News&NotesMARCH–APRIL 2010

PLYMOUTH-CANTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL

Accredited by the National Association

for the Education of Young Children

Our re-enrollment process will soon beunder way, and we would like to thank

all of our returning families for entrusting their children to us for the next school year.You have made a decision that will not onlyaffect your child’s learning in these early years, but will also maximize his or her ability in future learning situations. The Montessoricurriculum has a dual purpose: the immediateaim of giving specific information to the child and the long-range goal of giving chil-dren tools for learning.

Dr. Maria Montessori always emphasizedthat the “hand is the chief teacher of thechild.” There must be concentration in orderto learn, and the best way a child can concen-trate is by fixing his attention on some task heis performing with his hands. The use of thematerials in our classrooms is based on theyoung child’s unique aptitude for learning,which Dr. Montessori identified as “theabsorbent mind.” The young child retains this ability to learn by absorbing until he or she is almost 7 years old.

During these early years, children undergoextremely rapid growth of intelligence. By giving your child the opportunity to completethe Montessori cycle of education, you areallowing that growth to be influenced by a rich developmental environment.

Opportunities to share Thank you to those parents who helped sup-port our recent Open House. We appreciateJennifer Mazure (Keaton’s mom) for passingout fliers advertising the event, and RajeshKutty and Shreekala Pillai (Aditya’s dad and mom) for volunteering in the classroomand answering visitors’ questions.

We have many upcoming opportunities foryou to be part of your child’s time at PCMS.Join us on Saturday, March 20 for Art Day, afun-filled morning of creating arts and crafts.

We’ve invited parents to share their culturewith our classrooms during MulticulturalWeek, March 22–26. The children look for-ward to experiencing different customs andtraditions from around the world throughdance, art, dress, and language.

Due to the February snow day, the LeslieScience Center presentation of “Fur, Feathers,and Scales” has been rescheduled for Monday,March 29.

We look forward to a spring break fromApril 2–9. Spring pictures with a special back-ground will take place on Monday, April 19.

Other April activities include Grand -parents’ Day on Friday, April 16; TheAmazing Clark presenting “Think Green: AHealthy Planet Show” on Monday, April 26;and Moms’ Night on Thursday, April 29. The children always look forward to showingtheir guests the classroom and sharing theirfavorite activities.

Think spring—and summerAs warmer weather approaches, we will begoing outside more often, so please remem-ber to dress your child in comfortable play-ground wear. Layered clothing is best becausethe temperature varies from early morning tolate afternoon.

Increased playground time means morechildren crossing the driveway to the play-ground. Do not park along the walk or at the front door. And please do not park withinone car length of the crosswalk. Rememberthat slow is the word: Please drive very slowlyand cautiously in your swing around the driveway. With cell phones off, you are able to give your full attention to your driving andthe children.

Soon after the end of the school year, oursummer session begins, starting on June 21and continuing for nine weeks. Each class

A rich environment for children

continued on page 4

Adam Cook and daughter Gracie team up for a project at Dads’ Nighton January 28. See page 5 for morephotos from this delightful evening.

Every penny countsPCMS children donated $149 to thePennies for Peace program, which raisesfunds to build schools in remote com-munities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Anemphasis is placed on the education ofgirls. Pennies for Peace educates childrenabout the world beyond their experienceand shows them that they can make apositive impact on a global scale, onepenny at a time.

2 NEWS & NOTES

Prior to enrollment, what wereyou looking for in a school for

your child? Why did you choosethis particular one? What quali-ties did you hope he or she woulddevelop as a result of attending?

When you chose a Montessorischool, you signed up for morethan initially met the eye. Thereare strong philosophical under-pinnings that guide our approachto children and the goals we setfor them. Read on for a briefoverview:

It takes a village… Villages are the normal unit ofcommunity living in most areasof the world. Each resident playsa role in providing for the group’sneeds. In today’s fast-paced soci -ety, the concept of the village isstill operative, but it takes a dif-ferent form. Changes in the socialfabric of our culture make it moreand more challenging to raisechildren. The erosion of thenuclear family, technology thatdistracts from family time, theconstant bombardment by com-mercialism and materialism, longworking hours, and two-wage-earner households put great pressure on parents. Schools havebecome partners in child rearing,replacing the village of the past in preparing children to take theirplaces in society.

