GRAND LAKE MONTESSORI

Summer Session 2 SUMMER ASSEMBLIES & VISITORS 8/6...

2007-07-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Summer Session 2

SUMMER ASSEMBLIES & VISITORS
8/6: Fratello Marionettes 10 am
8/15: Magician Brian Scott 10 am
8/17: Castle Jumper all day
Children not attending camp on the days visitors are here are welcome to join us for the events. Please let the school office know if you’ll be attending.

GLM OPERA
Children from GLM and the local community have been participating in the Opera camp. Their performance of “Hachma & Mazel” will be Friday, Aug. 3rd, at 7 pm, at the First Presbyterian Church at 27th & Broadway in Oakland. Tickets are $7 per adult, $5 per child (12 & under). It is recommended, since the performance will be professionally taped during the 7 pm show, that younger children and siblings attend the dress rehearsal at 10 am.

WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION
We enjoyed a visit from Wildlife Association this summer, and met California’s State Reptile (who knew???): Mr. Tank, a Southern California Desert Tortoise. Mr. Tank was taken from the desert by a family on vacation and escaped their yard. He is 75 years old and has an amazing top speed of 2 mph. We learned that one main difference between tortoises and turtles is that tortoises have claws for burrowing in the dirt, and turtles have webbed feet for swimming.
Next up was Talley, the Northern American Alligator. Talley is just a baby at 10 years old and about 3.5 feet long. When she is all grown up at 50 years, she’ll be about 12 feet long and 400 lbs. Talley’s native home is the Florida Everglades, the world’s slowest moving river. The children learned about food chains and how the Florida alligators build pools during the dry seasons that help support other wildlife.
Then we were introduced to Rosie the Rosy-Haired tarantula from the rainforests of South America. Tarantulas eat bugs (crickets are popular) and can throw their hair in self-defense.
From Africa came a humungous Monitor Lizard, only 4 years old. He was a pet but grew too big to be kept in someone’s home. We agreed – at around 5 feet long he would need his own room.
The last creature was even larger than the lizard: Cupcake, a Boa Constrictor from Central and South America. She was 8 feet long and it took 3 adult volunteers to hold her so all the children could see her length!

HELPER NEEDED
GLM family seeking parents' helper to do 6-8 hours per week of childcare and light cleaning (dishes and laundry) after 4pm. The timing could be configured creatively. Plus, occasionally (1-3 times per month), if schedule allows, pick up boys from school, play, eat dinner and bathe them while parents are at evening meetings. If you are interested, or know someone who might be, please contact Heather Hood at hhood@berkeley.edu.

NANNY/BABYSITTER
Our excellent babysitter, Thais, is looking to work as a nanny for 4 full days per week starting in August. Thais has been caring for our three children several afternoons per week for nearly three years. She would be perfect for a nanny-share as she is good at handling multiple children. She is extremely trustworthy, reliable, and patient. If you're looking for childcare, please contact Valerie Brock, parent of Emily Mansell in Live Oak and Benny Mansell in Ginkgo.

Summer Session 2 SUMMER ASSEMBLIES & VISITORS 7/1...

2007-07-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

Summer Session 2

SUMMER ASSEMBLIES & VISITORS
7/18: Wild Life Associates 10 am, in Magnolia
8/6: Fratello Marionettes 10 am, in Magnolia
8/15: Magician Brian Scott, 10 am in Pinewood
8/17: Castle Jumper all day
Children not attending camp on the days visitors are here are welcome to join us for the events. Please let the school office know if you’ll be attending.

IMPROMPTU DISASTER DRILL
On Thursday, around 1 pm, GLM office personnel and outdoor teachers smelled natural gas. The children were immediately taken from the Lake Park campus to the Jacaranda/Juniper campus. Nancy Haskins spoke to the PG & E crew working in front of the church to determine if further evacuations were indicated. Within moments a PG & E rep conducted tests for escaping gas at the Lake Park, Brown Cottage, Elementary building and business office sites. It was determined there was no danger; what we smelled was minute emissions not uncommon when changing gas lines. PG & E was impressed that school personnel knew where all the gas shutoffs were and had wrenches ready. In addition, the school notified the church that they needed a bigger wrench for their shutoff, per PG & E.

MOSAIC MURAL UPDATE
Grand Lake Montessori's long awaited Mosaic Project will begin next Wednesday from 3 - 5 in the art center of the playground. JaYing Wang, our mosaic specialist, will come and give a demonstration of the technique parent volunteers and staff can use with the children. After this demonstration, the children on the yard will have a chance to make a tile. Parent volunteers and classroom staff will work with the children two days a week on our theme of the school’s trees. If you would like to volunteer to assist the children in this project for 1 - 2 hours per week, please come to the training/demonstration. Questions, comments, or to volunteer looking for stamps and stencils of classroom tree leaves and flowers, contact: Sarah Lenoue at lenoue@yahoo.com.

PLEASE WELCOME OUR NEWEST TEACHER
Starr Singletary was born and raised the Bay Area. She got her start in the childcare industry by working as a teenager in her aunt’s day care. She worked as a recreation leader at the Montclair Rec Center, organizing games, songs, arts and crafts. She joined Child Care Careers (an organization that provides substitute teachers throughout the Bay Area) and was placed at GLM when we were short teachers. Ms Singletary worked out so well that GLM offered her a permanent position with us in the Brown Cottage with the toddlers. She is enjoying being one of our friendly and supportive staff, and feels we all share her same passion: teaching, training and encouraging children.

NANNY/BABYSITTER
Our excellent babysitter, Thais, is looking to work as a nanny for 4 full days per week starting in August. Thais has been caring for our three children several afternoons per week for nearly three years. She would be perfect for a nanny-share as she is good at handling multiple children. She is extremely trustworthy, reliable, and patient. If you're looking for childcare, please contact Valerie Brock, parent of Emily Mansell in Live Oak and Benny Mansell in Ginkgo.

TAKE A BREAK (from making lunch)
Take a Break (TAB) is the Friday pizza lunch program. You can sign your child up to have organic pizza (from Pizza Pazza on Piedmont Ave), sliced melon and carrots for $5.00. Parents are needed to volunteer with prep, delivery and clean-up (Parent Participation Hours). Please use the TAB sign-up form (available around campus, or in the school offices) to enroll your child in this program. Please be aware that pizzas have to be ordered in advance, so your form needs to be in the school office by Wednesday afternoons before the Friday you want your child to participate.

GLM news 2007 Friday, June 29, 2007 Summer Session...

2007-06-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

GLM news 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Summer Session 1

GLM NEWSLETTER
The link to the newsletter will be emailed to all parents on the 1st Friday of each session (not weekly during the summer). If you do not receive it, please contact the office with your email address.

SUMMER ASSEMBLIES & VISITORS
7/2: Jeremy the Juggler 10 am, on asphalt play area
Jeremy is a GLM favorite visitor! His unending enthusiasm and energy gets the kids going. He not only juggles, he juggles atop a 6-foot unicycle. Jeremy has also successfully competed in origami contests in Japan. Be sure to join us on the asphalt play area Monday morning.
7/13: Storyteller, John Weaver 10 am, in Pinewood
7/18: Wild Life Associates 10 am, in Magnolia
7/30: Story Teller Michael Katz, 10 am in Pinewood
8/6: Fratello Marionettes 10 am, in Magnolia
8/15: Magician Brian Scott, 10 am in Pinewood
8/17: Castle Jumper all day
Children not attending camp on the days visitors are here are welcome to join us for the events. Please let the school office know if you’ll be attending.

SUMMER IS OFF AND RUNNING
The first week of our summer program has ended on a high note. We had a jump tent all day on Monday, LOTS of water play – the water slides are a big hit! – plenty of art and science activities, and a clown performance. We’ve got loads of visitors scheduled (see above), and while the weather permits we will continue with water play and all the activities that make summer special.

ITEMS LOST AT ALL-SCHOOL PICNIC
Someone may have accidentally picked up two short, folding, metal chairs at the picnic. If you have them, please contact Rolf Wilkinson (Magnolia).

TAKE A BREAK (from making lunch)
Take a Break (TAB) is the Friday pizza lunch program. You can sign your child up to have organic pizza (from Pizza Pazza on Piedmont Ave), sliced melon and carrots for $5.00. Parents are needed to volunteer with prep, delivery and clean-up (Parent Participation Hours). Please use the TAB sign-up form (available around campus, or in the school offices) to enroll your child in this program. Please be aware that pizzas have to be ordered in advance, so your form needs to be in the school office by Wednesday afternoons before the Friday you want your child to participate.

Summer Session 1

GLM NEWSLETTER
The link to the newsletter will be emailed to all parents on the 1st Friday of each session (not weekly during the summer). If you do not receive it, please contact the office with your email address.

SUMMER ASSEMBLIES & VISITORS
7/2: Jeremy the Juggler 10 am, on asphalt play area
Jeremy is a GLM favorite visitor! His unending enthusiasm and energy gets the kids going. He not only juggles, he juggles atop a 6-foot unicycle. Jeremy has also successfully competed in origami contests in Japan. Be sure to join us on the asphalt play area Monday morning.
7/13: Storyteller, John Weaver 10 am, in Pinewood
7/18: Wild Life Associates 10 am, in Magnolia
7/30: Story Teller Michael Katz, 10 am in Pinewood
8/6: Fratello Marionettes 10 am, in Magnolia
8/15: Magician Brian Scott, 10 am in Pinewood
8/17: Castle Jumper all day
Children not attending camp on the days visitors are here are welcome to join us for the events. Please let the school office know if you’ll be attending.

SUMMER IS OFF AND RUNNING
The first week of our summer program has ended on a high note. We had a jump tent all day on Monday, LOTS of water play – the water slides are a big hit! – plenty of art and science activities, and a clown performance. We’ve got loads of visitors scheduled (see above), and while the weather permits we will continue with water play and all the activities that make summer special.

ITEMS LOST AT ALL-SCHOOL PICNIC
Someone may have accidentally picked up two short, folding, metal chairs at the picnic. If you have them, please contact Rolf Wilkinson (Magnolia).

TAKE A BREAK (from making lunch)
Take a Break (TAB) is the Friday pizza lunch program. You can sign your child up to have organic pizza (from Pizza Pazza on Piedmont Ave), sliced melon and carrots for $5.00. Parents are needed to volunteer with prep, delivery and clean-up (Parent Participation Hours). Please use the TAB sign-up form (available around campus, or in the school offices) to enroll your child in this program. Please be aware that pizzas have to be ordered in advance, so your form needs to be in the school office by Wednesday afternoons before the Friday you want your child to participate.

6/15 Last day of school 6/18 – 6/22 Staff prep w...

2007-06-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

6/15 Last day of school
6/18 – 6/22 Staff prep week – school closed, no childcare
6/18 – 6/22 Week 1 of Elementary camp

SUMMER ASSEMBLIES & VISITORS
6/25: Nemo Jumper all day
6/29: Jane Chen Clown Show 10 am, in Magnolia
7/2: Jeremy the Juggler 10 am, on asphalt play area
7/13: Storyteller, John Weaver 10 am, in Pinewood
7/18: Wild Life Associates 10 am, in Magnolia
7/30: Story Teller Michael Katz, 10 am in Pinewood
8/6: Fratello Marionettes 10 am, in Magnolia
8/15: Magician Brian Scott, 10 am in Pinewood
8/17: Castle Jumper all day
Children not attending camp on the days visitors are here are welcome to join us for the events. Please let the school office know if you’ll be attending.

STAFF WEEK
A reminder that next week (June 18 – 22) is Staff Week at GLM. We are closed for general cleaning, maintenance and meetings. There is no childcare available.

LOST AND FOUND
If your child has lost clothing at school, here are the locations to search:
Jacaranda – on the hooks outside the classroom
Juniper- on top of cubbies
Live Oak/Ginkgo – at classroom entrance
Magnolia – in bucket on top of blue cubbies.
Mulberry & Camellia – check with teachers
Most clothing will be hung on the fences around campus toward the end of the week. Items not claimed will be given to Goodwill, etc, at the end of Staff Week (June 22).

RUSSIAN RIVER HOUSE AVAILABLE FOR VACATIONS
Still haven't made summer vacation plans? Our house is available for weekly vacation rentals. It is directly on the Russian River, on a quiet neighborhood beach in Guerneville. The house would comfortably sleep two families, with two separate apartments, each with its own kitchen and bathroom(s). Hot Tub and outdoor shower, decks and gas grill for al fresco meals with river views. Great for kids and dogs. Kayak and other boating/floating devices available. High speed internet access; digital cable; and other amenities. Close to Russian River wineries, gorgeous Sonoma Coast, Armstrong Woods. Contact Jacaranda parents Jensen Rhodes and Cathy Greenblatt (cgreenblatt@criticalvisionconsulting.com) for more information or go to rrgetaways.com and look for "Drake's Beach House."

THOMAS AND FRIENDS WOODEN TOY RECALL DUE TO LEAD IN PAINT
For details go to:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07212.html
Thank you to Catherine Greenblatt (Jacaranda parent) for this information.

NANNY AVAILABLE
Excellent nanny available full or part-time from June 15-July 15. Contact Valerie Brock (parent of Emily Mansell in Live Oak and Benny Mansell in Ginkgo) for more information.

BABYSITTER AVAILABLE
Samantha Aima (Mrs. Aima's daughter) is available for babysitting this summer. She is a freshman in high school and has done lots of babysitting for families of GLM. Contact Mrs. Aima at the Brown Cottage if you are interested. She is also available the summer staff prep week when school is closed.

BABY SITTING AND SPANISH LESSONS
Maria Paula Vergara, GLM’s Spanish teacher, is available evenings and weekends for babysitting and/or Spanish lessons. Contact her at pvergaras@hotmail.com, or leave a message with the school office.

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔June 13 -15 – Camping trip!
✔June 25 - July 6 – Special 2-week summer program: Science, field trips & more!

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CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
We are off to Bothe-Napa State Park for our annual camping trip! The children are all really excited! Before we go I would like to thank a few people.
Thank you to Ms. Owens for helping to sub in our class this year.
Thank you to Ms. Vanessa for always being flexible.
Thank you to Laura for being a great room parent this year. She has attended many amazing field trips with us and has had so many great field trip ideas. Thank you so much!
Thank you to Heidi, Mr. Keating, Marian and Sean Harris for chaperoning the snow trip with us. We had a lot of fun and you were wonderful with the children.
Thank you to Ms. Aima, Ora, and Ms. MacDonald for chaperoning the MOCHA field trip. It was great to have the five year olds attend with us. Without you we wouldn't have been able to have the extra children attend.
Thank you to Mr. Keating for being such a great outdoorsman! Thank you to the Jacaranda children who are always willing to share him with us. Caleb said to me yesterday, "Mrs. Gilliam you are taking our teacher again!"
Thank you to Ora and Marcia for helping transport the children to and from the camping trip.
I would also like to thank all of the parents in elementary. You are always very supportive of the program. Thank you for always being willing to help market the program. I really enjoy coming to work everyday to work with your children. Have a great summer and I will see many of you during summer camp!
Last, thank you to Ms. Pugliese, Ms. Haskins, and Ms. Holbrook! They are always there at the drop of a hat, when the classes need anything! Thank you, Ms. Pugliese, for sharing the building with us...especially these past few weeks when we have experienced summer fever!

JACARANDA
Wow……it’s the end of another year in Jacaranda and what a great year it was! We had an amazing amount of support from all of the parents this year and we have already had volunteers for room parent duties next year! So thank you so much. Your support is invaluable and promotes a real feeling of community.
Congratulations to Mrs. Saleem; she graduated last weekend and is now a Montessori teacher!
Please look out for an email about the End of Year Tea Party last week containing photos. Thank you to all of our volunteers for their help.
We said lots of so-longs and farewells this week. It was bittersweet. We took a group photo of the class and everybody painted their own frame as a special Jacaranda Memory. Dylan, Jordan, Caleb, Olivia and Logan all had their last day on Friday. Ruby is not leaving as was stated in last week’s newsletter! (sorry)
At our last circle together the children were invited to give their departing friends compliments or messages. They took turns inviting a person they had chosen into the middle of the circle and while holding hands they gave their message: “I love you”, “ I will miss you”, “Thank you for being my friend.”
We have learned a new poem this week. It’s called ‘Crying’ and it is all about crying until your pillow is soaked. We thought it was appropriate for our goodbyes! Have your child recite it to you.
Happy Summer to you all.

JUNIPER
Transitions have been going very well in Juniper. All of the children who will be joining Juniper in the summer and next year have visited and are becoming increasingly comfortable in their new environment. The older children have done an excellent job of befriending the young ones and showing them around the classroom, giving them lessons on practical life and sensorial activities, helping them make toast for snack, and showing them our routines and ground rules. We anticipate a very smooth transition when the time comes for each of them to be in our class full time. Also, the older children who will be moving into the elementary classroom have had many visits to that class. They've been eating lunch every week with elementary and have had several opportunities to go on field trips with them. They are ready and anxious to start this new era of their education!
Audrey, one of the children who will be joining Juniper soon, visited during our last week of school. She insisted to Ms. Koerber that she was still a baby, and when Ms. Koerber said, "But you're talking! I didn't know that babies could talk," Audrey replied, "I'm a talking baby!"
"There is no Montessori prescription for life. In fact, Dr. Montessori, who always appreciated the unique and individual natures of children, would surely defend diversity in family life." (from “At Home with Montessori”) One of our goals in Juniper has been to make the classroom a home away from home for each child, a goal that would be unattainable without the help of the parents and families of all of the Juniper children. Thank you to all of you who helped make our classroom community a family.
The Juniper teachers wish everyone a happy and fun-filled summer. Stay safe, and we look forward to another amazing year to come!

LIVE OAK
We have had a fun and relaxed last week. We have been cleaning our classroom and doing lots of fun cooking, science, reading and art activities. On Wednesday and Friday we had a big harvest of carrots and green beans - the children could not get enough of them! Thursday we had a special circle celebrating all of the children in our class. Each child stood up and said what their plans for the summer were and then the other children had a chance to say what they appreciate and love about that child. It was very sweet and touching.
The teachers of Live Oak would also like to say thank you to all the parents! We would not have been able have such a great year without you. Special thanks to our room parents for all of their energy and help throughout the year.
We want to send the best of luck to the children who will not be in our class next year, and although we will be seeing some of you during the summer, we wish you all the best at your new schools this fall. Please come and visit!
Best wishes to all and have a great summer!

GINKGO
We’ve had a wonderful year!
It has been a honor working with Gigi Curry, Elliott Rosenberg, Louis Whitaker, Ruby Moon and Ben Morgan. We will miss them but we know they left our school well prepared for the road ahead.
Be sure to empty your cubbies and parent folders. And check the lost and found items hanging on the fence outside. Anything not claimed goes to Goodwill next week.
Thank you to all the Ginkgo families for your help and support. We look forward to next year. We wish everyone a safe, fun, and Happy Summer!

MAGNOLIA
The Magnolia children had a wonderful tea party! The children prepared all of the tea sandwiches and deviled eggs. They also made beautiful flower arrangements for the tables. The long table looked so festive with the place mats, place cards, and napkin rings the children made. The Magnolia teachers want to take the time to say thank you to our room parents: Danielle Hayes, Meghan O'Leary, and Kathleen Osta. Thanks for all your support throughout the past year. Thank you, Crossley Dellis, for being our resident shopper and helping out on big events. Thank you Stella Castillo for making such delicious and fun treats for Sound of the Week. The children really looked forward to them.
Ms. Olivares thanks everyone for the opportunity to work with your children at GLM. She will miss you all and think about you often.

MULBERRY
The end of the year is here. I want to thank all of the parents for trusting the Mulberry teachers to take care of your children. Also a special thank you to all of the parents who have helped out throughout the year. You have really helped make it a great year and we couldn't do everything without your help. Yesterday we had our Pennies for Patients Pizza Party for collecting the most money. The children were so excited they kept saying “Pizza party!” and jumping up and down!
A reminder to all parents to take home all extra clothes, blankets and empty cubbies so the Brown Cottage can be cleaned next week.

CAMELLIA
Thank you for an excellent year. It's been so beautiful and such a great experience working with your children, watching them grow. See how focused and able to concentrate they have become, the way they solve their conflicts with their friends, using their words instead of their bodies, employing grace and courtesy. One wonderful thing I noticed about all the children is that they love to cook. They all became wonderful little chefs. All the children have their own unique and wonderful skills. We are so happy to be part of their lives. Thank you so much.
We had our last Sound of the Week for this week - it will resume in September. Thank you for encouraging your children to bring something in to share for this favorite ritual. They love to talk about their objects.
Reminder: Last day of school is Friday, June 15. This is also Ms. Lau’s last day with the children; she will be moving on. Please bid her farewell! June 18-22 school is closed for summer prep and there is no childcare available. First week of summer is June 25-29.
Clothes belonging to children who are moving on to primary will be in bags. Please ask the Camellia teachers where you can find yours.
Quote of the week: The first two years of life are the most important. Observation proves that small children are endowed with special psychic powers, and points to new ways of drawing them out--- literally "educating by cooperating with nature." So here begins the new path, where it will not be the professor who teaches the child, but the child who teaches the professor.
----Maria Montessori, M.D.

TO EVERYONE RETURNING FOR THE SUMMER PROGRAM AND TO SCHOOL IN THE FALL WE’LL SEE YOU SOON; TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE MOVING ON – BEST WISHES TO YOU AND BE SURE TO COME BACK TO VISIT US!

Calendar 6/8 All-school End of Year Picnic at Rob...

