is very age appropriate. If you have any questions, please contact her.
Last week’s counseling lesson was about personal space, a term we use a lot in class. A parent sent the following email (printed with permission): Yesterday evening, my daughter was helping me prepare dinner.  We had the “lesson” on heating up taco shells - taking them out of the box and placing them on a metal baking tray and having an adult put the tray in the oven.  I was trying to describe how to spread out the shells when her eyes lit up - she understood what I was trying to say when she asked me, “do we give each taco their personal space?”  That’s precisely what I was trying to explain.
Your child’s first journal will be coming home this week. Please have your child “read” it to you. At this point most of their writing is done with pictures. We will gradually start adding letters, words and sentences. A journal will be brought home every month and it is wonderful to see progress throughout the year.

Montessori Corner

Montessori had a vision for world peace. One of the ways we try to advance this ideal in the classroom is by exposing the children to many different cultures and customs. Understanding and knowledge lead to acceptance. We therefore do great deal of work related to cultural geography and also introduce the children to holiday customs around the world. We do this throughout the year, not just in December. It is always wonderful when someone with firsthand knowledge and experience can share with the children. If anyone else would like to share something, either for the winter  holidays or at any other time, please let us know.
Today we talked about the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana (New Year) and tasted apples dipped in honey for a sweet year.

Thanks

Thanks to Julie, Dianne, Jolie and Joan for helping in the classroom. Thanks to Julie for working on the October calendar. There are still some empty slots to fill as well as the Fall Carnival and Book Fair. If you can help out, either call or email Julie or look at the calendar on the bulletin board.
Thanks for all the supplies to help keep our classroom running.

Upcoming Events

Oct. 3: cross-country running jamboree
Oct. 7: PTA/MAC (Montessori Advisory Committee) meeting; you
are all encouraged to attend; childcare provided; potluck at 6, meeting at 6:30
Oct. 10: Children’s Gallery at the museum
Oct. 17: In-Service—no school
Oct. 24: Safari Day
Fall Carnival (more information coming soon; if you cannot come into the classroom regularly, this is a good time to volunteer; donations for door prizes and cakes will also be requested)
Oct. 27-30: Scholastic Book Fair
Oct. 29-30: Parent-Teacher-Student conferences
Oct. 31: In-Service –no school

Reminders

Library books are due back no later than Monday.
If your family is going on a trip, please let us know as soon as possible either with a written note or by email. We are not required to assign schoolwork but will try to put some work together if there is enough time. We always encourage children to keep a daily journal to share with the class when they return.
Please keep vitamins and cough drops at home so they don’t accidentally get into the wrong hands. If your child needs to take medicine at school, Nurse Pattie will give you a form for the prescribing doctor to fill out.  Thank you for helping to keep our children safe.

Irene and Barbara

Around the Classroom

Please welcome April, our practicum student for this semester. She will be in the classroom approximately 12 hours a week and will be a valuable asset. If you have not yet returned the permission form for her to take photos, please do so as this is part of her program requirements.
Science: The children have been “eating up” the apple unit. Some of the most popular activities have been pricking out an apple picture and filling in an apple outline with scrunched up tissue paper. We will use these same techniques for many other units as they are fun and provide a lot of practice in fine motor control. This week we will read about Johnny Appleseed, make a Johnny Appleseed character, and cook applesauce.
Sensorial: We are focusing on colors and color words and shapes. (In this week’s folder is a copy of the geometric shapes and their names. We only have circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval and ellipse on the report card but if you and your child want to learn more, that is great. You can also have your child find or name shapes in the environment.)
Social Studies : For  Constitution Day we visited one of the intermediate classrooms whose students had done research and prepared presentations. We explained to the children that the constitution is like the rules we have in school and they learned that one has to be 18 to vote. We also looked at slides of Independence Hall in Philadelphia and saw the quill pens that were used to sign the document.