The traditional schoolMost children in our societyattend traditional schools, andmost of us attended them as well. Traditional schools aremodeled after factories, whichgenerate a uniform product.Children are sorted into class-rooms by age, and most of thetime everyone gets the same les-sons at the same time. The dayfollows a schedule, and freedomof movement during class time is

limited. There are assigned seatsor work stations, and children aretrained to compete rather thancollaborate. Sharing informationwith a neighbor is often consid-ered cheating. The child isviewed as an “empty vessel” or“blank slate” to be filled by theteacher, who is the source ofknowledge. There is considerableemphasis on rote memorizationof information, and teaching isaimed at preparing children toscore well on tests.

This is not a bad model—ingeneral it produces a pretty goodproduct—but I believe Mon -tessori schools have strengths thatmake them a superior choice for21st-century children.

Montessori’s strengths“Learning how to learn” is thegoal in Montessori schools. Chil -dren are self-educators, learningthrough hands-on experiencesrather than rote drills and memo-rization. Critical thinking andresearch skills are emphasized.The teacher serves as a guide andfacilitator.

Teachers establish a safe placefor learning where children arenot afraid to make mistakes.Mastery of concepts is the focus,and errors are lessons in them-selves. Students in this kind ofenvironment aren’t afraid to trynew things—they are tomorrow’sinnovators.

Children are able to learn at acomfortable pace, which is gearedto their own developmentaltimetable. Gifted children andothers who are ready to moveahead quickly can do so whilethose who need extra time receiveit. Individual differences are rec-ognized and respected.

Montessori schools arefounded on respect—for others,for self, and for the things in the environment. Children learnto be kind and peaceful, and

they are taught positive ways toresolve conflicts. There is astrong emphasis on communityservice, both inside and outsidethe classroom.

Classes have mixed age groups,which promotes peer teachingand a supportive, family-likesocial structure. Much researchhas validated that Montessoriclassrooms have very high levels of positive social interaction compared with other types of programs.

Collaboration, the hallmark of the modern workplace, is thedominant mode in Montessoriclassrooms. Competition is pres-ent—it comes naturally to chil-dren—but teamwork and socialresponsibility are emphasized.

Montessori promotes a worldview. Diversity and a global per-spective are honored through thecultural curriculum. Studentsalso develop a love for the naturalworld and appreciation for theenvironment.

Long, uninterrupted workperiods help children learn tomanage their own time. Improvedconcentration and self-disciplineare by-products of the freedom tochoose interesting work.

Montessori classrooms pro-vide continuous challenges; chil-dren who complete one activitymove on to the next without having to wait. They gain satis -faction from doing meaningfulwork, and build confidence asthey move from task to task independently.

Independent workers developnaturally into leaders. The chil-dren assume responsibility formany aspects of classroom life.These range from simple main -tenance tasks such as plant andanimal care by the youngest children to the operation of busi-nesses such as the hot lunch pro-

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Montessori school = Montessori child

Collaboration,

the hallmark of the

modern workplace,

is the dominant

mode in Montessori

classrooms.

NEWS & NOTES 3

gram at the middle school level.In Montessori classrooms,

expectations are high and the baris steadily raised, giving childrenevery opportunity to reach theirhighest potential.

Returning to the “production”

analogy, a Montessori schoolfocuses on the individual devel-opment of each child, just as acraftsman creates one piece at atime. He takes the time to makesure that every product is anexcellent one. If offered a choice

between a factory product and abeautifully handcrafted one,which would you choose?

Artwork by Cecilia Tsang, 4

Normalization, absorbent mind, sensitive peri-ods—if you sometimes wonder whether your

child’s Montessori teacher is talking about science orchildren, the answer is yes!

Montessori’s was one of the first educational theo-ries to spring from direct, ongoing scientific observa-tion of children. As a pioneer, Dr. Maria Mon tessoridid not have a ready-made vocabulary with which to describe the behaviors she observed and the devel-opmental stages to which they pointed. As a scientist,Dr. Mon tes sori expected teachers to use her same scientific methods of observation and analysis to help the children in their charge. To share her knowl-edge, Dr. Mon tes sori coined the necessary terms.

