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Early Childhood Commences Outdoor Classroom

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Early Childhood students receive their first lesson of the 2014 – 2015 school year in the Outdoor Classroom. They had the opportunity to explore our Outdoor Classroom area, located on near the northeast corner of our school building.
Nature plays an important role in the development of the whole child. Works of gardening, raking, weed pulling, and other outdoor tasks assist in this development. The Outdoor Classroom is rich in science lessons, such as bird watching and naming, insect and leaf investigations, and rock classification.
Early Childhood students explore the basic nature of land, air, water, and the creatures that inhabit those spaces.They also learn about the needs of plants and animals and creating homes for these creatures.

Speech, Language, and Hearing Testing

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Montessori Community School is offering speech, language and hearing screenings on Tuesday, September 9th.  The screenings will be a brief measure of your child’s speech and language skills in order to determine if further speech and language, or hearing evaluations are needed.

The speech and language screening will take approximately 10-20 minutes to complete.  After the completion of the screening, we will identify if there are concerns regarding your child’s speech and language skills or hearing.  A note will be sent home with your child regarding the results of the screening and if further assessment is warranted.

You might consider having your child’s speech, language and hearing screened if your child shows one or more of the following:

  • Your child has a difficult time learning and using new concepts and vocabulary
  • Your child has had chronic ear infections
  • You and others have a hard time understanding your child’s speech.  Your child’s speech is less intelligible than their peers
  • Your child does not combine 2-5 words in their speech
  • You suspect your child may have a fluency disorder: stuttering
  • Your child has difficulty asking and answering “wh” questions
  • Your child becomes easily frustrated when trying to tell you something
  • See Let’s Talk! Speech and Language Therapy for more information on speech and language delay warning signs
*There is still time to sign up. Please fill out a form and turn in payment by tomorrow morning to the Montessori Community School office.

What’s the Big Deal about Table Washing?

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

What’s the Big Deal about Table Washing?

Edward Fidellow

www.crossmountainpress.com

Many parents are attracted to Montessori because of its tremendous reputation for giving their children a great academic education. Parents are willing to spend impressive amounts of money to give their children this academic advantage. But as often as parents are impressed with Montessori excellence, they are a little bewildered that their children come home excited about mopping floors, doing dishes and washing tables. (This is what successful people hire others to do.) So there is a real disconnect between what you want, what you are paying for and what you think you are getting.

How then does Montessori get this academic reputation if all you are seeing for six months or a year is table washing and practical life? Montessori success is not built on its finished academic product but on its sure foundation. So what kind of academics comes from table washing? It is the foundation of what constitutes Montessori education which is built on an enduring set of scientific principles. The first is that you always begin with the concrete before moving on to the abstract. There is nothing more concrete in the child’s life than the exercises of practical life. Second, Montessori education begins with the development of all the senses before moving on to the intellectual. Rest assured your child will arrive. Third, Montessori starts with the control of the physical abilities as a precursor to control of intellectual capacity. Fourth, it builds physical discipline – being able to follow through and complete a project before embarking on intellectual discipline. Fifth, it significantly develops focus on details as a skill set to accomplish academic goals. There is a major difference between 2 + 3 and 2 X 3 – and it is only a minor detail. Sixth, table washing (and all of practical life) is not only a physical challenge for beginner learners but becomes an emotional and psychological building block in the development of confidence and self esteem. Real confidence and self esteem is not built on words such as “You did a good job” (whether you did or not) but is built on real achievement and mastery. For a three, four or five year old the process of successfully completing table washing or any other practical life exercise begins a pattern of success. It is a success that comes from beginning a project, working it step by step for as long as it takes until you come to the successful conclusion. This pattern becomes the model for the next stages of academic competence.

What practical life achieves in your child is first a feeling of “I can take care of myself” whether it is table washing or tying shoes. I am given a sense of security that I have some control over my environment and my place in it. Second, it teaches me how to follow steps to success. Third, it builds my confidence by having mastered some challenge which prepares me to tackle even more complex challenges. Fourth, it refines my senses and muscular control so I can effectively use all of the hands on materials in the Montessori classroom to advance my intellectual development. Every sense, every motion, every action is focused to help me achieve academically. The academic success you hear about in Montessori is built on humble and less than impressive activities that are foundational to this amazing achievement that develops the whole child and prepares him or her for significant academic success.

