This Week in the Oak Room

Caterpillars and butterflies were featured this week in the Oak Room.  The children made beautiful pictures and enjoyed jobs all about these creatures that remind us of the magic of Spring! We talked about the life cycle of butterflies and how the Monarch travels all the way to Mexico.

The children have spring fever!  We are spending a lot of time outdoors and will be incorporating some class work to be done outside for the rest of the school year.  It is very important that children spend a significant part of their day in the fresh air and around nature.

An interesting online article about this topic can be found at: http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=275

Dr. Montessori was known to often take materials outside to work in the sun and fresh breezes whenever possible.

This week we talked a lot about the food pyramid and how important it is to eat food from each group at every meal.  Why? For balance and a healthy body! We also discussed trying new foods and read a story about the “two-bite” club, where the children tried two small bites of a new food, and usually liked it! Please let one of the teachers know if your child has tried something new, and we can form our own “two-bite” club.

A few items to note:

Earth Day program: Sunday April 28th at 2pm. We hope to see everyone there.

Child quote of the week:

Miss Darci: “Collin, where does your brother go to school?”

Collin: ”Kindergarten.”

This Week in the Tulip Room

Another busy week has passed way too quickly! We spent a busy week working on learning songs for our program, working in our spring committees as well as preparing for and hosting our classroom pet presentations. Back in the fall we had to part with our guinea pigs due to allergies and we posed the challenge to the students that if they could make a good case for getting a new pet then we would be able to welcome another (besides Boomer the fish) into our classroom. Much research was done on allergies, food, housing, cost, care and needs of many different animals. Then on Wednesday the presentations were made, each child had 5 minutes to present and 5 questions from the audience, then the voting began with each child allowed 2 votes. It was a close race and we ended up with two new animal friends! First Jayden will be bringing in his dog, Jasper,  each Friday to spend the day in our room, then Kate was able to place an order for two African dwarf frogs! The children have really taken ownership of these pets and we hope to add more animals in the fall with the wish to have an animal representing each class of the Animal Kingdom’s vertebrate phylum.

 

As we look at the calendar we can’t believe it is so near time for so many things! First coming up on the 28th is our spring program at 2pm in our old location, Old Smith Valley United Methodist church. We will begin decorating our shirts on Tuesday so be sure your child has their white shirt to school ASAP.

 

Second the school will be hosting a community fair on May 11th and the children will have their own booth, selling snacks and bird seed, watch for sign up times soon! We could also use volunteer greeters and runners (who might check to see if vendors need water or snacks) so we will be asking students who might be interested.

 

As some of you know, the Relay for Life is an event I am heavily involved in (I am the chair person for the one in Martinsville) and during the month of May we will work on some cancer education as well as fundraising projects and we will culminate those activities with our mini-relay event that will take place on the last day of school, which will be a half day and be held at the park.

 

Also on the 22nd of May we will be taking a trip to the zoo! We will spend the day there working in our biome research teams, bringing biomes to life! We will be in need of at least one additional driver but all are welcome to come! We need to order tickets so please RSVP to Brenda by May 10th.

 

Elementary encore currently only has three students registered. In order to take place we will need to have 5 registered by May 10th. So please sign up soon!

 

Also running club will begin next Wednesday, hope to see you there! Which brings me to my biggest revelation….It is almost summer! The children will all change grade levels, new friends will be coming and our classroom will grow again!

 

Thank you for making us such lucky people!

 

This Week in the Tulip Room

Whew! What a week! I can’t believe that we have only been back from Spring Break for one week! The children came back with such a hunger for work! In addition to our work we have created Spring Committees; each student is a member of a committee that is planning a spring activity. For some of these activities we will need to go shopping or price comparing, so just know that your child may leave the school building at some point for a short period of time during these next few weeks with either Ms. Brenda, Ms. Kristen or Ms. Melissa.

We have also started practicing for our Spring Program, which will take place April 28th at 2pm at Old Smith Valley United Methodist Church. Along with our performance we are asking each family to contribute one canned good as “admission” to help stock our local food pantry, The Refuge.  Also if you could, please send in one white t-shirt for your child to decorate for the event, by Friday, April 19th.

This week we were lucky enough to experience a visit the Indiana Statehouse to learn about our government and the history of our State as well as the Indiana State Library and tunnels in between. We also received a visit from Ms. Melissa’s exchange student, Susi, who is from Germany, but has a German mother and a Turkish father and was able to share the culture of Turkey with us.

Coming up we will be finishing up or Plant studies with a (insert drum roll here) “Plant Party”! We will be sampling different parts of the plant and having some fun! Then on we will move to the Animal Kingdom for some studying of vertebrates and invertebrates.

