HERMOSA MONTESSORI COMMUNITY TIMES

by Sheila

OCTOBER 2013

DATES TO REMEMBER Fri Oct 11Carnival at Udall Park5:30-8:00 p.m.

Thu-Fri Oct 17-18 Pre & K Conferences NO SCHOOL for Pre & K only

Mon Oct 21 4th Year and New U.E. Open House6:30-7:30 p.m.

Thu Oct 24Don’s Class Open House6:30-7:30 p.m.

Thu Oct 31International Day for Preschool& Kindergarten

Fri Nov 01Halloween Celebrations L.E. & U.E.

Fri Nov 01Haunted House5:00 p.m.

Thu Nov 07Math and Science Funfest U.E.At the TCC9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Mon Nov 11Veteran’s Day ObservedNO SCHOOL

Tue-Wed Nov 12-131st-8th Grade ConferencesNO SCHOOL 1st-8th grades only

Inside This Issue: Please Don’t Eat the Marshmallow........................................2 Lower Elementary Update..................2 Art News...............................................3Upper Elementary................................3 Middle School News............................4 An Open Letter to Elementary Parents..............................5

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Pre/K News by Mary

A casual conversation between a lower elementary student and me on the desert tortoise, turned into a virtue lesson in patience, and perseverance, but finally resulted in four desert tortoises living on campus. We recently welcomed Brutus, Rocky, Sylvia, and Rose to our community. When Blake was in lower elementary he began a project to learn about and house desert tortoises. This became a family project as Blake and his mom and dad worked on refurbishing the existing tortoise enclosure. Two years later, thanks to Sophia’s parents, John and Lynn, and the tortoise donation from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Oceguera, Blake and Hermosa students were finally able to see his project completed. Congratulations, Blake. If your family would like to contribute to the tortoise food project before the animals hibernate you can contribute any of the following fresh foods: kale, mustard greens, parsley, snow peas, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, collard greens, bean spouts, and cilantro. Unfortunately two of our new tortoises contracted a respiratory infection and had to visit the veterinarian. Look for information soon regarding our eegee drink sale to help offset the cost of the tortoise’s care.

Hermosa Shelters Desert Tortoises by Sheila

Pre-school and kindergarten teachers have presented many lessons since the beginning of school. Here are some of the favorites of students in Mary’s class. What work we like to do in Mary’s class:

Megan: coloringDavid & Zaden: Fuze beadsSofie: Pink TowerAbigail & Zander: beading necklacesRaquelle, Jacqueline & Kylie: Sink & FloatAzaan & Atinafu: Sound CylindersMorgan: Table WashingEzra & Gus: reading books in libraryAutumn: Cylinder BlacksShelbie: pouring worksRylee: Numerals & CountersLyla: Metal InsetsScarlett: Memory GameSophia: Sock Sorting

Pre/K News by Sally, Sherri and DanielWe have experienced a wonderful beginning to our school year. The children are working in all the areas of the classroom, serving their own snacks and socializing at the snack table, and very busy trying out the new water activities in the outdoor environment. To complement our cultural studies, students are learning new Spanish songs that focus on counting, color names and parts of the body, and some German with the help of our new friend, Finn, who is bilingual in English and German. Finn just brought us a German counting chart from 1-10, which he made at home and is donating to the class. It is posted on the wall of the math area. Our science area has been enhanced by the lovely owl painting created by our friend, Aidan, and a great weather forecast presentation by our friend, Jay, who brought in a weather chart he and his mommy, Lilian, created at home, following Jay’s own design specifications. It is a joy to see the children be so inspired and creative. This year we have also introduced “The Sound of the Week” activity, including a small table in the language area where children can practice tracing and writing the week’s focus letter. The children are encouraged to find objects that start with that particular sound each week. Students focused on m, s, a and t. We would also like to extend many thanks to Cece’s mom, Aimee, for her donation of the beautiful wooden easel for our porch area.

I invite you to follow your student’s school activities on our Facebook page. Look for photos and text which can give you a window into your student’s day at school.