Today’s Montessori teachers still learn fromobserving behaviors and assessing the individualchild’s development. And even though they still useDr. Mon tes sori’s scientific vocabulary to describe theprocess, understanding Montessori is not as hard asit sounds. The following definitions are based oninformation taken from Understanding Montessori: A Guide for Parents, by Montessori parent, teacher,school founder, school director, and columnistMaren Schmidt.

Absorbent mind: Dr. Montessori used the termabsorbent mind to express the concept that learning is a “natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.” She compared the child’s mindto a sponge which “absorbs” information throughthe senses, enabling young children to learn effort-lessly from the world around them.

Apparatus (didactic materials, Mon tessori materi-als): Mon tes sori materials are a variety of hands-onlessons that are either manufactured or teacher-made. These materials were designed or adapted byDr. Montessori, her son Mario, and the originalMontessori adherents. Dr. Montessori used materi-als such as the moveable alphabet and command

cards made by French physician Jean Itard, and theteen board and ten board from French physicianand educationist Edouard Séguin. Other materialsare original, and are designed to reveal specific con-cepts to the child through hands-on, uninterruptedexploration after an introductory lesson from theMon tes sori teacher.

Cosmic education: Cosmic education is Dr. Mon -tessori’s umbrella term for the elementary curricu-lum. She saw the use of the imagination as the key tolearning for children aged 6 to 12 years. Dr. Mon -tessori urged teachers to give the child “a vision of theuniverse” using compelling stories, because withinthis big-picture view there would be something thatwould fire each individual child’s imagination anddraw his interest. As the child pursues areas of inter-est, all curriculum areas are touched upon.

Four planes of development: Dr. Montessori sawthe human being going through four stages, orplanes, of development, with each plane havingunique characteristics and opportunities for learning. n First plane, from birth to 6 years: Early childhood—learn ing through the senses, characterized by thequestion “What is it?”n Second plane, from 6 to 12 years: The elementaryyears—abstract thinking and moral development,characterized by “Why?” n Third plane, from 12 to 18 years: Adolescence—indepen dence and social growth, characterized by“How do I fit in?” n Fourth plane, from 18 to 24 years: Maturity—becoming a full member of society, characterized by“What is my purpose?”

Freedom and responsibility: The idea that free-dom follows responsible behavior is an importantconcept in Montessori philosophy. We offer oppor-

Montessori vocabulary made clear

continued on next page

4 NEWS & NOTES

tunities to “respond with ability,” and correspondingfreedoms are given. For example, if you use a fragilematerial carefully, you are free to continue using it.

Normalization: In a Montessori classroom, the“normalized” child is characterized by four attributes:

1. A love of work or activity 2. Concentration on an activity 3. Self-discipline 4. Sociability or joyful work

The understanding of normalization doesn’trequire a leap of faith when you consider thosemoments you feel most alive and more “you” thanany other time. When we do what we love and lovedoing it because we have the skill and self-disciplineto do the activity well, those are the blissful momentsof being human. In a Montessori school we are try-ing to help the child attain this natural developmen-tal process. A normalized child is a well-adjustedchild who learns well in any situation.

Point of interest: As the child is learning new skills,the Mon tes sori teacher will repeat a lesson to empha-size a movement or sensorial experience that willhelp in acquiring that skill.

For example, a second lesson in pouring mayfocus on the sound of a slow stream of water, andpoint out the last drops on the lip of the pitcher.

Practical Life: The Montessori classroom containsactivities that help the child learn dozens of practical and self-care skills such as hand washing, dusting, sweeping, sewing, and more. The childaround the age of 3 years is extremely interested in these activities. Doing the work with thePractical Life materials, the child learns to workindependently in the classroom and develops con-centration, physical coordination, and a sense oforder. Practical Life activities form the foundationfor later work with reading and math materials for4- and 5-year-olds.

Prepared environment: We live in a world of pre-pared environments. Stores, theaters, and restaurantsare examples of places that have been prepared tomeet the specific needs of the user.

The prepared environments (classrooms) in aMontessori school are created to meet the develop-mental needs of children based on observablebehaviors; the child learns as much from a well-designed classroom as from the adults in it. EachMontessori classroom is prepared by Montessori-trained people who understand the developmentalneeds of that age group.