Practical life is a portrait of the future!

 

MCS Studio Classes

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Forms can be found on the credendza by the stairs. Please fill out the forms and turn them into the office. Space can be limited for some classes, so it is to your advantage to sign up soon. Payments must be remitted prior to classes starting.
Click on the link below to access pdfs of each registration form.

Studio Classes have started this week. Please finalize this first session of classes as soon as possible.

Karate- Tuesdays and/ or Thursdays, 3:45 – 4:45

Broadway Kids- Mondays, 3:00 – 4:00 (Elementary), 3:30 – 4:30 (Early Childhood)

Ballet- Every other Friday, 3:30 – 4:15

Functional Fitness for Kids- Tuesdays, 3:45 – 4:45

Cooking with Kids- Fridays, 3:35 – 4:20 (Class full), 4:30 – 5:15 (Space available)

Zumba Kids Jr.- Wednesdays, 3:30 – 4:15

*Note: If your child is not in aftercare, but wants to participate in a studio class, they may go to aftercare until the class begins. You may pick your child up directly from the studio class. If your child stays in aftercare, your studio class teacher will collect your child and return your child to and from class. These classes are a great way for your child to develop interests, have outlets and experiences learning and growing with other friends in a different setting.

We will also be offering a Lego Robotics Club for Upper Elementary and Middle School students. Guitar classes will soon become available for elementary aged students.
For more information regarding any club or Studio Class, please contact the Montessori Community School’s office.

MCS Prepares for the New School Year

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Toddlers are so excited to be setting up their classrooms and adding new works to the shelves. Ms. Kellie and Ms. Jennifer research new projects.
Aspens class is ready to go! Ms. Ruby poses for a picture between running copies of some work material.
Magnolias are making headway! They are so excited to have Ms. Ana Maria joining their teaching team.
Ms. Evi plugs away with lesson plans while the classroom is looking beautiful!
Ms. Kay is checking to ensure everything is in order. Frank the fish is so happy with new water!
Lower Elementary (1st grade – 3rd grade) has a lot going on– Ms. Sophie, new to the Lower Elementary Oquirrh class is hard at work making materials while Ms. Diana is organizing new Spanish lessons.
Upper Elementary’s (4th grade – 6th grade) teachers, Laura and Margaret, hard at work exploring various props and costumes.
Joshi, our Middle School teacher, is in and out ensuring materials are in order. Ms. Donda, researching wildlife habitat and preparing new lessons.
Montessori Community School is bustling on the inside. New works are arriving, being created, and placed into the classrooms. Teachers are busy creating gorgeous spaces in their classrooms for their students to enjoy and feel comfortable in spending time. The spaces are being designed and set up conducive to a Montessori learning environment.
We are so excited for this new school year to start. We can’t wait to see all of our students and families at the various back to school nights coming up.

Early Childhood Field Trip to The Living Planet Aquarium

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

The students loved visiting the aquarium. It has been one of the most fun field trips of the summer. We spent a lot of time observing in the Shark Tunnel and the Touch Pools. Many students were quite taken with the octopus, turtles, and clown fish.
The Penguin exhibit was so much fun! We were able to see and hear a presentation on penguins and enjoyed watching their feeding time. We learned that penguins really love fish! We were also able to cross the netted bridge in the aquarium’s ‘Journey to South America’ exhibit.
Measuring up with Megalodon and the penguins from around the world was a wonderful experience. The students were so proud they were almost taller than the Emperor Penguins, the tallest penguin in the world.
There were many other school groups there that day, but our Montessori students were the best!

Lunchtime for Toddlers

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Our toddlers love lunchtime! They are always curious to see what each friend brings.
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They are responsible for getting their lunch out of their cubby and preparing their food (with assistance from teachers when needed).
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When lunch is finished, our toddlers are able to pack up their lunchbox, clean up their eating space, and return their lunchbox to their cubby. What darling, responsible little ones we have here at MCS!

Summer Fun

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Summer fun continues at Montessori Community School! Early Childhood visits the Tracy Aviary.
Explore. Play. Learn. Educate.