HERMOSA MONTESSORI COMMUNITY TIMES

by Sheila

MARCH/APRIL 2015

DATES TO REMEMBER Fri Apr 10 Spaghetti Dinner Everyone is invited! Fundraising event for Middle School trip5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Mon Apr 13 AzMERIT Testing (Writing; grades 3-8) State testing is mandatory. Do not schedule vacations or other non-emergency appointments during this time.

Tue Apr 14AzMERIT Testing (Reading & Math; grades 3-8) Wed Apr 15AzMERIT Testing (Reading & Math; grades 3-8)

Fri Apr 177th year Research Presentations Fri Apr 17H.O.P.E. Meeting Hermosa’s Parent Organization welcomes your participation!3:15 p.m. in the Middle School Mon Apr 20 AIMS Science Testing; grades 4 & 8

Thu May 07 Young People’s Concert TCC Lower Elementary field trip - Your extracurricular dollars at work! 9:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Sat May 09 Hermosa Choir Performance Rincon Congregational Church Everyone is invited 7:00 p.m.

Inside This Issue: Removing Obstacles to Development.....................................1-2Preschool and Kindergarten...............2 Lower Elementary.............................3-4 Choir News............................................4Upper Elementary.............................5-7 Middle School........................................7 Art News................................................8Hermosa Day of Service.......................9

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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.

If we wanted to raft the Grand Can-yon, how would we prepare for the trip?

Depending on our experience level, we might arrange for a guide to navi-gate us down the river. We’d want to learn about the nature and force of the river. We would want to be familiar with dangerous parts of the river. We might practice some drills in case of mishaps, such as what to do if the raft

Removing Obstacles to Development by Maren Schmidt

cont. on p. 2

flips. We would want to be as pre-pared as possible.

In the course of our lives, we will experience a variety of challenges, some as fast and treacherous as rap-ids, waterfalls, whirlpools, or hy-draulics; or as monotonous and slow as pools and eddies.

Isn’t life like that? We want it to be challenging enough to be exhilarat-ing, to feel like an adventure. When events happen abruptly, things can become dangerous or overwhelm-ing; too slow and we are bored out of our minds.

What are some of the hazards we’ll meet in our children’s develop-ment?

There are two basics kinds of ob-stacles. One type is external to us. External obstacles act like the water, rock and boulders in a river.

Internal factors, such as personal-ity, knowledge, experience, attitude, character, etc. make up our other ob-structions.

How do we recognize that a child is facing a challenge?

When a child is not developing concentration or independence, we should begin looking for a source, either outside the child’s control, or as part of the child’s internal make-

up. Lack of independence and con-centration can take on a variety of forms, much like water in a river. For the child with high energy and strong personality, obstacles may precipitate turbulent and explo-sive behavior. For the quiet child, the obstacle may thwart the child’s progress, as if he or she were caught in a backwater eddy.

External factors. Looking at exter-nal sources of obstacles, we need to ask the following:

1. Does the child’s environment of-fer an opportunity to work in peace and dignity to develop him or her-self?

2. Does the environment offer a wide social experience?

3. Does the environment offer pro-tection from physical and psycho-logical harm?

4. Does the environment offer ad-equate challenges for personal growth?

Internal factors. When consider-ing internal factors, ask these ques-tions:

1. Is your child an optimist or a pessimist? An introvert or an extro-vert? Research shows that parental guidance can help a pessimistic or quiet child develop a cheerful or

Removing Obstacles to Development cont. from p.1

more outgoing life.

2. What developmental stage is your child?

3. About every three years in the growth of a child, there are pro-found changes in how and what the child learns. Be aware of these stages.

4. Is the child having a physical re-sponse to the environment?

Is the lack of concentration or in-dependence due to allergies, ill-ness, learning or perceptual differ-ences, hearing, vision, diet, sleep, changes in routine, visitors in the house, family member out of town, death in the family, birth of a sib-ling, arguments in the family, tele-vision viewing, or video/computer games?

Observe the child at work and play. Is the child’s observable be-havior inhibiting independence or concentration? If yes, examine the external and internal factors of the situation. Decide a plan of ac-

tion. We can stop the behavior by removing the obstacle, or by taking the child away from the obstacle.

