NEWSOctober

Monday Morning Montessori

Anne Bailey and I just presented “At Home with Montessori” during our Mon-day Morning Montessori chat. This month’s topic was how to set up a space for your child in the kitchen. We discussed the importance of a weaning table, which is basically a child’s size table and chair. The shelf can hold several choices for breakfast, snacks and lunch. We focused on the snack options.

Healthy choices for the toddler could be a whole fruit…pear, banana, or Clementine orange. A spreading work…almond butter or cream cheese on a slice of bread; cashews, and dried mango now allows 4 different healthy snack choices.

Items *Placemat *Napkin

*Plate*Bowl

*Drinking glass*Child’s flatware*Spreader knife

*Small dull cutting knife

*Small serrated knife*Small glass pitchers

Small mixing bowl*8 slice apple corer

2 Mini- scrub brushes-1 for veggies and 1 for

cleaningLamb’s wool duster

Vegetable peeler*Spreader

Mini masherRolling pinOven mitt

Wavy chopperSmall whisk

*Small bamboo cutting board

Small juicerSpatula

Glass creamerMini colander

*Broom, brush, mop, cleaning cloths

*Dust pansWooden mixing spoon

- Loree Birkenback head of school

Toddler shelf Primary Shelf

The older primary child could still have the same fruit choices, but would also be in

charge of washing and preparing the fruit. Adding more complex snack options like

a fruit smoothie, or a bean salad will be more mentally and nutritionally satisfying for

this child. I loved the phrase from author of At Home with Montessori- “It is easier to

teach a child to help rather than keep the child occupied”.

I hope you’ll join us next month on November 15th! Diana Barrineau will be co-hosting as we discuss language in the Montessori home.

Happy Fall everyone!!! We are so excited fall has

finally arrived, and very happy that we made

through the hot, hot, hot summer. Here at St.

James we love October so much because we have

our own pumpkin patch. The children love going to

the pumpkin patch to see all the different kinds of

pumpkins there are.

We also love to have fun snacks in October. So far

we have had pumpkin muffins and some home-

made pumpkin butter. Anything pumpkin or fall like

snacks are great to bring in right now. The children

loved the pumpkin flavoring. Once it really cools

down we can make some vegetable and chicken

noodle soup together.

We are bring-ing out the fall

works in the classroom now. We will be bring-ing in pumpkins for pumpkin scrubbing. We also have a scooping work with acorns and all of our arts and crafts are pumpkin related this month.

Our song for the month is “Five

Little Pumpkins.” The children are in the pro-cess of learning it and we will be singing it for you all at the Halloween party this month.

Our party is October 28, 2011 from 10-11

AM in the parish hall. Feel free to bring your child in his/her costume to celebrate.

We would like to welcome our

new class pets, Tom and Jerry, to the Mothers Day Out family. They were donated to us by an old family friend and are already so loved. The children love to sit and read books to them already. I think they may be some spoiled guinea pigs by the end of the year.

If your child is staying all day that day please bring a change of clothes in case he/she would like to change after the party.

MDO

Fall HarvestSalad

Organic brown ricebaby sweet corn

edamamebright red bell peppers

We can hardly believe fall is already here! Along

with the change in seasons come a few exciting

ways to spice up the environment and add an

autumnal element to our toddler community.

One change the children really love is our new

seasonal snack menu. The children enjoy pre-

paring our Fall Harvest Salad. We mix organic

brown rice, baby sweet corn, edamame and

bright red bell peppers. It is a huge hit and the

kids eat it up! We love offering healthy snacks as

way to introduce the children to positive eating

habits at an early age. We are always thinking

of new and exciting ways to entice the children

to try delicious healthy new foods, and the peer

pressure really helps!

Toddlers Changing Seasons

Tip!

How Toat Home

In our practical life area we have added pumpkin scrubbing. The work consists of a few simple ele-ments. This activity helps to refine mo-tor skills and teach-es the children to follow through with the cycle of activity and learn to care for the shared envi-ronment. This a fun and easy work to replicate at home.

1On a tray place

a small dish with

soapy water, a child

sized sponge, a small

cloth and a pumpkin

in a shallow bowl.

2 The child dips the sponge in the

water and begins to scrub the pumpkin in a circular motion.