We are also doing a year-long special project this year. When I was in Turkey this summer, I had the good fortune to meet with the only trained Montessori teacher in Turkey. We agreed to exchange ideas over the internet and to involve our students in this too. Last week the children dictated their thoughts about our school and classroom, which I then emailed to Oznur. (I have posted it on the website for you to read. It was very cute.) We are now eagerly awaiting a response from the Turkish children. We hope to continue this exchange throughout the year and to add some photos as well (unless there are objections to doing this).
Language: Scholastic sent us a calendar which among other things lists authors birthdays. We are trying to read books by those authors on their birthdays. So far we have read books by Tomie de Paolo, H.A. Rey (together with his wife Margaret he wrote the Curious George books) and poems by Jack Petrusky
The children did very well on the first of many field trips. The fire fighters were impressed with their behavior. Have you decided on a meeting place in the event of a fire? Did your child remind you to check the smoke detectors? We will reinforce the concepts learned with some activities in the classroom.

Montessori Corner

One of the ways to support the Montessori philosophy at home is to encourage your child’s independence. Having things at your child’s level (eg a coat hook your child can reach) is a start. Pour milk into a small pitcher so your child can pour it into his glass himself. Allow children to serve themselves at mealtimes. Provide real but small size tools for clean up. Allow your child to pick out her own clothes but if necessary limit the choices. Then expect your child to dress him/herself only helping where really necessary. This may take some time and patience now, but the more your child is expected to do for him/herself, the more independent he will be and this is the goal in the long run.
This acknowledgement of the child’s growing abilities will do more to promote confidence and raise self-esteem, than any amount of praise and external rewards.

Thanks

Thanks to Julie, Amy, and Joan for helping in the classroom. Thanks to Roxanne for helping at the end of the day on Friday.
Thanks to our field trip chaperones: Jeannie (Steven’s mom), Chris (Riley’s dad), Callie (Tatum’s mom) and Erin (Shayla’s mom).

Upcoming Events

Sept. 23: Picture Day
Sept. 25: Open House, 6:30-8:00 (Children are welcome; please join us in the MPR at 6:30; classroom visits will follow. If you have older children, please come to our room first as we have a short song to sing before the children show you around. Please hold onto younger siblings as there are many small items in the classroom.
Sept. 26: book orders due;
school spirit day—kindergartners wear red
Oct. 3: cross-country running jamboree
Oct. 10: Children’s Gallery at the museum
Oct. 14: PTA/MAC (Montessori Advisory Committee) meeting; you are all encouraged to attend; childcare provided

Oops

It seems that some of the information about ordering books online was incorrect. The class user name is:  denali130 and the
password:  Polarbears. Sorry about this. You can of course also fill out the forms on the backs of the flyers and send them to school with a check made out to Scholastic and we will get them to Robin. All the books will be sent to the school and she will then sort and disburse them.

Reminders

Library books are due back no later than Monday.

Irene and Barbara

Around the Classroom

We had our first full week at school and the children are getting the routines down. The shelves are starting to fill up a little more.
Language: We have started using the sandpaper letters. These are used to teach letter recognition as well as writing. We are also working on rhyming which is very important for learning to read, as well as other pre-reading activities.
Geography: We introduced the land and water globe and later on the continent globe. Barbara is teaching the children a song to help us learn the names of the continents. The children wondered if there is more land or water on the earth. On Friday we played a game using a small ball which shows land and water. We made tally marks to show where the child’s right thumb touched each time the ball was caught. The results clearly showed more water.

True to our school motto , “follow the child”, we had a spontaneous lesson about the water cycle. We did an experiment to “make rain” in the classroom, using a pot of boiling water and a lid that had been cooled in the refrigerator. If the children continue to
show interest, they can make a chart or booklet.
Counseling: Ms. Banta read a book called Chrysanthemum. A discussion followed about the need to be kind to one another and to use the names by which people choose to be called.
Library: The children checked out books from the library last week. We kept them in the classroom but this week they will be able to bring them home. They will need to take  them home in their backpacks. Please help your child find a good place to keep his/her book. At this age they only check out one book at a time but they may return it and check out a new on any day. We will give them a pass to go to the library at the designated time. They may keep their books the whole week too. They often learn a lot by reading the same story many times. If your child does not yet have a public library card, this is an excellent time to apply for one.
Sharing: Children may bring in items for sharing that are relevant to what we are studying or are of educational value. Please help your child practice what s/he will say at home. Also discuss whether the item can be left at school or not and if children may touch it. We do not have a schedule for sharing but fit it in as we can. No toys please.

