THE MONTESSORI SCHOOL OF THE BERKSHIRES – DECEMBER 2012

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Montessori G U I D E P O S T

Screen Time: Challenges & Opportunitiesby Andrea S. White, MEd, MA, CCC-SLP!

Continued on page 3...

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Your child's total daily screen time

may be greater than you realize.

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Church DavisS1)&/()+:%V")/-%".%8/3$'##$

From the Board: Dear MSB Community

HEAD OF SCHOOL NOTES: COMMUNITYD'Q$%+"%$3/;/&$#%'1&$%'&(#%5)$'%,#)/%D%2)$%)5$"%0"(;#55#-%'"%2/&'#%)H"3'%0"((3+&',=%%M'%'1)'%'&(#:%'1#%)-"5#$0#+'%$'3-#+'$%1)-%X3$'%H3&5'%"3/%'1/##EH&+%0"(;"$'%$,$'#(=%%K)+,%".%'1"$#%$'3-#+'$%0"(;/&$#-%"3/%_&/$'%4/)-3)'&+4%05)$$%".%`'1%4/)-#/$:%)+-%D%/#0#+'5,%1)-%'1#%";;"/'3+&',%'"%1)6#%53+01%2&'1%K)--&#:%S)$#,:%)+-%U)/)%)'%K&$$%P)55Q$%U01""5%21#/#%'1#,%)/#%#I0#55&+4=%

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%%%%%%%%%%%%%O)/(5,: Todd Covert

2

Limiting  screen  time

Your  child's  total  daily  screen  time  may  be  greater  than  you  realize.    Start  monitoring  it.    In  the  meantime,  you  can  take  simple  steps  to  reduce  the  amount  of  time  your  child  spends  watching  TV,  movies,  and  videos  or  playing  video  or  computer  games:

• Eliminate  background  TV.    If  the  TV  is  turned  on  —  even  if  it's  just  in  the  background  —  it's  likely  to  draw  your  child's  attention.    Turn  the  TV  off.

•Keep  TVs  and  computers  out  of  the  bedroom.    Children  who  have  TVs  in  their  bedrooms  watch  more  TV  and  videos  than  children  who  don't.    Monitor  your  child's  screen  time  and  the  websites  he  or  she  is  visiting  by  keeping  computers  in  a  common  area  in  your  house.  

•Don't  eat  in  front  of  the  TV.    Allowing  your  child  to  eat  or  snack  in  front  of  the  TV  increases  his  or  her  screen  time.    The  habit  also  encourages  mindless  munching,  which  can  lead  to  weight  gain.

• Set  school  day  rules.    Most  children  have  limited  free  time  during  the  school  week.    Don't  let  your  child  spend  all  of  it  in  front  of  a  screen.    Being  bored  is  not  a  problem;  it’s  a  golden  opportunity  for  the  child  to  become  creative.  

• Encourage  other  adults  in  your  child's  life  to  limit  your  child's  screen  time  too.

• Suggest  other  activities.    Rather  than  relying  on  screen  time  for  entertainment,  help  

your  child  _ind  other  things  to  do.    Consider  classic  activities,  such  as  reading,  playing  a  sport,  trying  a  new  board  game,  or  just  doing  nothing  and  seeing  what  interesting  creative  play  arises.

• Set  a  good  example.    Be  a  good  role  model  by  limiting  your  own  screen  time.

•Unplug  it.    If  screen  time  is  becoming  a  source  of  tension  in  your  family,  unplug  the  TV  or  turn  off  the  computer  for  a  while.  

•Allow  older  children  to  earn  “screen  time  credits”  by  doing  chores,  completing  homework,  reading  a  book,  or  caring  for  younger  children.    

Become  an  active  participant

When  your  child  has  screen  time,  make  it  as  engaging  as  possible.    Make  viewing  an  event.    Rather  than  keeping  the  TV  on  all  of  the  time,  treat  watching  TV  as  though  you  were  planning  to  see  a  movie  in  a  theater.    Choose  a  show  and  pick  a  speci_ic  time  to  watch  it  together.

Be  intentional  about  what  your  child  views.    Instead  of  _lipping  through  channels,  seek  quality  videos  or  use  a  program  guide  to  select  appropriate  shows.  Pay  attention  to  TV  Parental  Guidelines  —  a  system  that  rates  programs  based  on  suitability  for  children.    Make  a  list  of  the  programs  your  child  can  watch  for  the  week  and  post  it  in  a  visible  spot,  such  as  near  the  TV  or  on  the  refrigerator.    Use  parental  control  settings  on  your  home  computer.    Preview  video  

games  before  allowing  your  child  to  play  them.