Sensitive periods: Before the age of 6, human beingsare in a unique period of learning and development.At this time in our lives, we absorb certain informa-tion without conscious effort. Young children learnto walk, talk, and do hundreds of things without for-mal instruction or being aware of learning. Dr.Montessori described these stages as sensitive periodsof development, using a term from biologists. Basicsensitive periods of development from birth to age 6include language, order, refinement of the senses,movement, and social relations.

Work: As a term of respect, purposeful activity iscalled “work” in the Montessori classroom. Dr. Mon tessori observed that children learn by engag-ing in purposeful activity of their own choosing.When children can choose what they do, they donot differentiate between work and play.

Work cycle: A basic work cycle consists of choosingan activity, doing that activity, returning the activityto order, and then experiencing a sense of satisfac-tion. That defines one unit, or cycle, of work. Thissense of satisfaction, which may last from a few seconds to a few minutes, helps motivate the child(and adult) to choose the next activity, thus creatinganother cycle of work. The development of a workcycle is an important component in the idea of normalization for the child.

Artwork by Sofia Michalak, 4

is three hours in length, with daycare available from 7 a.m. to 6p.m. Summer camp is theme-based, with each week offering avariety of crafts, activities, andoutdoor fun. Sprinkler Day isone of the most popular weeklyevents. Several exciting in-house

presenters have been scheduled,along with an ending field trip toMaybury Farm in Northville.

Recycle for your schoolPlease continue to recycle yourused cell phones, digital cameras,and video systems and games

through PCMS. Laptops, PDAs,and laser or inkjet cartridges arealso accepted. The collection boxis located in the hallway. Also, wecontinue to collect Box Tops forEducation. Thank you for yourparticipation.

—Linda Myers and Elaine Rauch

A rich environment continued from page 1

Montessori vocabulary continued from previous page

NEWS & NOTES 5

Dads get a warm welcomeChildren were delighted to spend an evening in the classroom with their fathers in late January. Always a favoriteevent, this year’s Dads’ Night did not disappoint. Clockwise from above: Jamie Ludlow and daughter Elizabethn Reva (left) and Avi Ignaczak with dad Brad n Olivia Thornleyand dad Arthur n Prithvi Vishak and dad Vishak Sampathn Lili Hafezi and dad Fred

6 NEWS & NOTES

SUDHA KOSGI

Learning process hums alongWe are moving right along

with the learning process.February was busy with manyactivities. We enjoyed listening tothe story Brown Bear, BrownBear, What Do You See? in dif -ferent languages. Lisa Hafezi(Lili’s mom) read it in Arabic;Jennifer Feng-Smith (Ian’smom), in Chinese; MaheshwariBalaji (Prakul’s mom), in Tamil; Miho Schroeder (Kai’smom), in Japanese; and BettinaRothfuss (Yannick Maehnert’smom), in German. We thank all these parents for doing anoutstanding job.

In March, we have been busylearning about deserts and wet-lands, which concluded our studyof animal habitats. We alsolearned about marine mammalsand prehistoric reptiles (dino -saurs). We are excited to host Art Day on Saturday, March 20. We have some special proj-ects planned and hope you willjoin us!

We are looking forward to

the visit from Leslie ScienceCenter (rescheduled to Monday,March 29). The center’s rep -resentatives always give greatpresentations about animal cate-gories, which complement ourscience themes. The children get to see live examples of thetopics we have been studying allthrough the school year.

Earth Day will be celebratedon Thursday, April 22. We will be talking about environmentalprotection, how to keep the Earthclean, recycling, creating lessgarbage, and conserving resourceslike gas and electricity. We’ll alsodiscuss topics such as carpoolingand riding bikes to school.

As part of the study of nature,we will be learning about the lifecycle of the butterfly. We will havelive caterpillars so we can watchthem make their chrysalises andobserve their metamorphosis intobeautiful painted lady butterflies.We will also plant sunflower seedsand watch them grow.

Our Practical Life area hasbeen rediscovered by children ofall ages. Activities such as food

preparation, giving a bath to thebaby doll, and scrubbing chairsand tables have really grabbedthe attention of everyone. As weget closer to the end of theschool year, the kindergartenchildren are taking responsibilityfor dusting shelves and furni-ture, taking care of the outdoorgarden, and other tasks to main-tain our classroom environment.This brings a sense of belongingand togetherness in the class,helping the children to emergeas responsible citizens.