2007-06-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

Calendar
6/8 All-school End of Year Picnic at Robert’s Park 5 - 8 pm
6/13 Core meeting 5 pm
6/13-6/15 Elementary camping trip!
6/15 Last day of school
6/18 – 6/22 Staff prep week – school closed, no childcare
6/18 – 6/22 Week 1 of Elementary camp

END OF YEAR PICNIC - JUNE 8th, 5 pm - 8 pm,
AT ROBERT’S PARK
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF LOCATION
We hope to see everyone at the picnic this year. It is always lots of fun. The site is on Skyline Blvd, off of Joaquin Miller Rd. (see your email for directions). Be sure to bring warm clothes as the fog can move in quickly. Please bring your own eating utensils, plates, so we can reduce waste. There is also a $5.00 per vehicle parking fee.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We have a number of children at GLM with serious allergies to nuts and nut products. PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE ANY ITEM TO SHARE THAT CONTAINS ANY NUT PRODUCTS. Thank you.

SEEKING 2 WEEK HOME RENTAL/HOUSE SIT OPPORTUNITY
GLM family, Trost-Goldhammer of Jacaranda, seeking 2-week rental/house-sit opportunity in Bay Area while their home is on the market, June 23 – July 6. This conscientious family of four is willing to pet-sit, water yard, etc. Please contact Ariel Trost at atrost@yahoo.com.

GARDENING ON CAMPUS
Here is the first of many future updates about the school’s gardens. Look to this column to feed your curiosity and knowledge about the flowers and plants of the season. If you are interested in gardening, come to school to help out or keep updated with us so that you can bridge your child’s in-school learning with projects at home. You can start your own garden, read books about the current plants, do cooking projects, start composting, or create garden journals. There are an endless number of ways to excite your child about the outdoors.
Most importantly, have fun!

GARDEN UPDATE:
• The first strawberries are ready for harvesting!
• Danvers and scarlet Nantes carrots are on their way and will keep growing for the next few weeks (our taste tests have been a huge success!).
• The second round of lettuces have been planted, they will be ready by July.
• Cherry tomatoes are ripening on the vines; they should be ready by July.
• Two inch long bush beans are peaking through the voluptuous bushes near the now green apple tree.
• Cucumbers and peppers still have a way to go.
• The corn patch near the black top is on its way. As of today, they are about four inches tall.
• The herbs around campus are thriving. Stop and try some pineapple mint or sage in the upper yard.
• Much more, just explore!
How can you get involved?
• Have a favorite fruit, flower or vegetable? Lets make room for it!
• Weed!!!
• Water.
• Plant with the children in the upcoming ornamental flower-cutting garden.
• Use shovels to till new garden space.
• If you have experience with fruit trees, you are welcome to come and prune.
• Start another indoor greenhouse.
• Ask Ms. Cheney if there is anything that needs to get picked up at the garden center.
• Take a garden tour with your child.
• Ask your teacher for ideas.
EMAIL: Maggie Cheney at Liveoakteacher@grandlakemontessori.com for any further questions.

NANNY AVAILABLE
Excellent nanny available full or part-time from June 15-July 15. Contact Valerie Brock (parent of Emily Mansell in Live Oak and Benny Mansell in Ginkgo) for more information.

BABYSITTER AVAILABLE
Samantha Aima (Mrs. Aima's daughter) is available for babysitting this summer. She is a freshman in high school and has done lots of babysitting for families of GLM. Contact Mrs. Aima at the Brown Cottage if you are interested. She is also available the summer staff prep week when school is closed.

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “ST”, as in STate, STreak, and muSTard. This will be the last Sound of the Week until the second week of school in September.

BABY SITTING AND SPANISH LESSONS
Maria Paula Vergara, GLM’s Spanish teacher, is available evenings and weekends for babysitting and/or Spanish lessons. Contact her at pvergaras@hotmail.com, or leave a message with the school office.

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔June 13 -15 – Camping trip!
✔June 25 - July 6 – Special 2-week summer program: Science, field trips & more!

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CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
Last Friday, the school enjoyed the music of Alborado. Many of the children stood up and danced and played music with them, including Angelina, Michael, and Gabriel. They had a good time.
Our class had a great trip to Lake Temescal on Tuesday! We went swimming and had a picnic lunch. The children saw some baby ducklings with their mother duck. They were very cute. Gabriel brought his arm “floaties” and used them to crawl along the shore of the beach (the water level was only up to his ankles, yet he was worried that he wouldn't be able to touch bottom). Some of the children played tag in the water with a pole for the buoys being base. Grant decided the water was too cold and convinced Gabriel to dig in the sand with him. All in all, it was a great field trip!
Our class has their last library trip of the school year this week and it will be the first library trip for many of the incoming first years. They are very excited to be getting their own library cards! The older children are anxious for them to become a part of the class.
Last week we celebrated Clare's 10th birthday! Happy Birthday Clare! We also enjoyed our last music lesson of the school year with Mr. Hoffman. The children will miss him over the summer months. Thank you for all that Mr. Hoffman has taught the children this year.

JACARANDA
We would like to say goodbye to those who are leaving the Jacaranda class this year: Leila, Olivia, Caleb, Ruby, Logan, Dylan and Jordan. We will miss everyone!
The year has been one of focus and concentration and exploration at every level. Working with young children allows one to see the environment in a fresh way every day. Every child brings his or her unique view and experience to the class, and we are happy to be a part of a way of teaching that values every child's unique experience.
Every year the children enjoy chapter books in the late spring: this year is no different, with "Charlotte's Web." and two Magic Treehouse adventures. The children who do not nap (and we would like to think that some of them who are napping!) listen with rapt attention as the pages are read aloud to the group.
The moveable alphabet has been used a lot this spring, too, as children "write" with the letters that can be picked up and used to phonetically sound out words of their own choice. The children who are learning their phonetic sounds now will be using the moveable alphabet next fall.
The children have enjoyed speaking Spanish in one on one conversations with Mr. Keating, usually simple nouns or basic verb/noun/adjective combinations. It is important to remember how they are in a sensitive period for language, and so hearing another language spoken simply and quietly can be very effective.
The Jacaranda teachers look forward to meeting the new children who will join the class next year. The summer is a relaxed time to meet new friends, and provides the stability and continuity that young children need to grow at their own pace.

JUNIPER
You're going to the school picnic on Friday, right? 5-8 p.m. at Robert's Park. The picnic is always a lot of fun. Staff and families can enjoy each other's company in a relaxed environment. We'll be there. Will you?
As the email you recently received said, please empty your child's clothing bag in Juniper by the end of next week, Friday, June 15. After that time, we will be washing the bags and any remaining items will be donated to a thrift store. If your child is attending a summer session, we ask that you restock the bag when the session begins.
The Montessori method of educating truly does work. It is a joy for us as teachers to see all of the progress that the children have made over nine short months. Children who were learning to match numbers to bead quantities at the beginning of the year have progressed to counting much larger numbers on the counting chains, and building teens and tens with beads and numerals. Children who spent all of their time pouring beans and spooning rice are now sewing, making patterned designs with beads, and building extraordinary structures on the magnet tray. Step by step, each child has built themselves up through their experiences with the prepared environment.
"Mrs. Saleem, Mrs. Saleem!" said Lucy, "Ms. Koerber gave me an injection because I wasn't feeling good." "She did? Where?" asked Mrs. Saleem. "Right here!" Lucy said, pointing at her armpit. "Oh. Do you mean she took your temperature?" "Ummmm, yeah, heh heh heh heh heh..."

LIVE OAK
We had a beautiful tea celebration on Wednesday!! We spent the first part of the week preparing for our tea party and all day Wednesday celebrating. The children who are moving on to other classes and schools made Memory Boards to present to the class at the tea party. They wrote stories about their favorite things at Grand Lake. Thank you to Diane Spiegel for being our class scribe! The children also wrote their name and made beautiful Metal Inserts to remember what they were capable of when they were five or six years old. Some of the children also had pictures of themselves while they were growing up. The whole class made candleholders for centerpieces and we arranged flowers we gathered from our garden. The children selected the menu that included pasta, cheese toast, tomatoes, carrots, and chips. The finale was home made mango and strawberry sorbet! The children enjoyed cutting the strawberries and mangos, as well as watching the machine mix the liquid into a solid. They had such a great time! The future leaders of our class (the ones who are staying) served the other children. It was picturesque. We were cleaning up all of the tables in the afternoon and decided to have a foot party. Ask your child for more details.
We cannot wait to see you on Friday at the picnic. We hope everyone is able to join us.
If anyone still is looking for volunteer hours, please email us; we have two projects you can do at home.
We would also like to thank all of the volunteers that made our year so great! You are giving your children very clear messages that school is an important place to be and we work better if we work together. Thank you, Thank you, Thank You!!!

GINKGO
On Thursday we had our annual, end of the year, Tea Party. The children had watermelon, fresh vegetables, sushi, and pasta for lunch. For dessert we had ice cream!
Thank you to all the parents who attended. Thank you to Marni Hunter for the special certificates for the whole class. It was indeed a special day.
We continue discussions with the children about how it makes others feel when you exclude a classmate from a game or activity. We talked about how it makes them feel and how they would feel if it happened to them. We use the Second Step curriculum to illustrate a story and talk about the children in the stories.
Next week is the last week of school. Hard to believe another year has come and gone.
Hope to see everyone tonight at the picnic!

MAGNOLIA
This week in the Magnolia classroom the children finished painting their clay placecard holders and sewing buttons to make napkin rings. Thank you Renee Pacheco, Charity Ellis, and Meghan O’Leary for helping us with these projects.
Our tea will be next Wednesday. We sent a note in your child's lunchbox asking your child to bring an ingredient to share in the meal. If you have any questions just let us know.
We are just about finished with “Alice in Wonderland”. Alice is in the Queen's court, where there are some missing tarts.
For Sound of the Week we had some CLippers, CLay, Clocks, and CLown shaped rice crispy treats! Thank you to the Feldstein family for the special treat.

MULBERRY
The end of the year is coming and some of the children have begun visiting their new classes. We have been talking about how they are growing and getting bigger and that when the younger children bigger they will go to the big kid classrooms, too.
Next Thursday at 10:00 we will have the end of the year pot luck for Brown Cottage families to celebrate a good year and thank our wonderful room parents and parents. Ms. Mollel stopped by and said hello to all the children Thursday. She is looking good and said the doctor told her she will have her baby any day now.
On the last day of school we ask that parents take home their child's extra clothes and nap blankets so we can thoroughly clean the building during summer prep week.
Quote of the week:
You may give them love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.
- Kahlil Gibran

CAMELLIA
The children really enjoy doing Little Chefs. They love to cut, chop, mix, and the thing they love best is tasting! So Little Chefs will continue during the summer, every Tuesday and Thursday. No need to send lunches. This week they made veggie rice, macaroni and cheese and fruit salads. Next Tuesday they will prepare veggie pasta soup with fruit salad. There will be no Little Chefs on Thursday, June 14th as we are having our end of the year potluck.
This week’s sound was "CL" and we had clocks, clips, and clown. Next week’s sound will be "ST" as in sticker, stapler, and stamp. This will be the last Sound of the Week until school resumes in September.
Reminder: Today, Friday, June 8th is the all-school picnic. Friday, the 15th is the last day of school. Also, June 18-22, school is closed for summer prep and there is no childcare.
Camellia teachers will be bagging the clothes of children who are moving on to primary classes. Please ask the teachers where you can find your child’s belonnings.
Quote of the week: THE END OF THE FIRST YEAR Once this foundation is laid, future learning for children is easier. These children have a positive self-image, and trust that the world is a wonderful place to be. They trust themselves and their ability to function in this world.
-----Judi Orion, Montessori Assistants to Infancy Teacher Trainer USA, Australia, Japan.

6/8 All-school End of Year Picnic at Robert’s Par...

2007-06-01T16:40:00.000-07:00

6/8 All-school End of Year Picnic at Robert’s Park 5 - 8 pm
6/13-6/15 Elementary camping trip!
6/15 Last day of school
6/18 – 6/22 Staff prep week – school closed, no childcare
6/18 – 6/22 Week 1 of Elementary camp

END OF YEAR PICNIC - JUNE 8th, 5 pm - 8 pm,
AT ROBERT’S PARK
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF LOCATION
We hope to see everyone at the picnic this year. It is always lots of fun. The site is on Skyline Blvd, off of Joaquin Miller Rd. (see your email for directions). Be sure to bring warm clothes as the fog can move in quickly. Please bring your own eating utensils, plates, so we can reduce waste. There is also a $5.00 per vehicle parking fee.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We have a number of children at GLM with serious allergies to nuts and nut products. PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE ANY ITEM TO SHARE THAT CONTAINS ANY NUT PRODUCTS. Thank you.

BART TICKET
A BART ticket was found on campus. Please call the office if you think it might belong to you.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL FAMILIES THAT HAVE ENROLLED FOR THE 2007/2008 SCHOOL YEAR
Dear Grand Lake Montessori Parents,

May 31, 2007 was the deadline to withdraw your child's enrollment for the 2007/2008 school-year.
If you are withdrawing your child's enrollment, you must submit a written notification to the admissions office by 5/31/07.
You will be released from your 2007/2008 Enrollment Contract and will not be held financially responsible for the tuition for the school year.
The enrollment deposit is not refundable and cannot be carried forward to another school year.
Please call me if you have any questions.
Thank You,
Nancy Haskins
Admissions/Business Office
Grand Lake Montessori
622-0259

NANNY AVAILABLE
Excellent nanny available full or part-time from June 15-July 15. Contact Valerie Brock (parent of Emily Mansell in Live Oak and Benny Mansell in Ginkgo) for more information.

BABYSITTER AVAILABLE
Samantha Aima (Mrs. Aima's daughter) is available for babysitting this summer. She is a freshman in high school and has done lots of babysitting for families at GLM. Contact Mrs. Aima at the Brown Cottage if you are interested. She is also available the summer staff prep week when school is closed.

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “CL”, as in CLatter, CLown, and CLippers.

BABY SITTING AND SPANISH LESSONS
Maria Paula Vergara, GLM’s Spanish teacher, is available evenings and weekends for babysitting and/or Spanish lessons. Contact her at pvergaras@hotmail.com, or leave a message with the school office.

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ Swimming at Lake Temescal, June 5
✔ June 13 -15 – Camping trip!
✔ Weekly Aikido class
✔ Friday sewing classes

****************************************

CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The elementary class had a wonderful Moving On Ceremony for Zachary Gamble on Tuesday! We celebrated his achievements at GLM and had a wonderful dinner following the ceremony. I am very proud of Zachary and know he will do well in middle school. We also celebrated the "moving on" of the incoming first years for next year: Claudia Lee, Serina Grinage, Camila Vorpagel, Isaiah Lenoue, Elliott Rosenberg, and Vikram Branch. Thank you
to everyone who attended.
The fifth years have been busy working on newspaper writing. They have created their own mock news articles for this week's newsletter! Please read the following to see how well they did:
Campus Gardening
by Zachary Gamble
All of the classes at Grand Lake Montessori are gardening in many different places throughout the schools campus. The Lake Park classes’ gardens are on the upper yard along with the elementary’s garden and some of the Jacaranda’s class plants are on the upper yard, too. The Brown Cottage and Juniper gardens are placed in their own yards. Some of the parents have also come to help out. Here are some of the plants that are
being grown:
Elementary- sage, thyme, tomato, chives, pineapple mint, oregano, rosemary.
Jacaranda- corn, green beans, peppers, cantaloupe, and ragula.
Juniper- carrots, tomatoes, daffodils, marigolds, daisies, linarias, spider plants, forget me nots, tulips.
Brown Cottage- bright yellow chard, sweet basil, lettuce, pak-choy.
Magnolia- sweet basil, spearmint, french tarragon, corn, sunflowers,
cucumbers, chives.
Live Oak- carrots, lettuce, sunflowers.
Ginkgo- tomatoes, chive, fennel, sunflowers.
All of the classes are working together in the gardens so that each bed has more than one class gardening it. The teachers, along with some of the students chose the plants that were being grown as well as some of the parents. The compost around the school will be used to help the plants also.
The idea of gardening came from Maria Montessori’s love for nature and some parents awhile back decided it was probably a good idea to have the children garden. Ever since the gardening started it has helped teach the children botany and how to grow plants. The gardening has probably taught the children to respect nature and the world around us as well.

SCHOOL GETS NEW GATES
by Zachary Gamble and Kennedy Watson
The company Reed Brothers built the new gate near the Brown Cottage yard at the end of April. The new gate was built because the first gate wasn’t secure enough. Now the gate is secure for the children’s safety and it even has a code. The first gate was made of wood and this new gate is made of metal.
This wasn’t the only gate that was built, though. There is also another gate that was built next to the business office. This gate was built for more security, also. The same company built the gate next to the business office as well. We have found that these gates are great for security and they also do make the school look a little better. These gates will hopefully provide not only protection for the school but also protectionfor the people/ students in the school as well.

NEW BRICKWORK
by Kennedy Watson and Zachary Gamble
On the side of the Pinewood building Mr. Washington has been busy clearing out the sheds. These sheds have now been moved to various locations around the campus. Bill, our school maintenance man has also been hard at work fixing the area as well. When the area is fully cleared there will be bricks laid down so that there can be more gardening beds built over there as well.

JACARANDA
Please take note of the change of location of the GLM End of Year Picnic to Roberts Regional Park on Skyline Blvd, Manzanita picnic area, Friday, June 8, 2007.
The Jacaranda End of Year Tea will take place on June 8, 2007. The children take this time to share with one another their plans for the next year.
• The Jacaranda classroom needs volunteers to:
• make candles
• purchase flowers
• purchase napkins
• purchase plates
• purchase cups
The Jacaranda classroom also needs volunteers to help with a Father's Day project. Any interested parents please contact one of the Jacaranda teachers.
The non-napping children have finished reading "Charlotte's Web," and have learned how Wilbur has been saved and how Charlotte has helped Wilbur in her "magnum opus," or her greatest work.
There is a sewing explosion happening in the afternoon, with buttons sewed, stitching practiced on sewing board and on fabric, and even children's own map of world embroidered on blue fabric, stuffed, and then circle stitched as a pillow!

JUNIPER
The end of the year is always a busy time for children and adults alike. Despite this, we encourage the parents of all Juniper children who will be moving on to a new school to make a little time to come into the class and celebrate their time here. We've had three celebrations so far, and a few more are scheduled for next week. If you have not signed-up for a time yet (on the calendar by the main door), please do so. It's very helpful and meaningful for young children to make the goodbye process concrete and explicit. If you have any questions, please see Ms. Koerber or Mr. Hennigan.
The elementary children just finished a project researching and reporting on the trees that are the namesakes of each of the classrooms here at GLM. Nacalah created a report on the Juniper tree and came to our class to share what she had created with small groups of children. They learned that Juniper trees are evergreens that can grow as tall as 40 meters, that they are important habitat for many insects and animals, and that they played a very important role in sustaining the life of prehistoric people. Thank you, Nacalah!
Don't miss the end of the year picnic on Friday, June 8! This is a great opportunity for parents, children, and teachers to enjoy each other's company in a relaxed outdoor environment. Plus, there's always plenty of good food and good drinks. Be there!
Look for announcements over the next two weeks about end of the year logistics like emptying clothing bags, cleaning out cubbies and parent pockets, and other housekeeping details.

LIVE OAK
This was a fantastic and busy week!! The children are all feeling lots of emotions about the end of the year, and all of the changes their lives are experiencing.
We just saw an amazing musical group, “Alborada”. This is a Mexican Folk Music group that got us all dancing and singing and learning all kinds of words for instruments. Many of the children have a very strong Latin Groove!! Many children also learned how to play the large drum called the bombo, a large wooden cylinder covered on one end with a cow hide, complete with fur.
Ms. Spiegel has been helping all week with the children, writing their stories and helping them prepare their Grand Lake Memory Boards. We have also been deciding on our menu for our tea next Wednesday, June 6. The children are invited to wear their fancy clothes to the tea and bring clothes to change into (we will be eating pasta with sauce.) The children will be preparing their whole meal on Monday and Tuesday. Have a great weekend. We look forward to seeing you at the year-end picnic next Friday!!

GINKGO
The Ginkgo class has been reading poems throughout the year. Poems are an important extension and expression of language. The thoughtful and careful words used in poems create images, rhymes, and rhythms. One of the children’s favorite poems is called Children, Children Everywhere by Jack Prelutsky. This has become a classroom favorite since the children act out the action words expressed in the poem. This not only actively engages the children in the poem but it also indirectly teaching them verbs as ‘doing words’.
Children, children everywhere,
children dark and children fair,
children of all shapes and sizes,
children springing odd surprises,
children chasing, running races,
children laughing, making faces
children cooking mud for dinner,
children, every one a winner.
Children jumping, children wiggling,
children grumping, children giggling,
children singing, sneezing, weeping,
children sometimes even sleeping,
children giving children hugs,
children chewing worms and bugs,
children in their parents’ hair,
children, children everywhere.

MAGNOLIA
The Magnolia children have gone map crazy! Many of the children have been busy making continent hemisphere maps. This is usually a two-day process in which the child colors and cuts out each continent glues and then labels them on the appropriate hemisphere.
Thank you to Renee Pacheco, Winston's mom, for helping us make our place card holders for our tea. They are made of clay and once they dry we will paint them.
For sound of the week (SL), Ethan brought in a SLug shaped cake! Thank you, Feldstein family, for all the wonderful, tasty creations for Sound of the Week all year! Other items included a slinky and a slide.
We continue to read “Alice In Wonderland” in the afternoon. We are almost to the part where they have the very un-birthday tea party.

MULBERRY
HELP ME TO DO IT MYSELF! - This week I started the newsletter with the quote of the week because this is so important and the motto of the toddler house. There are so many ways you can help your child do for themselves. One of the things we are working on at school is helping the children put on their own cloths: Pulling up and down their own pants, putting on their shoes and putting on their own jackets. At this age children often need support by showing, and by you being present to give encouraging words or an extra finger if they get stuck.
During Little Chefs the children are cutting, spreading, grating, scooping, mixing and cleaning. Tuesday the children made mini pizzas and fruit salad with Mr. Tien. Thursday the children made burritos and a melon salad with Mrs. Aima. Making their own lunch gives the children such a sense of independence and pride!
Be sure to join us next Friday for the end of year picnic at Robert’s Park. It’s always a great event, with everyone relaxing and socializing.