Watch  with  your  child.  Whenever  possible,  watch  programs  together  —  and  talk  about  what  you  see.    As  mentioned  above,  my  husband  and  son  like  to  watch  old  movies  together.    They  keep  a  globe  near  the  TV  and  locate  the  setting  for  each  movie  they  watch  before  it  begins  and  then  discuss  them  afterwards.    As  a  result  my  son  has  learned  a  lot  of  history  and  geography  and  is  sensitive  to  how  some  racial  groups  (Japanese,  Native  Americans,  and  African  Americans)  were  portrayed  negatively  in  1940’s  movies.

Record  programs  and  watch  them  later.    This  will  allow  you  to  skip  or  fast-­‐forward  through  commercials  selling  toys,  junk  food  and  other  products,  as  well  as  pause  a  program  when  you  want  to  discuss  something  you've  watched  —  such  as  a  depiction  of  family  values,  violence  or  drug  abuse.    When  watching  live  programs,  use  the  mute  button  during  commercials.

The  bottom  line  is  to  take  charge  of  your  child’s  screen  time  so  that  it  does  not  dominate  his  or  her  “down  time.”    Interpersonal  communication  and  the  creative  play  that  arises  naturally  when  a  child  is  challenged  by  being  a  little  bored  are  positively  associated  with  good  language  development.    And  screen  time,  no  matter  how  good  the  program,  can  never  be  a  substitute  for  that.

3

COMMUNITY SNAPSHOTS

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: 1) Noelia wearing her Johnny Appleseed hat for the Historical Dinner. 2) Abelli and Zoe enjoying a lesson together. 3) Amanda practicing her stitching in the afterschool enrichment program. 4) Joey reading to Isaiah and others at the CH-I pancake breakfast. 5) Wayne exploring the geometric solids lesson during The Journey. 6) Natalie practicing a lesson in the Toddler Room. 7) Krish and Rajat at CH-II pancake breakfast.

4

PARENT GROUP NEWS

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The Parent Group exists to foster community among parents and to help parents channel their support for the school and its staff.

5

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Tyne & Ben LaRoche enjoying pancake breakfast time

Ava & Wren absorbed by Joey reading Pancakes, Pancakes during the CH-I Pancake Breakfast

many years in this land under the table.

Our next parenting session focused on preparing a child friendly environment. Crawling along four months pregnant with our second daughter opened my eyes about creating a special place for our children. A child friendly environment would give my children a home where they could live in dignity and tranquility while learning to manage independently on their own, along with having their own space to work and have meaningful experiences. Experiences beyond finding fuzz balls in the corners.

My husband and I moved the dishes in the kitchen to lower cabinets and found a shelf for snacks. We installed a bottled water dispenser, so our toddler could get her own water easily. We put a small table with chairs in our

“Pretend that you just found out that you’ll have to be in a wheel chair for a year, possibly longer. What adjustment would you have to make to your home to accommodate this change? This week crawl around your house, through every room, and make a list of changes that you would make. That’s your homework. See you next week.”

Off I went on my hands and knees, antennae up. The things we do as parents. As I crawled, though, I developed some insight into what it might be like to be small and not able to take care of myself.

On the floor, it was not pretty. My kitchen was a dark canyon, with workspace out of reach. Food and dishes were in the upper cabinets. The refrigerator was inaccessible. Unless I tilted my head way back, there was nothing attractive to see. All my favorite art posters looked distorted from this vantage point.

The dining room was a forest of chair legs. The living room was easier to maneuver, but the couches and chairs were impossible to climb into without standing up. The coffee table and end tables were at a dangerous and eye-poking height.

In the bedroom, I couldn’t get into bed by myself. I couldn’t open my dresser or the closet doors. In the bathroom, I couldn’t climb onto the toilet, reach the sink, or easily get into the bathtub, much less adjust the showerhead. I snagged my pants on the transition piece between the bathroom and hallway.

Negotiating the steps to the garage was treacherous. The trip was rough

and dusty, and my hands, along with my clothes, got filthy. The stairs off our wood deck were steep and full of splinters.

Dirty. That was my overall impression of crawling around. With weekly cleaning, I considered my home to be tidy. On my four-legged journey, I discovered grimy lower cabinets, crumbs in the corners, fuzz balls, scribbling under the dining room table (which still surprises me to this day) and splattered windows.