Montessori Corner

“To assist (the child) in his choice, the materials are grouped according to the interest they appeal to, and arranged in sequence as to their difficulty or the degree of complication.” Montessori A Modern Approach by Paula Polk Lillard
Montessori believed that learning progresses from the simple to the complex, from concrete to abstract. This can be seen in how the materials are arranged on the shelves. In addition, they go from left to right and top to bottom, the way English is written. This can be clearly seen in the Practical Life area where the pouring exercises progress from dry pouring, starting with large items such as lima beans and gradually getting smaller (pinto beans, rice, cornmeal), to pouring liquids. The pitchers start out large and identical. Then smaller pitchers are used and later a pitcher and glasses. In the last instance, the child must exercise a great deal of control to stop pouring when the glass is almost full and while there is still something left in the pitcher. As you can see, a great deal of thought goes into the preparation of the environment.

Thanks

Thanks to Robin (Maddie’s mom) for doing book orders. Thanks to Julie (Griffin’s mom), Amy (Brayden’s mom), Jolie (Hope’s mom) and Joan (Irene’s retired teacher friend) for helping in the classroom. Thanks to Roxanne (Revy’ mom) for helping at the end of the day on Friday.
Thanks to everyone who returned the permission slips for our first field trip so promptly.

Upcoming Events

Sept.: 19: Fire station field trip
Sept. 23: Picture Day
Sept. 25: Open House, 6:30-8:00 (children welcome)
Sept. 26: book orders due;
school spirit day—kindergartners wear red
Oct. 3: cross-country running jamboree
Oct. 10: Children’s Gallery at the museum
Oct. 14: PTA/MAC (Montessori Advisory Committee) meeting; you are all encouraged to attend; childcare provided

Notes

We ask that children not bring chapstick to school. It becomes a play thing and often gets left lying around and we do not know whose it is. If they have chapped lips they can use a Q-tip and Vaseline. We have shown them where these are kept and they can take care of it themselves.
We are having some problems with the use of the toilet (spraying and dripping). This is not limited to one child, nor one gender. We have talked to the children but we need your help too. Thank you.

Reminders

Even if you are unable to attend meetings, please consider joining the PTA. The money generated from memberships is included in the annual budget. You are automatically a member of the Montessori Advisory Board. Each organization has a unique function.
If you are going on a trip and your child will miss school, please email or send a note with the dates as soon as you have them. If you are going away without your child, or there are other lifestyle changes (even toemporary ones) that might affect your child, it is helpful for us to know this.
Thanks to those who have already sent in an apple. We started our apple unit today.

Irene and Barbara

Around the Classroom

We had a great first week of school, although everyone was a little tired and ready for the long weekend. The beginning of the school year is all about laying down habits and patterns to help the children be successful here at school and for their entire school career. You can help them get a good start by giving them a good night’s sleep, a good breakfast, a prompt arrival at school and a healthy lunch. In the classroom we are reinforcing quiet voices, walking feet and respectful language. The children are working very hard to remember where work goes on the shelf so it can be returned to its spot (one of the reasons that we start with nearly empty shelves). When working on the floor, it is a challenge for some to plan to get the mat first to establish work space, and then to get the work to lay out. It will all come with practice and time.
We have been able to introduce a lot of work and will gradually decrease the length of the group lessons and increase the amount of individual work time. Soon they will be able to come in the mornings and go straight to work after checking in and putting their things away.
Safety is an important part of routines at school. We practiced for a fire drill before the school wide drills. Ask your child to tell you what they would do at home. We will practice an earthquake drill this week. School wide drills are held every month.
Ms. Banta and Mrs. Hull had reviewed school expectations during the counseling lesson on Thursday.
We talked about  Maria Montessori and her birthday. We read a book, Our Peaceful Classroom and looked at the things we also have and do in our own Montessori classroom.
Since the children will not have been in school for 2 Monday’s, they were introduced to the library today. Ms. Nelson will allow them to check out a book to be kept in the classroom next week and the following week they will be allowed to bring a book home. Books must be carried to and from school in their backpacks. Please help your child identify a special safe spot to keep the book at home. It can be returned any time before Monday and can be kept in the classroom to reread or it can be turned in and a new one checked out during open library time. Kindergartners only check out 1 book at a time, but you may also check out books.