3 Next, a small cloth is used to

dry off the pump-kin and tray. Happy pumpkin scrubbing!

is for Pumpkin ScrubbingP

Montessori philosophy recognizes that a child’s environment greatly influences

development. A child’s home, community, and school environment all have an impact on their development. Children encounter food in all of these places, and the Mon-tessori classroom is a great place to help children learn about and develop healthy eating. Diet and nutrition are essential for health as well as learning. The children in our classroom are presented with opportu-nities each day to practice good nutritional habits.

“Education is a natural process carried

out by the child and is not acquired by

listening to words but by experiences in

the environment.”

Snack is prepared and presented each day by the children. They help choose the menu as well as wash, peel, and slice fresh produce. Snack always includes a wide variety of fresh fruits or vegetables. Snack preparation is often a lesson in language and vocabulary; this week the chil-dren learned to identify kiwi fruit and zucchini! Food preparation works are also available as part of practical life. Juicing oranges, peeling carrots, and stirring and spreading natural pea-nut butter allow the children to

independently prepare healthy snacks while also developing focus, hand strength, and

coordination!

Lunchtime in the Montessori classroom

provides even more opportunities for children to practice healthy habits. Setting the table and sitting with friends during mealtime allows the children to take their time and enjoy eating as a community.

The beginning of Fall is a great time to teach children about seasonal fruits and vegetables.

The children have learned the parts of a pumpkin, eaten pumpkin muffins,

and read Pumpkin Soup. Other Autumn themed activities which

the children enjoy include gourd sorting, acorn scooping, corn tweezing, and leaf string-ing. Several children have

used the circle metal inset to

make jack-o-lanterns and oth-

ers have made fall leaf collages

using the leaf cabinet!

- Ms. Ashley and Ms. Elizabeth

Primary classroom news

Primary 3 and 4 in the classroom

Hi everyone I hope you are enjoy this wonderful fall weather, I know that we have! Tamara and I started to show the children some new fall works like: gourd

scrubbing, acorn sorting and parts of a pumpkin 3 part cards. Also we have added a snack menu with a special cooking project for every Friday; when it’s your turn to bring the snack we will give you the grocery list with the ingredients we will need for that week. This week was homemade apple sauce with cinnamon and it made our classroom smell wonderful! - Julia and Tamara

Skeleton and Brain Dip

Tip!

by Healthy Living

2 Place at one end of large tray or baking sheet for the skeleton’s

head. 3 ARRANGE vegetables on

tray to resemble skel-eton’s body.

What you will need 1/2 cup lettuce leaf1 cup Kraft light Ranch Dressing4 cups assorted fresh

vegtables( red and yellow bell

pepper strips, cucumber slices,

snow peas, mushroom slices,

celery sticks, carrot sticks,

cherry tomatoes, broccoli

florets, cauliflower florets)

1 LINE half of small bowl with lettuce for the skel-

eton’s hair; fill with dress-ing.

“Lunch Bunch” in the Montessori environment is an extended Practical Life activity that is honed by each child, individually, daily throughout the year until…voila! “Independence and Tranquilly Happy Munch-ing” is suddenly and finally achieved by all!

As with all areas of the Montessori Curriculum, the

success of the child is dependent on the supportive

relationship between the parent, child and teacher.

As with all areas of the Montessori Curriculum, the success of the child is dependent on the

supportive relationship between the parent, child and teacher.

Consider how the Lunch Bunch experience for your child might be one of the most appealing

and positive experiences of his or her day: inspir-ing creativity through a sensorial and aesthetic experience; encouraging independence by offering choices: placemats, napkins, milk or water, picnic or table seating, various sizes, colors of bowls and plates; allowing for plenty of movement back and forth from the sink to wash hands, to the table to unpack, to the pouring shelf, dish shelf and mi-crowave; developing self-esteem by successfully managing the orderly sequence of events as well as the sometimes heroic task of opening contain-ers and fitting all that food onto one plate without even one little mishap or spill.

-Bailey/Gavin

Lunch Bunch

Fall HarvestSalad

Oops! I almost forgot to light the candle!

Make Chapel Hands!

The Children then sing the Blessing and now that

everyone is ready, we all may eat!

The Nobel Peace Prize for Packing Up

Awarded to this Same Lunch:

All Eaten, No Fuss

The Nobel Peace Prize for Lunch Bunch

for the first week of October

in honor of the lovely spirit of St. Francis of Assisi

is given to the family that created this

Beautiful, Healthy and Independently Unpacked

Lunch:

Tuna Salad Sandwich on Whole Wheat Bread,

Cut into triangles,

3 large and lovely washed Strawberries

One quarter Apple, cored and ready to eat

One Cheese Stick, easily peeled open

Lunch Bunch continued

“The child can develop fully by means of experience in his environment. We call such

experiences ‘work’.”- Maria Montessori

Tip!