The only objects of interest on this expedition were a bowl and magazines on the coffee table. Pictures and mirrors were hung too high to have any esthetic impact. Doorknobs and light switches were unreachable. The floor was cold and the thermostat might as well been on Mt. Everest. Food and drink were invisible. In my home, I discovered a lowland where I wouldn’t want to live. My children were going to spend

Understanding Montessori: The Prepared Environment by Marin Schmidt

Athan enjoying uncluttered space in the Children’s House

Continued on page 7...6

Continued from page 6...

kitchen and set up a low shelf with puzzles, blocks, and other activities.

In the living room we removed the sharp cornered tables and found a Japanese style square coffee table. We added floor pillows, lowered our artwork, put extenders on our light switches, and added interesting touchable items to the room, such as woodcarvings, and baskets of dominoes and wooden blocks.

In the bathroom we added a plastic step stool that our one- year-old could move to wash her hands, and later brush her teeth and reach the toilet.

In the girls’ bedroom, we placed a twin mattress on the floor, and bought a light comforter so our toddler could learn to make the bed herself. We removed the closet doors and added lower shelving and rods so the girls could hang up their own clothes and dress themselves.

Of course, we also childproofed cabinets, electrical outlets and

moved the “untouchables” to higher cabinets or closets.

These are a few of the efforts we made to prepare a home for our daughters, now in their own homes. To paraphrase a Zen proverb: The journey of a thousand smiles begins with a single crawl.

Maren Schmidt, an AMI trained elementary teacher, is author of Understanding Montessori: A Guide for Parents, and writes the weekly syndicated column, Kids Talk. Sign up for Kids Talk at KidsTalkNews.com and visit MarenSchmidt.com.

7

Joyfully Creating a Culture of GenerosityWe’d like to thank the following parents who have made gifts and pledges to MSB’s Annual Fund:

And the following grandparents and relatives:

Thank you also to our donors who wish to remain anonymous.

Family participation in the Annual Fund underscores the strength of the MSB community to outside institutions. Your donation to the Annual Fund is 100 percent tax deductible and unrestricted, which is the most useful to our school. Pledges to this year’s Annual Fund may be made and fulfilled through June 30, 2013. Support the Annual Fund today! Your gift will have an enormous and lasting impact.

Rob & Wendy AkroydAndrew & Rachel BeckwithJulie Berriault & John SheldonWendy Brown & Zack McCain III Becky CachatEnore & Ursula CeolaAdam & Erika ChaitJoey & Alana ChernilaAilsa Colbert & Adrian ElliotTodd Covert & Meagan LedendeckerJohn & Laura CoyleBryn Davis & Craig McDowellMarjorie & Wayne DixWilliam DungeyNicolette Enhorning-Picton & David StrzepaGiovanna Fessenden & Chris HennesseySean & Kristen FlynnHerb Gregg & Emma WeiskopfDiego Gutierrez & Terry ZuckerJulie Haagenson

Mary Hannigan & Crispin TrespDana Harrison & Marc MaurinoRenee HarvittBen & Marya LaRocheSusan LordKay Lothrop & Tom SerminiSteve LothropSaul & Kehr MaldonadoEileen & Paul MasieroMatthew & Sharon MozianSara Mugridge & Daniel NeilsonBrian & Launa O'GaraJeramie Peacock & Caleb SummersPatrick & Jean PollockEmily Rechnitz & John PaladinoNancy Ringer & Jen TravisPete & Jen SalinettiJan & Michael SewardDavid & Tammy Valicenti

Church DavisKiel DavisThomas & Barbara GahertyAnne Harrison

Warren IvieMichael & Bernadette KozikBob & Govane LohbauerJoseph & Marina Maurino

Peter & Jo PodolWilliam & Barbara SalinettiJan Tresp

!@&A'B&CDDE#0'B&F$"#3&6G&HIDCD

Admissions

We are currently accepting applications

for the 2013-2014 school year.

!We make an effort to give current

families priority for siblings.

If you have any questions or would like an

application, please let us know, or send an

email: admissions@berkshiremontessori.org.

Thanks!

SAVE THE DATEThe Parent Group is organizing

the Annual Winter Oasis Dinners!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Book the sitter now!

If you are interested in hosting a dinner, please contact:

Ursula Ceola or Emma Weiskopf