CAMELLIA
We hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend off.
We started off the week with Little Chefs making mini English muffin pizzas and a fruit salad. On Thursday they prepared black bean, rice, and cheese burritos. Next week menu will be mac and cheese and veggie rice along with fruit salad.
This week sound was "SL" and we had lots of slippers, slingshot, and slide. Next week will be "CL" as in Clock, Closet, and Closed.
Marked your calendar: Friday, June 8th, is the end of the school picnic at Lake Temescal. Please come and join us. There's going to be lots of wonderful foods, drinks, and tons of fun. Don't miss it. Be sure to stop by at the grill and try Mr. Tien’s wonderful and delicious oysters on the grill!
And Friday, June 15 is the last day of school!
Quote of the week: Research has shown that the extent and quality of care the mother provides the child are strongly conditioned by the way they spend their time together during the first days after birth. -----Silvana Montanaro , M.D.----

5/28 Memorial Day – School closed, no childcare 6...

2007-05-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

5/28 Memorial Day – School closed, no childcare
6/1 All-school assembly 3 pm – Alborada music group
6/8 All-school End of Year Picnic at Lake Temescal 5 pm
6/13 Core meeting 5 pm
6/13-6/15 Elementary camping trip!
6/15 Last day of school
6/18 – 6/22 Staff prep week – school closed, no childcare
6/18 – 6/22 Week 1 of Elementary camp

WINE & CHEESE THANK YOUS
Thank you to all who attended and volunteered at this year's event. We hope you had a good time!
There are many people who made this year's event the most successful ever!! Thank you to all the volunteers (seen and unseen) who worked on any and every aspect of this year's event - from class projects to errands to working the day of the event.
I've tried to remember everyone who gave of their time for this event. If there's someone missing, please let us know, so we can thank you properly!!
First, a special thanks to the Chapman/Hsu family and the Spiegel family for their significant cash donations. The Spiegels not only hosted our event at Sequoyah Country Club, but also helped underwrite a portion of the food costs, so we could keep the ticket price reasonable -- THANK YOU!
Next, this event could not and would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of the executive committee - these amazing individuals have worked on this event since the beginning of the school year, and donated not only their time, but resources as well.
A very special thanks goes to Maya Chorengal, Marla Erojo, Cathy Greenblatt, Celeste Grinage, Marni Hunter, Sarah Lenoue, Laura Lorenz, Diane Spiegel, Lynne Wardell and Corey Weinstein.
We also need to give a special thanks to our GLM winery families – Ted & Kristen Talley (Terra Firma Wine Company) and Arpad Molnar and Maya Chorengal (Molnar Family). Their generosity in both their time and resources make this event possible.
And to all the volunteers - MANY, MANY THANKS!!
Lande Ajose, Rob Anderson, John Campbell, Helen Campbell, Moira Chapman, Bernadette Chi, Maya Chorengal, Ann Chun, Sonia Chun, Alice Clifford, Rupa Datta-Nemana, Crossley Dellis, Anne Dowley, Marla Erojo, Carl Goldberg, Sarah Goldberg, Cathy Greenblatt, Celeste Grinage, David Hardtke, Malinda Hardtke, Marianna Harris, Nancy Haskins, Danielle Hayes, Penny Holbrook, Beverly Hudson, D-B Hudson, John Hunter, Marni Hunter, Tana Johnson, Tammi Keating, Sandra Klein, Jennifer Kopec, Chris Kuesel, Sarah Lenou, Koko Lin, Laura Lorenz, Lisa Maliphol, Arpad Molnar, Tish Moore, Scott Morgan. Rachel Neumann, David Nixon, Jennifer Pahlka, Renee Pacheco, Linda Pearson, Joanna Pugliese, Bindoo Rellan, Kelly Klopp Richmond, Jim Riley, Ondrea Riley, Avrum Spiegel, Diane Spiegel, Kristen Talley, Ted Talley, Andrew Tilin, Rebecca Verity, Lynne Wardell, Corey Weinstein,
Joanne Yoshimura, & Mr. Washington
GLM Teachers (can you list them all for me?)
Mary Aima, Vanessa Carter, Maggie Cheney, Awa Dia, Joyce Edington, Tania Gilliam, Erin Hennigan, Francisca Hernandez, Anne Jeronimus, Andy Keating, Birtukan Kebede, Leta Koerber, Velda Lalu, Sidney Leck, Monica Mac Donald, Elaine Mezzio, Grace Mollel, Micaela Olivares, Faye Owens, Shahida Saleem, Victorina Santiago, Daisy Shah, Danny Tien, Carol Vaasili, Maria-Paula Vergara, & Su-Wen Yang.
And last, but not least, an enormous thank you to Heidi Hudson (who was mysteriously missing from the above…). The entire GLM community is grateful to you for all you’ve done.

BART TICKET
A viable BART ticket was found on campus. Please call the office if you think it might belong to you.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL FAMILIES THAT HAVE ENROLLED FOR THE 2007/2008 SCHOOL YEAR
Dear Grand Lake Montessori Parents,

May 31, 2007 is the deadline to withdraw your child's enrollment for the 2007/2008 school-year.
If you are withdrawing your child's enrollment, you must submit a written notification to the admissions office by 5/31/07.
You will be released from your 2007/2008 Enrollment Contract and will not be held financially responsible for the tuition for the school year.
The enrollment deposit is not refundable and cannot be carried forward to another school year.
Please call me if you have any questions.
Thank You,
Nancy Haskins
Admissions/Business Office
Grand Lake Montessori
622-0259

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “SL”, as in SLed, MusSLe and SLant.

SUMMER IDEAS FOR ALL AGES
Getting ready for summer? Here are some great ideas to do with your children.
One year olds: sing, read, listen, watch, explore the house or yard together, play, snuggle a lot.
Two and three year olds: create a shelf in the kitchen and living room for the children with real tools to use. Teach children to pour their own water or prepare their own sandwich. Do flower arranging, mopping, sweeping, etc. In the laundry room let your child fold, put wet clothes into the dryer. In the bedroom allow the child to hang up own clothes and fold clothes for the drawers. The most important thing to remember is that your children do not do these things for practical purposes but for mastery of movement. Repetition and concentration are the goals for us: this is where the brain develops from.
Three to six year olds: Listening walks, sniffing walks, feeling walks, tasting walks….let your imagination roam. Experience the natural world as much as possible. Take your children to concerts in the park, festivals. Watch the stars, listen to night sounds, play flashlight tag. Garden, woodwork. Name every flower on your street. Teach new physical skills like biking, swimming, roller skating. Start a collection and classify.
Six to Twelve year olds: It’s all about exploring the universe now. Children this age love to connect with us by doing things with us. Knit, crochet, spin, weave. Build a fence or a doghouse. Learn photography together. Make a video movie together. Practice musical instruments together. Schedule a weekly trip to the library. Visit bookstores for exploration. Begin a family newsletter. Practice telling stories. Have family reading time. Begin a family journal. Have your child do comparison shopping at various stores for certain items. Measure things around the house. Have your child help with the family budget, a family outing. Explore a new country by video. Community service. Cook together.
Really? Just enjoy them, squeeze them and love them every minute.

BABY SITTING AND SPANISH LESSONS
Maria Paula Vergara, GLM’s Spanish teacher, is available evenings and weekends for babysitting and/or Spanish lessons. Contact her at pvergaras@hotmail.com, or leave a message with the school office.

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔May 30th MOCHA field trip for all new and current students
✔June 5th, Aerospace museum in Oakland
✔June 8th, all day at Lake Temescal
✔June 13 -15 – Camping trip!
✔ Weekly Aikido class
✔ Friday sewing classes
✔ Monthly library trips

************************************

CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The elementary children have been really busy with their Stanford 9 testing this week. They are all doing very well. We do 2 tests a day with a break in between the tests. The first years have been making some delicious snacks for the older children...scones, corn bread, buttermilk biscuits, banana bread, etc.
The lower elementary has been busy studying African staffs. They have been collecting large paper rolls so that they can make their own staffs this week. Some of the paper rolls are bigger than they are!
The fourth years this week are completing their research on various weather patterns. They are researching things like Tsunamis and tornadoes. They are getting very good at doing research and their end projects are typed with beautiful covers and illustrations.
The fifth years are busy studying the Civil War. They are learning about the events that proceeded the war as well.
The children have been going through the cubbies at school and organizing what projects they need to finish before the end of the school year. They also are choosing 3-4 items to stay in their permanent file here at school. When they move onto another school they then take a portfolio of things they have worked on for the past few years home in a binder.

JACARANDA
During the warm weather, the Jacaranda class unrolls the large rugs on the deck, sets up tables, and opens the door, inviting the children to do work on the deck. The children do the same work on the tables that they do inside, and unroll work rugs on the deck just as they do inside. This is another way we can give the children "freedom with limits" in and out of the classroom.
Besides counting and naming colors, Mr. Keating speaks Spanish in one on one conversations. "La agua esta listo," to the child who is waiting for the hot water for the tea work. "La agua es caliente." The water is ready. The water is hot.
When the children are reading "Charlotte's Web" in the afternoon, Ms. Leck reads that there are 514 eggs in Charlotte's egg sac. A child is invited to make the number using the symbols, so they put the number "500," "10," and "4" together to make 514. Then another child makes the number with the golden beads: five one hundred squares, one ten bar and four units. They are not abstract yet, and need to see, touch and count the actual quantity to understand "514".
Put the Grand Lake Montessori End of Year school picnic on your calendar: Friday, June 8, 2007, at Lake Temescal in north Oakland. Welcome, all, to this fun potluck gathering where the children run and play and the adults socialize together.
The Jacaranda garden grows: the hollyhock buds begin to open, and the children mimic the unfurling with their hands. The corn grows taller everyday, the strawberries grow bushier in the sun and ample water as the children and the garden grow together.

JUNIPER
The end of the school year is nearly upon us. We would like to remind all parents of children who will be leaving Juniper at the end of the year that you are invited to have a moving on celebration (something like a birthday party) for your child. Please sign-up for a day during the last day of May or the first day of June. There are not many days open still, so sign-up soon before they're all gone! Talk to Ms. Koerber or Mr. Hennigan for more details.
The end of the year picnic is only days away. Please plan to attend the annual event on June 8. There are always lots people, tons of food, good drinks, and plenty of fun to be had for everyone. Don't miss it!
Warm weather means more time outside and less clothes covering tender skin. Be sure to apply sunscreen to your child's exposed skin every morning before coming to school. This is a great opportunity to teach your child how to apply sunscreen and to help on their way to independence.

LIVE OAK
Live Oak had a special treat this week. Ms. Branch (Vikram’s mother) came to our class to teach us more about India. She brought pictures of her family and friends including the class favorite of a man and a goat in a car. She read stories about the Prime Minister and an adult who acts like a child when the Prime Minister thought it was easy to pacify a child. Kaya taught the class that the Prime Minister was the person who told the King what to do. We each received a kumkum (bindi). For the grand finale, many children dressed up in sari (girls) and dhoti (boys). Thank you!
We are nearing the end of the school year. The children who are moving out of the classroom will be working on a timeline project all week next week. Each child will need pictures of their birth, and each year thereafter. Five year olds would have six pictures. Please send these to school in an envelope with the child’s name and age written on the back of each picture. If any child is planning on leaving for the summer before June 15, please email the teachers. We will also need parent volunteers to compile this project. We had salad made from the lettuce in our garden for lunch on Thursday. Even the children appreciate eating food they have grown themselves
Many children are enjoying a board game at the end of the morning called the Safari Game. This combines many skills they have learned, including reading, geography, animal recognition, knowledge of habitats and a great deal of cooperation and patience.
Have a great Memorial Day!!

GINKGO
Our children are fascinated with what they call floods. Floods are any liquids that flow down an incline. This fascination began with them watching water flow down from the drinking fountain. However, it gradually manifested to the children deliberately spilling their lunch drinks onto the cement. Seeing that this is a need from the children, we conducted a science experiment of creating floods in a controlled manner on the driveway. We created the hypothesis that the measuring utensil with the most amount of water will create the longest flood, whereas the shortest flood will be created by the least amount of water. After conducting our three separate tests we were able to conclude from our observations that the first part of our hypothesis was correct and the second part was invalid. The children also discovered that a small amount of water did not make a skinny line but a fat puddle.
We are having our Tea Party on Thursday, June 7th. This is a Ginkgo class event. We are honoring the children who will be moving on. This is a day when the children may dress up. We will start the preparation early in the week. You will be hearing more information as we get closer to the date.

MAGNOLIA
We have been busy this week getting ready for our end of the year tea party. Thank you to Katie Anderson and her parents for coming to help us make place mats. Each child made a hand woven mat.
We are doing a couple of art projects a week leading up to the tea, which will be on Wednesday, June 13th. We have plenty of volunteer opportunities to help with these projects. If you are interested in crafting, sewing or cooking with the children please let us know.
This week with Mr. Hoffmann the children sang many of their favorite songs, in particular “La Bamba” and ”Rock Island Line”. These songs have become Magnolia classics!
We have had some really warm weather lately. During these sunny days the children spend a lot of time outdoors working and playing in the garden. Please make sure to apply sunscreen to your child in the morning. It is best to apply sunscreen before your child gets dressed, so that the entire body is protected. Don’t forget the tops of the ears and the back of the neck. Please make sure your child has a full change of clothes, as well. Certain staff members really enjoy turning the hose on the children – especially the children that shout, “Don’t squirt me! Don’t squirt me!”, while running right into the stream of water.

MULBERRY
The Mulberry class has spent most of their time outside this week enjoying the warm weather. Mr. Wyon has been gardening with the toddlers. The children enjoy watering the vegetables, strawberries and flowers. Wednesday a group of toddlers picked lettuce with Mr. Wyon and were shown how to wash the lettuce.
On Thursday the children made a green salad with cut up strawberries for lunch. They also grated cheese and made Macaroni. Tuesday the children made zucchini pasta and fruit salad for lunch.
With the hot weather here the children have been playing in the wading pool and sprinkler. Please make sure your child has extra clothes at school in case they get wet. Ms. Mollel's baby shower was very nice. She was very touched by everyone’s generosity. Thank you to all who helped out.
Song of the week:
Choo choo the big train is coming down the track.
Choo choo the big train is coming down the track.
Stop, look and listen. Stop, look and listen.
Choo choo the big train is coming down the track.
Quote of the week: " We must help the children to act for himself, to will for himself, think for himself, this is the act of those who aspire to serve the spirit of the child."- Maria Montessori

CAMELLIA
This week the Little Chefs made bowtie pasta with zucchini and a healthy fruity salad. On Thursday they made old-fashioned macaroni and cheese, plus a green salad from our garden with fresh lettuce and baby bok choy. Next week they will prepare mini English muffin pizzas, rice, bean, and cheese burritos and fruit salads.
This week’s sound was "SC" and we had scarf, screws, scoop, and scallion. Next week’s sound will be "SL" as in slow, slippery, and sleepy.
Reminder: If your child is not coming to school or is going to be late, please call the office. Also, when you pick up your child make sure to get their lunchboxes. We don't want to invite ants for dinner.
Book of the week: “I Love You, Stinky Face”, written by Lisa McCourt and illustrated by Cyd Moore.
Quote of the week: Family Life
All the activities connected with looking after yourself and your surroundings, such as getting dressed, preparing food, laying the table, wiping the floor, clearing dishes, doing the dusting, etc., are activities belonging to what Dr. Montessori called "Practical Life," and are precisely the tasks that adults like least. But, between the ages of one and four years, children love these jobs and are delighted to be called on to participate in them.
Dr. Silvana Montanaro

5/19 Opera & GLM Work Party – Time 9 – 2 (BBQ 1 -...

2007-05-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

5/19 Opera & GLM Work Party – Time 9 – 2 (BBQ 1 -2)
5/28 Memorial Day – School closed, no childcare
6/1 All-school assembly 3 pm – Alborada music group
6/8 All-school End of Year Picnic at Lake Temescal 5 pm
6/13 Core meeting 5 pm
6/13-6/15 Elementary camping trip!
6/15 Last day of school
6/18 – 6/22 Staff prep week – school closed, no childcare
6/18 – 6/22 Week 1 of Elementary camp

AUCTION THANK YOUS
We wish to thank all the parents, family members and staff who helped make this Auction the most successful to date! A fantastic turn out, wonderful food, delicious wine, and frantic bidding all made for a wonderful evening. Be sure to read next week’s newsletter for detailed thank yous and final numbers.

THANK YOU TO BILL WRIGHT
You no doubt have noticed all the projects and improvements around campus, and we’d like to thank our wonderful handyman, Bill Wright, for all the work he has been doing. He ‘s repaired gates, installed lockers, built benches, put together tricycles, assembled play structures, mended fences, done plumbing, switched light fixtures, built storage units, and painted, just to name a few.

THE MONTESSORI CORNER
One hundred years ago Dr. Montessori did not anticipate the advent of computers or the internet though she was certainly attuned to technological development and the impact it had on culture. Montessori schools do not introduce a child to the computer until the child is around 7 years old, not because we are technophobes but because your child learns best through experience in the concrete, tactile reality of the three-dimensional world and not that of the two-dimensional simulation of an electronic virtual reality. Consider the child’s experience of the cube. Does one learn more by seeing a flat screen image of a cube (actually a two dimensional hexagon) or by lifting a polished wooden block that is 10 cm on a side and weighs 50 grams? After observing the way young children learn, Dr. Montessori told us, “Never give more to the mind than you give to the hand.”

NEW BROWN COTTAGE TEACHER
Please welcome Mario Wyon to GLM and the Brown Cottage. He has been helping us out and recently accepted an assistant teacher position in the Mulberry class.
Mr. Wyon grew up in Cambridge MA, the only child with his mom. His dad lives in El Salvador and consequently he traveled often to visit him and his family. Mr. Wyon has traveled across much of the world including El Salvador, Nicaragua, England, India, and now California! He studied Early Childhood Education at Cabrillo College in Aptos, and recently graduated from UCSC with a degree in Community Studies. His path in justice work has brought him to teaching and he believes peace education and anti-bias work with young children is important for laying the foundation to a safer and more just world. Mr. Wyon will be using Spanish in the classroom to enrich the language development curriculum. He enjoys being active in his community.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL FAMILIES THAT HAVE ENROLLED FOR THE 2007/2008 SCHOOL YEAR
Dear Grand Lake Montessori Parents,

May 31, 2007 is the deadline to withdraw your child's enrollment for the 2007/2008 school-year.
If you are withdrawing your child's enrollment, you must submit a written notification to the admissions office by 5/31/07.
You will be released from your 2007/2008 Enrollment Contract and will not be held financially responsible for the tuition for the school year.
The enrollment deposit is not refundable and cannot be carried forward to another school year.
Please call me if you have any questions.
Thank You,
Nancy Haskins
Admissions/Business Office
Grand Lake Montessori
622-0259

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “SC“ as in SCone, SCar, and SCoundrel.

BABY SITTING AND SPANISH LESSONS
Maria Paula Vergara, GLM’s Spanish teacher, is available evenings and weekends for babysitting and/or Spanish lessons. Contact her at pvergaras@hotmail.com, or leave a message with the school office.

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ May 30th MOCHA field trip for all new and current students
✔ June 5th, Aerospace museum in Oakland
✔ June 8th, all day at Lake Temescal
✔ June 13 -15 – Camping trip!
✔ Weekly Aikido class
✔ Friday sewing classes
✔ Monthly library trips

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CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The first years went on a field trip this week to buy some edible roots for their types of roots lesson. They needed to go and buy a fusiform root (turnips), tuberous root (yams), swollen root (carrot), and napiform (radish) root. I showed them examples of non-edible roots as well...pillar roots, aerial roots, and prop roots. We then washed and cut up our napiform and swollen roots and placed them on a tray. We baked our yams, added cinnamon and sugar, and mashed them. We boiled, added a little salt and butter to our turnips. Camille also brought in a beet plant for us to taste (from her garden, the beet plant was bigger than she is). In the afternoon we had a tasting feast. Yes, everyone tried the vegetables! A few children really liked the beets and radishes. However, a majority of the children really liked the yams...even Gabriel who always starts off by saying, "I know by looking at it that I don't like it but I know I have to taste it!" He actually had seconds on the yams!
The third-fifth years did a great job on their practice testing this week! We had practice testing for 2 days and beginning next week we will be having the actual tests.
Our strawberry plants are beginning to have mini fruits on them! The children are so excited. We were concerned that we wouldn't be able to enjoy the strawberries before it was time for summer vacation.
The fifth years have been focusing on ocean currents. We studied the different paths that ocean currents take and how ocean currents travel in paths similar to those of the winds. We did some experiments with our own mini oceans (tubs of water), ocean debris (straw and sawdust shavings), and islands (rocks). We then used straws to blow on our oceans to create different currents.
The fourth years are learning about the history of the Sioux Peace Pipe this week. They also learned about the Sioux warrior medicine shield. They are focusing on making their own warrior shields and must come up with an animal which they think is similar to them.

JACARANDA
Thank you to those parents who have responded regarding the end of year celebrations if your child is leaving the classroom at the end of this school year.
The children continue to care for the plants in the gardens: the corn, the flowers, as well as the other plants in the gardens that have been grown from seed. Thank you for those families who have brought fresh cut flowers from home to be put into a vase with water in the classroom.
This is a rewarding time of the year for the adults in the environment. We get to observe the children who have been receiving careful lessons move on to mastery.
The older children in the afternoon have continued reading Charlotte's Web, following Wilbur and the complex interactions between the farm animals and the humans. The author, E.B. White, writes convincingly of the relationships and internal dialogues of the characters in the story. The children sit quietly and listen for a chapter or two in the afternoon.
Every other Friday, the children from Jacaranda who do not nap prepare and bake fresh bread: collecting, measuring, pouring, mixing, adding fruit, then baking. The children know the ingredients well enough to remind Mr. Keating when he forgets one, which sometimes, without a recipe book, he does!