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Please Don’t Eat The Marshmallow by Maren SchmidtIn the 1960’s Walter Mischel conducted the now famous “marshmallow study’” at the Bing Nursery School at Stanford University. A researcher would let a four-year-old choose a treat from a tray and tell the child that he or she could eat the treat right away or wait until the researcher returned and have two. About one-third of the four-year-olds could wait until the researcher returned fifteen minutes later. Most of the children could wait for three minutes before popping the treat into their mouth. The study has shown a high correlation between those children who could wait and better school outcomes, including scoring over 200 points higher on college entrance exams than the children who ate their marshmallow in less than 30 seconds. The ability to choose behavior, in this case choosing to wait for the second marshmallow to appear, is called self-regulation or self-control. Self-regulation for children and adults demands a variety of skills. The child must trust the adults in the situation. I would guess that the chil-dren who could wait for the marshmallow also had adults in their lives who kept their word and who the children trusted. Self-regulation requires that you feel safe. If you think that someone is going to come in and take your marshmallow while you wait, it makes sense to pop it into your mouth right away. Self-regulation needs imagination and an ability to redirect focus. The child with self-control has to imagine something that is not there, in this case the second marshmallow, and be able to think ahead. Children who resisted eating their marshmallow were able to redirect their attention on something other than the marshmallow. Researchers found that children, who were taught to imagine that the marshmallow was a picture and visualize a frame around the marshmallow, were able to resist temptation longer than they had previously. Fifteen minutes of self-regulation at age four also involves experience and practice starting from a young age. A friend related watching her fifteen-month-old niece self-regulate at a

family get-together. All the adults’ cell phones were on the coffee table along with one of her niece’s toys. My friend watched her niece walk over to the table and start to reach for a cell phone. But as she extended her arm, her niece stopped, and a pensive look swept over the toddler’s face. Instead she picked up her toy and sat down to play. At fifteen-months, self-regulation was already at work. Living in an environment that promotes trust and safety helps the child’s development of self-control. Having positive experiences based on respect helps the child’s development of predicting a sequence of events. Self-regulation is a foundational skill for success in all of life-physical wellness, emotional stability, positive social interaction and intellectual growth. Being able to control their thoughts and behavior gives our children a vital key for a life well lived. Help create a place for our children to safely live with adult trust and respect so that they can imagine and redirect focus to wait and enjoy the second marshmallow for all their lives.

Lower Elementary Update by Holly

Lower elementary students recently elected their first class officers of the new school year. Students running for office gave speeches in front of their entire community explaining why they would make good officers. These student elections provide students with excel-lent leadership opportunities. The election results are as follows: President-SophiaVice President-GrismanSecretary-Connor C.Treasurer-LiamSergeants at Arms-Ryan S., Ryan K., Johnathan, Dakota, Fiona, and John.

Congratulations, Hermosa Lower Elementary Class Officers! by Sheila

The first year students and the new students are doing well. Some of them can read and write really well. They are very good listeners. They are very quick learners.

The tortoises are being very good and are very good at being taken care of. All the kids love the tortoises. They are very funny to watch. All the kids like it including me.

We got a jar and put left over food like banana peels and other foods in it to see what happens over time. When it is ready we get to look at it.

Written expression, assignments in lower elementary include sentence composition using their spelling words. Here are two student examples using the words, change, want, and be “I will change the world.” “I want to be myself.”

Art News by Carol

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Our Classroom by Jonathan

“Great science is thinking out of the box. Art is a way out of the box, and having that kind of influence improves both sides.” John Maeda President Rhode Island School of Design, former Associate Director of Research M.I.T. Media Lab.

Lower Elementary students recently learned about two great artists, Matisse, and Georgia O’Keeffe. Students created collages in the style of Matisse, and a gigantic radial flower in the style of Georgia O’Keeffe. They learned about geometric and organic shapes, warm and cool colors, radial design, primary and secondary color, and symmetry. The students loved this lesson, and came back to the classroom repeating what they learned by producing new designs. This lesson was followed by a lesson using the concepts of perspective including back-ground, foreground and middle ground in a desert landscape.

Fourth grade students made a contemporary mixed media portrait entitled “many layered me.” The project incorporated photography, painting, design, and the use of templates and plastic. This was inspired by a project done in the Guggenheim Museum’s in-school program, “Learning through Art.” Carol saw the children’s art exhibited from this program at the Guggenheim Museum this summer while visiting New York.

Upper Elementary

I see the birds in our classroom as they chirp happily in the morning.I smell the rain scented air after it rained in the night and early morning.I hear the silence of the students when they are working on their work.I can feel the pencil as I write this poem about our classroom in the morning.I taste the thoughts running through my mind.I think about my work plan as I am writing this poem.

