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Greetings,
Happy Valentine's Day!
| Upcoming Events |
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- Wednesday, February 14 - Valentine's
Day Party
- Monday, February 19 - President's Day,
No School
Looking Ahead: Spring Break will be April 2 -
6.
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| Valentine's Day |
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All of our classes will celebrate Valentine's Day on
Wednesday, Feb 14. Your child may bring Valentine
cards for each class member. We will send home a
list of all the names of the children in your child's
class. If your child can read and write,
he/she may put the children's names (recipients) on
the envelopes. If your child cannot yet easily read
and write, PLEASE, we beg you, just have him/her
(or you) sign his/her name to each card, without
putting the name of the recipient on the envelope.
He/she then can simply put one card in each 'mail
box' without having to worry about the correct
delivery of each valentine!
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| Montessori's 100th Anniversary! |
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This year marks the 100th anniversary of the opening
of Dr. Maria Montessori's first school. She was, as a
physician studying psychology, invited to open a
childcare facility for 50 preschool-aged children in a
section of Rome that was neglected because of its
oppressive poverty and crime. She says of that
experience, "What happened will always remain a
mystery to me. I have tried since then to
understand what took place in those children. I
brought them some of the materials which had been
used for our work in experimental psychology, the
items which we use today as sensorial material and
materials for the exercises of practical life. I merely
wanted to study the children's reactions." This
simple beginning became the worldwide Montessori
Education movement! See here a picture of Mrs.
Zegers and Cristina standing in front of that historic
place in Rome. This Casa dei Bambini is still a
Montessori school today. Imagine our delight as we
saw the metal insets, world map, cylinder blocks,
etc, identical to the ones used in our classrooms!
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| Montessori Elementary School |
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As a reminder: Central Kitsap School District's
Montessori program is hosting their information nights
soon.
Friday,
February 23 @ 6:30 - 8:00 PM or Thursday, March
15 @ 6:30 - 8:00.
Remember, to be considered for this program
you must attend one of these information nights. It
will be held in the Tracyton Elementary School library.
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| Summer School! |
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It's time to start thinking about Summer School.
We will be having one morning class held at Barker
Creek that will be Monday - Thursday. You can sign
up on a weekly basis so fit us into your summer
plans. Watch for
more details to be coming soon!
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| Snow Day Review |
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We're all pro's by now, but as a reminder, our snow
policy is the same as the Central Kitsap
School District. If CKSD closes school for the day,
we will also have no school. This enables us to
spread the news through radio, TV, and online. If CK
schools
are delayed by 2 hours, there will be no morning
school. If CK schools are delayed by 1 hour, come if
and when you can. Please do not take unnecessary
risks. If there are more than 4 snow days during this
school year, we will make them up in June. Click on
the link below to see school reports.
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| Curriculum for February |
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Barker Creek:
- North America
- Reptiles / Amphibians
Steele Creek:
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| Sign Language |
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The month of January has been an exciting month for
sign language. We have started putting words
together to sign complete sentences! Some
sentences your child might enjoy signing are: "I like
cats." or "I want to work with you." or "I don't want
a frog." Try using some of these new signs in
sentences with your child, I'm sure you will enjoy
it! :)
January Sign Language Words:
- Finished
- Yes
- No
- Help
- Want
- Don't want
- Like
- Don't like
- Good
- Bad
- With
- Without
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| Scholastic Book Orders |
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Don't forget to check out this month's book order.
Remember, you can give the order form and check to
your teacher or do it yourself online with a credit
card. (User Name: MSCK, Password: bookorder)
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Parent Education |
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Eight Principles of Montessori Education
5. Learning with and from peers: In
traditional schooling, the teacher gives the children
information and the children rarely learn from each
other or directly from materials. In Montessori
classrooms, children may often work alone, but you
will also see older children helping the younger ones.
A 'reader' may be inspiring to a non-reader. The 4
year olds can hardly wait to be kindergartners, etc.
In Montessori elementary classrooms children are
rarely seen working alone. They pursue knowledge in
self-formed groups, creating products ranging from
reports to dioramas, charts to plays, and timelines to
musical scores. They leave the classroom together
in small self-created groups to interview people
outside the school or to visit museums or businesses
that are relevant to a current project stemming from
their own interests. A concern that arises out of the
individualistic traditional model in which one child
might do most of the work is what happens in these
small learning groups when one child understands
better than the others. When asked about this, a
nine-year-old Montessori child responded, "We help
each other."
* Read about the first four principles of Montessori
education in previous newsletters. Movement and Cognition, Choice, Interest, and Extrinsic Rewards are Avoided.
* Check back next month to learn about the sixth
principle of Montessori education - Learning in
Context
Kid Quote of the Month
While the teacher is helping a child give the weather
report, she whispers, "Say '3 sunnies' out loud"
Child: "3 sunnies out loud."
Read more kid quotes on our website!
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