JUNIPER
We've been doing some gardening this week with the children. We planted strawberries (which you can see near the front gate) and many flower bulbs. The children enjoyed getting their hands dirty, seeing all of the parts of the plants (roots, leaves, stems, etc.), and the anticipation of eating strawberries that they planted themselves.
Busy morning work periods are the m.o. this time of year. Sometimes quietly focused, sometimes noisily engaged with their friends, the children are finding lots to do. They've recently been working with the bank game (using quantities and numerals into the thousands), preparing snack and other foods, composing words with the movable alphabet, and also having many lessons in Chinese.
We encourage parents of children who will be moving on to other schools next year to sign up on the calendar to do a moving-on celebration (dates are available during the last week of May and the first week of June). Along the lines of a birthday celebration (but less formalized), this is your child's (and your!) chance to recognize the amazing growth they've experienced during their time here, share something special with the class (a snack, story, song, pictures... anything!), and prepare themselves and the class for their inevitable departure. It's important with young children to make explicit the processes of leaving and saying goodbye, so please take advantage of this!
The auction was a blast! Thank you to all of the parents who worked so hard to make it a success and to everyone who attended (also making it a success!). It is such a wonderful event, a great opportunity for parents and teachers to socialize in an adult atmosphere and to enjoy each other's company. Thank you!

LIVE OAK
We had a great week with all of the Live Oak Teachers back. Ms. Hyer is feeling much better. It brings us great joy to have her back.
With the end of the year coming soon we are experiencing the many emotions of both moving on and welcoming children. We are currently teaching two children from Brown Cottage our favorite works and routines to prepare them for this summer and their first year in the class. At the same time, we have many children that will be leaving our class, and are experiencing their own anxieties and stresses about their new schools. We talk daily about this transition and hope to ease this big change in their lives.
We enjoyed taking care of our classroom on Friday by sanding our new table from Will and his family, polishing our wooden screen, and wiping down the entire room! Everything is sparklingly clean!
We also did a great cooking project, an oatmeal, banana, apple bake for the afternoon.
On Thursday some children in the class helped make big signs for the family and community work day this Saturday. The children made some fantastic drawings.
As always, we are speaking Spanish, French, and English with them everyday. It is amazing how much they have learned since the beginning of the year!

GINKGO
This week Ms. McClindon has been exploring the solar system with the children. They have discussed the various solids, liquids, and gases that make up the planets and atmospheres. During their discussion, Ben Morgan was very excited to share the molecular structure of water as H2O.
As a complimentary sensorial activity to piggyback on this discussion, we have a new material where the children sort between various solid and liquid materials. Some of these materials include hand soap, food coloring, cornstarch, and sequins. Parents can extend this exercise at home by classifying with your child/ren solids and liquids used in your daily life.
We have also been talking with the children about conservation. We have discussed the need and importance of conserving our resources such as water, food, and paper.
Although Earth Day has passed, it has been lots of fun having the huge continent map on the bike yard. Our children have been collecting painted pebbles and telling each other what continent they are from based on the color. We also enjoyed learning the different oceans by swimming in the Pacific, doggy paddling in the Atlantic, freezing in the Artic, and floating in the Indian Ocean.
Earth Day and the Wine and Cheese Auction came and went with great fun and success. We want to thank all the parents who participated in these events. The beautiful group project will soon be permanently displayed in our classroom. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

MAGNOLIA
This week in Magnolia the afternoon class has begun reading the chapter book, "Alice in Wonderland". We expect to finish the book by the end of the school year.
Also at the end of the school year, we will be holding a Magnolia "End of the Year” tea party. During this event the children and Ms. Olivares will discuss their future plans and celebrate the end of a wonderful school year.
This week we've begun several sewing projects that will be used during the tea party. A big thank you to Deirdre Abrons for helping with our Father’s Day surprise.
Thanks to all the children who brought in something interesting for sound of the week. We had a spider, spatula, spaghetti and even a sprinkler! We also had wonderful spider web cookies with miniature chocolate spiders on top! Many thanks to Ethan’s mom, Stella Castillo, for this surprise.
If you would like to volunteer for any of the preparations for our tea party please contact Ms. Olivares - there are plenty of opportunities left.

MULBERRY
The children have been enjoying watering their gardens. They have been tasting the strawberries from the garden and next week the Little Chefs will be make a green salad with lettuce from their gardens.
Summer is here. We have been doing a lot of water play. If your child has shoes for the water please bring them in. Also, quite a few children have been wearing sun hats, which is an excellent idea, but please label them with your child’s name.
On Tuesday we held our transition meeting for children who will be moving, at some point in the not so far future, to primary classes. We encourage any of you who have questions concerning your child's transition to talk to their future primary teacher.
Song of the week:
Sunflower, sunflower yellow and round,
You are the prettiest flower I found.
Tall, thin, full of grace,
I love the light in your bright, shiny face.
Quote of the week: The child's reasons for, and methods of working, are different from ours. We adults will usually choose to carry out a task in the most efficient and quickest way. A child, on the other hand, is working to master the activity and to practice and perfect her abilities. She may scrub a table for hours, but only when she feels the urge. She may sweep the floor every morning for two weeks and not again for a month- because she will be occupied with mastering something else. If we expected her to be carrying out every new activity every day, there would be no time to sleep.

CAMELLIA
We hope everyone had a wonderful time at the Wine and Cheese Auction. It was a terrific event with a great turnout of people!
This week Little Chefs prepared veggie pasta soup with celery, bell peppers and carrots and fruit yogurt. They cut celery, bell pepper, and carrots. On Thursday they made we veggie rice with a juicy fruit salad. Next week’s menu will include everyone’s favorites: bow tie pasta along with fruit salad, and old fashioned mac-n-cheese and a fresh green salad from our garden (baby bok choy and lettuce). The children enjoy the garden and water it every day.
This week’s sound was "SP" and we had Spoons, Sponge, and Spaghetti. Next week’s sound will be "SC" Scale, Scarf, and Scoop. Please continue to encourage your child to bring something in to share with the class.
Reminder: if you know your child has an appointment and will be late, please let the office know. Thank you.
If you‘d like to come in to bake, read, or do a craft feel free to let Mr. Tien know. Parents and projects are always welcome in the classroom.
Book of the week, the classic and unforgettable, "Where The Wild Things Are". Story and pictures by Maurice Sendak.
Quote of the week: If men had only used speech to communicate their thoughts, if their wisdom had been expressed in words alone, no traces would remain of past generations. It is thanks to the hand, the companion of the mind, that civilization has arisen. The hand has been the organ of this great gift that we inherit. ---Dr. Maria Montessori

5/12 Auction & Wine & Cheese tasting 3 – 8 pm 5...

2007-05-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

5/12 Auction & Wine & Cheese tasting 3 – 8 pm
5/14 Reception to Welcome new Magnolia Teachers 4 – 6 pm
5/15 Transition Meeting 5 – 6 pm
5/19 Opera & GLM Work Party – Time TBA

AUCTION UPDATE
There are a limited number of auction tickets available at the door. If you wish to attend, or need to add another guest, please contact Heidi Hudson at hudsonlaw@mac.com.
A reminder: While this is a relaxed event, the Sequoia Country Club asks that participants not wear jeans, t-shirts, tennis shoes or jogging outfits.
Thank you to all the parents who have purchased tickets and made donations of items, time, and/or money. We appreciate your contributions to GLM and look forward to seeing you at the auction. Don’t forget to go to the GLM website next week to view auction photos!

RECEPTION FOR NEW MAGNOLIA TEACHERS
GLM cordially invites you to a reception to meet the new Magnolia teachers, Corinne Stastny and Carol Vaasili, on Monday, May 14th, from 4 – 6 pm. Please join us in the Arbor for refreshments. Children welcome! RSVP to the office 510-836-4313.

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “SP”, as in SPider, SPrinkler, and SPruce.

NEXT TUFF TUMBLER CLASSES
The new Tuff Tumbler classes begin next week. Please check the lists on the clipboards to see when your child is signed-up. All but the Friday @ 3:40 pm class are full.

BABYSITTER STILL AVAILABLE
Hi, my name is Talia Bazan. I am 16 years old and have been interning in the Camellia classroom with Ms. Aima, Ms. Mollel and Ms. Kebede since September 2006. I help the teachers with the toddlers all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I really enjoy my time and have a strong passion for the children. I love the kids at Grand Lake Montessori and was wondering if any parents need a babysitter on the weekends. I have experience working with infants through grade school-aged children. You can contact me at metwestaliab@yahoo.com.
I hope to hear from you!
References: Mary Aima (GLM toddler head teacher: 510-836-4313)
Dana Rosenberg (parent of Ginkgo child): drmardi@sbcglobal.net

BABY SITTING AND SPANISH LESSONS
Maria Paula Vergara, GLM’s Spanish teacher, is available evenings and weekends for babysitting and/or Spanish lessons. Contact her at pvergaras@hotmail.com, or leave a message with the school office.

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔May 18th, Angel Island
✔May 30th MOCHA field trip for all new and current students
✔June 5th, Aerospace museum in Oakland
✔June 8th, all day at Lake Temescal
✔June 13 -15 – Camping trip!
✔ Weekly Aikido class
✔ Friday sewing classes
✔ Monthly library trips

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CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The children have had a fantastic week! We have been very busy completing our auction projects and preparing for the Earth Day celebration. All of the children really liked our dishes that we made for Earth Day; they were Luku and Fufu. The Luku was an Ethiopian dish which contains: onions, garlic, chicken, cumin, paprika, pepper, tomato paste, water and salt (hard boiled eggs are optional). This dish is served in Ethiopia during celebrations since chicken is very expensive. The Fufu is more of an everyday dish and is usually eaten with soups and stews. It contained cream of wheat, butter, salt, instant mashed potatoes, and water. Kennedy said, "Mrs. Gillliam, we have to make that chicken Luku again, it was really good!" Even the children who are my "safe" eaters really enjoyed the food. So, we have decided to have an African lunch in our class next week! We will experiment and make Luku with Tofu for our non-meat eating children.
We also started our practice Stanford 9 testing this week while the first years joined the 5 years olds from primary to see a show entitled, "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie". The teachers who attended the field trip were Ms. Koerber, Mr. Keating, Ms. Cheney, and Ms. Olivares. Thank you to all of the parents who got their children to school on time! It was very helpful and the trip went very smoothly!
This week Angelina, Michael, and Grant did some gardening around campus with the assistance of Ms. Cheney. They planted multiple tomato plants.
The after-care art class made some wonderful collages from items that are found in nature. The collages had leaves, dirt, flowers, and even items that were not from nature but which they found on the ground around campus...a pen, a pencil, paper, etc. They were beautiful and two of them are currently hanging up in our classroom.
The lower elementary children have been busy writing their own Anansi stories. They were divided into teams of 2 to write the stories. We have read several Anansi stories out loud and even read the book Spider Stories. They are having a lot of fun expressing their own creativity with such a unique character.

JACARANDA
Thank you for supporting your children's experience during the GLM Earth Day celebration on Wednesday. The Jacaranda class performed their South American dance beautifully, as though they had been practicing for far more than the most recent two and a half weeks! After the gathering, when the classes shared the culture from their respective continents, the children walked around the yards and were able to eat foods and to make crafts from the different continents.
See the Jacaranda auction project on the classroom walls before it is too late! And before someone has bid on and has won your child's hand-printed textile at the auction on Saturday...
Thank you to the parent volunteers these past weeks who have helped with various projects: Leila's dad for Mother's Day, Leila's mom for the candid shots of each child in the environment, framed by Christopher's parents; Luna's parents for the auction project textile.
The non-napping children have been reading "Charlotte's Web" in the afternoons, following Charlotte, Fern and others as they try to save Wilbur.
The Jacaranda five and six year olds joined others from around the primary classrooms on a field trip to "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" at the Scottish Rite Temple in downtown Oakland. Buses from around the East Bay brought children long distances for the performance, but Ms. Koerber, Mr. Keating, Ms. Olivares and Ms. Cheney only needed to drive the children five minutes around the lake!
New works on the art shelf:
• paper tearing, with the grain so it tears into strips - used in the worm bin, compost pile or guinea pig litter
• playdoh and toothpicks - an open ended work that allows the children to build with "structured freedom"
A reminder: Please do not call the classroom directly during class hours (8:30- 2:45). Call the school office and a message will be delivered to the teachers, who will then call back when they are available to talk with you. Thank you!

JUNIPER
Thank you to all of the parents who helped make our Earth Day celebration a success. Set-up and clean-up are big jobs, and it was a tremendous help to us to have parents help with those activities. Remember to put the time spent down as parent participation hours. The children had a great time, many of them made a special effort to visit every continent. Thanks!
The five-year-olds went on a field trip to see a play of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". This was another opportunity for them to spend time with the elementary class, and get to know the older children. The children reported that they really enjoyed it and that it was a special experience to see a favorite book acted out on stage.
As we approach the last part of the year, the children are vigorously pursuing their learning interests. The older children are focused largely on reading with our phonetic readers, composing words and sentences, and math activities such as the multiplication and division boards. The other children continue to sharpen their motor skills with our practical life activities (especially the food preparation works, lemonade making has been very popular lately) as well practicing number recognition and other math materials.

LIVE OAK
Hello! Live Oak has had a very good week!! Ms Hyer is back for good and feeling much better!! Thank you for all of your thoughts, and prayers and patience. Ms. Dia, Ms Cheney and Ms Vergara did a great job keeping the class running smoothly.
Earth Day was great fun!! All of the children had a great time traveling around the world. All of the parent volunteers were very appreciated. The class favorite was visiting Antarctica where the children sampled snow cones. Many children enjoyed making Kookaburra beaks with Juniper class. The dances were all beautiful, and they were all very proud of themselves. They were excited to play their instruments to sound like one instrument (coordinated). The rice from our class was a big hit as well, they came in the classroom and all asked for more before resting. We were learning (or remembering) an international song of hellos for traveling around the world.
Hello To the Children Song.
Hello, Bonjour, Buenos Dias.
Good day, guten tag, Konnichiwa.
Ni hao shalom Dobri Dzen
Hello to all the children of the world.
Please remember; if you have questions about your child, please email liveoakteacher@grandlakemontessori.com. This is a fantastic way to communicate about your child’s classroom life. When you have questions about odd behaviors that you are seeing, or their development, we are trained to help you problem solve. Other parents in the class are also a great resource. It is easy to feel like your child is the only one doing something strange, and many times is comforting to know that all children pass through similar stages.
We hope you have a fantastic Mother’s Day!

GINKGO
Last Friday, the class made their own butter for snack. They put whipped cream and salt into a jar with a marble. The children put the lid on and shook the jar until butter was formed. FUN!
We would like to thank all the parents who helped out on Earth Day. The celebration was a big success! The Ginkgo teachers are very proud of the children and how they all wanted to sing. They were very confident and poised during the performance. The children did a lot of work to prepare for the big day. From decoration to cutting fruit, their hard work paid off!
We would like to thank Mia’s mom, Sonia, for the beautiful Mother’s Day presents! Sonia made it possible for children to do two Mother’s Day gifts. We would also like to thank Ms. Owens for doing a beautiful project with the children for Mother’s Day.
Happy Mother’s Day to the wonderful Ginkgo mothers!
On Thursday the children where invited to the Jacaranda play yard to play in the mud. The children had a wonderful time making mud pies and feeling the mud between their toes.

MAGNOLIA
A huge thank you to all of the parents who volunteered on Earth Day, or with projects leading up to Earth Day. The children had a wonderful time exploring every continent with their senses. Whether they were eating a tasty snack or doing a craft project, each child was engaged and focused. The children did an excellent job performing the flamenco dance and singing. All of their hard work and practice paid off!
All of the auction projects are complete (yeah)! The mosaic quilt is beautiful! Thank you so much to Tirien Steinbach for lovingly putting it together for us.
The 5 year olds went to see a play this Thursday with some of the elementary children. The children all enjoyed seeing one of their favorite books, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”, acted out with song and dance.
Thank you to the Feldstein family for bringing Thumb print cookies for sound of the week!

MULBERRY
The children have had a busy week getting ready for our Earth Day celebration. The children colored the continent of South America for their bags on Tuesday. They also grated cheese for the quesadillas and cut tomatoes to make salsa and guacamole. The food was delicious. On the morning of Earth Day we started with the primary and elementary classes performing songs and dances from around the world. Then the children walked around to the different booths tasting foods and doing crafts from around the world. Antarctica was the biggest hit, offering snow cones. A special thanks to all of the parents who were able to help out.
We have also been working on our Mother's Day gifts. Happy Mother's Day to all our moms! Keep up all the good work you are doing with your children.
Don't forget the auction is this Saturday! Be sure to get your tickets and turn in raffle tickets.
Song of the week:
He's got the whole world in his hands,
He's got the whole world in his hands,
He's got the whole world in his hands,
He's got the whole world in his hands.
He"s got (child’s name)in his hands............ .
Quote of the week:
The first essential for the child's development is concentration. It lays the whole basis for his character and social behavior. Praise, help, or even a look, may be enough to interrupt him, or destroy the activity. It seems a strange thing to say, but this can happen even if the child merely becomes aware of being watched. After all, we too sometimes feel unable to go on working if someone comes to see what we are doing.
The teacher [and parents'] skill in not interfering comes with practice, like everything else, but it never comes very easily. What advice can we give to mothers? Their children need to work at an interesting occupation: they should not be helped unnecessarily, nor interrupted, once they have begun to do something intelligent.- Dr. Maria Montessori

CAMELLIA
Thank you to all the parents who came to help with Earth Day. The event was a big hit! We had wonderful food, music, and performances. All the children had a great time “traveling” to all the continents; Asia, South America, North America, Australia, Africa, and Europe.
Tuesday, Little Chefs made veggie pasta and a fruit salad. Thursday they prepared cream cheese bagels along with a fruit salad. Next week the menu will be veggie rice and veggie pasta. Don’t bother sending lunches to school!
This week’s sound was "TH" and we had Thread, Thorn, Thumb tack. Next week’s sound will be "SP" SPoon, SPider, and SPike.
The weather has been very hot lately and the children are spending lots of time outside playing with water. Parents, please bring in an extra change of labeled clothes for your children, as they get VERY wet! Thank you.
A friendly reminder: Please check your parent pockets for upcoming information/correspondence from the office or teachers, your children’s cubbies for art work, and your children’s hooks for wet/spoiled clothes. Please let the teachers know if your child has brought a different lunch box on any day so we can assist the child in finding it. Thank you.
Book of the week: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly by Simms Taback.
Quote of the week: It is as if nature had safeguarded each child from the influence of adult reasoning, so as to give priority to the inner teacher who animates him. He has the chance to build up a complete psychic structure, before the intelligence of grown-ups can reach his spirit and produce changes in it. -Dr. Maria Montessori

Calendar 5/9 Earth Day Celebration 5/9 Co...

2007-05-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

Calendar
5/9 Earth Day Celebration
5/9 Core meeting 5 – 6 pm
5/12 Auction & Wine & Cheese tasting 3 – 8 pm
5/19 Opera & GLM Work Party – Time TBA

MURAL PLANNING
Grand Lake Montessori Community Mosaic Project
The first planning meeting to discuss the development of a multi-year ceramic mosaic project involving the GLM community happened on March 30th. The next meeting will take place on May 17th in Rosemary House, from 4:30 – 5:30. All are welcome.
Draft Agenda
1. Discussion of minutes from last meeting: what we have learned and where we are now
2. Report on visit to One Step Preschool in Berkeley Hills
3. Fundraising
a) eScrip Drive: set up table at drop off and/or pick up to get people to sign up
b) Target Art Grant
c) Other ideas
4. Summer Planning: stepping stones & Wheelchair Ramp:
Montessori-based sensory tiles, hand prints, family fun day
5. Planning for next year
Wishlist/Brainstorm
Community Process at GLM and building consensus
Possible Sites
GLM has multiple sites for a ceramic mosaic:
- Central Campus
- Cinder Block Wall in Lower Playground
The Redwood students are inspired by the mural being painted at Lakeview Elementary School and they want to explore doing something like this with art teacher Andy Keating. It is possible that mosaic elements could be included. Mosaic artist JaYing Wang saw the space and envisioned a background mural painted by the elementary class featuring elements by each classroom.
- The wheelchair Ramp
The ramp to the central playground is probably the place we will add a mosaic element first. This site is down at the primary children’s level and would accommodate a tactile, eye-level display of the children’s own work, perhaps using Montessori inspired sensory objects and handprint tiles.
We discussed having a summer project here that would include the entire GLM community, with tiles painted by summer campers, and on Family Fun Day entire families could participate in the creation of tiles for the wall. Tiles could be sold as well to pay for the cost of installing. This sort of project is something that children will always have as a reminder of their time at GLM.
- Other Sites
There is a small concrete retainer wall along the Brown Cottage play area, facing out to the lawn of the Lower Playground. A small discrete project could go there as well.
- Lake Park
There are many possibilities for projects here, but as they are on the Church property, we would have to submit a request and proposal to the Church Elders. One idea is to have the Redwood class interview the church elders, gathering some oral histories of the church community to incorporate into a design. Engaging on this level could make it a true service-learning project for the children.
- Upper Campus
The white board fence along the play yard down to the Redwood building is another place for a project of this sort. Mosaic work can be created on movable boards that could easily be mounted to this surface.

