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Toddler II January Blog
From Toddler II class we wish you healthy & peaceful 2015!
Gifts of Grace and Courtesy
Two incredibly important gifts we give to children are the gifts of grace and courtesy. It is often called “the invisible curriculum” in the Montessori classroom. There are no specific materials to teach it, but it is integrated throughout the Montessori curriculum and classroom. Visitors to MSH are often shocked at how well-behaved the students are in class. It is because our teachers (and families) work hard to instill empathy, compassion, patience, thoughtfulness, and forgiveness by word and deed every day.
Knowing social graces and how to navigate social structures are skills that serve children throughout a lifetime. Our job is to give the child the language to deal with conflict, make new friends, express their own emotions, and understand each other.
We have always known that academic achievements were necessary for future career success. Now the business world has started to notice the importance of what Montessori educators have known for over 100 years: social skills are equally necessary for a successful career. Check out the following from Amy Morin of Forbes Magazine:
[Being] smart isn’t enough to guarantee a meteoric rise in the business world anymore – leadership requires you to be socially adept. In fact, your social skills may be just as important as your intelligence when it comes to achieving success.
Read the full article here.
As we enter the holiday season, it’s easy to get caught up in the materialism of giving. However, the greatest gifts we give children are intangible and never go out of style. The love of learning and the ability to interact with others will take our children wherever they want to go.
Primary III — Ms. Shree, Ms. Kelly, & Ms. Verena
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. In the month of November, we learned about trees, leaves and why they change colors, Thanksgiving tradition, and the continent of Asia. We will continue learning about Asia in December, too. Children enjoyed making and sharing fruit salad. Thanksgiving Feast was so much fun. Thank you very much for the parents who helped with the feast. Kids enjoyed making hats and necklaces for the feast. Also, this month, we celebrated and learned about Diwali, the festival of lights. For art, the children made Diya and also had fun making ‘puri’ (fried bread) and eating it.
In December, we will learn about some more Festivals and Culture from around the world. We are planning to do some holiday cooking. We will also do a holiday book exchange in our classroom on December 19. Please send a book (gift wrapped) with your child by Wednesday December 17. We are planning to have a Pajama Day in our classroom. We will let you know the details later.
Primary I November Blog
Hello everyone! Cold days are here already! Please make sure you check your children’s extra clothes boxes and bring in a warm change of clothes. Please send in jackets, hats, mittens or gloves almost everyday. We are helping your children put their own jackets, hats, and mittens on, but we don’t do it for them. Please give them a chance to learn how to do it at home. Special thanks to all our parents for being so generous buying small hands materials for our class! We appreciate all your support!
November, we are learning about the first Thanksgiving, Indians, and pilgrims. In cooking class we made cornmeal muffins and Teepees with tortillas. Our class is making cranberry relish to share with all our MSH friends. On Tuesday November 25th, we will have small Feast in our class for our children. It is so wonderful to hear what children are thankful for. Ms. Alicia, Ms. Carol, and I are so thankful for the Montessori Method for our children and MSH and all our MSH friends!!
Are We Meeting Our Mission?
Are we meeting our mission?
As a parent you make up the Montessori Society of Huntsville. By choosing MSH, you asserted that you value education and want the very best, most authentic learning experience for your child. Whether your initial tour was with Tinsley, Jennifer, Adriane or me we hope that we expressed our MSH mission clearly. You can find this mission in the parent handbook, on our website or hanging in every classroom. We are grateful that you have chosen to join us on this mission.
The Montessori School of Huntsville educates children to prepare them for a life of purpose, integrity, and academic accomplishment. We develop independent learners, critical thinkers and tomorrow’s leaders.
While this is a challenging mission, it is the imperative by which we make our decisions everyday. We want the curriculum your child learns to be Montessori in nature, but not antiquated. By incorporating brain gym, providing extracurricular activities like Soccer Shots and Engineering Club, and by utilizing web based (STAR) assessment, we are informing our practice with cutting edge educational research that addresses the needs of students of the current generation.
We encourage each child by maintaining our commitment to providing individualized lessons and meeting each child where he or she is developmentally, recognizing when they are sensitive not only to academic lessons, but also to social and emotional learning opportunities. Our teachers are teaching your child, not subjects or age levels.
We want to reach out to you and need you involved from the most basic level of washing cot sheets all the way to taking on the mantle of board leadership. You will often hear me say, “if you see something that needs doing, most likely you are the best person for the job!” In every day, we hope you will experience us reaching out to you to know your child better and provide him/her the best possible education. Our relationship with one another is vital to your child’s growth. Your participation is vital to the school’s success.
Every day we want your child to experience art, music, movement, their own language and other languages. While we may offer a structured lesson only once or twice a week, we are constantly working to learn new ways to inject those opportunities into the prepared environment, through independent follow-up work and by making your aware of community offerings.
To accomplish our mission we observe not only the students, but each other so that we can reflect and improve our practice. We take our responsibility of preparing future leaders very seriously. This week we will reach out to you with a satisfaction survey and we look forward to receiving your input on our success in this mission.
And always we want to embody the teaching of Dr. Montessori and faithfully execute our duties to our students while educating families and the communities about the benefits of a Montessori education. You support our mission by participating fully in society meetings, parent education opportunities and by sharing your experience with friends, families and colleagues so that other children can benefit from our MSH mission. As always, we are immensely grateful for your support in our mission.