We welcome Jordan Tate toour afternoon class. Our warmbirthday wishes go to those children celebrating their birth-days in the months of March andApril: Nala Gallaher, AutumnGlombowski, Lili Hafezi,Baechler Houser, AndrewKabodian, Austin Kim, SahanaKotha, Krithvi Rayarapu, KaiSchroeder, Ian Smith, andNatalie Tabar.

—Sudha Kosgi, Anne Marsh,

Mita Shah, and Diane Kwiatkowski

Artwork by Amelia Krupka, 6

NEWS & NOTES 7

SUDHA SHEKAR

We love challenging workWe had a wonderful turnout on Dads’ Night at

the end of January. It was nice to see our chil-dren proudly displaying all their classroom work totheir dads.

As part of our presentation of cultures, our children had an opportunity to listen to the storyBrown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (by Bill Martin, Jr.) read in two different Indian languages with translation to English after each sentence. We thank Prachi Shah (Anushka’smother) for reading the story in Gujarati, andDevansh Shende’s mother, Vibha, and grandfather,Shyam Mare, for reading in Marathi. We also thankTammy Capatina (Alexandrea’s mom) for sharingthe story in sign language.

Activities in our Practical Life area, where ourchildren spend a lot of their time in the classroom,demand immense coordination and concentration.The children hone these skills through spooning,pouring, sewing, cutting pickles, and other works.Because the children are involved in post-activitycleanup, these works also foster independence and asense of responsibility. To challenge the children fur-ther, the size of the objects used for the activities(spoons, funnels, etc.) is gradually decreased withtime. Our children seem to be enjoying the chal-lenges presented to them through all our PracticalLife activities. We will be introducing new activitiessuch as squeezing oranges to prepare orange juice,slicing pickles, and spreading jellies on crackers.

The Sensorial area of the classroom helps childrendevelop and refine their senses by providing orga -nized opportunities for contact with the environ-ment. Each of the Sensorial materials isolates onedefining quality, such as color, weight, shape, or texture. As part of our Sensorial work, we havelearned the names and properties of a few geometricshapes. We will continue to learn about the colortablets, which enable graded sensations such as manydifferent shades of a color.

In math, we had a demonstration using beads toinstill the magnitude of the number 1,000 and theintensity of its greatness compared with smallernumbers such as 1, 10, and 100. We will continue to learn the value of nickels, dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and pennies. Depending on the readiness ofthe children, we will learn simple concepts of addi-tion and subtraction.

As part of the language area, we are working onsound lessons, rhyming words, vocabulary building,sequencing, and picture matching. The activitiesvary depending on the age and readiness of eachchild. The older children are blending sounds tobuild words.

In geography, we have learned about various nat-ural water and land formations such as a cape, bay,isthmus, archipelago, island, lakes, straits, and gulf.Our next study will focus on the continent of Africa.

In science, we studied about mammals and theircharacteristics. Our children were excited to learnsome of the parts of a horse and a human. We alsodid an experiment with magnets. We will soon learnabout the parts of a flower, seasonal changes, andwhy birds migrate due to these changes.

We are happy to welcome Julia Huang to ourclass. In March and April, we will be celebrating the birthdays of the following children: AlexandreaCapatina, Zoe Cialella, Matthew Kabodian,Madeline Shields, Elena Vallis, and AghilanVighnesh.

We are looking forward to more wonderful days ahead.

—Sudha Shekar, Diane Kwiatkowski,

and Jeannie Michalak

Golden bead work really adds up!Sabeen Malik (left) and Madeline Shields complete a math work using the golden beads, which help children understand quantities of units, tens, hundreds, and thousands. A single bead is one unit. Ten is indicated by 10 beads strung on a wire. One hundred is indicated by 10 ten-bars side by side, which makes a square, and 1,000 is 10 one-hundreds stacked to form a cube.

8 NEWS & NOTES

KAROL

Growth abounds in our classroomWe are embracing spring in our classroom as we

plant seeds to watch the cycle of growth of aplant. We will be sprouting bean and sunflowerseeds, to name a few. We will use our Root-Vue garden laboratory, which will allow us to see the roots as they grow.

