HERMOSA MONTESSORI COMMUNITY TIMES by Sheila MARCH/APRIL 2015 I invite you to follow your flips. We would want to be as pre- up. Lack of independence and con- student’s school activities on Inside This Issue: our Facebook page. Look for pared as possible. centration can take on a variety of photos and text which can Removing Obstacles to forms, much like water in a river. give you a window into your Development.....................................1-2 In the course of our lives, we will For the child with high energy and student’s day at school. Preschool and Kindergarten...............2 experience a variety of challenges, strong personality, obstacles may Lower Elementary.............................3-4 some as fast and treacherous as rap- precipitate turbulent and explo- Choir News............................................4 ids, waterfalls, whirlpools, or hy- sive behavior. For the quiet child, DATES TO REMEMBER draulics; or as monotonous and slow the obstacle may thwart the child’s Upper Elementary.............................5-7 as pools and eddies. progress, as if he or she were caught Fri Apr 10 Middle School........................................7 Spaghetti Dinner in a backwater eddy. Everyone is invited! Fundraising Art News................................................8 event for Middle School trip Isn’t life like that? We want it to be 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Hermosa Day of Service.......................9 challenging enough to be exhilarat- External factors. Looking at exter- Mon Apr 13 AzMERIT Testing ing, to feel like an adventure. When nal sources of obstacles, we need to (Writing; grades 3-8) events happen abruptly, things can ask the following: State testing is mandatory. Do not schedule vacations or other non- become dangerous or overwhelm- emergency appointments during this time. ing; too slow and we are bored out 1. Does the child’s environment of- Tue Apr 14 of our minds. fer an opportunity to work in peace AzMERIT Testing and dignity to develop him or her- (Reading & Math; grades 3-8) What are some of the hazards we’ll self? Wed Apr 15 AzMERIT Testing meet in our children’s develop- (Reading & Math; grades 3-8) ment? 2. Does the environment offer a Fri Apr 17 wide social experience? 7th year Research Presentations There are two basics kinds of ob- Fri Apr 17 H.O.P.E. Meeting Removing Obstacles stacles. One type is external to us. 3. Does the environment offer pro- Hermosa’s Parent Organization External obstacles act like the water, tection from physical and psycho- welcomes your participation! to Development 3:15 p.m. in the Middle School rock and boulders in a river. logical harm? by Maren Schmidt Mon Apr 20 AIMS Science Testing; Internal factors, such as personal- 4. Does the environment offer ad- grades 4 & 8 If we wanted to raft the Grand Can- ity, knowledge, experience, attitude, equate challenges for personal Thu May 07 yon, how would we prepare for the Young People’s Concert TCC character, etc. make up our other ob- growth? Lower Elementary field trip - Your trip? structions. extracurricular dollars at work! 9:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Internal factors. When consider- Depending on our experience level, Sat May 09 How do we recognize that a child is ing internal factors, ask these ques- Hermosa Choir Performance we might arrange for a guide to navi- Rincon Congregational Church facing a challenge? tions: Everyone is invited gate us down the river. We’d want to 7:00 p.m. learn about the nature and force of the When a child is not developing 1. Is your child an optimist or a river. We would want to be familiar concentration or independence, we pessimist? An introvert or an extro- with dangerous parts of the river. We should begin looking for a source, vert? Research shows that parental might practice some drills in case of either outside the child’s control, or guidance can help a pessimistic or mishaps, such as what to do if the raft as part of the child’s internal make- quiet child develop a cheerful or cont. on p. 2 1 Removing Obstacles to Development Preschool and Kindergarten cont. from p.1 Mary’s Class more outgoing life. tion. We can stop the behavior by The class is really humming this mish note, children had fun col- removing the obstacle, or by taking time of year with the sounds of lecting dead insects and bringing 2. What developmental stage is the child away from the obstacle. engaged students at work! This them into the classroom to be your child? last month has been a particu- “fossilized” in resin. (This was so Johnny was failing math, until he larly active and fun month for fun for the kids that we will be do- 3. About every three years in