DOBSON MONTESSORI SCHOOL NEWS
August 24-27
WHAT IS MONTESSORI?
“The education of the child does not aim for preparing him for school, but for life”. ~Maria Montessori
At Dobson Montessori School, you will see this philosophy integrated into all our lessons. Rather than memorizing facts for tests, students engage in hands on activities that inspire problem solving, collaboration, communication, thinking skills, and applications of facts to real life situations. We are excited to welcome you to a year of engaging learning and community.
KINDERGARTEN
As our students make the transition to school, we will celebrate each student, help them manage big emotions, make new friends, and learn the classroom expectations. Each month features a different cross-curriculum learning unit in addition to daily reading and math activities geared to each child’s readiness levels. This month we are “Off to School”. This week students will read the book The Kissing Hand and then make a handprint craft and self-portrait. We will make a name collage and practice writing our names using correct upper and lower case letters. Students will create a colorful alphabet to display in classroom for the year. Teachers will work with students on an individual basis to assess their reading and math levels and provide instruction geared to challenge but not overwhelm each child.
PRIMARY
Our class is visiting the “Rainforest” this month. We will use maps to learn where the rainforests are located in the world. We will use forks and spoons in a printmaking activity to make rainforest leaves. Students will learn the layers of the rainforest and what lives in each. We will create the understory, canopy, and emergent layers in our classroom rainforest. Next week, each child will receive a plush monkey to care for during the month and swing from the vines in our room! This week, teachers will be assessing each child’s level in reading and math. A homework calendar is provided, and parents are asked to check and sign it each evening and make sure the homework is completed and returned to school the next day.
INTERMEDIATE
“The Animal Kingdom” is invading our classroom this month. We will play Animal Wampum to get to know each other better. Each month, intermediate students have a month-long research project to work on at home. This month’s project is arriving in a separate email. Students will select an animal for their research and book on Tuesday. Each week will look at a different category of animals. This week we look at birds. We will make Styrofoam birds to soar across our ceiling and meet our new classroom pet cockatiel. Students will enjoy a nature video about birds and learn about birds of prey such as owls. Everyone will have their own owl pellet to dissect in a lab experience. What did your owl have for dinner? You may find teeth, a pelvis, skull, or vertebrae. John Audubon is an artist famous for his bird paintings. We will view some of his work before creating our own bird illustrations using layers of oil pastels. We will display these in our classroom! Teachers will also work with students in individualized reading and math groups. Please sign the homework calendar each evening and make sure the work is returned to class in the morning so your child can feel successful.
UPPER DIVISION
Our students are digging into “Archaeology” this month. A highlight will be an extended day field study on Thursday, September 24 to participate in an actual archaeology dig at Eldon Pueblo! This week, we will discuss what is culture? What is an artifact? How and what can we know about the past from artifacts? What does context tell us? Students will enjoy an activity in which they will develop a hypothesis of use of weird real objects from the past. How many did you guess correctly. We will look at our school trash. Icky? Not to an archaeologist. The midden tells so much about a culture…what did they eat? Use? Feel was important? Ancient cultures made everything they used by hand. Many were expert at pottery making. Students will make their own cup from clay this week. We will fire these in the school kiln next week. Each student will pick a topic for their month-long research project. See the details in a separate email.
HIGH SCHOOL
Students will register for college this week! They will be taking a 3 credit course in “Healthful Living” this semester. In addition, they will begin work in Chemistry with lab, individual math levels, and US History. We will be making our own movies in Film Making and reading Macbeth in English. To prepare for our trip to Utah from September 30-October 4, students will select pieces for their Shakespeare Competition. Each student will participate in two events plus lots of workshops and attend two plays: “Sense and Sensibility” and “Something Rotton”, a parody of Hamlet.
COOL POOL PARTY FOR K-3RD GRADE
We welcome our K-3rd grade families to the new school year with a fun, Cool Pool Party on Thursday, September 10 from 5:30-7:30 at La Casita Recreation Center. Bring a potluck dish to share and wear your swimsuit. There is a huge pool, a splash pad, and a playground. What a great way to get to know other school families and enjoy time with our children!
FAMILY CAMPING TRIP FOR 4TH-12TH GRADE
Mark your calendar because we are going camping on September 17-18! Two days of being a kid again! We will visit Tonto Natural Bridge and camp at Sharp Creek on the Mogollon Rim. The Upper Division and High School students will cook all your meals and there will be lots of nature games, a campfire, stories under the stars, and lots more fun. Watch this newsletter for more details.
COMING AND GOING
Please slowly enter the parking lot from 8th Ave. and exit onto Extension. Our teachers will walk younger students to their cars at 3 PM. Please be patient as we get to know your cars and remember our young students are learning to manage their belongings as they depart.
Class starts in all rooms very promptly at 9 AM. Do not be late! We start the day with all the information a student needs to navigate their daily assignments and students who arrive even a few minutes late disrupt the learning of others and leave them out of the loop for the day. Thank you for helping us help your student be successful.