Montessori Corner

“The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.” Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind
Children, especially the young ones, learn by doing. You will notice manipulatives in all areas of the classroom. One area that children this age are particularly attracted to is the Practical Life area. This area consists of exercises in grace and courtesy, care of the self, care of the environment, self-help skills, art , woodworking and cooking. Since we do not have a play area as such, this is where a lot of socializing and imaginative play takes place. It is a very important area for fostering independence, improving fine motor coordination, increasing attention span and teaching the work cycle. Here children often feel very comfortable as many of the activities such as bead threading and drawing are familiar. The number of children who can work in this area at any one time is limited by the number of chairs available, so do not be concerned that your child might get stuck in this area.

Handwriting

The ASD has adopted a program called Handwriting Without Tears. Please use the alphabet page that was included in your packet as a guide when modeling writing for the children. The important thing to remember is that all numbers and almost all letters start at the top. Do not have your child correct any mistakes; rather remind them where to start before they begin. We will work first on capitals (they are easier) and then lower case. The lower case letters are grouped according to how they are formed (c is taught before a, d, g, q).. There are many activities in a Montessori classroom that strengthen and prepare the child’s hand for writing. You will notice short pencils, broken crayons and chalk in the classroom, as these are easier for the children to control.

Thanks

Thanks to Julie (Griffin’s mom) for working on the volunteer calendar, and to Robin (Maddie’s mom) for offering to do book orders. Information about this will be coming home soon.

Upcoming Events

Sept. 25: Open House, 6:30-8:00 (children welcome)
Oct. 3: cross-country running jamboree

Reminders

Please mark all your child’s belongings clearly (backpack, lunch box, gym shoes, jacket etc.) This will help us match up misplaced items and their owners. The children do not always recognize their things and often it seems that we all shop in the same place.
Please send 2 choices from 2 different food groups for snack. Thank you.

Irene and Barbara

“…education is not something which the teacher does, but…it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.” Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

