December 2010 Parent Newsletter

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” Helen Keller

It was very heartwarming to share in our FCD’s Thanksgiving feasts with families, especially with our visiting grandparents. We now move into a new month, and despite the many activities planned, we know our teachers will do their best to keep everyone on track. We know how excited we all get at this time of year.

Many of our staff attended a workshop presented by the author of the best seller Growing an In-Sync Child by Kranowitz/Newman. Because early motor development is one of the most important factors in a child’s physical, emotional, academic, and overall success, we discovered that simple movements such as skipping, rolling, balancing, and jumping can make a world of difference for your child. We are now implementing some of the 60 activities to help with sensory processing, perceptual motor skills, and visual processing. For the Primary classes, we have designated Thursday as In-Sync Day and will be offering special activities during the day. We hope to be able to offer a parent workshop in January to share in some of the ideas presented so that you can try these out at home. Stay tuned.

Outreach: At FCD we strive to connect our children and families with the local community, as well as to reach beyond as world citizens. Thank you so much for the $200 forwarded to UNICEF. We also thank you for the many dozen of cookies that were baked by you and packed up and already sent to deployed military, along with 150 cards from our families and staff. Another community event chaired by Ms. Antoinette and Ms. Cynthia was the organization of the first ever Wounded Warrior Project, held November 27^th at Baker Park. We hope to make this an annual event!

In December, we invite interested families to form a caroling group to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. FCD has offered to supply families with flyers and song sheets. This could be a great annual family outing, bringing families and neighbors together for a great cause.

If this is December can January and registration for the 2011-2012 year be far behind? January will be pre-registration for our current FCD families; we will be hosting Open Houses on Saturday, January 29^th, and Sunday, January 30^th for the community.

Wishing all of our families happy holidays and peace in family traditions.

Ms. Louise, Director

NOVEMBER 2010

Greetings as we welcome the month of November! Before moving on to some fun activities this month, I wanted to share with you the great joy we experienced at the North American Montessori Teacher’s Conference last month. The central theme revolved around bringing nature into/and outside of the classroom.  With our herb/vegetable/and herb garden in its waning days (yet, with much fruition), the children “put the garden to bed” by weeding, pruning, and harvesting plants, and now, by planting bulbs and potatoes for Spring viewing….the children are finding new uses for the classroom botany cabinet, identifying and matching leaves, and gifting other classrooms with repotted plants. The children are also being introduced to the gem and flower of each month, and lessons on each are on the shelves to investigate. Maria Montessori believed that the outside should be the classroom, with so many lessons to be learned from being in, and with, nature. We continue to thank you for your kind donations of flowers to the classroom, too. The children love to cut and display these in small vases around the classroom. We will continue to look for opportunities to bring nature into each classroom.

We hope to see many parents visiting before conferences to get a bird’s eye view of the richness of the day. The Staff are also looking forward to Parent Conference Day on November 12^th. Childcare is available during your conference time, with registration.

Our monthly Peace gatherings are a great community time. For United Nation’s Day we were able to gather around the Peace Pole and send wishes for peace to all of the seven continents. Ask your child about the continent colored balloons that took off into the air, unexpectedly! One child remarked, “Look, we’re really sending peace around the world!” Our next gathering is scheduled for November 16^th @ 9:30am. Please join us! Special thanks to all who dropped off the UNICEF boxes this month. Thanks!

On Saturday, November 13^th, from 10am until noon, we will be part of the Pre-School Mom’s Fair at the Elks Club in Frederick. This is an Open House for all pre-schools in the area and Ms. Monica, Ms. Shoshana, and Ms. Antoinette will be there for FCD. If you are a parent who would like to join us at the table to add your input for ourschool, we would welcome your presence. Please see Ms. Louise for more information.

Of course, November means Thanksgiving Feasts and each class has a special day to enjoy this together. We also are looking forward to our annual Thanksgiving Week Grandparent Visiting Days on November 22nd and 23^rd. It is such a treat to watch grandparents sitting beside their little one, smiling away!

