February 27, 2015

The Tall Oak

Leaves Volume 8 Issue 6

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Our Mission:

To provide a Montessori environment that inspires children

to reach their potential through meaningful work.

10, 9, 8.... It is hard to believe, but the Tall Oak Gala is less than 10

days away. The excitement is building as the team of

parent volunteers is working to finalizing all the details

necessary to make this an evening to remember! In the

next few days each family will receive an Auction Pre-

view. In the Preview, you will be given an glimpse into the

many auction items that will be available during the Giv-

ing Hour and Live Auction.

Thank you to all of our

Gala Volunteers! We have received great response to our plea for volunteers on March 6 and March 7. There

are still a few opportunities available if you are interested. The first volunteer opportunity is

to help set up on Friday March 6. We will meet at Oak Farm right after morning car line,

load our cars with auction items & supplies and head to Dupont Downs. We will return in

time for car line on Friday afternoon. The second opportunity is: Host a Silent Auction table

during the Giving Hour on Saturday night. Please contact Kim Davidson at

kdavidson@oakfarmschool.com if you are interested!

The auction items are in and pictures are

being taken! Watch for our special

Classroom Project Preview early next week!

Raffle Tickets are still on sale—stop by the office to buy yours!

$10 each or 6 for $50—cash or check only.

Thank You to our

Tall Oak Gala Sponsors

Program Sponsors Campbell & Fetter Bank

Dekko Investment Services

Diehm Construction

Raffle Ticket Sponsors AMI Investment Management, Inc.

Dekko Investment Services

Shaffer Multimedia

Bar Sponsors Burns Construction

DeHayes Group

Rottmann-Collier Architects

Shaffer Multimedia

Other Sponsorships & In-kind Donations

BKD LLP

Old National/PHP

National Benefit Auctions & Events

Giggle Face Photography

Lynelle Deam Photography

Page 3

Infant & Toddler Program

In January, the Infant Toddler Staff took time helping four students transition from the Infant

room to the Toddler environments. It was beautiful watching the young toddlers’ transition

almost seamlessly. The students showed readiness by demonstrating skills appropriate for

the Toddler room. Some of these skills are being able to follow directions, work in a larger

social group, arrange their own table setting, find their cubby or walk to carline. The existing

students welcomed their new friends with open arms. There is beauty in watching a 20

month old offer a helping hand or a hug to a 16 month old as if she is the care taker for this

4 month younger child.

Primary Program

The pink tower is made up of 10 pink cubes made of

wood, varying in size from 1 to 10 cubic centimeters,

therefore representing the concrete concept of the

numbers 1 thru 10. The purpose is to build the

blocks of graduated 3 dimensional sizes in order to

understand sequence and order.

Each cube is taken one at a time and placed on a rug.

The tower is built from largest to smallest, introduc-

ing the concept of large and small, large, larger, larg-

est and small, smaller, smallest. If the child is ready ,

you can count the numbers 1 to 10, starting with the

smallest cube (1) to the largest (10). The concrete

difference between 1 and 10 is the first step in un-

derstanding addition. When the child is ready to

count backwards, the cubes can be used from 10 as

the largest cube down to the smallest cube 1. This is

the visual aid to understanding subtraction.

Building the pink tower aids the child to develop vis-

ual and small muscular perception of dimensions,

awareness of dimensions leads to observation of the

child's environment which aids the child in smoother

and more coordinated movement.

“Free the child’s

potential and

you will transform him

into the world.”

-Dr. Maria Montessori

Page 4

Lower Elementary

Animals have inhabited the Earth for millions of years and

have always amazed children. They love to learn and care

about them and they are a springboard for research and

imagination. Like everything in the Montessori classroom,

we take the very concrete and move towards abstraction, we take the big

picture and move towards the tiniest organisms and

discover how everything is related, interconnected and

interdependent.

For the past months we explored and discovered the

animal kingdom and its categories from single celled

organisms to mammals. We classified vertebrates and

invertebrates, learned about the characteristics of vertebrates like their covering, reproduction, circulation,

movement, respiration and skeleton.

One of the big “wow” discoveries was how the character-

istics change from simple to more complex as animals left

the water. From simple circulation in a fish to the four

chambered heart of mammals!

We are now researching fish, exploring Porifera, arranging

organisms based on special characteristics (Taxonomy) and

looking at animal needs, how those needs are met and how

animals adapted to the biomes they live in.

Upper Elementary

Page 5

In Spanish we are working on nouns in the

classroom. Working in small groups, we are drawing the inside of the Prairie House and labeling the people, plac-es, and things in the building-- like pencils, chairs, tables, books etc.

We have a Spanish lesson four times a week and Susan is our teach-er. June, a student in UE2 stated, “I love Spanish and Susan.” Zander, another UE2 student related, “Susan is fun and hilarious. She explains things clearly and she is good at teaching.” Allison, a student in UE1

commented, “We like Susan because she relates to us, and she’s

good at answering questions.” Written by: by Mariah C.

Spanish.

UE2 students have

worked together to create a mosaic project detailing a falcon, the school’s mascot, on both coaster tiles and a keep safe box. Students also have written

inspirational quotes and placed them inside the box. Further, a pic-

ture frame was designed and built by students for this event.

During the process of creating these projects there was voting, col-

laborating, and also frustration. Through that commotion, we man-aged to reach consensus. Sofia, UE2 student and member of the gala project committee, stated “Working together was hard and easy at

the same time.” Tanner, another UE2 student and member of the committee commented that his favorite part of the brainstorming

process “[was] when we drew the falcon.” Written by: Tia G.