We continue to expand our Practical Life area byintroducing dishwashing, another multistep waterwork. The children have grown in concentration,coordination, and indepen dence, and new worksreflect their growing abilities.

In our Sensorial area, we are using the drawerscontaining shapes to improve eye-hand coordina-tion, shape discrimination, and vocabulary. The children continue to use materials such as the cylin-ders, red rods, pink tower, and brown stairs to buildpatterns as well as make creative com parisons. Asthey create, their repeated handling of the materialsbrings new discoveries (both conscious and uncon-scious) of differences and similarities.

In math we are working on odd and even as wemeasure, count, and compare quantities. In our

large-group gatherings, we are counting a group ofobjects from 1 to 10 and observing number pat -terns. Our number compari sons and pattern obser-vation are evident in the work done with fractions,mea suring, weighing, and the bead chains, whichare used to demonstrate skip counting.

Language skills continue to grow. We are doingoral word games: The teachers say three sounds in succession, and the children listen for the result-ing word. This is ear training for letter sounds for the younger children and a wonderful reviewfor the older children because those sounds will be used in reading.

We have grown as a classroom family. Our lessons in “excuse me,” “thank you,” and “you’rewelcome” are resulting in awareness of others as well as each child’s feelings and needs. The kindness,respect, and caring shown between teacher andchild, child and child, and teacher and teacher create a multidynamic model, as well as a forumwhere feelings can be explored.

We continue to work our way around the world through our study of Europe and Asia. We discovered that Russia has parts in Asia as well as Europe.

Thank you so much to all the parents who vol-unteer to read to us in one of the languages fromaround the world. In February Alan Zheng’smother, Xin Zheng, read to us in Chinese whileAlan held up pictures from the book Brown Bear,Brown Bear, What Do You See? Mrs. Zheng taughtus the words hong (red) and jin (gold). We stillpractice the words weeks after her visit. Therhythm of oral communication is an enrichmentwe all enjoy and will remember.

Bo Ren, Nathan’s mother, visited our classroomto read to us and brought in some hand-paintedceramics. She also donated some exquisite paper-cutting art that was done by Nathan’s grandmother.

Thank you to Alexander Mentzer for bringinghis new baby sister, Katherine, to class for show-and-tell. The children had lots of questions ofAlexander about his new sibling and found it fun to observe what it was like to be a baby andhow far each had grown beyond that point in theirlives. Alexander is a proud big brother.

We welcome Justin Huang to our class. HappyBirthday to our March and April celebrants: Nia Gallaher, Diya Ganguli, Alexander Mentzer,Katerina Ontko, Charvi Rayarapu, and SaahilShah.

—Karol Doody, Beth McGinnis, and Carolyn Pelli

A dragon dance for Chinese New YearIn late February our class cele brated Chinese New Year by making paper lanterns and having a parade with our large “dragon” and flowing red cape (a decorated box and tablecloth). The children had a lot of fun linking together under the tablecloth and doing a dragon dance.

NEWS & NOTES 9

EXTENDED DAY

Count on us for a full day of learningExtended Day class has been

having fun with watercolorpaint! The children have beentracing maps and coloring themwith this new medium. It is funand a great way to review thenames of continents and oceansvia a new art form.

Making flags of countries isalso popular. We discovered thatthe flags of many countries usered, white, and blue—just likeours does. We discussed some ofthe symbols represented on theflags and what they might mean.

In science we are studyingicebergs. We watched our half-gallon chunk of ice melt andfound that it took only four daysto become part of our bucket“ocean” instead of the six daysmost of us predicted.

We had lots of fun experi-ences and learning as we cele-brated the 100th day of school.The children brought in 100items from home such as pen-nies, crayons, rocks, beans,toothpicks, and other smallobjects. The children placedtheir items in piles of 10, givingthem another opportunity tocount by tens to 100. The chil-dren were interested in eachother’s work and often aided oneanother when invited.

We continue to show shoetying on the line in large group.We are also learning the parts ofthe clock and the beginning oftime telling as we count the min-utes in an hour and feel what itis like to “wait a minute.”