Johnny was failing math, until he started using graph paper to keep the numbers in line. Kayla missed weeks of school due to being aller-gic to the classroom rabbit. Kevin had given up trying to read be-cause his best friend called him stupid. Mary’s grades dropped in a nine-week period while she com-plained she couldn’t see the chalk-board. Steven started a fight every night at bedtime with his father when his dad had been out of town the previous week. Deena threw tantrums about toilet training be-cause she was afraid of falling into the toilet. Obstacles are common, varied, and frequent.

With planning we can avoid many obstacles, and there will be situa-tions we cannot anticipate.    Un-derstanding the nature of obsta-cles, and the nature of the child, may help us “row, row, row our boat, gently down the stream.”

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The class is really humming this time of year with the sounds of engaged students at work!  This last month has been a particu-larly active and fun month for our students!  Kids continued to be hooked on bones, which was a natural transition into fossils and dinosaurs. We began our study of fossils with a “fossil dig” in the sandbox, in which the kinder-garten students dug for dinosaur skulls, trilobites, ammonites, and shark teeth. (Some of these were real fossils, but mostly replicas gifted to the classroom - some of you saw your paleontologists in action on Facebook!)  Children have been reading and writing about dinosaurs, tracing their bones, and doing dinosaur re-lated math.  (For a family game, ask your child to lead you on our version of the Hokey Pokey, using bone names!) On a more squea-

Preschool and KindergartenMary’s Class

mish note, children had fun col-lecting dead insects and bringing them into the classroom to be “fossilized” in resin. (This was so fun for the kids that we will be do-ing this every year, so returning students, save your cool insects!)  We did a brief artist study of Andy Goldsworthy, and on our nature walk, created our own art using various items that we found in the desert.  (Many of you have already seen postings of your student’s art on Facebook!)   

Our cooking Fridays will con-tinue, but Nature walks will have to end, due to warming weather.  BIG THANKS to Kari, our 7th grade intern who spent a week assisting in our classroom!  It was wonderful to see these pre-teens so actively involved in the class-rooms of their past - True com-munity-building!

News from Sally, Sherri and JoAnn’s ClassWe decided to play the Question Game for this month’s newsletter article. The question was, “What is something you really like learning in school?”

Except for the three students who were absent, here are the children’s answers:

Adam – The marble work with a spoon, the one that goes around and around Aiden – Playing with my friendsBrendan – PaintingChi Chi – Sorting the Chinese beadsEmily – Doing artLuca – Doing my journalMadison – Learning about the earthMicah – Building with the colored disksNathanael – The easel (painting)Nia – PaintingWyatt – Building with the “connec-tor shapes”Giovanni – Doing my mathKaya – My math. I love math les-sons. They’re fun!

Esther – Language booklet because I’m already starting to sound out wordsAdelaide – ReadingCecilia – I like learning the planetsEli – Playing “Doggie, doggie, where’s your bone?” at schoolEthan – I like playing outside on the porchGrady – Reading! (and then he did a big split jump)Isabella – Lessons!J.T. – Reading Jackson – I like learning about fos-silsJeffrey – The world mapJon – Math … divisionMaia – My journal … doing the drawings. The second thing I really like is the art table because I really like drawing.Massimo – ReadingMax – Numbers!Noah – Math … actually every-thing!Nolan – Doing porch work. Doing blocks!

Ruth’s ClassWe wrote our names in Chinese callig-raphy. A big thank you goes out to Sedona & Neytiri’s mom for helping all of the students with this activity!

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Lower Elementaryby MaiellaA few weeks ago we had elections. It was a tie between Eve and Cam-bria for president, Sofie for vice president, John for treasurer, Ava for secretary, and Scarlett, Joe, Rylee, Jett, Maiella, and Brenna for sergeant at arms. These people will be helping with our class meetings.

The third graders are learning how to write paragraphs. We do one type of paragraph for two weeks and then we switch. This week we are learning how to write a letter.