The 6th years have been study-

ing Native Americans. For their research they made a brochure and a representation of the tribe or village they are studying. The tribes that were studied included Inuit, Cree, Mohawk,

Navajo, Blackfeet, Potawotami, and Shoshone. We presented our projects to the rest of the class on Friday, January 30. Reed, a 6th year student stated that he thought it was “pretty cool” while Tia, another 6th year student felt that “it was a

fun process and I learned a lot about the Cree Native American tribe.”

Written by: by Mariah C.

UE2 Gala Project

Native Americans

On Monday, January, 26, Upper Ele-

mentary students went to the Ken-dallville Public Library to meet Adam Gidwitz, the author of A Tale Dark and Grimm, In a Glass Grimmly, and A Grimm Conclusion. The children of UE2 really

enjoyed the meeting, and when Adam told one of the stories from A Tale Dark and Grimm, the students cracked up. Multiple students said they either liked the event or loved it. For instance, Thomas relayed that he loved the chance to hear an author read his books, while Steele mentioned that the stories told were really

funny. Written by: by Riyan J.

Adam Gidwitz

Middle School Page 6

The Middle School is a constantly

changing prepared environment with

a wide variety of opportunities to

learn about real world situations. In

November of 2014, the Middle

School added Angora rabbits to our

farm fiber program. We had two females and one male and we ended up accidentally welcoming unexpected

addition- baby Angora bunnies. Our rabbits were unintentionally bred, but we gladly accepted the opportuni-

ty to problem-solve. This has turned our mistake into something really positive for our community.

Born in December, they spent 3 weeks in a nest box, which their mothers’ instinctively make for them out of

fur and other bedding. Once they were out of the nest box, their life source, like all mammals, was their

mothers’ milk. Now, their diet consists of rabbit pellets and hay.

Our next project will be building a “Bunny Play-land” out of an old chicken coop. During farm time, the stu-

dents are creating plans that include plenty of entertainment for our little friends. There will be everything

from climbing towers to tubes so that they can experience the illusion of “being outside”. All of the materials

in this sustainability project have been found or are being re-used to fulfill this purpose.

Bunny Lovin’ by Julia E. -8th Year

IMPORTANT RABBIT FACTS

Born: December 12, 2014 Weaning: 6-10 weeks Sexually Mature: 6 months

Page 7

Specialist: Music This year Kindergartners are becoming familiar with the mu-

sical alphabet and rhythms, discovering how to play and care

for classroom instruments & learning about instrument fami-

lies, as well as expanding their repertoire of songs which

hopefully they are sharing at home. Some Primary students

will soon experience the Montessori bells in small group

lessons with the opportunity to practice individually during

their respective work cycles.

Lower Elementary students are committing the notes of the

Treble Clef staff to memory (with the help of a new song)

along with rhythms & musical symbols, enjoying old & new

folk dances and will soon begin preparing a piece to share

during the Earth Day celebration in April. Third years are

getting excited about the talent showcase that will be hap-

pening in March.

All K - 6th grade music students, including the African

Drummers, performed to a full house at Grandparents’ Day

in November. Instruction with Ketu Oladuwa continues for

6th years as they continually prepare for another perfor-

mance in the spring.

Upper classes are reviewing notation as well as learning to

dictate rhythms, identify intervals and will also be sharing

their talents at the annual variety show in March. The date is tentatively set for Friday, March 20th from 1:15-

2:45pm. Parents are welcome to join us for that

event.

Beginning this fall each Middle Schooler has 1 quarter of

general music over the course of the year where the basics

of reading notation, symbols and familiar terms are covered

as well as learning to apply this knowledge through a perfor-

mance opportunity to be determined by each group of stu-

dents. The first quarter worked on singing techniques. Per-

haps you heard the 2nd quarter group perform a bucket

drumming piece at the Oak Farm 15th Birthday party. The

3rd quarter students are working on 2 songs that will be

“mashed-up” by the end of March.

The long-term plan for Oak Farm Middle School’s music

program is to prepare the students to launch into a music

program at the high school of their choice.

Thank you for your support of the Music Department at

Oak Farm!

Page 8

Specialist: STEAM The after school STEAM program is well

underway. The program began with a visit

from Science Central and students put the

scientific method to use as they made and

tested paper gliders. We went on to learn

how batteries work and with the help of

some lemons, created circuits to light up

LEDs. The batteries were used to power

student-made “robots” that vibrated and

crashed, ending in our

own Robot War. Next up

is a project developed by

our resident engineer, Pe-

ter Chaparro. He is going

to teach us how to make

origami flashlights!

Parent note: We have one built-in snow

make-up day already on the

calendar. Look for an email

letting you know times for a

second make-up day.

Elementary Slumber Party!

We are having one! Don’t miss this chance for a night out! Lower and

Upper Elementary student are invited to be part of the first big Tall Oak

Gala Slumber Party. The night will be filled with fun games, pizza, a

movie and a slumber party with friends! Parent/Staff members Macy

McNaughton, Jillian Chaulk, Kim Davidson, David Worman and Colin

Chaulk have all signed on to be the overnight chaperones!

All elementary students have been given a flyer about this exciting event! There

are only 20 spots left... Send your registration form ASAP to hold your spot! If

you need another copy—email Macy, mmcnaughton@oakfarmschool.com

DATE: May 15 TIME: 6pm—9am COST: $25

Summer Day Camp

Oak Farm Montessori

June & July 2015

Oak Farm pro§ñdes a MoõtessÉüi Ünvñroõment

that inspires Ñhildren to äeach their potential thro£gh meaningful wÖük

Summer Day Camp Registratioõ FÉüm