We have been enjoying Toddler Tales on the first and second Thursday of the month with toddlers 18 months and up, along with parent(s). Please extend an invitation to any friends who would like to join in with us.

Our Outreach Project for November has changed:  we are going to be baking and sending cookies and cards to the deployed troops in time for the holidays. Children will be baking the week of November 15^th and we will open our FCD kitchen on Saturday, November 20^th from 10am – 2pm for mom’s or dad’s to bring prepared batter or already made cookies, pack them up for shipping, and join in holiday songs and card making. All donations would be shipped out on Monday, November 22^nd. We have joined in this project in past years, and it is always an honor to bring this small bit of home to other’s so far away from families and loved one’s.

Looking ahead: There will be lots of activities for the month of December….both in the classroom and for the family. Look for more information to arrive in your child’s weekly folder.

Finally, we dedicated the Peace Garden at the Peace Pole this month to our late Montessorian teacher, Ms. Kim Coker.  Staff gathered for a lovely ceremony and to plant the garden fairy plaque in her name. Special thanks to our own, Ms. Lisa, for designing and purchasing all the beautiful mementos. Please stop by with your child for a rest. Explain to them that a wonderful teacher, who loved FCD, helped to plant the Peace Pole a few years ago. She loved peace, and she loved the children at FCD. Thank you!

Ms. Louise, Director

OCTOBER 2010

This past weekend many of our staff attended the annual Montessori conference in Baltimore. The theme this year was the significance of the scientific mind in the Montessori classroom: recognizing, fostering, and allowing it to grow through nature and through real and hands-on experiences. Last spring we planted our first school garden with herbs, flowers, and vegetables, along with a compost bin. Needless to say, this past week the children were out harvesting carrots, rosemary, marigolds and other plants. There are so many science lessons evolving from the children’s garden…..ask your child about this!

Parent Conferences….by now you have seen the sign-up in the foyer for November 12^th. For those who are new to FCD, this is a day set aside to meet with your child’s teachers to discuss his/her growth and development. You will be receiving a written report prior to this meeting.

Although FCD is closed conference day, we do offer childcare for your child during your conference time. You must register for this so that we have adequate coverage. Also, the week before conferences we invite you to visit in your child’s classroom to share in their wonderful day. Please see the sign-up for this, too, on your child’s classroom door.

Thank you for you support of the Claire’s Gourmet fundraiser. We were able to purchase new materials for each classroom with the nearly $600 in profit! Thank you!

Some events planned for this month:

- Pumpkin Patch Field Trip on Wednesday, October 20^th , followed by staff development in the pm.

- Grab ‘n Go Breakfast in FCD foyer 7am – 9am – FCD foyer, Friday, October 22

- Student Pictures – Monday, October 25^th – am

- United Nation’s Day and Peace Gathering on Thursday, October 28^th at 9am – all invited

- Annual Harvest Fest 10am – noon on Friday, October 29^th. Thank you for all the game/goodie bag donations and volunteer coaches!

Enjoy these beautiful fall days! We love taking the children outside to breathe in the crisp fall air. And we are reminded of the words of Maria Montessori, “There is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.” And that was said many years ago! Peace, Ms. Louise

Already we have had the great pleasure of meeting together with both Pre-Primary and Primary parents, as well as a special Kindergarten year evening. Another FCD event that has proven to be a fun gathering is the Grab n’ Go Breakfast hosted by our own Ms. Lorraine of Room 6 in the FCD foyer. We have decided to offer this again on Wednesday’s in September, and then twice a month beginning in October. This runs from 7am through 9:15am and is a great way to meet new friends and make new FCD connections!

In Memoriam…some of our families will remember Ms. Kim Coker, Montessori Directress in room 2, who was a member of our staff up until two years ago. Ms. Kim valiantly survived cancer for many years, while at the same time caring and supporting staff, the children, their families, and acting as a proud mother, daughter, sister, and friend. She loved to dress as the May Queen each year and enthrall the children with her storytelling. Being very artistic, she sewed and put together our 32 foot peace dove which we have carried in many peace celebrations. She truly loved Montessori and she loved being at Frederick Country Day. She was very much loved by all. A memorial is planned at FCD in October.