One of our virtues is Kindness. Some ways that we can show kind-ness are: If somebody falls, ask them if they are okay and help them up. If somebody has a lot of stuff in their hands you could show kindness by helping them carry some of their things. There are also many other ways to show kindness.

by MiaI have been seeing people helping people at school and it is very nice, and a lot of projects are going on

at school and the posters are great. by LylaA project is when someone choos-es a topic and then they ask some-one else to do it with them. The projects for our class were a project on Iran by Jett, a project on lions by Lyla and Martina, a project on dogs by Carter, and a project on the ocean by Nina and Connor.

by Amelia3rd years are at the end of their math3! Math 3 is a binder full of

different kinds of math problems +, -, x, ÷ and more. 3rd years also went on a field trip to the Gem and Mineral show. We learned, looked and shopped at the Gem Show. IT WAS FUN!!! We learned how to spend money wisely and what made minerals green and blue. We looked at beautiful gems and min-erals. We shopped for treasures. I think I can speak for all the 3rd years when I say the Gem Show was awesome.

Ryleigh absorbed in a preposition workFree art in Sheila’s class

Creative spelling sentences by Sabine and Sofie

Lower Elementary continued

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Students are learning about the characteristics of poetry. They really enjoyed writing their own limericks after studying the limerick pattern and many can even recognize the AA BB A rhyme pattern. Here are some of the students’ limericks.

Students have also been enjoying geometry lessons using the many il-lustrative Montessori materials. Here is a creative version of the lesson on equilateral triangles.The Hermosa Children’s Chorus and Hermosa Singers will cel-

ebrate with singing on Saturday, May 9th, at the Rincon Con-gregational Church. The church is located at 122 N. Craycroft – behind the Hobby Lobby store. The concert begins at 7 p.m. and, although there is no entrance fee, we will “pass the hat” as usual to purchase music materials for the choir and the general music program. Each year the choir tackles more difficult and interesting pieces and we are excited to show you what we’ve learned. Come with a song in your heart so we can share an evening of music.

Choir News by Sabrina

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Upper Elementary by Gabby

The Upper Elementary 6th grade class recently went on a fieldtrip to The University of Arizona. On our fieldtrip we went to the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium and watched a showing called “Dynamic Earth.” During the showing we learned about the stars and the constellations. The showing also compared our wonderful Earth to the planet Venus. After the “Dynamic Earth” show, we went downstairs to the marine discovery center and learned about the squid and got the opportunity to dissect it. As we were dissecting we got to see what is called a squid pen. The squid pen looked like a clear bird feather. The squid pen is a part of the squid that is no longer necessary to its survival. But, at one time it was part of

the shell that the squid used to have. When the squid dissection was over we went and looked at the wonderful collection of rocks in the Rock and Mineral museum; which is one of the top ten rock and mineral collections in the country. When we finished looking at the rocks we met up with our wonderful assistant Kristian, a student at the U of A, and had lunch with her at the student union. Kristian gave us a tour of where she attends classes. We had the opportunity to sit in a real college classroom. We also visited the admission office and got a pamphlet on what the university has to offer. The trip to the university was one to remember and a great way to experience a college campus.

A Peek at Some of the Poems Written in Upper Elementary This Past JanuaryAutobiographical Poems

Blake ChristianSkinny, mid-height, loyal, kind.Son of Sherri and Kent brother to Brooke, Sheria, and EllieI love animals, engineering, sketching and reading.I feel happy, tired, and awesome.I feel most happy when I can find a quiet spot and do one of the things above.I always have water, food and try to always have shelter. I help my friends, give my parents a pain in their necks, and I think my sister’s fun.I fear having another world war, not making it to U.H.S., and having lots of bills to pay.I would like to become a successful inventor/engineer, getting a good education, and having a good life.I most enjoy eating Mexican food, Asian, and sometimes bar-b-que.I like to wear basketball shoes, athletic clothing, and jacketsOne day I will be a successful inventor.

Autobiographical Poems continued

CatherineCreative, nice, tall, and observer.Daughter of Susan and Stephan, sister of Ethan.I love art, smiling, and thinking.I feel interested, happy, and content.I am most happy when I am sketching, laughing, and being able to think in peace. I need water, oxygen, and food.I give an interesting conversation, a shoulder to cry on, and a friend when you need one.I fear large open spaces, strangers, and being alone in the future.I would love to see DC cupcakes in Georgia, (a cupcake shop that has its own TV show),world peace, and an end to global warming.I really enjoy drawing, learning, and questioning.I like to wear leggings, ballet flats, and headbands.One day in the future I would like to not be in any debt, and be a video game designer for Bioware.