the started using graph paper to keep our students! Kids continued to ing this every year, so returning growth of a child, there are pro- the numbers in line. Kayla missed found changes in how and what weeks of school due to being aller- be hooked on bones, which was a students, save your cool insects!) the child learns. Be aware of these gic to the classroom rabbit. Kevin natural transition into fossils and We did a brief artist study of Andy stages. had given up trying to read be- dinosaurs. We began our study Goldsworthy, and on our nature cause his best friend called him of fossils with a “fossil dig” in the walk, created our own art using 4. Is the child having a physical re- stupid. Mary’s grades dropped in a sandbox, in which the kinder- various items that we found in the sponse to the environment? nine-week period while she com- garten students dug for dinosaur desert. (Many of you have already plained she couldn’t see the chalk- skulls, trilobites, ammonites, and seen postings of your student’s art Is the lack of concentration or in- board. Steven started a fight every shark teeth. (Some of these were on Facebook!) dependence due to allergies, ill- night at bedtime with his father real fossils, but mostly replicas ness, learning or perceptual differ- when his dad had been out of town gifted to the classroom - some of Our cooking Fridays will con- ences, hearing, vision, diet, sleep, the previous week. Deena threw you saw your paleontologists in tinue, but Nature walks will have changes in routine, visitors in the tantrums about toilet training be- action on Facebook!) Children to end, due to warming weather. house, family member out of town, cause she was afraid of falling into have been reading and writing BIG THANKS to Kari, our 7th death in the family, birth of a sib- the toilet. Obstacles are common, about dinosaurs, tracing their grade intern who spent a week ling, arguments in the family, tele- varied, and frequent. bones, and doing dinosaur re- assisting in our classroom! It was vision viewing, or video/computer lated math. (For a family game, wonderful to see these pre-teens games? With planning we can avoid many ask your child to lead you on our so actively involved in the class- obstacles, and there will be situa- version of the Hokey Pokey, using rooms of their past - True com- Observe the child at work and tions we cannot anticipate. Un- bone names!) On a more squea- munity-building! play. Is the child’s observable be- derstanding the nature of obsta- havior inhibiting independence cles, and the nature of the child, Ruth’s Class or concentration? If yes, examine may help us “row, row, row our We wrote our names the external and internal factors of boat, gently down the stream.” in Chinese callig- the situation. Decide a plan of ac- raphy. A big thank you goes out to News from Sally, Sherri and JoAnn’s Class Sedona & Neytiri’s We decided to play the Question Esther – Language booklet because mom for helping all Game for this month’s newsletter I’m already starting to sound out of the students with article. The question was, “What is words this activity! something you really like learning Adelaide – Reading in school?” Cecilia – I like learning the planets Eli – Playing “Doggie, doggie, Except for the three students who where’s your bone?” at school were absent, here are the children’s Ethan – I like playing outside on the answers: porch Grady – Reading! (and then he did Adam – The marble work with a a big split jump) spoon, the one that goes around Isabella – Lessons! and around J.T. – Reading Aiden – Playing with my friends Jackson – I like learning about fos- Brendan – Painting sils Chi Chi – Sorting the Chinese beads Jeffrey – The world map Emily – Doing art Jon – Math … division Luca – Doing my journal Maia – My journal … doing the Madison – Learning about the earth drawings. The second thing I really Micah – Building with the colored like is the art table because I really disks like drawing. Nathanael – The easel (painting) Massimo – Reading Nia – Painting Max – Numbers! Wyatt – Building with the “connec- Noah – Math … actually every- tor shapes” thing! Giovanni – Doing my math Nolan – Doing porch work. Doing Kaya – My math. I love math les- blocks! sons. They’re fun! 2 Lower Elementary by Maiella One of our virtues is Kindness. at school and the posters are great. different kinds of math problems A few weeks ago we had elections. Some ways that we can show kind- +, -, x, ÷ and more. 3rd years also It was a tie between Eve and Cam- ness are: If somebody falls, ask by Lyla went on a field trip to the Gem and bria for president, Sofie for vice them if they are okay and help A project is when someone choos- Mineral show.