In my last newsletter, information about the Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching reading, writing, and spelling was highlighted. We are pleased to share that each Primary classroom now has “O-G” wipe off boards, that each child has what is called a “sound pack”, and that children are individually being invited to “P-A-T” (Phonological Awareness Training) during the week. These lessons are in addition to the phonics lessons the children are doing daily, using the moveable alphabet, or picture cards, or sandpaper letters, to mention a few lessons. Also, through a State grant we were able to purchase a reading program which is also a systematic, phonological series of picture cards, word cards, and books to supplement and complement our reading program, designed for children age three through Kindergarten. We invite you to view these materials upon drop-off or pick-up.

We had our first visit from Peacemaker, the Puppet, this month, close to Maria Montessori’s 140^th Birthday Walk. Ms. Louise presented a time line of Maria’s life, complete with miniature furniture and other materials…almost like a dollhouse version of Maria’s life. Then Peacemaker, the Puppet, visited, bidding hello to all the children, joining in the universal plea for peace poem, and talking about being kind and helpful to each other. Peacemaker will be visiting again on September 21^st, World Peace Day. We will be having a gathering at the Peace Pole at 11:30 am for song and ceremony. We will be singing “Light a Candle for Peace” and we will be pausing for a minute of silence, wishing for peace in our school, our homes, our community, and in the world. Please plan to join us at the Peace Pole.

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming up! This is a great opportunity to increase your child’s library with good literature, while supporting FCD, where we are able to purchase additional media materials for each classroom.

Our Kindergarteners have a whole year of activities planned out: some of the highlights include acting as morning greeters, reading to the Pre-Primary, organizing bake sales, and special field trips.

They will be proudly wearing their FCD t-shirts on each field trip!

Claire’s Gourmet Fundraiser is now up and running…we hope to use the profits from this to assist in purchasing materials from the Montessori Conference in Baltimore in October. We appreciate your support!

Please note our September Outreach: Contributing to the Soldier’s Boxes – we are joining with the Ft. Detrick community in sending care packages to deployed military. We have joined in this service for many years now, along with having the children make cards and drawings. Again, we thank you for your support.

Finally, thank you for your welcoming smiles, your cooperation with returning weekly folders on Monday, and for sharing your lovely children with us.

Ms. Louise, Director

SUMMER 2010

Greetings from the sun and the fun of Summer Under the Red Roof at Frederick Country Day!  We are half way through our thematic summer program, gearing up for Pioneer Week, Jungle Week, and  Under the Big Top.  Even with our camps full for each session, we have been able offer daily water play, dramatic plays, yoga, bike day, and a complimentary Friday lunch.  Both the children and staff are having fun with this change of pace scheduling.  After August 6^th, FCD closes for 2 weeks: one week of maintenance: cleaning, polishing floors, painting as needed.  Then on August 16^th our teachers return for a week of In-Service, part of which is to reassemble each environment and have it ready for you for Open House Friday, August 20^th.  The energy and enthusiasm are contagious as we all look forward to the first day of the 2010 -2011 school year on Monday, August 23^rd.

Over the summer, the Md. Dept. of Education has mandated that a parent must initial the sign-in/out roster either upon arrival or dismissal.  We have had success with introducing this change during our summer program, and we are discussing this implementation for the fall since many parents use the carpool drop-off.

Each family will be receiving a welcome letter in early August, detailing everything you need to know prior to the first day of attendance.  Please look over this information carefully and do not hesitate to call should you have any questions.  A yearlong calendar will also be included in this packet.  I have tried to be as detailed as possible regarding all events, parent workshops, professional days, special lunches, etc. so that you can plan accordingly.

During the summer we have continued to reach out to the wider community.  We thank our families for the generous donations to the Ft. Detrick Food Bank and to the St. Jude Trike-a-thon, collecting $179. 14!  We look forward to continuing our monthly connections to the community as world citizens.