Subtraction of one-, two-,and three-digit numbers in large

and small groups is helping us tounderstand this math concept.The children are doing problemsusing counters and are evenbeginning to remember some ofthe subtraction facts.

We continue to practice letterwriting, and are now using linedpaper. We are also learning towrite last names correctly.

As the children feel more com-fortable with their skill level oflearning to read, we are offeringthem the opportu nity to read infront of their peers if they wish todo so. It is fun for readers as wellas their audience. Listeners arepolite and attentive as Bob Books,or other selections made by the student reader, are performed.

Thank you to MihoSchroeder (Kai’s mom) for

visiting the class in her kimonoto read the book Brown Bear,Brown Bear, What Do You See? in Japanese.

It has been fun welcomingback some of our former stu-dents as they return to visit.Gwendolynne Pratt came toread Bear Stays Up to the group.There were laughs and giggles as the story was read. The chil-dren had lots of questions aboutthe story, as well as questions for Gwendolynne about herexperiences in first grade. SamMetzger also came to visit ourExtended Day classroom and tellabout his first-grade experiences.

—Karol Doody and

Beth McGinnis

Jack Scartelli arranges the 100 toy vehicles he brought from home to celebrate the 100th day of school.

10 NEWS & NOTES

DAY CARE

Tell-tale signs of springSpring is in the air in our day

care room as well as outdoors.We have been discussing tell-talesigns of spring’s arrival: morebirds in the sky, buds on thetrees, and beautiful flowers push-ing their way through the soil.

Outdoor time has includednature walks with the children,listening to the sounds aroundus, and noticing the sights.

As bulky winter clothes arereplaced by lighter-weight jack-ets, sweaters, and caps, pleaseremember to label these itemswith your child’s name. Childrenoften cannot remember whatthey wore. Having labels makesgetting ready for outdoor play amuch smoother process.

Our water table is open—wecall it “the water park”—and thechildren have been having greatfun. Little plastic figures are avail-able as well as a waterwheel, minipitchers, and other water toys.

Our day care music shop inthe bottom loft has been replacedby the day care grocery store. Thestudents never tire of going shop-ping, and this is one of our cur-rent favorite activities. The chil-dren get the mini grocery cart,complete with a baby and a wal-let, and shop for various fruits,vegetables, dairy items, andbread, as well as other groceries.The cashier then rings up theirorder and bags the groceries. Theshopper takes them “home” andunpacks and puts the items away.Next time you go to shop, per-

haps you could prepare a shortgrocery list, complete with pic-tures of easily recognized items,and let your child shop for thefamily along with mom or dad.

The spring season oftenbrings the potential for severeweather. During our group time,we have been discussing thun-der, lightning, storms, and whata tornado is. We’ve talked aboutwhere we go to be safe during astorm, and have also sung songsand read books about weather.

We hope you have a wonder-ful spring.

—Diane Cook, Martha Almon,

Parul Desai, Lori Donaldson, Leslie

Hennes, Renee Smokovitz, Donna

Tooley, and Annette Walsh

Artwork by Londyn Ptasznik, 6

NEWS & NOTES 11

MUSIC

Songs for every seasonThe children really enjoyed

the music that we experi-enced this winter. We began the new year with some musictheory, learning about lines,spaces, and the music staffboard. We focused on the trebleclef and the bass clef, and thechildren made notes on the staffboard. We’ve also played a gamecalled Toss a Note. The childrendrop a note onto the staff boardand then tell where the note issitting, either on a line or space,and which clef it is in. We began the music alphabet andlearning about notes and notevalue in March.

In January, I taught the chil-dren about a man in Italy namedGuido d’Arezzo. He was born in 990 and died around 1050.He was the father of writtenmusic—the first person to writemusical notation on paper. Thechildren loved learning about

d’Arezzo as they began to learnabout the music staff.

Our winter songs highlightedthe cold weather and the snow.We learned “Mr. Snowman,”“The Mitten Song,” and a cutesong about the month ofJanuary. We discussed changes inthe weather and staying insidebecause of the cold winter wehave had. In February, we sangsongs about Valentine’s Day andsome special tunes about loveand self-esteem.

Each month the childrenlook forward to studying a newcomposer. When I ask themabout the people we have dis-cussed, I am always surprisedthat they have such strong recallof the details that I shared withthem about the artists’ lives.