AUCTION
The Wine & Cheese tasting/Auction is right around the corner! Be sure to go on-line to order your tickets, turn in your raffle tickets, and sign-up for Kidfest (hosted at the school by Ms. Olivares, Ms. Owens, and Ms Shah).

EARTH DAY CELEBRATION
The weather next Wednesday should be splendid for our Earth Day celebration. In keeping with the theme of the celebration, please be sure to send your child to school with a labeled container and utensil that he/she can carry to each booth for food sampling. Thank you.

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “TH” as in THorax, THimble, and THirty

NEXT TUFF TUMBLER CLASSES
Attention Parents: Tuff Tumblers will be starting its New Session on Wednesday, May 16th and Friday, May 18th!!
Wednesdays starting May 16th we will offer a 5-week session for only $40.00.
Class days will be May 16th, 23rd, 30th, June 6th and June 13th.
Fridays starting May 18th we will offer a 3-week session for only $24.00.
Class days will be May 18th, 25th and June 1st.
Registration forms have been distributed to parent pockets/cubbies. We will try to accommodate specific day/time requests, but cannot guarantee your child’s placement. Turn your registration form in ASAP. Please keep in mind that while your child is participating in Tuff Tumblers he/she is still the responsibility of GLM and you will be charged for childcare. If you did not find a registration form in your pocket/cubby, they are available in both school offices. AS OF TODAY, THE 3 PM MONDAY IS NEARLY FULL

CHETWOOD PARKING ETIQUETTE
Parking during drop-off and pick-up at the Chetwood entrance continues to be challenging. Please be courteous of others who are waiting to park; keep your good-byes short, don’t socialize with other parents and teachers, or do personal business when you see cars lining up in the street. Thank you for your cooperation.

TAKE A BREAK
TAB forms for May 11 (next week) – July 20 have been distributed to parent pockets/cubbies. There are also extra forms in both offices. Please complete and submit to the office by the Wednesday prior to the Friday you wish your child to participate. Pizzas must be ordered in advance. Thank you.

KINDERGARTEN OPENINGS
As of May 1, 2007, St. Paul’s Episcopal School still has openings for kindergarten children. Brochures are available in the Administrative Office.

BABYSITTER STILL AVAILABLE
Hi, my name is Talia Bazan. I am 16 years old and have been interning in the Camellia classroom with Ms. Aima, Ms. Mollel and Ms. Kebede since September 2006. I help the teachers with the toddlers all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I really enjoy my time and have a strong passion for the children. I love the kids at Grand Lake Montessori and was wondering if any parents need a babysitter on the weekends. I have experience working with infants through grade school-aged children. You can contact me at metwestaliab@yahoo.com.
I hope to hear from you!
References: Mary Aima (GLM toddler head teacher: 510-836-4313)
Dana Rosenberg (parent of Ginkgo child): drmardi@sbcglobal.net

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ May 10th, 10 am performance, “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” (5 year olds invited)
✔May 18th, Angel Island
✔May 30th MOCHA field trip for all new and current students
✔June 5th, Aerospace museum in Oakland
✔June 8th, all day at Lake Temescal
✔June 13 -15 – Camping trip!
✔ Weekly Aikido class
✔ Friday sewing classes
✔ Monthly library trips

***************************

CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The first years this week completed their research on the amphibian. Grant researched the great crested newt, Camille did research on the mudpuppy, and Gabriel's research was on the fire salamander. Their research includes 3 pages of facts and an illustration of the animal. We also went on an amphibian hunt around our campus to see what amphibians were living in our local community and discovered some more cool facts about them!
The fifth years have been working on buoyant forces and the density of an object. They completed an experiment with an empty water bottle, a dropper, and coil. They have also been “working” as newspaper reporters. Their first articles are completed and they are busily preparing their next articles.
The fourth years are focusing on the lives of the early settlers of California. They are studying John Sutter and the history of the discovery of gold.
The third years are working on creating a story that takes place during the Renaissance. They are currently working on their characters, making them historically correct.
Our class will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo on Monday with a traditional Mexican lunch and snack. We decided to postpone it until Monday so the children could take part in TAB.
We have also almost finished our beautiful quilt for our picnic basket for the auction. Thank you so much to Mary Aima who has been helping the children sew the quilt. The children have done the entire quilt on their own! They cut out the squares, sewed each by hand, and reinforced the stitches on the sewing machine. They have done a tremendous job!

JACARANDA
Since the GLM Earth Day celebration was cancelled on Wednesday due to weather, the Jacaranda class has had more opportunity to practice rehearsing their South American
dance and song. So, the children have studied South American culture in many different ways: map-making, song and dance. There will be food and crafts on Wednesday, too, different at each booth. The forecast is sunny and warm.
Toddlers have begun their visits to Jacaranda. Welcome to the new families! They are guided to individual and group works, becoming acclimated to the environment.
The five year olds in the Jacaranda class will be attending “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” next week, driven by staff and returning for lunch on Thursday.
The corn has grown knee high to a child outside the Jacaranda class, although the beans were eaten by snails. On the lower yard, the beans and peppers are thriving. The class has been asked to plant other crops in the toddler yard, which we will do next week.

JUNIPER
GLM's Earth Day celebration has been re-scheduled due to the possibility of rain. We will celebrate now on Wednesday, May 9, at the same time. As the email you received recently indicated, please send a container (such as a plastic bowl or a Tupperware container, about the size of a lunch container) and a utensil (fork or spoon) with both your child's name and "Juniper" written on it. We will use these in lieu of paper plates and disposable utensils in an effort to reduce trash.
Reminder! Please be sure to check your child's clothing bag weekly (or daily if your child is potty training). Also, this time of year, please put sunblock on your child's exposed skin every morning to avoid lasting damage to their developing skin.
If your child will be moving on to a new school next year, we would love for you to schedule a time to come in and have an individual moving-on celebration (along the lines of a birthday celebration). You could share a snack, read a story, give the class a gift, or any other way that you and your child would like to celebrate this big step in his/her life. Please sign up on the calendar by Juniper's front door on one of the days between May 29 and June 8 (one celebration per day, please). Please see Ms. Koerber or Mr. Hennigan if you have questions or for more details.
Volunteer Opportunity: Juniper class’ windows need to be washed, both inside and out. It should only take about an hour and would count toward your parent volunteer hours. See Ms. Koerber if you're interested.

LIVE OAK
This has been very busy and exciting week! We are still practicing everyday for our Earth Day performance. The children are learning a new Indian song. With only one day of practice it already sounds great.
We have been learning many new lessons, practicing Spanish with Ms. Vergara, and doing art activities daily.
This has also been a huge week of birthdays! Four birthdays brings us four more five-year olds.
In addition, we had the chance to do a lot of weeding this week, with help from Keiley’s mom, enabling our quickly growing plants to advance to their potential.
All the children witnessed two huge construction events this week as well. We got to watch our construction workers put in four garden beds, and start to build our new composting area near our lunch yard. Thursday we saw a huge truck pour healthy soil into the lower yard to then be brought to the gardening beds.
We would also like to take the opportunity to remind all of our parents about the rescheduling of Earth Day for next Wednesday. We would like all of the children to bring a Tupperware and utensil to school with their name and class written on them. This way they can travel to each class station and taste food from around the world. No lunch should be brought from home.
We all look forward to having Ms. Hyer back next Monday, well and rested.

GINKGO
Earth Day has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, May 9. Please do not bring lunchboxes to school that day. Instead, each child must bring a (labeled) reusable container and fork/spoon. This is one of the ways we can all reduce paper and plastic waste. Mr. Hoffman came in on Wednesday to practice our Earth Day song and dance with the guitar. The children are getting quite good with this extra rehearsal time!
This week the children have been excited reading phonogram booklets and books to one another. There has been an explosion of language from recognizing phonetic sounds to writing words.
We have transplanted three plants in the classroom into beautiful ceramic pots. We found a slug and earthworm in the potting soil. The earthworm is living in one of our plants whereas the slug is living in the outside grass area away from our gardens. The children learned the names of three hand tools – rake, trowel, and spade.

MAGNOLIA
There is a lot going on this time of year and the classroom has been very busy. The children are especially enjoying working on the auction and Mother’s Day projects. Special thanks to Winston’s mom for helping with the individual children’s projects.
Today was Magnolia’s turn to make snack and the children voted for French toast. Nice change from muffins and pasta.
We learned two new vocabulary words this week; hospitable and disaster. One child explained that a disaster is “something that happens all of a sudden, but won’t be good.”
On Tuesday we will make gazpacho for our Earth Day snack. The children will cut the vegetables, but two parent volunteers are needed to help Eric Rathhaus with the prep. Please let Ms. Olivares know if/when you are available.

MULBERRY
The toddlers have been busy working on their auction projects. Tish Moore came in Monday and Tuesday and painted the platter with children. It looks great and should be available later next week for viewing.
Rebecca (Toby’s mom) and her mother came in Tuesday and painted some of the shirts. Parents have been helping cut out the stencils. The tee shirts are a hit! If you haven't seen them they will be displayed next week. Thank you to all who have helped.
Earth Day was postponed to next Wednesday, May 9th. If you are available to help out, let Mrs. Aima know.
Ms. Mollel has cut back her hours and is working 4 hours a day. This week Mr. Wyan has been helping out and getting to know your children.
Song of the week:
The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout,
Down came the rain and washed the spider out,
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain,
And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.
(The great big spider.... The teeny weeny spider....)

CAMELLIA
Our Earth Day celebration was postponed until next Wednesday, May 9, due to rain. The Brown Cottage classes are representing South America. We will have a wonderful dish (no lunches needed) and a craft. Any parents who may have time that day and want to help, should contact Mr. Tien. There will be lots of fun entertainment and wonderful food.
This week the Little Chefs made grilled cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese and a delicious yogurt fruit salad. Next week they’ll prepare cream cheese bagels, vegetable pasta, and a jell-o fruit salad. If you have a fun recipe or meal suggestion please come in and share with our Little Chefs.
This week sound was "BL", and we had BLankets, BLocks, and BLue. One child said, "Mr. Tien, I have a BLack shoe.” Next week’s sound will be "TH" as in THirty, THumb tack, and THunder. Please label all objects that you bring so they may be returned to your child’s cubby. Speaking of cubbies, please remember to check your parent's cubbies/pockets for important GLM information.
If any parents, grandparents, or other family members want to come in to read a story, do a craft or even bake with the children, please let the Camellia teachers know.
Another friendly reminder: The Wine and Cheese/Auction is only 10 days away. Bring family or friend to join us. There's going to be lots of wonderful food and wine. Need childcare? No problem: Ms. Olivares is doing Kidfest at the school from 2:30 -8:30 pm. If you have any question, or want to sign your child up, please e-mail magnoliateacher@grandlakemontessori.com.
Quote of the week: A great deal of mental work goes on during sleeping and dreaming. All daily experiences must be integrated and all personal programs must be reviewed on the basis of the new information received during the day. We should not look at newborn infants as small, helpless human beings, but as persons who are small in size, but with an immense mental capacity, and many physical abilities that cannot be witnessed unless the environment assists in the expression of life. -Dr.Silvana Montanaro, MD
Book of the week: "If You Give a Pig a Party", by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond.

Calendar 5/2 Earth Day Celebration – Schedule...

2007-04-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

Calendar
5/2 Earth Day Celebration – Schedule TBA
5/9 Core meeting 5 – 6 pm
5/12 Auction & Wine & Cheese tasting 3 – 8 pm
5/19 Opera & GLM Work Party – Time TBA

Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Go to the Auction  
10. A beautiful location to relax, unwind and have adult conversation (our event is hosted by Sequoyah Country Club). There is something for everyone!  
9. The dinner buffet alone is worth the price of admission (watch next week for the menu). 
8. You have a chance to taste and purchase some fabulous and interesting wines you can’t find anywhere else (you WILL be a hit at the next dinner party you attend). (see our featured wineries each week)  
7. The cheeses are to die for! (and who doesn’t like cheese?).  
6. Dessert is delectable and donated by Cakes Made By Me.  
5. Chance to bid on great auction items (see this week’s featured items).  
4. Opportunity to connect with other GLM families, teachers and staff.  
3. Support the arts, education, and scholarship programs at GLM.  
2. GREAT, AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE  
1. A FUN (EARLY) EVENING OUT WITHOUT THE KIDS!!  
Don’t forget – purchase your tickets online at the glm website – its easy!

Sponsor A Teacher - It's a Great Way to Say Thanks!!
Thank you to the parents who have registered online to sponsor a teacher ticket for the auction. An easy and great way to tell the teachers in your child's class how much you appreciate all that they do for your child. You can purchase your sponsorship online at the GLM website. Questions? Contact Heidi Hudson at hudsonlaw@mac.com

Kidfest Reminder
Childcare spaces are limited, so don't delay in registering your child for Kidfest!
Ms. Olivares from Magnolia will be hosting Kidfest at the school to offer childcare to all GLM families and GLM Alumni of families attending the Wine and Cheese Tasting at the Sequoyah Country Club. Ms. Olivares and Ms. Dia will provide an afternoon of fun and games followed by dinner. It’s a perfect place for your child to have fun while you enjoy the afternoon tasting wine and cheese and bidding on wonderful silent and live auction items.

Time: 2:30-8:30
Place: Redwood Classroom - Grand Lake Montessori
Tickets: $30 for the 1st child and $25 for each additional child
Kidfest Reservations Kidfest reservations should be emailed to Mica Olivares at magnoliateacher@grandlakemontessori.com. Please include your name, your children’s names, the class they normally attend and your phone number. Ms. Olivares will reply with an email confirming your reservation. Payment for Kidfest should be made directly to Ms. Olivares in the form of cash or check. Your child’s spot cannot be guaranteed until payment is made.
Due Date: Tickets to Kidfest must be purchased by Wed. May 9th
Attendees: Kidfest is open to all GLM students and GLM alumni of families attending the Wine and Cheese Tasting

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is

LUNCH-N-MUNCH CANCELLED
A minimum number of participants were needed to go forward with the Monday and Wednesday lunch program. Unfortunately, we didn’t reach that number. GLM will be emailing families attending the summer program to determine whether we will offer the lunch program in June, July and August.

NEW SECURITY GATES
The new security gates (between car port & Brown Cottage front yard, and Business office and Ms. Campbell’s house) have been re-coded. The code is the same as the code at 466 Chetwood, but without the star key. If you need the code, please call the office.

NEXT TUFF TUMBLER CLASSES
Attention Parents: Tuff Tumblers will be starting its New Session on Wednesday, May 16th and Friday, May 18th!!
Our class times will be 3:00, 3:40, and 4:20pm. Tuff Tumblers is a noncompetitive gymnastic and recreation program that offers classes -once a week- at Grand Lake Montessori. It provides your child with a safe and healthy environment, improving his or her large and fine motor skills, balance, coordination, and self-confidence. If you would like to enroll your child in our Tuff Tumblers program, please fill out a registration form and leave a check in the office, specifying which day and time you would like and we will try to accommodate you. Please be aware that while your child is participating in Tuff Tumblers they are still the responsibility of the school and you will be charged childcare.
Tuff Tumbler tuition and dates for the next session are as follows:
Wednesdays starting May 16th we will offer a 5-week session for only $40.00.
Class days will be May 16th, 23rd, 30th, June 6th and June 13th.
Fridays starting May 18th we will offer a 3-week session for only $24.00.
Class days will be May 18th, 25th and June 1st.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call as (925) 551.8900.

BABYSITTER STILL AVAILABLE
Hi, my name is Talia Bazan. I am 16 years old and have been interning in the Camellia classroom with Ms. Aima, Ms. Mollel and Ms. Kebede since September 2006. I help the teachers with the toddlers all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I really enjoy my time and have a strong passion for the children. I love the kids at Grand Lake Montessori and was wondering if any parents need a babysitter on the weekends. I have experience working with infants through grade school-aged children. You can contact me at metwestaliab@yahoo.com.
I hope to hear from you!
References: Mary Aima (GLM toddler head teacher: 510-836-4313)
Dana Rosenberg (parent of Ginkgo child): drmardi@sbcglobal.net

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ May 10th, 10 am performance, “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” (5 year olds invited)
✔ May 18th, Angel Island
✔ May 30th MOCHA field trip for all new and current students
✔ June 5th, Aerospace museum in Oakland
✔ June 8th, all day at Lake Temescal
✔ June 13 -15 – Camping trip!
✔ Weekly Aikido class
✔ Friday sewing classes
✔ Monthly library trips

***************************************

CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
On Tuesday our class went to visit Slide Ranch at Muir Beach in Marin County. The children were taught about goats, chickens, cheese making, and gardening. We started off by milking a goat. Everyone milked the goat, even those who were initially anxious about it. We then went and bottle-fed the baby goats with the milk we had gotten from the goats (at Slide Ranch they use the goat's milk for cheese as well as for nursing the babies). The baby goats were very cute! We divided up after lunch and took turns making cheese. We used milk, vinegar, salt, and herbs found in the garden there. The children picked rosemary, basil, lavender, and oregano. We then tore the herbs into tiny pieces to add to the cheese mixture. The children separated the whey from the curds and we hung it in a tree to dry. After visiting the chickens and watching a hen lay an egg (that was very exciting!) we saw some ducklings that had just arrived from the East Coast that morning. We ended the day by tasting lettuce, rhubarb, and eating our cheese. A big thank you to Sandra and Laura for attending! It was a lot of fun. Slide Ranch is actually located on public land so families can take the drive out there and walk on the trails or visit the beach. They also have several family days throughout the school year: April 28th and May 5th are the next scheduled ones. During the summer they also have summer camps for the children as well as camp sites for large groups which can be rented.
Our class has been busily working on our quilt for the auction. We are also putting together a picnic basket. The children are all very excited about how the projects are turning out. I hope everyone is able to make it to this fun event!

JACARANDA
• Mud
Mud is very nice to feel
All squishing between the toes.
I'd rather squish around in mud
Than smell a yellow rose.
Nobody else but the rose knows
How nice mud feels between the toes. (Polly Chase Boyden)
Every week, beginning on Monday, the Jacaranda class reads a new poem in the morning. By the third day, the children have learned most of the poem, and by Friday, the children can recite the entire poem. Last Friday, the children made some mud in buckets, squished their toes in the buckets and then rinsed them in the rinse bucket.
Here is a typical three period lesson, this one on the phonemes, or sound blends. In the Montessori environment, phonemes are called Green sounds, because they are sandpaper letters on a green board:
1.This is "oo".
2. Touch"oo".
3. Show me "oo". (out of a lineup of other green sounds.)
4. What is this? (ensuring that the child fully understands the lesson.)
This is another reminder about how much it affects your child and the other children to come to school consistently late. The class begins at 8:45, and we have noticed that when the children arrive at 9:30, 10 and later in the morning, that these children often have a hard time finding their place in the room and in the worktime.
There are many children's sweaters hanging on hooks on the deck. If your child's coat or sweater is missing, check there.
Next Wednesday, during the school's Earth Day celebration, parents are not expected to attend. This is a celebration for the children only, as they "travel" around the world to different continents. The Jacaranda class is presenting the continent South America, and will share a song, dance and other aspects of South American culture.

JUNIPER
As the weather has warmed and GLM's gardens are in full swing, we've been taking groups of children on garden walks. One group in particular had such a good time, they asked Mr. Hennigan to interview them and write up the interview in the newsletter. So, here it is... On their walk, the children saw many plants, including mint, tulips, roses, California poppies, a bottlebrush tree, a fig tree, and a lemon tree. They also noticed a bunch of dead ladybugs. When asked why they thought the lady bugs might have died, the children hypothesized that maybe some children had grabbed them and smashed them or that maybe they were drowned when the plant they were on was watered.
The sun is a powerful element in the children's lives, and as the days get longer and warmer, it is vital that you apply sunblock to your child's skin every morning. The long-term effects of exposure to the sun are well documented, so protect your child's health!
Thank you to all of the parents who have helped us prepare for our upcoming Earth Day celebration. It is a huge help to us when parents volunteer to do things like assemble the children's passports, set-up tables and activities, and the many other ways that you contribute. Thanks!
The most recent sound of the week, "SH," was so much fun. The children were amazed when the saw SHaq's SHoe (size 20!!!), were mesmerized by the SHimmering abalone shell, and enjoyed listening to the ocean in the conch SHell. Not to mention that they all learned about the sound "SH!"
Toddler and new student visits have been going very well. They are becoming more comfortable in the classroom and the Juniper children have really been enjoying showing them the different activities in the room. We've set-up a small shelf with a few activities specifically for the toddlers so that when they visit they will have some materials that are within their range of abilities. It's exciting to think of next year when they'll be in our class!

LIVE OAK
The children are getting ready for the Earth Day Celebration. We have been practicing an Indian dance everyday this week using sticks and bells as instruments and all of us are very excited about this. We are having tons of fun. The children already decorated their cardboard box for Live Oak’s booth with a big map of the Asian continent. They are also making goodie bags with the help of Diane Spiegel. We are really looking forward to Earth Day!
Today, we enjoyed making mango latte and baking banana bread with the help Keily’s dad and Mia’s dad. Thank you to everyone whose been helping us with these projects. We are looking forward to Earth Day.
We are happy to say that Ms. Hyer returns to school next week, half days. We have missed her!

GINKGO
This week we have begun preparing for Earth Day. We have painted North America on a refrigerator box as the background for our booth. We are also decorating bags and making passports. The children have been practicing our song and dance representing Native Americans. The lyrics are below so you may practice with your child/ren at home:
I circle around,
I circle around,
The boundaries of the Earth.

I circle around,
I circle around,
The boundaries of the Earth.

Wearing my long tailed feather as I fly,
Wearing my long tailed feather as I fly.