“ORTON – GILLINGHAM” LANGUAGE SKILLS CONCEPTS TO BE INTRODUCED THIS FALL

I was very fortunately blessed to complete an intensive Orton-Gillingham course this summer.  Orton-Gillingham is a multi-sensory approach to teaching reading, writing, and spelling.  It meshes beautifully with Montessori and I will be sharing some of the basics of phonological awareness, including activities and games, with staff during our in-service week.  For our Primary classrooms we have purchased a new reading program which is in line with this approach. We are very excited to be able to have the same materials for all three classrooms!  This company, Waseca, is the same company that developed the beautiful Biomes materials we introduced this past year.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!     Ms. Louise, Director

MAY 2010 NEWSLETTER

Greetings and welcome to the wonderful month of May!  There was an exciting close to the month of April as the children gathered on Earth Day to celebrate our newest addition to FCD:  The Children’s Garden: Vegetables, Herbs, Flowers, and a large Compost Bin. We want to thank our families for the many “plant” donations to get this garden started.  Our Kindergartners worked with Ms. Kathleen and Ms. Ashley on the initial planting, and now each classroom has an assigned day to observe and care for the garden.  Each classroom has a composting container, catching scraps from snack and lunch to deposit into the garden bin.  Next week each class will decorate a stepping stone for this area and we can then enjoy watching everything grow!  This year we have been really into mainstream recycling, and the children have been very good about carrying the recycles to the bin for weekly collection.

Appreciation Week, May 3^rd – 7^th at FCD, is in full bloom: Monday we honor our Parents with a Grab n’ Go Breakfast,

Tuesday we provide complimentary lunch for students, Wednesday is the famous Parent Potluck Lunch for Staff, Thursday is Wear Your Favorite T-Shirt Day, while Friday closes the week with a big Make Your Own Ice Cream Cone!

The staff at FCD joins with me in expressing our thanks to each family…..and you are like family!

Mother’s Day brings little handmade treasures to your door, made with much love and care.  There are many end of the year activities planned and you can catch all of this information in your child’s weekly folder and on the easel in the foyer.

Recently a survey went home asking for suggestions for parent education workshops for next year.  (Even if your child is moving on to elementary or to another setting, we welcome, your input, too).  We would like to be able to offer these classes each month throughout the year, hoping to accommodate various days of the week schedules, and a choice of times with morning or evening options.  We hope that all surveys can be in by May 7^th for calendar planning. Thanks!

Our May Family Picnic is scheduled for Friday, May 14^th @ 6PM at FCD – bring the whole family and enjoy fried chicken and all the donated side dishes and desserts. See you there!

Our Summer Under the Red Roof Program is nearly full.  Thank you for your support of this!  Our teachers are looking forward to the change in things:  from Pirates to Princesses, to Chefs, to Circus Masters!  A detailed letter will be going home to these participants later this month.  Ms. Antoinette will be heading up the camp and all staff are from the school year program.

Cooking with Ms. Liz and Ms. Kathleen on Thursday afternoons has been an enjoyable experience for our Primary classes.  This month they cooked from Australia:  they are so cute to watch with their little aprons and utensils, spread around the kitchen table, anticipating the tasty treat they have prepared from scratch.  Another experience, which has been a real crowd pleaser, has been the Toddler Tales Storytime, which Ms. Ashley and Ms. Kathleen have initiated this year.  It is offered twice a month on Thursday mornings to the Frederick Community and we have welcomed many new friends to our school…a few have even joined up!  I speak for Mr. Chris and myself that we are blessed with a talented and dedicated staff.  Thank and visit us at www.frederickcountryday.com for continued information.

Ms. Louise, Director

As we plan the calendar of the 2010 – 2011 school year, one area that we would like to improve is in the area of Montessori Parent Education.  Not only do we want to offer workshops on Montessori theory and practices, but also target other areas of interest, whether it be child development, nutrition, discipline, peace, yoga, transitions,etc.  I have asked the staff to come up with topics of interest.  They very enthusiastically responded and I am including some of their ideas.  What we would like for you to do is to give these ideas some thought as well, and to either check off those that may be of interest to you. (This is just a partial list…)  In addition, I have left room for you to also add your input.  We really want to tailor our yearlong workshops to meet your needs and interests.