Beginning Wednesday, April 24th

Ms. Melissa will begin an after school running club. If your child (or yourself) is interested in learning more about running please see Ms. Brenda to register and fill out a release form. We will discuss the culture and manners of running, hydration, skin care, warm-up, stretching, run/walking to build to running a distance- beginning at one mile and possibly moving to distances. Parents are welcome to join!

 

Some things to note:                                                                                       

Spring is here & with it we will begin learning about team sports. Please be sure your child always has on or has access to tennis shoes because anytime the weather is nice we will be playing a sport in “the field”.

Also with the breaking of the weather we will be spending as much time as possible outdoors; eating lunch, having lessons, reading time, line time, rocket math & folder time, will all be spent outdoors.  We have added sunscreen to our “personal care” shelf, but please have your child apply it in the mornings as well as to be hydrating themselves in the evenings and mornings.

Due to recent concerns our neighbors have expressed about the safety of children in their parking lots, we are asking our parents to please use our parking lot only when dropping off or picking up your children.  We understand that it is a tight area, but if we work together, we can keep everyone safe.

 

 

 

Spring Program

April 28th
2-4 pm

Our Spring Program , honoring Earth Day, will be on the 28th of April at the Smith Valley United Methodist church. 5293 Old Smith Valley Road, from 2-4 pm. Primary children will be singing songs and the elementary will also present a skit. We will be busy learning songs and making crafts for the celebration.

Please send in a white T-Shirt for your child to paint and wear on this day. We would appreciate it if you could write their name with a permanent marker on the tag of the shirt. 

We are also asking that each family bring one or more non-perishable food item when attending the Spring Program to donate to a local food pantry.

See you there!!

This Week in the Maple Room

Our first week after the spring break was very busy and exciting. The weather was spring like for the most of the week and children enjoyed being outside.

Our Spring Program , honoring the Earth day will be on the 28th of April at the Smith Valley United Methodist church. 5293 Old Smith valley road, from 2-4 pm. Our children will be singing songs and the elementary will also present a skit. We will be busy learning songs and making crafts for the celebration. I will put the words to the songs for the parents on the blog soon. Please send in a white T-Shirt for your child to paint and wear it on this day. We will appreciate it if you could write their name with a permanent marker on the tag. T-shirts can be sent in next week starting Monday. We are asking that each family bring one or more non-perishable food item when attending the Spring Program to donate to a local food pantry.

We had a wonderful presentation for Turkey by Suzie. Suzie is an exchange student  from Turkey at Center Grove High school  and is hosted by the Plunketts. She taught us a few words in Turkish, shared pictures of some beautiful places. Children were amazed to know that most children in Turkey play in the streets. She showed us how to play a game in Turkish, which was similar to London bridge. The school buses were not yellow, but blue and square shaped in Turkey. It was a  lot of fun! Thank you Suzie and The Plunketts. We would also like to thank the wonderful moms Pavitra, Felena, and Aileen, who made the world map for us. Thank you to Maryia Linnehan for getting us a beautiful authentic Matryoshka doll set from Russia. (Yeah, this one is not made in China.)

We are looking forward to a presentation from Poland and Scandinavia soon. These days we are also learning about lifecycles of frogs and birds, butterflies, flowers and plants. Learning about bird calls is enjoyed by them as well.

Summer will be soon approaching. Summer spaces are filling in quickly; if you are thinking of letting your child have some fun in the summer, please sign-up by May 10th.

We are happy to let you know that in the fall, Maple room will also offer a full day option. The Maple room schedule may be as follows:

9:00-11:30 Morning work period

11:45-12:00 Dismissal for half day students

12:00 -12:30 Lunch for full day

12:45-3:15 Afternoon work period, for older children who do not nap. It is a great time for the older four,  five and six year olds to accomplish advance work in math, language, and geography and science, which is much more enriched than public school kindergarten. AND above all have fun together. For more information about kindergarten, look for “Importance of Kindergarten” and “Why Should I Consider Montessori Kindergarten” on the Parents Page under Resources. click here

12:45 – 2:00-2:15 Napping children go to rest then join in for afternoon work period

3:15-3:30 Dismissal

Please feel free to talk to Brenda or Indu if you have any questions regarding the full day/Kindergarten in the Maple or Oak rooms.

We have a request for all our parents at pick-up time. Please be prompt to pick-up your child, so other parents who are waiting to pick-up can park and pick-up as well. As the weather gets warm, we will make sure that your children have at least 20 minutes to play before pick-up. You are most welcome to park in the library parking, (public parking) if you think you need to stay and watch your child play. If it is easier for you and you prefer to park and stay in your car, we can bring your child to the car. Just let Brenda know.