Hi yah, hi yah, hi yah (chanting in a whisper)

We give our thanks to Dana Rosenberg for planting new lettuce in our garden. The children also helped weed the garden beds, something that was desperately needed after the rain.
We also thank the parents involved in the Gingko group auction project. Our children and teachers have completed painting individual ginkgo leaves.
Lastly we have grinding eggshells as a new activity in the classroom. This activity involves grinding the shells using a mortar and pestle. Afterwards the children sprinkle the crushed pieces to fertilize the plants in the classroom and outside garden. We would appreciate families bringing in eggshells so that we may have a steady stream. Thank you!

MAGNOLIA
We have had a very industrious week in Magnolia. The children have been busy making decorations for the Earth Day celebration. They made festive bags decorated with the Spanish flag to hold their crafts they will make at the festival. We have also been decorating a huge box with flags and images of Europe; the children really enjoyed doing that! We have several future Sidney Pollocks in the Magnolia class!
We are planning on taking a whole-class candid photo next Wednesday as part of an auction project. Please dress your child in either red or pink that day so we can all be coordinated.
On Monday we will be preparing our tapas snack (churros and fried garbanzo beans) for the festival.
We had many variations of SHeep for Sound of the Week, on Wednesday, culminating with a SHeep in SHoes cake from Ethan Feldstein’s mom! It was delicious, thank you! We also shared SHark, SHip, huSH and fiSH

MULBERRY
Mulberry class has really been enjoying the outdoors with the nice weather. The children have been watering the plants in our different gardens. We let ladybugs go in the gardens. The children were fascinated. We talked about being gentle and quite a few children were brave enough to hold the ladybugs. Another activity the children have been enjoying is shaving cream on the tables. They use it like finger paint and it cleans the tables.
Mr. Hoffman came in Thursday morning and sang some of the children's favorite songs and played the guitar. They sang “The Wheels on the Bus”, “Old Mac Donald” and “Happy Birthday” to Hassan.
The auction projects are well on their way - if you can help at all let Tish or Rebecca know. May 2 is our school’s Earth Day celebration. Our class will be representing South America, but if your child has clothes from other parts of the world we encourage the dress-up!
On Thursday we had three 8th grade visitors from Julia Morgan School for Girls spend the day with our class. They blew bubbles, played with shaving cream, read stories, and helped with "Little Chefs". It was a lot of fun and some of the children cried when the students left.
Quote of the week: Parents who observe carefully, who listen, and, as they do so, imagine themselves in the place of their child, will learn that a child is a unique, thoughtful, and creative individual, even before the age of one year. This is truly one of the most joyful discoveries of parenting. - You may give them love but not your thoughts. For they have thei own thoughts.- Kahlil Gibran

CAMELLIA
GLM is celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday, May 2nd. Each class will be presenting a continent. The Brown Cottage classes are combining and doing South America. The children will prepare chips and salsa, and quesadillas. No lunch boxes needed for that day: There will be lots wonderful foods from all over the world. If you have questions, feel free to ask the Brown Cottage staff. Also, Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner. If you would like to come in and share a dish, story, or a craft with the children, please contact Mr. Tien.
On Tuesday the Little Chefs made veggie pasta and a fruit salad and on Thursday they prepared a favorite meal of bowtie pasta and yogurt fruit salad. Next week the little Chefs menu will be grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato-basil pasta.
This week sound was "SH" and we had SHoe, SHells, SHamu the whale, SHirt, SHovel, and SHower cap. Next week sound will be "BL" as in BLue, BLocks, and BLack. All objects will be returned to their cubbies.
Reminder: May 12th, Saturday, is GLM’s 8th annual Wine and Cheese Tasting/Auction, from 3-8 p.m. at the beautiful Sequoyah Country Club, in the Oakland Hills. There will be lots of wonderful wines and food. Please come and join us. If you need childcare e-mail Ms. Olivares at magnoliateacher@grandlakemontessori.com.
Book of the week: “No Biting”, by Karen Katz.
Quote of the week:
The skin, the first and most important sense organ, is complete after seven or eight weeks of pregnancy. The sense of smell is ready to function by the second month of pregnancy. The sense of taste is active by the third month. The ear completes its structural development during the second to the fifth month of pregnancy. It is possible that the fetus absorbs the particular characteristic rhythms of the mother's language. In a sense the fetus is already at work, learning language!
-Silvanna Montannaro, M.D.
Psychiatrist, Montessori Teacher Trainer

Calendar 4/23 Elementary to Slide Ranch 4/25 ...

2007-04-20T15:57:00.000-07:00

Calendar
4/23 Elementary to Slide Ranch
4/25 “Taking Montessori Home” meeting in Brown Cottage 5 – 6:30 pm
5/2 Earth Day Celebration – Schedule TBA
5/9 Core meeting 5 – 6 pm
5/12 Auction & Wine & Cheese tasting 3 – 8 pm
5/19 Opera & GLM Work Party – Time TBA

SUMMER REGISTRATION
Summer registration brochures for toddler and primary children have been distributed. The summer program begins June 25, 2007. If you have questions regarding the program, please call the office. The Performing Arts Camp brochure, for ages 6 – 12, was mailed. The camp will be held July 23 – Aug. 3. The children will be learning and performing “Hachma and Mazel”. Registration forms are due to the office by 4/20/07.

KIDFEST
Planning on going to GLM’s 3rd Annual Wine and Cheese Tasting and Auction this May 12th but don’t have childcare for your children?
No Problem! Ms. Olivares from Magnolia will be hosting Kidfest at GLM to offer childcare to all GLM families and GLM Alumni attending the Wine and Cheese Tasting at the Sequoyah Country Club. Ms. Olivares and Ms. Dia will provide an afternoon of fun and games followed by dinner. It’s a perfect place for your child to have fun while you enjoy the afternoon tasting wine and cheese and bidding on wonderful silent and live auction items.
Time 2:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Place Redwood Classroom - Grand Lake Montessori
Price $30 for the 1st child and $25 for each additional child
Kidfest Reservations should be emailed to Ms. Olivares at magnoliateacher@grandlakemontessori.com. Please include your name, your children’s names, the class they normally attend and your phone number. Ms. Olivares will reply with an email confirming your reservation. Payment for Kidfest should be made directly to Ms. Olivares in the form of cash or check. Your child’s spot cannot be guaranteed until payment is made.
Due Date: Tickets to Kidfest must be purchased by May 9th
Attendees: Kidfest is open to all GLM students and alumni of families attending the Wine and Cheese Tasting.
Be sure to reserve your tickets to Kidfest by emailing Ms. Olivares and then purchase your tickets to the Wine and Cheese Tasting and Auction at grandlakemontessori.com today!

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is ”SH” as in SHarp, SHower, and SHip.

LUNCH-N-MUNCH BEGINNING
GLM is offering delivered lunches on Mondays and Wednesdays, beginning May 2. Parents will be able to choose from a menu of items such as burritos, pizzas, sandwiches, and salads from the Kensington Bistro. The cost of the lunches is $5.50 or $5.95, depending on the number of lunches purchased (in advance). Additional food can be bought for big eaters. The Bistro currently provides quality lunches for Bentley, Black Pine, Head Royce, Prospect Sierra and Redwood Day schools. Menus and sign-ups are available on their website at www.lunchnmunch.net. Fax your lunch request to 510-525-1350.

NEW SECURITY GATES
GLM is installing two new security gates: one between the Brown Cottage front yard and the carport, the other between Helen Campbell’s house and the Business Office.
The code will be the same (when re-set) as on the gate at the 466 Chetwood entrance. If you do not know the code, please call the school office.

PARENT TIMECARD MISSING NAME
Someone forgot to put his or her name on a parent timecard. Two of the four jobs listed were “gingerbread” and “family tree photos”. If this is your timecard, please call the office so your hours can be credited.

MONTESSORI CORNER
Why are the sensorial materials so important?
A young child meets the world around him/her through the constant use of the senses. To examine a new object, a baby will look at it, hold it, shake it, lick it or even try to bite it.
Dr. Montessori felt that since the child was naturally learning this way it made sense to give the child equipment, which would sharpen the senses and enable the child to understand the impressions left through the experience.
The sensorial materials help a child to become aware of details, at first through contrast, then gradation and then the abstraction of. Each of the sensorial materials isolates one defining quality such as color, weight, shape, texture, size, sound, smell, etc. The equipment emphasizes this one particular quality by eliminating or minimizing other differences. For example, the sound boxes are all the same shape, size and color. They only differ in the sounds they make.
The importance of educating the senses can be illustrated at an adult level. Two people attend a concert, one enjoys it tremendously the other is bored. Sense impressions are not enough by themselves. The mind needs the education and training to be able to discriminate and appreciate. A child can remain unmoved by a myriad of sensory impressions. It is not about more but the ability to understand what they perceive.
The materials help the child distinguish, categorize, and relate new information to what is already known. Dr. Montessori called this the beginning of conscious knowledge.
The Pink Tower distinguishes dimension. As with all Sensorial Materials it is self-correcting. It is through much repetition that mastery comes and as we know with repetition, the learning (synapses of the brain) happens. The Brown Stair introduces two dimensions (width and height). The concepts of thick, thicker, thickest and thin, thinner thinnest are learned. Many lessons in this area isolate out one sense. The smelling jars isolate fragrance. By discriminating and giving language children learn how to classify by using only their nose.
Many of the sensorial materials serve as preparation for writing that will come later on.
For example, a child who has learned to listen carefully will be able to perceive subtle differences in sounds of letters. The geometric materials help the child to distinguish different shapes making them more attuned to the alphabet. Vocabulary building is essential to reading and writing, as children will recognize the words as words they know already.

TUFF TUMBLERS
GLM will likely offer one last session of Tuff Tumblers before the summer sessions begin. Registration forms are not yet available.
The popular instructor, Ms. Carol, will be joining the GLM staff as a full-time substitute on May 7th. She will bring to the school our own gymnastics program, Gymnastic Adventures! Watch the newsletter for more information.

BABYSITTER STILL AVAILABLE
Hi, my name is Talia Bazan. I am 16 years old and have been interning in the Camellia classroom with Ms. Aima, Ms. Mollel and Ms. Kebede since September 2006. I help the teachers with the toddlers all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I really enjoy my time and have a strong passion for the children. I love the kids at Grand Lake Montessori and was wondering if any parents need a babysitter on the weekends. I have experience working with infants through grade school-aged children. You can contact me at metwestaliab@yahoo.com.
I hope to hear from you!
References: Mary Aima (GLM toddler head teacher: 510-836-4313)
Dana Rosenberg (parent of Ginkgo child): drmardi@sbcglobal.net

GOODSEARCH
Since so many of us work with non-profit organizations, or volunteer with them, we thought we'd let you know about GoodSearch. It uses the same calculations that Google uses, and produces similar results for searches. The difference is, for every single search you make, the company donates $0.01 to the non-profit of your choice.
The website is http://www.goodsearch.com/Default.aspx
You can choose a non-profit for a day, forever, or change as often as you like. If the non-profit you wish to support isn't listed, you can register it, and once it's approved, it will begin receiving funds from your searches.
It's a simple way to help our non-profits. We hope you find it useful as well, since it can search on keywords for text, images and video.

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔May 10th performance, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
✔May 18th, Angel Island
✔May 30th MOCHA field trip for all new and current students
✔June 5th, Aerospace museum in Oakland
✔June 8th, all day at Lake Temescal
✔June 22nd – Camping trip!
✔Weekly Aikido class
✔Friday sewing classes
✔Monthly library trips

*********************************************

CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
This week the children watched a fantastic show here at school with the five year olds titled “The Boston Tea Party”. It was a great performance showing the history of the Puritans, the Hurons, and the Sons of Liberty included. All of the children enjoyed it.
The 5th years are working on creating their own newspaper. They have so far set up several interviews for articles they would like to write.
The 4th years have been studying the history of California. This week we began reading a story about how our state got its name. We also learned about the effects of silver mining in Arizona.
The 3rd years are beginning to study Shakespearean theater. We read “The Tempest”, and the children liked it.
The 1st years have been doing various experiments with roots. We discovered that roots will always seek out water and will even grow a round obstacle to find water.

JACARANDA
On the Jacaranda cultural calendar for the past two weeks:
All of the children have been practicing their South American dance for the Earth Day celebration.
Asia has been the focus of the cultural shelf display, and families are welcome to bring in an object from Asia for the shelf during the next three weeks.
The third year children have attended two separate programs in the elementary classroom the past two Mondays:
Last week, beekeepers came and talked to the children about the insects. They brought a wasp nest and a rack from inside a beehive. We also saw a slide show presentation on removing bee swarms.
On Monday of this week, a Boston Tea Party presentation was performed for a rapt group of older children. This group made history come alive with humor and engaging dialogue!
In the Montessori classroom, the expectation is that each child will be able to find his or her work; ideally, after being given many lessons, the children are able to go to work to which they have already been introduced, though often they need the adult's guidance. Since the work is beautifully arranged on the shelves in inviting ways and the children are free to move about the classroom as they choose their work, usually choosing presents no issues. When a child needs help, the adult who has been observing will have seen already that the child needs help and has anticipated that the child needs direction. The adult has thought of some suggestions for the child to consider. This is part of the development of the will of the child, to make his or her own decisions and to translate his or her will into action.
This is true whether indoors or out-of-doors. The outdoor environment is an integral part of the classroom, with tasks that provide the children an opportunity to focus and concentrate as much as they do indoors. Digging, planting and watering offers work with a beginning, middle and an end in the same way that a work inside can.
One of the few times the children are asked to stop what they are doing and to put their work away is before going inside for the afternoon work time. One of the children said indignantly, after being given a five-minute and then a final reminder, "But we're so concentrated!"

JUNIPER
The children's Earth Day dance (based on the animals of Australia) is coming along nicely with the help of Mr. Moody. The children are imitating a snake, alligator, kookaburra, kangaroo, dingo, and koala bear in a choreographed dance set to music from Australia. Thanks, Mr. Moody!
Timber! As some of you may have noticed, one of the trees in the Juniper yard fell over in high winds the other night. Children and teachers alike were sad to see this seemingly healthy, purple-blossomed tree be lost. The children got to snip branches full of blossoms to take home as a way of saying goodbye and remembering the tree.
The toddlers have begun visiting Juniper in preparation for joining the class full-time in the summer and fall. The Juniper children have been joyfully giving lessons to our little visitors, showing them our fishes and frogs, and helping them to feel welcome. We look forward to more visits and to the day when they join our class!
Popular activities of the week! Squaring Chain Mania has swept over many of our four-year-olds, who have recently discovered the squaring chains in the classroom and have been using them enthusiastically. Beginning with counting discrete segments (sections of four beads on the squaring chain of four, for example) and placing tags with the corresponding numbers next to each segment, they will soon progress to skip counting, creating squares with the chains, and other sensorial explorations. Another popular work has been the lemonade tray we put on the practical life shelf. Children get their glass with some water, hand-juice half of a lemon (picked from GLM's own lemon tree), add a sugar cube, and enjoy their hand-made lemonade.
Volunteers needed! We need 1-2 parent volunteers to wash Juniper's windows. It should only take an hour or so, and will count toward parent participation hours. Also, we need 2 volunteers to help with our class activities for GLM's Earth Day celebration on May 2. For more details, please talk to Ms. Koerber.
GLM's annual Wine & Cheese Tasting and Auction is right around the corner, on May 12. Be sure to mark your calendar, and look for raffle tickets in your parent pocket. And thank you to those parents who have been helping us to gather the materials we need to make our auction projects.

LIVE OAK
Live Oak would like to welcome everyone back from their vacations last week. This week the children have enjoyed working outside every day. Our outdoor environment has provided a refreshing and peaceful area for the children to concentrate. We have also been weeding in our vegetable gardens and thinning out carrots in hope for a great harvest in the weeks to come. The lemon tree has provided us with great lemonade at lunch as well.
Ms. Cheney brought her bike into the classroom on Wednesday to talk about bike safety, bike parts, and the environmental and health benefits of biking. The children asked fantastic questions. Now each time they see her roll in each morning they will have more of an idea of why she rides a bike and not a car.
We all look forward to Earth Day on May 2nd. We are reading Indian stories and will learn an Indian dance from Ms. MacDonald at the end of the week. Next week we will start our Indians posters. Please feel free to contribute to our celebration in whatever way you would like to help.

GINKGO
On Monday we celebrated Tyler Hunter's 4th birthday. Tyler's mom, Marni, came in and told the story of Tyler's life and shared a special snack. Thank you!
This week the children have been very interested in geography. The children have been playing with instruments from Mexico and enjoyed looking at pictures of Mexican landscapes.
We are continuing our studies on North America and have been learning about native wild flowers. The class has now set up a "plant display table". Ms. Campbell brought the Ginkgo class a "red foxtail plant" in a beautiful pot. When a plant is displayed on the table, this is the plant we will study and care for. The children take turns washing the leaves and examining the roots, stems, etc.
The teachers have noticed the children beginning their work period early. It has been observed that the children come in to class and begin work immediately. We are all very proud of all the children have accomplished since the beginning of the school year!

MAGNOLIA
Welcome back everyone! It has been a busy week in the Magnolia classroom.
We have been preparing for our Earth Day celebration. The children have been coloring all of the flags of Europe. We have also been practicing our dance and songs with Mr. Moody and Mr. Hoffman. We have plenty of volunteer opportunities for both Earth Day and Auction projects; please email if you are interested.
The children have begun working on a surprise Mother's Day project with Ms. Owens. They are very excited about it and love keeping it a secret!
Happy fourth Birthday to Jack Anderson! He brought in a delicious watermelon treat to share with the class.
We also had a wonderful Sound of the Week (CH) snack provided by the Feldstein family; Chocolate Chip Cheesecake! Thank you!

MULBERRY
This week it was nice to have our class back from the break. During the break Ms. Aima worked on setting up our outdoor space. Gardening has begun - be sure to check out our various gardens. We now have herbs, strawberries, flowers, Swiss chard, lettuce, bok choy, and marigolds. We have also begun planting seeds in our mini green house. There is still a lot of gardening to be done and if you’re looking for parent volunteer hours let Ms. Aima know.
The children love the different water activities they’ve been engaged in the past week. Washing their feet has been a big hit. The challenge is to put their shoes on when they are finished; if they have Velcro shoes it makes it easier for them.
There has been a lot of prep work done for the children's auction projects by parents. If you would like to help out, contact Tish Moore.
May 2nd is our Earth Day celebration. Each class will have activities and food from a different continent and share a song or a dance. Our class will present South America. We will be making salsa, guacamole, chips and quesadillas. If your child has clothes from their culture we encourage them to wear them for the celebration.
Song of the week:
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
Head shoulders knees and toes, knees and toes!
Quote of the week: A letter written to Maria Montessori by Gandhi, 1943:
Madame Montessori,
You have very truly remarked that if we are to reach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children and if they grow up in their natural innocence, we won't have to struggle, we won't have to pass fruitless idle resolutions, but we shall grow from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which, consciously or unconsciously, the whole world is hungering. - M. Gandhi

CAMELLIA
Welcome back! We hope everyone had a wonderful week off. During Circle the children talked about where they went and whom they visited. One child said, “I fly on the airplane 100 times”!
Little Chefs enjoyed English mini-muffin pizzas and yogurt fruit salad. On Thursday they prepared a delicious dish of cream of mushroom over rice and a fruit salad.
The children are spending a lot of time playing outside with water activities. Please bring some extra clothing for the inevitable soaked sleeves, shoes, etc. If your child uses a special sunscreen please bring some and let the teachers know. Thank you!
This week’s sound was “CH” and we had CHalk, CHeese, CHocolate, and CHeerios. Next week’s sound will be “SH” as in SHell, SHark, and SHort. Please continue to encourage your child to bring something to share.
REMINDER: Bring Montessori Home is Wednesday, April 25th, from 5 – 6:30 pm in the Rosemary House. Please RSVP with the office for free childcare.
GLM is celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday, May 2. Each class is presenting a continent. The toddler classes are combining and doing South America. We will be preparing quesadillas, chips and salsa, and offering a fun craft. If you have questions, please check with the Brown Cottage staff.
Saturday, May 12th, is our 8th annual Wine & Cheese Tasting/Auction. There will be lots of wine, tons of wonderful and delicious food, and a gazillion items to bid on. Please come and join us! Can’t find childcare? No problem; Ms. Olivares is offering childcare at the school (Kidfest). Email her at magnoliateacher@grandlakemontessori.com.
Quote of the Week: Crying is talking
Cultures vary widely in their response to a crying infant – from a belief that crying strengthens the lungs, to absolute incredulity that anyone would let a baby cry for an instant. We suggest that, rather than choose which intellectual advice to follow, one should observe and listen. There is no recipe, and each child is different.

4/9-4/13 Spring Break – Childcare by registratio...

2007-04-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

4/9-4/13 Spring Break – Childcare by registration
4/16 Boston Tea Party play for kindergartners & Elementary 10 am
5/12 Auction & Wine & Cheese tasting 3 – 8 pm

SUMMER REGISTRATION
Summer registration brochures for toddler and primary children have been distributed. The summer program begins June 25, 2007. If you have questions regarding the program, please call the office. The Performing Arts Camp brochure, for ages 6 – 12, was mailed. The camp will be held July 23 – Aug. 3. The children will be learning and performing “Hachma and Mazel”.

8TH ANNUAL AUCTION UPDATE
Tickets are now available online!!! You can purchase your tickets for the Auction at the GLM website starting today!

1st Ten Tables of 10 Purchased Get Reserved Seating
Gather your friends and fellow room parents, and you can get reserved seating for dinner and the live auction. The first ten tables purchased will have guaranteed seating in the main room for the sit down dinner buffet and live auction. Don't delay - these tables will go fast! You must sign up under one online purchase to qualify (see the online site for details).