What Tucson Is Likeby Torie

I see the hawks looking for a mealI smell the green leaves

I hear the mourning doveI feel the rain

I taste the coldness in the airI think that fall will come soon!

Community Clean Up by Margo

We have community clean up every Friday. It’s the biggest clean up of the week. We sweep, wipe down every table, and we dust and polish things. We walk around the building picking up trash and emptying garbage cans. We want the building looking better than when we got there in the morning. We do clean up silently. We care about our community and want to make it better.

What I Like about Upper Elementary by Torie

In school, we have been doing a lot of interesting things like art. For art we’ve made colored fish and when they move, they look like they’re swimming. We’ve also made self-portraits. They are really cool and fun to make. Today for art we’re tracing the bottom of our shoe, the logo and everything. For P.E. we’re going swimming!

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Middle School News by Jill Taken from The Middle School Weekly Review September 9, 2013

Triangle Y was Awesome!What do we love best about Triangle Y? Perhaps it is the beauty of the desert surrounding the tiny town of Oracle, AZ, tucked away in the Catalina mountains. Or maybe we love the activities–our team building games that teach us to trust one another and develop our friendships. One activity that really highlighted the need for trust in our school relationships was the “controlled fall” activity, (Wind in the Willows) in which students physically caught another classmate and moved them carefully around in a circle of supporting hands. This game is a challenge for both those in the circle and the student in the middle,

requiring careful attention, trust, and gentle support. Our beginning of the year trip is definitely a balance of fun and purpose; we learn many important lessons about respect, courtesy, kindness, honesty, and hard work. We discussed ways of working together as a community, composing our code of conduct for the year, but we also enjoyed swimming, kick ball, climbing, hiking, and story telling. Another thing we love about Triangle Y is the wonderful food that the kitchen staff put together for us! We applaud you, Triangle Y, for accommodating our vegan, vegetarian, dairy free, and gluten free diet needs! We also wish to thank Chandon Thorell, our amazing facilitator who planned all our activities, and a huge thank you to our volunteer parent drivers: Paul McDonough, Donna Stefanek, Dale Esperson, Terri Roberts, and Janet Vita!

Go Boldly, Without Fear: Bouldering

After lunch on our first day at camp, students and staff hiked to a beautiful mountain stream bed to climb the naturally rounded boulders at the base of the hills. A bit of cloud cover blew in to make the perfect day for rock climbing. Students helped each other find the best route up the steep rock faces, navigating through prickly desert brush and cactus. Luckily, we found no snakes lurking— we kept an eagle eye! The scrub oaks provided a welcome bit of shade when it got hot, and the best part was the reward at the end of a long climb—a gorgeous mountain view from the summit!

Crafting From NatureEach of our students was challenged to create a special art object that would represent a student in our community. The object had to be composed of natural elements (such as leaves, grass, seeds, twigs, etc.) and could include paint, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, feathers, and other creative materials. The class went all out to make amazing sculptures and collages. These gifts were later presented as a surprise to the students for whom they were crafted. Another craft activity that was a lot of fun was the “Talking Mask” project. Students answered questions about their personal lives, hobbies, likes and dislikes, and then represented these items on a mask that was all about them! The results were beautiful.

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Dear Parents,

Welcome to our elementary community and to your new role as the parent of an elementary-age child. You did it! You successfully nurtured your child through the crucial first six years of life, giving them a solid Montessori foundation on which they will now begin to build a healthy childhood as the foundation for a healthy adolescence. It was not easy at times, and there was so much to learn about your child and yourself as a parent, so many surprises, so much to think about.

Much of what you now know about parenting will continue to stand you in good stead, but it is also important to acknowledge that you are now the parent of a new child. Those sweet, transparent, cuddly little ones that you have so loved and enjoyed will quickly be leaving their infant selves behind to stretch and strengthen themselves to leave the nest and began to venture out into the larger world. The environments and the relationships we and you so carefully prepared at school and at home to support the developmental needs of the young child no longer fit this new child. New preparations are in order! Not to recognize this and change our ways of working with the child would be like forcing a frog to continue living underwater as though it were still a tadpole.

Your child will very likely find their new elementary classroom to have much that is familiar to them from their previous school experience. They will see some of the same materials on the shelf. They will see children working by choice and with the grace and courtesy characteristic of the Montessori community. They will find that their new guide has the same respect for and commitment to children that their old guide had.

