The Raintree Parent Handbook
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The Raintree Parent Handbook 2019 Edition TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents A Note to the Reader 3 Te Story of Raintree and Our Many Challenges 6 Parent-School Partnership Agreement 17 Program Overview 20 Transitioning at Raintree 24 Parent Education 28 Waiting List Parent Nights 28 All School Parent Nights 28 Toddler and Primary Parent Nights 29 Elementary Parent Events 29 Erdkinder Parent Nights 30 Parent Observations 30 Raintree Procedures 31 Arrival and Departure 31 Communication 35 Health and Safety 38 About Maria Montessori 41 Human Tendencies 46 Te Planes of Development 47 Te First Plane of Development: Te Toddler and the Primary Child 49 Te Second Plane: Te Elementary Child 54 Te Tird Plane: Te Adolescent 60 A Day in the Life of a Toddler 64 A Day in the Life of a Primary Student 66 A Day in the Life of the Elementary Student 68 Classroom Life - School Policies 72 Arrival and Departure 72 Attire 73 Food and Nutrition 75 Class Work 76 Te All-Day Child (Toddler Communities and All-Day Primary Classrooms) 82 Before and After School Options (Elementary) 83 Camp Raintree (Elementary) 84 Outdoor Campus 84 Special Services (Primary, Elementary and Erdkinder) 87 Student Conduct 87 Events 89 Community Service 92 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Entrepreneurship 92 Resources 93 Glossary of Montessori Terms 95 Montessori Lexicon 102 Some Common Misconceptions About Montessori 116 Tasks Children Can Do to Learn Responsibility 118 Gateway Parenting 120 101 Tings Parents Can Do to Help Children 122 Suggested Home & Family Responsibilities for the Elementary Child 126 Cosmic Education 128 Montessori 128 Interdependency Chart 129 25 Reasons to Keep Your Child in Montessori through the Kindergarten Year 130 Te Great Lessons 132 Montessori and the Mathematical Mind 135 Te No Man’s Land Syndrome 138 Parent Observation Guidelines 140 Kansas Classroom Handbook of Communicable Diseases 142 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS A Note to the Reader Most groundbreakers develop their own “language,” a way of communicating information among those working in the new feld. An example is the vernacular used by those in the computer feld. Such is the case with Montessori. Terms used by most teachers at Raintree and eventually the child himself can baffle parents. For example, a child may say, “I did the metal insets today!” and the parent wonders what he is talking about. A guide may say, “Your child is moving into the second plane,” and the parent wonders “A plane? What plane? Where?” Tere are two sections which help you translate some of the Montessori terms used in this handbook, although we have tried to eliminate as much of the jargon as possible, or defne it within the text. “Montessori Glossary of Terms” by Annette Haines and “Te Montessori Lexicon” by Saasha Huston will be helpful should you need to defne a term. Te term “guide,” for example, is sometimes used instead of “teacher,” because the role of a Montessori teacher is to guide the child to an activity, use a step-by-step approach to present the lesson, and through his own effort, the child learns the concept. Occasionally in this handbook, you will see the term “guide” used. Te toddler program for children 18 months to 3 years is often referred to as a “toddler community” because in Montessori the classrooms become a child’s home away from home, and the term “community” is used throughout this handbook for all ages. “Community” is established the moment a child enters Raintree. Te term “primary” is used instead of “preschool” in Montessori and refers to children ages 2 1/2 through age 5. “Primary” is a mixed-aged group of preschoolers in what is called a “casa” or “children’s house,” or “home.” Te elementary classrooms are divided into two levels by age groups: “lower elementary” for children ages 6-9 and the “upper elementary” for children 9-12. Montessori coined the term “Erdkinder,” or “children of the land” referring to the adolescent program. Te term “Erdkinder” cannot be used formally because it is trademarked by the Association Montessori Internationale, but we sometimes informally refer to our program as the “Erdkinder.” Formally, we use the term “adolescent program,” or “Erdkinder.” To give equal representation to both genders, both “he” and “she” will be used in this handbook. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Te Legend of the Raintree “A tree whose fruit is love, whose fower is self-fulfllment, whose ways are the ways of pleasantness and whose paths all lead to peace. Luck, happiness, the realization of dreams, the secret of life...all belong to the one who fnds the Raintree.” --Compliments of Jem Graves Te Raintree Song May there always be sunshine May there always be blue skies May there always be Raintree May there always be me. --Compliments of Connie Black (and Pete Seeger) 4 HISTORY OF OUR SCHOOL ! Introduction When a new family joins our school, we want them to feel the same excitement and enthusiasm we felt when we created Raintree. But that is hard to do. Without knowing a little bit about our past, it is hard to understand why we are so passionate about what we do or to fully appreciate the community that is Raintree. One might assume our school has always been the way it appears today, but nothing could be farther from the truth! When we started our school in 1978, our neighborhood looked very different. We were surrounded by rolling hills and pastureland. Over the past three decades, we experienced many changes, and our campus has had many renovations and additions, survived a mall developer, a fre, a tornado and a host of challenges. But I’m getting ahead of my story. To fully appreciate Raintree today, one needs to know what Raintree was like from the beginning. What follow is our story, the story of Raintree, the evolution of a school and the realization of a dream. 5 HISTORY OF OUR SCHOOL Te Story of Raintree and Our Many Challenges Te inspiration for Raintree started long before the school opened its doors in 1978. It really began when Keith was a small child. In the McReynolds household, everything was possible. Te McReynolds’ home was a place where books were discussed after dinner, games were played in the evenings, and art was created all the time. Everyone’s ideas were heard...even teenagers. Spirited debates were the order of the day. Keith’s idealism was a natural outgrowth of his family life, and his politeness, a by-product of his southern upbringing. Keith was the frst to take Montessori training in our family, and after working in other schools for several years, Keith and I, along with three talented teachers Connie Black, Ken Alsleben, and Gay Jang started Raintree in the fall of 1978. As we were soon to fnd out, the founding of a school had hidden challenges. Prior to 1978 with a loan from Keith’s family, we (Keith and Lleanna McReynolds) purchased a 4 1/2 acre tract of land on University Drive near the University of Kansas to build a school. Architects were hired, plans were drawn, and construction bids let. And then the interest rates shot up to 16%. Te dream of creating the perfect school in the perfect setting centrally located in the city of Lawrence was gone, and we were forced to sell the property. Te First Challenge Te design of our school could not be adapted to another site, and we didn’t have enough money to pay for more drawings. Te only thing we could do was look for a building to remodel in town, but nothing was available that met regulation requirements of the state for a school that would house children below the age of fve. Finally we found an empty church on the outskirts of west Lawrence that had been vacant for several years. With the proceeds from the land sale, we paid off the loan and bought equipment and furnishings for two classrooms. In September 1978 we opened our doors to 35 preschool children in the empty Faith Assembly of God church with four teachers: Keith McReynolds, Connie Black, Gay Jang and Kenny Alsleben, a cook named Bobbi Bryant and a goat named Benjamin. Te church was located on 7 acres of pastureland about 4 miles from Iowa Street on a narrow county road. When we started Raintree, few houses existed past Iowa. Te only neighbors were the veterinary clinic and tennis club across the street, farmer I.J. Stoneback’s house and barn to the southwest and Hank North’s garden store to the northwest. We had no playground, no parking lot, and no windows. We rented the building from the church, holding classes in the basement. Tings went well until November when we noticed large earthmoving equipment on the horizon. What we didn’t know was that plans were underway to build Clinton Parkway. Te Second Challenge To build Clinton Parkway, the road leading to our school from the city was closed forcing our families to drive several miles out of their way and enter Raintree from the west. Luckily they did, and we have always said if we could survive the year the road was closed to our school, we could survive anything. We didn’t realize how fortuitous that comment would be! By the end of the frst year our enrollment had doubled. 6 HISTORY OF OUR SCHOOL Te Tird Challenge Te church decided to move into the building with us and sell the church they had occupied in the city. By the time this decision was made, we had grown to three classrooms.