Raffle Tickets Will Be Distributed After Spring Break
Tickets will be $20 each, and sales will be limited to no more than 600 tickets (great odds for winning!). One prize will be awarded. We are happy to announce that this year's raffle winner will be able to choose from either:

Ultimate NYC Broadway Getaway** - Suggested Retail Value $5,050
Enjoy a three-night stay at the Grand Hyatt New York, two round trip tickets on American Airlines, two orchestra or front mezzanine tickets to your choice of Broadway shows, and dinner for two at Tavern on the Green.

OR

Design Your Dream Vacation** - Suggested Retail Value $7,260
Want to plan your own vacation? This is the prize for you! You can choose from a variety of different domestic and International Fairmont Hotels/Resorts known for their uncompromising quality and luxury. Enjoy four nights in a Junior Suite, two round trip tickets on American Airlines, and daily breakfast for two.
***Prizes can be upgraded to First Class airfare or a premium location for a small additional fee. Some minimal restrictions apply.

This Week's Auction Feature - Wineries
Once again this year, we have a great lineup of excellent boutique wineries. We are delighted that the GLM family winery operations of Terra Firma International and Molnar Family Vineyards have generously agreed to host tables at the event. If you haven't tasted their great wines before, make sure to put these wineries on your tasting list for the auction! More details on wines from each contributor will be forthcoming - watch your newsletter.

BIKE SAFETY SHOW
GLM students and staff were treated to a Bike Safety show this week, presented by professional bike riders who have been in commercials and in the news. They discussed necessary riding gear (helmets, helmets, helmets!), what to check on your bike before riding (brakes, tire pressure), then did some fantastic feats on their bikes. The highlight of the visit was when one of the riders jumped over a prone Mr. Hennigan, without using a ramp! We were given an autographed poster that is on the door of the Pinewood building. If your child asks to go to Ms. Pugliese’s office after school, he/she probably wants a close-up view of the poster!

SOUND OF THE WEEK There will be no Sound of the Week next week, April 9 – 13, due to Spring Break. The following Wednesday, the sound will be “”CH” as in CHair, CHalk, and CHocolate.

RESPONSIBLE, CARING NANNY AVAILABLE FOR 8 HRS/WK
I am sadly saying goodbye to our fabulous babysitter due to our family's need for more fulltime care. Zoe is an experienced childcare provider looking for part-time work (about 8 hours for now, possibility of increasing hours in May) with a family starting immediately. She is a Counseling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy graduate student with fabulous references, many years of experience, and her own car. She is mostly available on Tuesdays and Thursdays (mornings/afternoons) with some additional flexibility. If this sounds like a possible fit for you and your family, you can email her at dearzoe@mac.com or contact me directly at atrost@yahoo.com.
Ariel Trost (Jacaranda parent)

BABYSITTER
Hi, my name is Talia Bazan. I am 16 years old and have been interning in the Camellia classroom with Ms. Aima, Ms. Mollel and Ms. Kebede since September, 2006. I help the teachers with the toddlers all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I really enjoy my time and have a strong passion for the children. I love the kids at Grand Lake Montessori and was wondering if any parents need a babysitter on the weekends. I have experience working with infants through grade school-aged children. You can contact me at metwestaliab@yahoo.com.
I hope to hear from you!
References: Mary Aima (GLM toddler head teacher: 510-836-4313)
Dana Rosenberg (parent of Ginkgo child): drmardi@sbcglobal.net

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS – WORK OFF YOUR PARENT HOURS
Monica Mac Donald is forming an Emergency Preparedness Committee to inventory and restock our emergency sheds. Please contact her at monica@grandlakemontessori.com if you are interested in being part of this important committee.

NEW LUNCH PROGRAM
GLM will be offering delivered lunches on Mondays and Wednesdays, beginning May 2. Parents will be able to choose from a menu of items such as pasta, sandwiches, and salads from the Kensington Bistro. The program is called Lunch-N-Munch, and the cost of the lunches are $5.50 - $5.95, depending on the number of lunches purchased (in advance). Additional food can be bought for big eaters. The Bistro currently provides quality lunches for Bentley, Black Pine, Head Royce, Prospect Sierra and Redwood Day schools. Menus and sign-ups will be available April 9. Check out their website at www.lunchnmunch.net.

THE SAFETY CORNER (part 3 of 3)
There may be times when your child has an injury or an illness that’s not life threatening, but needs medical attention on the same day. If that’s the case, consider going to an urgent care center in your area.
They are equipped and staffed to treat minor, non life-threatening issues. Typically, your child will be seen by a doctor, and also may be able to get x-rays or blood drawn.
Most of these clinics offer extended hours on evenings and on weekends for patients to receive treatment when the family doctor is not available. Some are open 24 hours a day every day. Cases where you might take your child to an urgent care center include:
* cuts
* minor injuries
* vomiting or diarrhea
* severe ear pain
* sore throat
* infected bug bites
* mild allergic reactions
* suspected sprain or broken bone
* minor animal bites
The doctors who work at freestanding urgent care centers often are ER doctors or family physicians who focus on treating adult and pediatric diseases. Some urgent care centers are also staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants. In many children’s hospitals, the emergency rooms have special sections for treatment of minor injuries and illnesses that might be treated at an urgent care center.
Find out about the urgent care centers near you — before a situation comes up where you need to go to one. Your child’s doctor may be able to recommend facilities in the area. In general, you want to find a clinic that meets any state licensing requirements and is staffed by doctors who are board certified in their specialties, such as pediatrics, family medicine, or emergency medicine. Some of these clinics, in addition to accepting walk-in patients, allow you to call ahead to be seen. You might also want to ask if the center accepts your family’s insurance plan.
Talk with your child’s doctor before your child gets sick about how to handle emergencies and the doctor’s policy on addressing medical needs outside of office hours. Having that information ahead of time will mean one less thing to worry about when your child is sick!

SUMMER DATES & GUESTS
During the summer program there will be part-time (5 ½ days & 3 full days) and full-time offered for primary and toddler students.
June 15, 2007 will be the last day of this school year
June 18-22 will be staff prep week – no school or childcare for Toddlers & Primary
June 18 – 29 - Elementary Summer School/Orientation for 1st graders
June 25 – July 6 will be Session 1
July 9 – 20 will be Session 2
July 23 – Aug. 3 will be Session 3 and Opera/Performing Arts Camp
Aug. 6 – 17 will be Session 4
The week of Aug. 20 - 24 will be staff prep week; again, no school or childcare
First day of school will be Wednesday, August 29.
Some of our guest visitors for the summer:
6/25 – Nemo Jump Tent – all day
6/29 – Clown show 10 am
7/2 – Jeremy the Juggler – 10 am
7/13 – John Weaver, Storyteller – 10 am
7/18 – Wildlife Associates 10 am
8/6 – Fratello Marionettes – 10 am
8/15 – Magician Brian Scott – 10 am
8/17 – Castle Jump Tent – all day
NOTE: If your child does not usually attend school on the day we have an event, they are welcome to join us!

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ Weekly Aikido class
✔ Swimming at the YMCA
✔ Aftercare sewing class
✔ Monthly library trips

**************************************************

CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The Pennies for Patients drive raised $849.32. The Toddlers were the winning class with a total of $224.18! They did an amazing job! Thank you to everyone! The children were also able to raise an additional $600.00-plus from the bake sale, which will also be donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!
The children had a great Spring celebration. The upper elementary learned all about the ancient Easter celebration with traditional red dyed eggs! They had an egg breaking contest to see whose egg was the strongest as well.
Our final day of swimming was this week and the children were sad to see the end. We did our lessons at the Berkeley YMCA and our swimming instructor was Brett. He was really good with the children and he teaches on Saturdays. It would be great for the children to continue swimming lessons with him!
Creative Writing: Beauty & Death
I’m in a place full of trees, nature and wild life. The scenery is just stunning from my view! I am surrounded by animals but not just birds and bears but other animals, too. Like the beetles in the tree bark and the different fishes in the streams. These things all have a special type of beauty in their own way. It’s just not the beauty we are used to. Like, we are usually used to saying a rose is pretty but not that Redwood tree over there. That is mainly true with most people, but no to me. I see different beauty than most people; like I think that the grass has a special type of beauty in it’s own way. For example, did you ever notice how interesting the grass looks with dew on it’s cure at the top? Or the dove with a greatly stunning color on it’s body. These are all different but similar beauties, they are all on our earth but if we want to keep on seeing these things we have to stop destroying our planet. If we don’t stop doing then all this life will die, including ourselves. Have you heard the two words, global warming? These words may be new to you but really it’s going on right now. Yea, isn’t that scary? Well if you don’t know what that it, it is when the heat begins to slowly melt the ice, which starts to create higher ocean levels. That means less habitat for polar bears, seals, killer whales and so many other animals.
“Well that was not really a story I just wanted to write that”
By Clare Keating

JACARANDA
In the Jacaranda classroom, the children use a "peace rose" for conflict resolution. When one child needs help talking to another child who may not be ready to listen, the first child can take the peace rose in hand and approach the second child, who then, according to the understood rules around the peace rose, then takes his turn listening to his friend. This way, the children are more independent and able to resolve their issues with minimal help from the adults.
Since they were planted two weeks ago, the children have marveled at the bean seeds sprouting up in the garden, in cups and in a glass in the classroom window. The class has used the opportunity to watch how quickly the seeds grow in the various places: in the ground, paper cup or glass. The glass in the window has proved the warmest, and most successful.
With Mr. Moody and with Mr. Hoffmann, the movement and music instructors, the children have been learning their songs for the Earth Day celebration: songs and dance from South America.
Mr. Moody has many years experience with the children in the Montessori classroom. When he addresses the children, he uses calm, expressive language that encourages the behavior he wants to see. For instance, "I notice how ______ stops his feet so we know he is ready to dance with us." Or, "_____ looks like he is almost ready with his hands at his side." Mr. Moody complimented and guided a child when he said, " See how ______ looks behind her while she steps backwards," and tells her "good eyes." This is "broadcasting," or gently guiding children with the actions he wants to see.
Ms. Leck is on her way to Cape Town, South Africa, and we will see her again one week after we return from Spring Break. Have a good time with your family, Ms. Leck! Mr. Keating and Ms. Saleem provide the children with the prepared environment and continuity they need for their continued success each day in the classroom.

JUNIPER
The Juniper children enjoyed a wonderful Passover celebration for lunch on Tuesday. Mark and Ali Cota read the children two stories about the Jewish celebration, and then we partook in a meal of matzo ball soup, veggies, matzo and jelly sandwiches, applesauce, and brisquette followed by strawberries and macaroons. The children learned about the symbolism of items such as salt water, bitter herbs, matzo, eggs, lamb, and horseradish. The meal was a huge hit, with the children eagerly asking for seconds!
Casey brought a set of yoga cards to the class on Thursday, and a group of children spent part of the morning doing some stretches. It was a great way for them to start their day, by calming and awakening their bodies. We hope to do more over the coming days and weeks! As the children are very excited about yoga, *we would love it if a parent could donate some small yoga mats that we could use in the classroom.*
The third year children got to see a presentation with the elementary class about bees and bee keeping. After all of the excitement we've had recently with swarms of bees in the area, it was an excellent way for the children to become knowledgeable about the wonderful ways that bees help us. With knowledge comes understanding, and with that less fear of our little helpers. In the next few days, the older children will share this information with the rest of the class.
Juniper had a spring egg/scavenger hunt on Thursday. The children dyed eggs, colored bags for the hunt, and then enjoyed seeking the wonderful items that the teachers had hidden in the yard. It was a great way to celebrate spring and all the things that come with it.

LIVE OAK
The Live Oak class had a very exciting week! We are all thrilled that spring has come. The flowers are in bloom, the sun shining, and the seedlings sprouting. We started off the week with our spring celebration and egg hunt. The kids made their own colorful bags and eggs for the egg hunt on Wednesday. We also celebrated Passover with help from Lucy, her mom, and Eliot from the Ginkgo class. They did an excellent job describing the meaning of the Seder and story of Passover.
Lali’s mom came in this week with her mother to talk about Indian culture for Earth Day. We learned some great songs, and got to smell some of the magnificent spices of the country.
On Friday we had a special birthday celebration for Lorenzo who turned five and then an assembly on bike safety on the lower play yard. Two men displayed fantastic tricks on their bikes and talked about the importance of wearing a helmet. The GLM classes exploded with laughter and applause throughout the presentation.
I was just interrupted in writing this newsletter by one of our finches escaping from its cage. The bird flew around both Ginkgo and Live Oak classrooms repeatedly before a joint effort from Ms. Olivares, Ms. Cheney and Ms. Dia managed to finally capture it. The kids entertained themselves by pretending to be silent trees for the bird. A very exciting moment! We are all glad the bird is now safe.

GINKGO
The children began planting seeds with Moira Chapman, Aidan's mom. She began by reading a book to the children entitled "Gathering The Sun". She also told the children about Cesar Chavez. She told the children how he loved animals, plants, and people. That day the children talked to one another about him and how he (in their words) stood up for farmers.
The children enjoyed preparing for the Spring Celebration. On Monday we dyed eggs, and made bags with Joanne (Ben Morgan's mom) and Joey (Samantha and Emily's mom).
On Tuesday Sonia (Mia's mom) came to read stories outside to the Ginkgo class and shared a special snack in celebration of Spring,
On Wednesday we had our Spring Celebration! There were art projects and a self-serve snack set up all morning for the children. The children also got to take home goodie bags. Later, we had the egg hunt in Ms. Campbell’s garden.
The children hunted for hard-boiled eggs and plastic eggs with seeds inside. This way the children get to experience gardening at home, too.
We would like to thank all the parents who helped in making this day special for the children.
On Thursday we had our Passover Celebration with Jennifer (Julia's mom). She shared a story of Passover with the children and a story about matzo soup. After the story the children got to eat the soup. They loved it and asked for more!
We would like to wish everyone a wonderful Spring Break!
Happy Spring!

MAGNOLIA
It has been a very busy week in Magnolia. Thank you to the Weinstein family for sharing their Seder plate with us, The children enjoyed learning about all of the different Passover traditions. The children made some very festive spring baskets to hold the eggs they dyed. Thank you, Dierdre Abrons, for helping us with this project. On Thursday the children had a wonderful time hunting for eggs. Thank you, Rick Jacobus and Crossley Dellis, for helping us hide eggs.
We continue to study different aspects of the Spanish culture and began reading an abbreviated version of “Don Quixote” in the afternoons. This week the third year children had a fruit tasting with Ms. Olivares and learned the names of different fruits in Spanish. After the children ate they painted pictures of fruit with watercolors and stamps.

MULBERRY
This week the children have been enjoying the spring weather. They made bunny baskets, dyed eggs, and had an egg hunt. Thank you to all of the parents who were able to help out. Some of the children from Jacaranda helped weed our garden area. We enjoyed their company. Thank you! We will work more in the gardens next week.
With the warm weather we have been doing more water play. The children love playing with the pool filled with bubble water. They have been chasing bubbles around the yard.
Please check your child's baskets to make sure your child has two changes of clothes. Thanks to our handyman, Bill Wright, there is a new dish washing table in our classroom. The children are now able to wash their lunch dishes too.
Song of the week:
Ring around the rosie,
A pocket full of posies.
Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.
Quote of the week: PUTTING AWAY & THE SENSE OF ORDER:
"Discipline" comes from the same word as “disciple" and our children become disciplined only by imitating us; just as we teach manners such as saying "thank you" by modeling this for our children instead of reminding, we can teach them to put away their books and toys only by gracefully and cheerfully doing it over and over in their presence. People are always amazed at how neat and beautiful a good Montessori class appears. This is not because the teacher is imposing her own order on the child, but because she is satisfying the strong sense of order of the child.

CAMELLIA
This week children painted their spring baskets and dyed eggs. Thursday was our spring celebration, and there was lots of excitement!
Little Chefs was very busy this week and made grilled cheese sandwiches. Thursday they prepared a healthy veggie pasta. If you have a recipe or ideas you want to share with our Little Chefs please let us know.
The weather has been very warm lately. We apply sunscreen on the children throughout the day. If you have a special sunscreen for your child, please bring it in and let the teachers know. Thank you.
This week’s sound was "Z" as in Zebra, Zippers and a picture of Sophie's dad, Zachary! This is no Sound of the Week during spring break. It will resume on April 18th, with the sound of "CH" as in CHalk, CHeek, and CHeese.
The educational night, "Bringing Montessori Home", has been changed to Wednesday, April 25th, 5 – 6:30 pm. Please RSVP with the office for free childcare.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: A Sense of Order continued
Children do not have any other motive than to try to make sense of the world, to create order. When the child figures out where everything belongs and how the day goes, he develops a feeling of security that allows him to go on to the next stage of development.
Wise parents recognize this stage and support the child’s internal creation. They put thought into the arrangement of the environment and into daily routines, being sure that something begun can continue to be done in that way.

Calendar 4/6 All school assembly – Bike Safety ...

2007-03-30T15:52:00.000-07:00

Calendar
4/6 All school assembly – Bike Safety on the asphalt yard 10 am
4/9-4/13 Spring Break – Childcare by registration
4/16 Boston Tea Party play for kindergartners & Elementary 10 am
5/2 Earth Day
5/12 Auction & Wine & Cheese tasting 3 – 8 pm

SUMMER REGISTRATION
Summer registration brochures for toddler and primary children were distributed yesterday. The summer program begins June 25, 2007. If you have questions regarding the program, please call the office. The Performing Arts Camp brochure, for ages 6 – 12, was mailed today. The camp will be held July 23 – Aug. 3. The children will be learning and performing “Hachma and Mazel”.

NEW TUFF TUMBLER CLASSES
New sessions of Tuff Tumblers began (Wednesday) March 28 and March 30 (Fridays). The sessions run for 6 weeks and cost $48.00. Children are scheduled according to age and ability. If you have specific day/time requests, please indicate on the registration form and we will try to accommodate. Forms were distributed last week to parent pockets/cubbies. Spaces fill up very quickly, so get your registration in ASAP. Please be aware the while your child is participating in Tuff Tumblers he/she is still the responsibility of GLM and you will be charged for childcare.

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that starts with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “Z” as in Zipper, Zany, and Zebra.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS – WORK OFF YOUR PARENT HOURS
Monica Mac Donald is forming an Emergency Preparedness Committee to inventory and restock our emergency sheds. Please contact her at monica@grandlakemontessori.com if you are interested in being part of this important committee.

FENDER BENDER AT CHETWOOD ST.ENTRANCE
Witnesses saw a silver wagon, license number 3UPK676, strike another vehicle at the Chetwood entrance on Wednesday morning, 3/28, at approximately 8:30 am. Minor damage was done and the owner of the car would like to discuss the incident with the driver of the silver wagon.

LOST JACKET
Navy/medium blue fleece zip-up jacket, size 4, embroidered "Benjamin" on front. Lost Friday, 3/9. Belongs to Ben Morgan in Ginkgo. Please return to Ginkgo class. Thank you.

FOUND
“Princess” necklace. Call the office to identify, 510-836-4313

NEW LUNCH PROGRAM
GLM will be offering delivered lunches on Mondays and Wednesdays, beginning May 2. Parents will be able to choose from a menu of items such as pasta, sandwiches, and salads from the Kensington Bistro. The program is called Lunch-N-Munch, and the cost of the lunches are $5.50 - $5.95, depending on the number of lunches purchased (in advance). Additional food can be bought for big eaters. The Bistro currently provides quality lunches for Bentley, Black Pine, Head Royce, Prospect Sierra and Redwood Day schools. Menus and sign-ups will be available April 9. Check out their website at www.lunchnmunch.net.

THE SAFETY CORNER (part 2 of 3)
Call your child's doctor if your child has any of these symptoms:
* high fever (above 104° Fahrenheit, 40° Celsius)
* ear pain
* pain in the abdomen
* headache
* rash
* mild wheezing
* persistent cough
Even if the doctor isn’t available, the office nurse should be able to talk with you and determine whether you should take your child to the ER. On weekends and evenings, doctors typically have answering services that allow them to get in touch with you once you leave a message.

SUMMER DATES & GUESTS
During the summer program there will be part-time (5 ½ days & 3 full days) and full-time offered for primary and toddler students.
June 15, 2007 will be the last day of this school year
June 18-22 will be staff prep week – no school or childcare for Toddlers & Primary
June 18 – 29 - Elementary Summer School/Orientation for 1st graders
June 25 – July 6 will be Session 1
July 9 – 20 will be Session 2
July 23 – Aug. 3 will be Session 3 and Opera/Performing Arts Camp
Aug. 6 – 17 will be Session 4
The week of Aug. 20 - 24 will be staff prep week; again, no school or childcare
First day of school will be Wednesday, August 29.
Some of our guest visitors for the summer:
6/25 – Nemo Jump Tent – all day
6/29 – Clown show 10 am
7/2 – Jeremy the Juggler – 10 am
7/13 – John Weaver, Storyteller – 10 am
7/18 – Wildlife Associates 10 am
8/6 – Fratello Marionettes – 10 am
8/15 – Magician Brian Scott – 10 am
8/17 – Castle Jump Tent – all day
NOTE: If your child does not usually attend school on the day we have an event, they are welcome to join us!

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ Weekly Aikido class
✔ Swimming at the YMCA
✔ Aftercare sewing class
✔ Monthly library trips

****************************************************

CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The elementary children have been studying the use of the articles el, la, and los in Spanish. The older children have been working on simple greeting dialogues with two and three people. The younger children are working on their colors and the names of various animals. Our Spanish teacher, Ms. Vergara, is primarily speaking Spanish with the children during their lessons. This week she also worked with all of the children on the pronunciation of their vowels and the double consonants. It is amazing to hear them rolling their rr's!
The children have been listening to stories of women freedom fighters in the book “Let It Shine!” So far we have read about Mary McLeod Bethune, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman, to name a few. The children really enjoy the stories and ask everyday if we can read a new biography.
Thank you to everyone for all of your support for Pennies for Patients. We will be tallying the final count for everyone on Friday. We take the coins to the Coinstar machine where we can automatically donate the money to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and there is no money charged to use the machine. I encourage everyone to donate their own loose change whenever possible as well. It is a very worthy cause.
This week our class also began working on our auction project. Thank you to Laura for all of your help with our beautiful quilt for our picnic basket. The children are doing such a great job. They have cut out all of the squares and have begun sewing them together.