For planning purposes I ask that you be kind enough to  return your reponse by Friday, May 14^th to your classroom teacher(s).

Math Night – include Sensorial___

Language Night – include Social Studies____

Montessori Kindergarten Curriculum___

Music:  Songs/Movement in the Montessori Classroom___

Setting Up a Montessori Environment in the Home___

The Importance of the Three Year Cycle in Montessori___

Nutrition – Snacks and Healthy Food Choices___

Volunteer Tips:  Use of Montessori Materials for the Novice___

Peace Education in the Montessori Classroom___

Positive Discipline Strategies___

Moving up to the Primary from the Pre-Primary___

Traditional vs. Montessori Settings___

Understanding/Discussion of Learning Differences___

Ideas for Outdoor Play___

Toilet Training Exchange___

Parent Tip Night: Sharing Ideas for Family Time/Places to Go/Crafts/Cooking___

Spanish/Yoga Experiences___

Understanding the Genius Behind Maria Montessori___

Teaching the Value of Money___

Tell Me About the Montessori Sensitive Periods___

Your Child’s Yearlong Portfolio___

YOUR IDEAS:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NAME_______________________________

April 2010 NEWSLETTER

Dear Parent(s),

With the Spring Break behind us, we can now look to all the wonderful events of April – June! We want you to know that all ten of FCD Staff who attended the Montessori Conference in Boston two weeks ago came away refreshed and excited to be in the company of like-minded educators, but also realized the importance of Montessori parent education and understanding, and a renewed appreciation for your support of Montessori pedagogy. You know that something wonderful is happening with your child, and you have made that choice to inspire life-long love of learning and education of the body, mind, and spirit in your child’s daily experiences at FCD, and in your home. The Staff were able to purchase some new materials for the classrooms, participate in dynamic workshops, and meet some of the most respected and knowledgeable Montessorians in the world.

As Peacemaker, the Puppet, I am always on the lookout for new ideas to bring peacemaking skills into the classroom; a few years ago I introduced a virtues curriculum for the year, with ideals such as being thankful, peaceful, loving, etc. as a part of knowing about feelings and how to deal with them, both positive and negative. While at this year Boston conference, I spent time with a company called “Onionhead” who have put together age appropriate materials for ‘learning what to do with what you feel’……lessons on 26 feelings, one for each letter of the alphabet. In the next few weeks, my staff and myself will be introducing this curriculum during peacemaking lessons.

The premise for the main character, Onionhead, is that he looks different on the outside (an onion) from us, but once you peel away what makes him (us) different, we can see that we are all the same in the inside, regardless of our gender, age, race, or religion. Onionhead, through stories and discussion, reveals his feelings, beginning with A = being accepted, B = being brave, and C = being calm, and so on. So, it will be the ABC’s of feelings, with many opportunities for the children to express how they feel, and how to act upon these feelings. We are excited to add this component to our curriculum, a nice way to add more positive energy to the end of the year activities. We also look forward to any suggestions or ideas you might like to share with us that have been successful for you as the parent.

This week we will have a display table set up in the foyer where you may look over some of the materials we use for our peace education lessons, including Peacemaker, the puppet, Marco the Montessori Mouse, various peace book resources, and the newest Onionhead materials. As your child is introduced to Onionhead, I can imagine the stories will travel back home to you……I can’t wait to see the surprise when each child is presented their very own Onionhead to take home!

(Hopefully, it will find a place to rest peacefully…..remember, it’s real!)

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I had a visitor to FCD last week who spent the day here, and when leaving, she said she missed the calmness and peacefulness of being at FCD. It was a nice moment, something I guess we might take for granted, but, its presence is felt. I hope that you feel it, too.

Thank you. Ms. Louise, Director