Thank you !

This Week in the Oak Room

OakgrouppicApril

As you can see, we are so happy it is spring!  We have been enjoying a lot of outside time; playing, having lunch, and exploring to celebrate this wonderful change of season.

Everyone returned from spring break with a renewed vigor, so we have seen a lot of work happening in the Oak room!  Thanks to Mr. Adam for a fun music session with his steel drum, and to Miss Jeanie for her relaxing yoga activities.

We have begun our study of Africa and will continue to focus on this continent through the rest of this year.  This is a region of our world rich with exotic animals and interesting food and music.  We have begun by reading “Anansi” stories.  These stories feature a tricky little spider names Anansi who learns lessons through his interactions with his friends and neighbors.  Anansi is a well known character in African children’s stories.  In the coming weeks we will be learning a new African children’s song as well as tasting some food from this area of the globe.

In our science area, we are studying food groups and how important good nutrition is in our lives and for our bodies.  We will be introducing the children to the “two-bite” club, which is a program designed to encourage kids to try new foods.

A few items to note:

Due to recent concerns our neighbors have expressed about the safety of children in their parking lots, we are asking our parents to please use our parking lot only when dropping off or picking up your children.  We understand that it is a tight area, but if we work together, we can keep everyone safe.

Earth Day is coming soon.  We are planning a school-wide spring program, please look for more information from Brenda for the activities we will be doing to raise awareness of our responsibility to take care of the world in which we live.

Sunscreen: please apply sunblock at home in the morning.  We are happy to do an afternoon application, but your child needs bring in their own to be kept at school, in spray form only.

Child quote of the week:

When asked what she did for spring break, Maisie responded:

“I hung out with my mom. It was a blast!”

Way to keep it real Maisie!

Book Drive

We are collecting new or gentle used books for baby, toddler, elementary and tweens starting Monday April 15th – 26th for Windrose Health Network in Trafalgar. Look for the boxes near Brenda’s desk by the front door. Please read the description below:

Windrose Health Network is a Federally Qualified health Clinic with one of its clinics located in Trafalgar. We serve an underserved and largely uninsured population. The majority of our patients are self-pay or are on Medicaid. Most of our patients’ are below the poverty line and struggle for basic necessities like food and rent. Many parents don’t have the extra money to buy books. On most days our clinic sees between 30-40 children a day. We have a bookshelf to house free books to give to the children to encourage reading. Sadly mostly it is empty. We would appreciate any used books that you could donate. The children get so excited when they get to take a book home.

Thank you!!!

Teacher Appreciation Week

Calling all PARENTS! The first full week in May is Teacher Appreciation week! I need a committee of parents and a leader to run the committee for this event. In the past, it was just a few little things parents did for the teachers each day. We have breakfast one day, lunch cooked for us another day, some adorable picture frames with a class photo in it, and a bouquet of tissue flowers with tags on them with messages from the children. It’s the little things….so let me know if you are interested, and I will help get the committee together! Thank you!

This Week in the Tulip Room

What a short week! With a unique snow day on Monday and a half day on Thursday, I feel like I didn’t get to spend much time with my friends! Also I was out Tuesday observing a school in Ft. Wayne called Oak Farm Montessori. It is a beautiful school that houses infants through 8th grade in a farm setting. I gave a small presentation to the children about the school and encouraged them to research Montessori schools in areas they are vacationing, visiting or know people in. There is no better place for me than a Montessori place; all those I have visited have welcomed  me with open arms, like a long lost relative and are always willing to share ideas and experiences. I feel blessed to be a small part of this amazing, worldwide community.

So this week we were educated about our sister Montessori schools, worked on finishing up our work plans and a group visited the refuge again. We would like to donate an item each time we visit so next month we would like to bring some macaroni. Next time you go shopping please throw an extra box of mac and cheese in your cart and send it with your child.

With this new idea and parent teacher conferences we are reminded again of the amazing people we are blessed with, both short and tall. Thank you for entrusting us with your children and for allowing us to feel like a part of your families. As a celebration of our final day together before break we had an indoor picnic, the children made a salad bar, fruit salad and grilled cheese sandwiches, it was a lovely last & half day. Have a safe and warm spring break!

WE ARE CLOSED

Due to weather, we are CLOSED MONDAY MARCH 25th.  Enjoy the snow =)

Where is CGM Located?

© Copyright Center Grove Montessori School. All Rights Reserved. Photos are copyrighted by J Simpson Photography.