Tip!

Care of self and care of the environment are

PRACTICAL LIFE lessons that are used in the Montes-

sori classroom daily. Practical Life exercises are the

foundation on which all of the various exercises in all

areas of the classroom are built upon. It is in these ex-

ercises the child begins to form control of movement,

build concentration, hand and eye coordination, or-

der, and physical, as well as mental independence. To

an adult practical life skills such as care of the body

and house are necessary chores. To the child in the

Montessori classroom, learning to care for self and

the classroom can create a sense of accomplishment,

pride and independence. If a child has a spill (water,

milk, applesauce, part of a work, etc.) they are taught,

then expected, to cleanup after his/her self. When

a child completes a work he/she is taught, then ex-

pected, to put the work away properly. If a child has

a bathroom accident they are taught, then expected,

to clean up after him/her self. The child learns that

he/she independently takes care of self and environ-

ment. As a group we clean, straighten and organize

the works on the shelf. We work on care of self and

environment consistently and conscientiously every

day.

-Mrs. Barrineau and Ms. Stacy

Care of self and the environment

exploringparts of the gourd in the garden

In the Gardenwith Ms. Loree

“A gourd is a plant of the family Cucurbitace-

ae. The term is also used for their fruit which

include crops like cucumbers, squashes (in-

cluding pumpkins), luffas, and melons. How-

ever, the term ‘gourd’ can, more specifically,

refer to the hard-rinded inedible fruits of

the plants of the two Cucurbitaceae genera

Lagenaria and Cucurbita and to their dried

fruit shells, often used for ornament, instru-

ments, utensils and vessels.”

- Wikipedia

Life Cycle of the Pumpkin

Paul Klee 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was born in München-buchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss[a] painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that in-cluded expressionism, cubism, and surrealism

T he younger students are currently

learning about the artist Paul

Klee, and have been working on their

own artwork inspired by his painting

titled head of a man. The children

have enjoyed using shapes and color

to create their own “Paul Klee Head”.

They are using watercolors in class

and learning how to create “new”

colors using the mixing palette. The

children have enjoyed the process of

adding water to “wake up” the colors,

and having more control over the col-

ors they use through mixing.

Artwith Ms. Ashli

Technology

T he kindergartners are working hard on their alphabet books

in Technology class. Using Corel Painter, they are practicing

controlling the mouse, clicking, and using Type. They are working

on publishing a visual A-Z word and picture book to keep in their

classrooms. See below for a sneak peak.

The students have also been learning the parts of a computer and practic-ing plugging parts into the Motherboard, installing RAM, and making sure the CPU has a fan installed with it to keep it cool

Do you have an old non working desktop computer or laptop

you would like to donate? I love for the children to be able to

explore and learn from real computer parts. Please contact me if

you would like to donate to our technology class. Thank you.

-Ms. Ashli acheung@stjamesdallas.org

We are learning

MotherboardHard Drive

Ram (Memory)CPUFan

Power Supply

Wish List

old desktop computers

(without monitor)

old Laptop

with Ms. Ashli

Chapel Lessonswith Ms. Ashley

Creation, Adam and Even in the Garden of

Eden.Noah and the Ark Jonah and the Big Fish Celebrating St. Francis’

Day

Lessons we have learned

October Photos

UpcomingEvents

Oct 31Halloween Parties

Noon Dismissal

October

october 20th

October 20th is our Open House! It’s from 5-7 p.m. Please come with your children to see their classroom, and also invite your friends and neighbors!

October 28thPrivate School Preview

October 31stHalloween Parties - Noon Dismissal

November

November 7th Conference Day - No School

November 14thMonday Morning Montessori Discussion with Loree Birkenback 8:30 am

November 18thThanksgiving Feast

November 22nd Grandparents Day - 11:00 am dismissal

November 23rd - 27thThanksgiving Holidays

Dont Forget To visit thePumpkin Patch and supportthe St James Episcopal ChurchYouth Ministry.

The funds support youth outreach activities as well as local, national and international mission trips, particularly by providing scholarships.

Congratulations to Miss Coral!

Jolene is here and healthy!