GabriellaFun, smart, loving and awesome. Daughter of Mellanie and Chace, sister to Kaitlynn, Aaliyah and Shea.I love school, my friends and my family.I feel happy, energetic and sleepy.I am most happy when I’m with my friends, my family and when I’m at church.I most need my family, my friends and food.I give my time to volunteering, unconditional love to my family and love.I fear deadly stuff, getting in trouble and being alone.I would love to see The Eiffel Tower, New York and the Northern Lights.I most enjoy candy, spending time with my family and school.I like wearing a smile, clothes and computers.One day I’m going to be an Obstetrician.

Biographical Poems

Jackie Robinson by Max

JackieGood, athletic, wealthy.Loving brother of Mack RobinsonWho loved baseball and track and fieldWho hated stress, loved excitement, andHated that white people had more rightsHe feared going to jail, playing in the whiteLeague, and getting beat up by white people.Who was a great baseball playerBorn in Cairo, Georgia, and died in North Stamford.Robinson

Laura Ingalls Wilderby Althea

LauraAdventures, loving, caring, brave,Daughter of Caroline and Charles IngallsLoved Rose and Almonzo,Who rejoiced and at certain times was scared and angry.Who feared Indians and their noisesWho wrote descriptive books with careWho only wanted the happy simple things in life,Lived in the United StatesWilder

Francis Drakeby Wyatt

FrancisSon of Edmund DrakeAdventurous, pirate, captain,Who searched for gold, sailed the seven Seas, and lived in EnglandWho felt anger, sadness, and prideWho feared losing to Spain and dying a painful deathWho circumnavigated the world and helped defeat the Spanish ArmadaWho wanted revenge on Spain and wanted to be famousWho basically lived on his ship, but his real home was in EuropeDrake

Thomas Jeffersonby Torie

ThomasSmart, willing, good writerSon of Peter JeffersonHe loved his wife, freedom, and libertyExperienced love, anger, and sadnessFeared public speaking and strong governmentsRemembered for being the third president of the United States Wanted to see religious freedomLived in Virginia Jefferson

Dragon Poems

Mysticby Fiona

My dragon’s name is Mystic And she lives in the land of Artistic

Mystic’s favorite colors are pink, purple, and royal blue,And that is her skin color too!

Six rows of scales down the middle of her body,And the rest is smooth as silk.

Hears from miles away and breathes ice,She also loves to eat mice.

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Dragon Poems continued Ankerby Grisman

Anker is heavy but small and polite,She also has a very big appetite.

Anker chatters and makes a squirrel sound,She also likes to dig tunnels underground.

Anker’s skin is green and black,Her teeth are rough on the sides but smooth on the front and back.

Anker’s eyes are dark, dark red,But unfortunately she can not get on to my bed.

Anker sometimes likes to eat grass,And whenever I am thirsty, sprays water in to a glass.

Midnightby Holly

Midnight is not a she,My dragon is a he.

He really loves gold,Can breathe out fire, but not cold.

Midnight’s tail is very long,He is also very strong.

His eyes are black as the night,He likes to fly in the moonlight.

He glides and roars in the sky,Is brown and gold like a butterfly.

Midnight growls when he is mad,I tell him to be quiet, to not wake mom and dad.

Blueby Korben

Let me tell you about my dragon Blue,Just a few things before we go to the zoo.

He is big and he has wings,He is my friend and plaything.

Blue is thirty feet tall,When afraid, he can build an ice wall.

When Blue moves he can make a scream,Blue and black is his color scheme.

Blue’s teeth are as sharp as teeth from a shark,His eyes are black and dark.

When it is very hot he keeps me cool,Likes to float on his back in the swimming pool.

Before we go to bed we have a cup of tea,When I go to bed he protects me.

Hailby Leah

My dragon’s name is Hail,She has a very, very long tail.

She breathes a lot of ice,And she is very, very nice.

She loves ice so much,And is very soft to the touch.

She sleeps on a fluffy patch of snow,but dreams of hail although.

She loves to play scissors, paper, and rock,And plays the tuba at six o’clock.

She loves climbing with her ears,I’ll love my dragon Hail all through the years.