All the same, your new elementary child will need some time to grow into the new classroom environment. The elementary environment is full of freedom, friends, group work, and unstructured blocks of time, for these are some of the elements that elementary children need to reach their full intellectual and social/emotional potential. To a newcomer, however, it may seem like a never-ending party! Don’t be too surprised if your little Primary worker bee is initially a bit disoriented and drunk on freedom. The guide and the community of older children will bring them around in due time and show them what it means to work productively in the collaborative environment of the Montessori elementary. The elementary is largely about learning to balance freedom and responsibility, and this is the work of years, not days or weeks.

Don’t worry if your child is not yet reading or doing arithmetic. The elementary guide will know how to meet them wherever they are and keep them moving forward. From the first day of school, there will be work for them to do as they pick up the thread from last year. The beauty of Montessori education, and the reason it is still flourishing around the world in scores of countries, cultures, and conditions, is that it is organized to support the natural development of each child according to their individual developmental timetable. Save yourself and your child the anxiety created by comparing them to other children and to students in curriculum-driven lock-step traditional programs.

As a new member of the elementary community, you can expect the guide to provide extra support for you as well as your child. The guide will be working diligently to create a solid partnership with you on behalf of your child. They will also be working to help you and your child find your respective places in the community of parents and children. They will be getting to know your child and connecting them to meaningful work. They, with the help of the older children, will be acquainting your child with the culture and customs of their new community. Later, …they will be introducing your child to tools that will allow your child to gradually take more and more responsibility for their own education.

An Open Letter to New Elementary Parents by John Snyder

It goes without saying that your child’s guide is there to help them develop academically and intellectually, but the bigger and even more important work they will be undertaking is the creation of a classroom culture that supports the development of character, positive habits of mind, and the social skills needed to be a happy contributing member of our work culture based on collaboration, mutual help, and mutual care. This greater focus on the social nature of work parallels the elementary child’s psychological needs and natural interests. While the guide will continue to work with each child as they have need, they will work more often with the whole community. In a very real sense, the elementary child has two guides – the adult and the community of their peers – and a skilled guide will understand that they always have that other partner in the room to consider and support.

The stimulation and intensity of the well-functioning Montessori elementary classroom can be physically and emotionally exhausting for the new children who are still in transition. There’s so much to take in, so much to think about, so much to learn! Plan now to offer them extra support at home by seeing that they have the very best nutrition and 9-11 hours of sleep each night. Renew your commitment to protecting them from daily exposure to television, computer games, and video games. Give them lots of “down time” and time outdoors in nature. This is not the time to load up their schedules with private lessons and extracurricular activities! Read aloud to them daily from books recommended by your school or your child’s guide. Have a family meal at least several times a week to practice the art of conversation about topics your child will be encountering in school. Practice giving your elementary child room to talk, to speculate, to question, to imagine aloud.

Ask your guide to recommend good parenting resources for parents with elementary-age children. Be sure one of the books you read soon is How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, How to Listen So Kids Will Talk by Faber and Mazlish. Check out Sandy Blackard’s book and online course at languageoflistening.com. And stay in touch with your guide as you have questions and concerns.

Above all, enjoy getting to know this new child of yours, as they come to know themselves. The elementary years will be rich, challenging, and full of new experiences and vivid memories. Grow joyfully along with your Montessori elementary child these next six years! Never again will you have such an opportunity for self-improvement and personal growth. This is the gift of your new child to you, if you will only accept it. Sincerely,John John Snyder is an administrator at Austin Montessori School in Austin, TX, and former Chair of the AMI Elementary Alumni Association and a member of the Montessori Leadership Collaborative.

Former Hermosa parent (kids grown and getting married!) and certified fitness trainer Mary Ellen Coffey thought some of you might be interested in an ongoing class she is offering. Mary Ellen teaches a six-week kickboxing & kettle bell training series. Don’t let the name scare you! The class is a unique blend of strength and conditioning designed to improve your current fitness level and is appropriate for all fitness levels. Each class builds up on the previous one to develop your overall strength, balance, and coordination and endurance level. Mary Ellen says, “We train smart, come see what makes us different!” You can get more information at www.fitnessforyoutrain-ing.com. The classes are on M/W/F 9:30a.m. and T/F 5:30p.m. & 6:45p.m. Introduction classes are on Saturday 10:30 and 11:30. You can get more information at 520-975-0292.