Our music composer forJanuary was John Williams. Welearned that he wrote so muchbeautiful music for movies. We

pretended to be Superman as welistened to the theme from thatmovie. We heard the thememusic from Star Wars, HarryPotter, Raiders of the Lost Ark,and Jaws. The children werepleased to hear that Williams isstill writing music for movies.

In February we began learn-ing about the composer GeorgeGershwin. We read a great bookon how he came to write thatwonderful music “Rhapsody inBlue.” We talked about his loveof New York City. We usedpaper plates to pretend to iceskate in Central Park while welistened to Cleo Laine sing“Embraceable You.” We also lis-tened to “An American in Paris”and pretended we were in thetaxis in Paris honking our horns.

We look forward to warmerweather and to singing springsongs after this long, cold winter.

—Linda Christensen

FRENCH

Familiar expressions en françaisPreschool French class (la class de français) con-

tinues to meet and have fun twice a week. Thechildren are greeted daily in French (en français),and are becoming more comfortable telling eachother how they feel. We have added Je suis fatigué(I’m tired), J’ai faim (I’m hungry), and J’ai soif (I’mthirsty) to our list of expressions.

Early in January we expanded our weathervocabulary to include the words to say it’s cold,hot, windy, beautiful, snowing, and raining. Wedecorated our “weather bears” and played a matchgame and Bravo (like Bingo) with our new words.

Bon voyage! This is what we said after weunpacked and packed our valise (suitcase) with realclothing. Our clothing lessons included all the

essentials: hat, glasses, scarf, tie, gloves, purse, shirt,belt, skirt, dress, pants, shoes, and socks. We alsodressed paper dolls in the same clothing. Before the end of the school year, we’ll learn about food,vehicles, and spring items.

Each Thursday as I leave the classroom, thechildren and I tell each other, “Au revoir!” (“Good-bye!”) We continue to learn familiar words andphrases and play fun games to use the language in a meaningful way. My goal is to give the children an introduction and exposure to Frenchso that they will enjoy learning it and be suc -cessful. Please feel free to contact me if you havequestions or concerns.

—Merci, Becky Wattleworth (aka Madame Becky)

DATES TO REMEMBERMarch19 Friday Staff professional development. NO SCHOOL. Day care available—please

sign up in advance.

20 Saturday Art Day. 9:30–11:30 a.m. Parents and enrolled children come to schooltogether for a morning of art activities. Lots of fun—don’t miss it!

22–26 Monday–Friday Multicultural Week. Parents present their cultures to the classrooms through dance, art, dress, and language.

29 Monday In-house presentation: Leslie Science Center presents “Fur, Feathers, and Scales.”

April1 Thursday Spring Celebration—Last day of school. Regular class hours.

2 Friday Spring vacation through April 11. NO SCHOOL. NO DAY CARE.

12 Monday Welcome back! Return to school.

16 Friday Grandparents’ Day (or a special person if grandparents are not available). Open house format: A.M. classes: 9–11 a.m. P.M. classes: 12:30–2:30 p.m.

19 Monday Spring photos (another opportunity for a photo package).

23 Friday Extended Day field trip to the Health Exploration Station in Canton.

26 Monday In-house presentation: The Amazing Clark presents the highly interactive“Think Green: A Healthy Planet Show” program.

29 Thursday Moms’ Night. 5–7 p.m. Moms (or a substitute) and children come to schooltogether. Open house format—drop in at any time.

30 Friday Records Day. NO CLASSES. Day care available—please sign up in advance.

May 3 Monday Parent-Teacher Conferences begin (through May 14). School will remain

in session. Dates for individual classrooms to be announced.

11 Tuesday Music Programs: Sudha Kosgi’s A.M. and P.M. classes.

13 Thursday Music Programs: Karol’s and Sudha Shekar’s classes.

PLYMOUTH-CANTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL

45245 Joy RoadCanton, MI 48187

734-459-1550www.pcmontessori.org

Artwork by Sahana Kotha, 5

“A teacher’s task is

not to talk but to prepare

and arrange a series of

motives for cultural activity

in a special environment

made for the child.”

—Dr. Maria Montessori

Artwork by Julia Huang, 5