Dear Parents,

Thank you all for taking the time to bring your children to the conferences. This is such a valuable time for us to get to know each other. This letter will contain some information that we may not have discussed at the meeting. From now on, unless you signed up for a hard copy, you will need to access the newsletter from the website: http://www.denalischool.org/room130 . If there are any changes to your request during the year, please let us know.
While this may be “just kindergarten”, this is an important milestone in your child’s life. The habits and expectations you establish now, will set the pattern for the rest of school. Homework is not given routinely, but when there are assignments please help your child to complete and return them in a timely manner. Have a set place for your child to keep his/her school things and please do a regular backpack check. Newsletters will come home on the first school day of the week and other papers usually come in Thursday Folders, but occasionally there are papers on other days. Also, please remind your child in the morning if there is anything that needs to be turned in at school.
Daily attendance (except in the case of illness) and punctuality are also very important. A tardy child not only misses out on the morning routines, but it is disruptive to the rest of the class. We understand that it is sometimes difficult to get appointments outside of the school day and occasionally something unexpected comes up, but too many tardies or absences could result in the loss of your zone exemption. If your child is absent, please e-mail or send in a note. If you do need to take your child out before the final bell rings, you will need to get a blue slip from the office prior to coming to the classroom.
Parking in the lot is limited. Until you are comfortable with dropping off and picking up your child from the designated area on 10th avenue, please find a place to park on the side streets and bring your child to the line up area near the library. Please say goodbye on the playground. You can pick your child up from there after school. We will be exiting from our playground door at the end of the day and it will be distracting to have parents waiting by the windows. Thank you for your cooperation.
Thanks to Julie Davies for offering to put our volunteer calendar together. We will be giving her the sign-up list and you should be hearing from her soon. Several of you asked if it is possible to come in at a time other than your designated time. We have an open door policy. However, if there are too many adults in the room it becomes disruptive so please use discretion. You can also check if help is needed in the library, the office or another classroom. We realize that you are all anxious to be in the classroom and see what is going on. However, these first days are crucial for setting the guidelines, getting to know one another and learning routines. We will not have our normal work sessions at first. So, please hold off and only come in when the volunteer calendar has been drafted. If you cannot volunteer on a regular basis, there will be other opportunities such as field trips and special programs. You are also welcome to come have lunch with your child. Anytime you come into the school you need to sign in at the office and get a visitor or volunteer badge. Please also sign in on the volunteer sheet outside the classroom so that your time can be acknowledged.
Thank you for all the supplies. As we run out of things we will put more sticky notes on the wish list outside the classroom. We will also request specific items for cooking or other projects from time to time.

Upcoming Events

Sept. 1: Labor Day, no school
Sept : Open House 6:30-8:00, children may attend
Sept. : School pictures
Starting in October there will be PTA/MAC (Montessori Advisory Committee) meetings (date and timeTBA). You are encouraged to attend.

Specialist Teachers

Music: Chuck Stafford
P.E.: Shawn Horning and Amy Tessier
Library: Gretchen Nelson
(In addition to our regular time, books may also be checked in and out on other days; check the parent section too.)
Art: Kristin Parsons
Health: Beth McKay
(The schedule is art 2 weeks, health 2 weeks–we will have health this week and then 2 weeks of art)
Counseling: Janice Banta

Please phone only in an emergency. The best way to get in touch is by e-mail. Please email both of us so that we know what is going on and also in case there is a substitute. You can also send a note with your child.

bortnick_irene@asdk12.org
stratton_barbara@asdk12.org

Be sure to check out the Denali website at DenaliSchool.org. You can register to receive email updates. There is a link for parents with good Montessori websites.

Thank you for reading this long letter. We look forward to working with you and the children.

Irene and Barbara

Philosophy of Education
Irene Bortnick

“… education is not something which the teacher does, but it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.” (Maria Montessori)

All children are able to learn and have a right to an education. That education needs to start from the child’s present level, build on achievements and strengthen areas of weakness in a systematic and rigorous fashion. Children learn at different rates, therefore individualized or small group instruction in the academic areas works best. Not only do they learn at different rates from one another, but often the rate at which they learn different subjects varies. The rate of learning may also vary over time. Ongoing assessment should be imbedded in instruction and should drive that instruction.

“Education is a natural process carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment.” Maria Montessori)

Education does not just happen within the classroom. Children’s different learning styles need to be taken into account both in teaching and assessment. Children learn from one another so peer tutoring is important, as is group work for subjects other than language arts and math. When families are involved children’s learning increases. Communication between school and home is essential.

“Our care of the children should be governed not by the desire to ‘make them learn things’, but by the endeavor always to keep burning within them the light which is called intelligence.” (Maria Montessori)

School is about much more than learning to read and write and repeat facts. Children need to know how to access and impart information; they also need to know how to function in society and learn to care for and respect the environment.

“It is true that we cannot make a genius. We can only give to each child the chance to fulfill his potential possibilities.” Maria Montessori)

Children need to know that they are safe and to be well-nourished and rested before they can learn. We need to address children’s social and emotional well-being as well as their academic needs. Children should be allowed to be as independent as their age and size allows and should be taught to accept responsibility for their actions.