Middle School

Presentation from a Holocaust Survivorby Gabby

A couple weeks ago the 6th, 7th and 8th graders got the privilege to get a presentation from a Holocaust survivor named Wanda Wolosky. She told us about her life in the Warsaw Ghetto and events that hap-pened, not just her personal expe-riences. We were honored to have her come and tell us about her per-sonal experiences, especially since it is such a rare opportunity to have now. The students were very excited to have her come and were intrigued by her story and experi-ences. It was a once in a lifetime experience for the students and we are so grateful to her for coming.

Colorado River Tripby Julia

Recently, you may have seen the Middle Schoolers fundraising such as with the Valentine’s Day sale, or the Carnival. The reason for this is

the super fun trip we have planned for the end of the year. It is going to be a kayaking trip, starting at the Hoover Dam. The trip will be for five days, and we will camp out beside the river. The point of the trip is to build

stronger community and learn to get yourself out there in a safe envi-ronment. Each kayak will be for two passengers. The people in each kayak will be randomly selected, so no one gets hurt feelings. Mostly, we will kayak down the river, but sometimes we will get to go to natu-ral hot springs, and enjoy the warm water. We are super excited and can’t wait to go!

Land Lab Tripsby James

Middle school Land Lab trips are educational community building experiences which occur at the end of a cycle. A cycle at Hermosa’s middle school is a period in which specific sections of Science, Health, Social Studies, Language, Reading, and Writing are carried out in what is usually a one and a half month time period. During these Land Lab trips, Hermosa students engage in activities to improve the area for future classes and sessions, engage in community building games and activities, and experience nature, as well as other learn-ing experiences. These experiences include things such as creating adobe, an ancient durable substance used in construction by Native Americans, and scavenger hunts, including trivia and team challenge activities. The trips are run by Chandon Thorell, who leads outdoor education programs for numerous Arizona Montessori schools.

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The Chinese New Year’s festival and art show was a huge success on a beautiful day with a large audience. Thank you to all the parent helpers and thank you to the fourth grade hosts and hostesses. And thank you to Mike and André for arranging the sound track.

Lower Elementary artists marched with their dragon puppets. PreK made sheep masks for year of the sheep. Fourth year students exhibited dragon collages and poems on handmade paper. Fifth year art elective students exhibited their handbuilt ceramic pieces.

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Art News by Carol

Fourth grade students looked at the work of Jim Dine, a contemporary New York artist who works in many media, focusing on the image of the heart. They were asked to take a large heart and divide it into three sections. In one section they were asked to paint a radial design, in another section a diagonal design, in another section a vertical design. After painting the background they were asked to do the same on a smaller heart which was then collaged onto the larger heart. We hung these in Upper Elementary as a valentine to their classmates.

For Valentines Day Lower Elementary students made valentine cards using their own hand painted paper. This month they also looked at the work of Miró and created paintings in the style of Miró.

Hermosa Day of Service

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Greetings Hermosa Montessori community,  Congratulations on our first ever Hermosa Day of Service! Many volun-teers showed up and contributed to our efforts on MLK Day. Here’s a re-cap of what was done:  We: picked up trash, trimmed the plants surrounding the playground, repaired the fence on the east side of the playground, replaced the rotting sandbox wood outside pre-K, installed gutters outside of Ruth’s classroom (so that they will no longer get soaked when it rains), weeded and amend-ed the soil in the gardens, sanded the rust on the front gate and recoated the worst parts with Rustoleum, installed a new doorbell system to the front office, bought and assembled a new task chair for the front office parent helper, sanded and sealed many of the wooden benches, washed the windows in the Lower Elementary and Pre-K buildings, assisted Sally in cleaning her classroom, filled the deep rut outside of Don’s porch with

rocks to slow the erosion, sanded and repainted Mary’s rocker, collected balls from over the playground fence, attached sliders to Sheila’s class-room chairs, attached Sheila’s bead frame to the wall, & caulked the sink in Michael’s classroom. In addition, the Hove and Celani families built a brand new bridge that is now installed outside of Lower Elementary!  Perhaps the most challenging project of the day was attempting to scrape off the old mural from the wall next to the elementary basketball courts. H.O.P.E. is still working on resolving this...That old paint is tenacious!  Again, thank you to everyone (including children!) who contributed to the  Day  of  Service  before, during, and after. You truly enhanced your school and community and should feel quite proud.  Thanks again, The H.O.P.E. team

H. O. P. E.