JACARANDA
The ground has warmed and spring planting time is here! The children have planted beans and peppers, corn and cantalopes. We will be watering and tending the young plants as they grow through the spring, summer and fall.
Christopher's grandmother, who is from Nigeria, gave each one of the children (and adults) a Yoruba name. She told how during the ceremony, salt, pepper, sugar, honey, oil and water are given to the baby after his or her first week, to give the children those respective tastes of life: bitter, sweet, etc.
This week, the class is preparing for the spring celebration and egg hunt by dyeing eggs. The children are also talking about the different spring traditions from other cultures.
Ms. Leck is away next week, beginning April 4, and returning the week after spring break.
The children are able to satisfy their need for building and making mud by making mud, or adobe, bricks in the area outside the classroom. First, the straw is mixed with glue then the brick is formed and dried. Next, mud is spread over the brick and dried in the sun.
When a child is unable to make an age or developmentally-appropriate decision, the adults will "redirect" them, or help them to make another choice. This is less correction than following the child's interest at that particular moment. For example, instead of saying, "In the classroom, do not spin around," you could redirect the child with "Would you like to take out the yoga cards to a rug with your friend?"

JUNIPER
The Juniper children have been enjoying their weekly art projects with Ms. Owens. This week, they made airplanes out of wooden clothespins and popsicle sticks. They painted them, glued them together, and (of course) zoomed them around the classroom! We would like to thank Ms. Owens for the time she spends with the children, they always anxiously await their turns to sit with her and create their art.
A big Juniper thank you to Mr. Hoffman for his weekly visits. As always, the children continue to have a great time with Mr. Hoffman every Thursday. Lately, they have been focusing on practicing their song for Earth Day. Since our continent is Australia, we're working on the song "Kookabura," singing it in rounds. While the concept of singing in rounds is challenging for the children, they're getting better and better with practice.
One more thank you to Mr. Moody. He is so good with the children, helping them learn to control and be aware of their bodies. Lately, he has been working with the children on their dance for Earth Day. They've been reading a book together about animals, then doing dances that imitate each. For Earth Day, the focus is a snake dance. Ask your child about it!
Our auction projects are coming along nicely. The individual projects (hand-painted terra cotta flower pots) are finished, and we've begun creating the group projects (hand-stitched pillows).
In recent weeks, there has been an explosion in the children's interest in reading, due in large part to the enthusiasm of the oldest children. All of them, young and old, are asking for lessons on letters, reading books, identifying sounds, writing words, and composing sentences. There are lots of ways that you can support this emerging interest at home: label items in the house, do your own sound of the week I-spy games, or read books together. For more ideas, talk to any of the teachers in Juniper!
Reminder: CHECK YOUR CHILD'S CLOTHING BAG! These bags are part of our emergency preparedness, so it is vital that you keep them stocked with underwear, socks, shirts, pants/dresses/shorts, shoes, and a sweater/jacket. Expect to see notes in parent pockets if we don't see those bags well stocked!

LIVE OAK
We have moved outside! It has been beautiful weather so we have set up an outdoor classroom. The children have been reading to each other and painting on the easel. The chairs and tables were brought out so children could do the stamp game, metal insets or polishing. We also planted tomatoes in our vegetable garden and planted a variety of flowers in our butterfly garden to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. We also began finding caterpillars, so butterflies are not too far away.
Spring is definitely here. There are some major sensorial changes that our children are experiencing right now. This may account for some different behaviors you may be seeing at home. We have had a time change that switches bedtime from dark to light time. Parents know it is 7:30 on the clock; children are confused by what feels like inconsistencies. The weather also changed drastically this week. It has been very windy and warm. Wind tends to be disquieting to children. Spring has come and everything is bursting into bloom. There is a great deal of pollen in the air. There are so many sensorial changes that children’s systems are on a bit of overload. When experiencing these changes it is important the child’s limits are maintained. This helps them to feel secure that some things in life are consistent. It also helps to talk about the various things the child is seeing and feeling; this gives them the vocabulary to express their confusion and excitement. We look forward to a great week before Spring Break!
A song to celebrate:
“Spring is here” said the bumble bee
“How do you know?” said the old oak tree
“I just saw a daffodil dancing like a fairy on a windy hill.”

GINKGO
The Ginkgo Class has begun studying about Native Americans. Ms. Shah brought a book in to the class entitled “Arrow to the Sun”. The book describes the ancient myths of the Pueblo Indians. The children have also been listening to Native American music and will soon begin working on a song and dance for Earth Day. Ms. Campbell shared a sand painting that is 100 years old! The class will be representing North America and focusing on Native American culture.
Ms. Cheney planted five different organic tomato plants with the children. We also planted the flowers that Tyler brought for the butterfly garden.
We have observed the children’s movement and voice level in the classroom. Ms. McClindon and Ms. Shah are focusing on modeling graceful movement and speaking with indoor voices. We have been emphasizing on communicating through written messages delivered by the children. This shows the power of communication through written word which stimulates the enthusiasm for reading and writing. We are also modeling engaged conversations by making eye contact, as well as demonstrating listening behavior with body language.

MAGNOLIA
Thank you, Crossley Dellis, for coming in to help the children paint their ceramic pots.
In April we will be focusing on seeds including parts of the seed, dispersal and germination. Children will be planting their own seeds in clear cups to observe the growing cycle. Once the plants become seedlings we will transfer them to their beautiful painted pots.
Friday we will be celebrating Cesar E. Chavez Day and the children will learn about his life and contributions to our California heritage. The children will also learn about the life cycle of plants and vegetables from seedlings, to harvest and the many people involved in this agricultural process.
Volunteers are needed for next week's spring celebration. We need three volunteers to bring in two dozen boiled eggs each. If you would like to dye eggs with the children next week, please contact Ms. Olivares.
We will also be starting our large auction project. If you would like to come in to the classroom to help with this let us know.
This week the third-year students had a lesson on mammals. Mr. Keating brought in his two dogs and they discussed the characteristics of mammals. The children had an opportunity to walk and feed the dogs.

MULBERRY
The children have been spending more time outside enjoying the sunshine. They have been weeding our garden areas, picking up the camellia flowers, looking for bugs, playing ball and much more. Parents, please apply sunscreen in the morning and we will reapply throughout the day.
The children's favorite book right now is "Going On A Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen. We have lots of hand movements with the story and conversations about where the bear is going at the end of the book.
If you are looking to get volunteer hours done talk to Mrs. Aima. We need help with gardening, shopping, spring projects, dying eggs, helping hide eggs for our egg hunt, making baskets and our auction projects.
Song of the week:
Three little monkeys jumping on a bed.
One fell off and bumped his head.
His momma called the doctor and the doctor said
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”
Two little monkeys jumping on the bed......
One little monkey ......
Quote of the week:
When we say to give the world to the child, this does not mean the inside of buildings, but weed patches, glorious sunrises and sunsets, the strong cleansing winds of fall, the sounds of birds in the trees, the stars and clouds, the infinite variety of leaves and flowers, the beautiful world of nature. It is very good for us adults to slow down, forget our plan, and follow the child as he discovers, smells, sees, hears, and touches the outside world. Welcome the child to your outside work - washing the car, working in the garden, whatever you can do outside instead of inside - there is always some little part of the real work that a child can do.

CAMELLIA
Tuesday, the Little Chefs made bowtie pasta with zucchini and a fruit salad loaded with strawberries, bananas and melon. On Thursday they prepared quesadillas and a healthy yogurt salad. Next week they will make grilled cheese sandwiches and veggie pasta. If you have a fun recipe you’d like to share with our Little Chefs let us know!
If any families want to help us celebrate Spring by doing a craft or sharing a traditional dish with the children let Mr. Tien know. Next Tuesday the children will make special baskets out of milk cartons and dying eggs, and we’re looking for parents who would like to help. On Thursday we will participate in an egg hunt.
This week’s sound was “Y” as in Yellow bus, Yawn, and Yo-Yo. Next week’s sound will be “Z” as in Zebra, Zoo, and Zucchini.
Dates to remember:
School is closed for Spring Break April 9 -13. Childcare is available by prior registration. Call the office if you have questions.
Wednesday, April 18, from 5 – 6:30 pm, is our next educational night; Bringing Montessori Home. Please RSVP to attend and sign-up for free childcare.
Quote of the week: Adults and Children Working Together
Practical life work provides valuable opportunities for adults and children to spend time together. We parents often wish for more excuses to be with our children, and to use our hands in the time-honored and calming traditional work of the artist and homemaker. Most of us have some talent we could share, or would like to develop – cooking, gardening, sewing, woodworking, making music. Even half an hour a week of sharing with a child is a great beginning.

Calendar 3/30 Mural meeting 5 pm 4/6 ...

2007-03-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

Calendar
3/30 Mural meeting 5 pm
4/6 All school assembly – Bike Safety on the asphalt yard 10 am
4/9-4/13 Spring Break – Childcare by registration
4/16 Boston Tea Party play for kindergartners & Elementary 10 am
5/12 Auction & Wine & Cheese tasting 3 – 8 pm

TEACHER/STAFF APPRECIATION
The parents out-did themselves this year for Teacher/Staff Appreciation Day! Three tables laden with wonderful dishes and a fourth devoted to beverages, including; pasta salads, fruit salads, green salads, macaroni salad, potato salad, tabbouleh, chicken casseroles, BBQ ribs and links, fried chicken, shredded pork shoulder, egg fried rice, potato casserole, Southwest corn chili and tortillas, noodle casseroles, pasta casseroles, taco casserole, turkey & noodle casserole, Ahi tuna sandwiches, rice & ham casserole, quiches, breads, raspberry tarts, pumpkin-chocolate squares, cookies, cake, pecan pie, cheesecake, brownies, cupcakes, donuts, pies, candies, iced teas, juices, sparkling water, flowers, and the wonderful personal messages. What a shame there were no leftovers!
The entire GLM staff thanks each and every one of our marvelous parents for their support, caring and generosity.

SUMMER REGISTRATION
Summer registration brochures for toddler and primary children w ere distributed yesterday. The summer program begins June 25, 2007. If you have questions regarding the program, please call the office. The Performing Arts Camp brochure, for ages 6 – 12, was mailed today. The camp will be held July 23 – Aug. 3. The children will be learning and performing “Hachma and Mazel”.

NEW TUFF TUMBLER CLASSES
New sessions of Tuff Tumblers will begin (Wednesday) March 28 and March 30 (Fridays). The sessions run for 6 weeks and cost $48.00. Children are scheduled according to age and ability. If you have specific day/time requests, please indicate on the registration form and we will try to accommodate. Forms were distributed today to parent pockets/cubbies. Spaces fill up very quickly, so get your registration in ASAP. Please be aware the while your child is participating in Tuff Tumblers he/she is still the responsibility of GLM and you will be charged for childcare.

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “Y” as in Yam, Yellow, and Yacht.

MONICA MAC DONALD JOINS ADMINISTRATION
Monica MacDonald is doing more and more with Montessori teacher training. She is absent one day a week observing teacher trainees in other schools. In June and July she will be teaching several weeks of classes. Some GLM staff will be continuing their Montessori training with her. Ginni Sackett, teacher trainer, pointed out that Live Oak has many qualified staff to serve the children’s needs. Amanda Hyer has competently assumed the lead teacher role in Live Oak with Awa Dia, intern, and Maggie Cheney as support teachers.
Monica has been taking on a new job at GLM both in curriculum design and administration. She will be coordinating disaster preparation drills and readiness for all staff monthly meetings. In addition, Monica will start working 4 days a week and help GLM design a child in nature green house experience that will expose all the children comfortably to gardening and composting. She is currently researching other schools in Marin and Berkeley that have edible gardens, and active hands-on programs for school age and preschool children. Her email is monica@grandlakemontessori.com.

ROSEMARY HOUSE CHANGES
(472 Chetwood to left of electric gate)
Stop by the duplex and see the new office/conference space. The chimney has been removed from the main room creating a sense of expansiveness in the large meeting room. Auction meetings, teacher meetings, parent conferences, and monthly meetings with Parent Volunteer Coordinators and Room Parents are held in the large room. Monica MacDonald’s office overlooks the driveway.

AUCTION ITEM
Film Portrait by Frazer Bradshaw
In a film portrait things move, and there is a whole new world of subtlety and nuance that can be revealed with time. These days, almost everyone has a video camera with which to document their lives, so I'm often asked what my portraits have that a home video does not. For one, I shoot motion picture film; but most important are professionalism and artistry. Everyone takes still pictures of their family and friends, yet those with discriminating taste still have professional portraits taken. It is the artistry and professionalism of camera work and editing that ultimately distinguish between a home movie and a portrait in film.
Frazer Bradshaw will meet with the winning bidder to shoot a motion picture portrait of the person (or persons or pet) they choose. His time, camera equipment, his discerning eye, skill, and editing will all be donated. There will still be some costs associated with the project--film stock, processing, editing equipment rental, and copying the final project onto DVD--but this package is valued at $2000! His work has been featured at Sundance, New York Film Festival, Berlin, and other festivals around the world. Check it out at the link below:
http://www.frazerbradshaw.com/portraits.html

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS – WORK OFF YOUR PARENT HOURS
Monica Mac Donald is forming an Emergency Preparedness Committee to inventory and restock our emergency sheds. Please contact her at monica@grandlakemontessori.com if you are interested in being part of this important committee.

MURAL MEETING
Sarah Lenoue (Magnolia) invites interested parents to attend a Mural Project meeting on Friday, Mar. 30, from 5 -6 pm. The meeting is to discuss using a hired ceramic tile artist to work with the children, where a tile mural would go, and funding (e-scrip). We would like this project to begin during this upcoming summer program. Please call the office if you will attend (free childcare with RSVP).

LOST JACKET
Navy/medium blue fleece zip-up jacket, size 4, embroidered "Benjamin" on front. Lost Friday, 3/9. Belongs to Ben Morgan in Ginkgo. Please return to Ginkgo class. Thank you.

FOUND
“Princess” necklace. Call the office to identify, 510-836-4313

WATCH FOR INFO ABOUT THE NEW LUNCH PROGRAM
GLM is working with Kensington Bistro on a boxed lunch program (Lunch n Munch) experiment to hopefully begin on Wednesdays in April. You will be able to choose from a menu of items such as pasta, sandwiches, and salads. There will be no cookies, boxed juices, chips, etc. The Bistro currently provides quality lunches for Bentley, Black Pine, Head Royce, Prospect Sierra and Redwood Day schools. Check out their website at www.lunchnmunch.net.

THE SAFETY CORNER (part 1 of 3)
Even healthy kids get hurt and sick sometimes. In some cases, you may panic and want to head straight to the emergency room at the nearest hospital. In other cases, it’s more difficult to determine whether an injury or an illness needs the attention of a medical professional, or whether you can take care of it at home.
Ultimately, different problems require different levels of care. And when your child needs some sort of medical help, you have lots of options:
* Handle the problem at home. Many minor injuries and illnesses, including some cuts, poison ivy rashes, coughs, colds, scrapes, and bruises, can be handled with home care and over-the-counter (OTC) treatments.
* Call your doctor. This is a good option in most cases. If you’re unsure of the level of medical care your child needs, your child’s doctor — or a nurse who works in the office — can help you determine what steps to take and how to take them.
* Visit an urgent care center. An urgent care center can be a good option at night and on weekends when your child’s doctor may not be in the office, but it’s not necessarily a medical emergency. At these clinics, you can usually get things like x-rays, stitches, and care for other minor injuries that aren’t life threatening yet require medical attention on the same day.
* Visit a hospital emergency room. An ER — also called an emergency department (ED) — can handle a wide variety of serious problems, such as severe bleeding, head trauma, seizures, meningitis, breathing difficulties, dehydration, and bacterial infections.
* Call 911 for an ambulance. Some situations are so serious that you need the help of trained medical personnel on the way to the hospital. These might include if your child: has been in a car accident, has a head or neck injury, has ingested too much medication and is now hard to arouse, or is not breathing or is turning blue. In these cases it’s best to dial 911 for an ambulance.
Here are some examples of when to go the ER:
* your child has some difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
* there’s a change in your child’s mental status, such as suddenly becoming unusually sleepy or difficult to arouse, disoriented, confused, not making sense
* your child has a cut or break in the skin that is bleeding and won’t stop
* your child has a stiff neck along with a fever
* your child has a rapid heartbeat that doesn’t slow down
* your child accidentally ingests a poisonous substance or too much medication
* your child has severe bleeding or head trauma

WHAT IS SENSORIAL?
A young child meets the world around him through the constant use of all his senses.
To examine a new object, a baby will look at it, hold it in his hands to feel the texture and weight, shake it, lick it, or even try to bite it. Since he quite naturally uses all his powers of observation during his early years, Dr. Montessori felt that this was the ideal time to give the child equipment that would sharpen his senses and enable him to understand the many impressions he receives through them.
The Sensorial Materials in the Montessori classroom help the child to become aware of details by offering them, at first, strongly contrasted sensations such as blue and red, and then variously graded sensations, such as many different shades of blue. The material enables him to know what is red, what is blue, and then to understand the abstraction of blueness and finally the abstraction of color itself.

SUMMER DATES & GUESTS
During the summer program there will be part-time (5 ½ days & 3 full days) and full-time offered for primary and toddler students.
June 15, 2007 will be the last day of this school year
June 18-22 will be staff prep week – no school or childcare for Toddlers & Primary
June 18 – 29 - Elementary Summer School/Orientation for 1st graders
June 25 – July 6 will be Session 1
July 9 – 20 will be Session 2
July 23 – Aug. 3 will be Session 3 and Opera/Performing Arts Camp
Aug. 6 – 18 will be Session 4
The week of Aug. 20 - 24 will be staff prep week; again, no school or childcare
First day of school will be Wednesday, August 29.
The week of Aug. 20 - 24 will be staff prep week; again, no school or childcare
First day of school will be Wednesday, August 29.
Some of our guest visitors for the summer:
6/25 – Nemo Jump Tent – all day
6/29 – Clown show 10 am
7/2 – Jeremy the Juggler – 10 am
7/13 – John Weaver, Storyteller – 10 am
7/18 – Wildlife Associates 10 am
8/6 – Fratello Marionettes – 10 am
8/15 – Magician Brian Scott – 10 am
8/17 – Castle Jump Tent – all day
NOTE: If your child does not usually attend school on the day we have an event, they are welcome to join us!

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ Weekly Aikido class
✔ Swimming at the YMCA
✔ Aftercare sewing class
✔ Monthly library trips

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CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
Our class went to the World Arts West performance of “People Like Me” on Tuesday at Holy Names College. World Arts West is an organization based in San Francisco. They sponsor multicultural arts events for schools and the community. The “People Like Me” show occurs once a year and it is made up of an emcee who is a local storyteller or one person act. This year the emcee was James Donlon, a one-man theatrical person. The title of this year's performance was “Motion Commotion”. It was about an inventor (Donlon) who traveled in his automobile-turned-boat to various continents to experience their life through music and dance. We began here in California and then took a boat ride to India where we saw a traditional kathak dance. We were then led to Turkey following the Romani "gypsy" trail. We set sail again and were led into early American history and told about mining and the history of clogging. The show continued with the Umoja Clique combining West African dance with the hip-hop dance of today. The show ended with an outstanding Brazilian Capoeira show.
The entire production was amazing! Every year World Arts West does a fantastic job of putting the entire show together. The children and the adults had a great time. Music and dance are such a great way to teach children about diversity, it's taught in such a respectable way. It was also really exciting to see how different dances have been shaped...tap dance is a “grandchild” of clogging, and hip-hop has deep roots in African dance. After sitting for 45-50 minutes through the first three acts, the children were growing very restless and when the Umoja Clique came on stage they came alive! They were dancing and clapping in their chairs! The finale with the ABADA Capoeira group was amazing.
World Arts West actually sponsors the Ethnic Dance Festival throughout the Saturdays and Sundays in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts. There will be over thirty performers from the Bay Area at the show. I encourage parents to take their children to watch this remarkable show. It really is a wonderful experience for the entire family.

JACARANDA
Thank you to Soli's parents, Gina and Ali, who celebrated the Persian/Iranian spring celebration Norooz with the Jacaranda class on Wednesday morning. The day marks the beginning of spring, and is much like the celebration of Easter, with its emphasis on new growth as symbolized by the plants the children planted in new pots with Soli's parents. The Norooz Table will be in the Jacaranda Class for a few days. Please invite your child to share it with you. The children also planted lentil seeds which they will watch sprout and grow. They will then be invited to take their seeds home.
Thank you for all the offers of help with the Spring egg buying and boiling. We will be dying our eggs next week with Ms. Owens and will be having our Spring egg hunt on Monday the 2nd of April. Please see the teachers if your child does not attend that day.
As a reminder, Ms. Leck leaves on a trip to South Africa for family business on Wednesday, April 4, and returns Monday, April 23rd.
When Ms. Leck is away, please see Mr. Keating if you have any questions or issues. As always, please avoid impromptu conferences during drop-off by contacting the Jacaranda teachers via email, phone or by note placed in Mr. Keating's or Mrs. Saleem's box near the door. Ms. Dia, whom the children know from her internship in the Jacaranda classroom, will be with the children while Ms. Leck is away.
The children walked around the campus this week and hauled dirt in a wheelbarrow from the yard in the lower campus, dug for worms in the Jacaranda outdoor classroom and watched the seeds growing in the same area as the soil has warmed this week.

JUNIPER
Elementary students Zachary and Nacalah came to Juniper and gave a presentation to the children on Leukemia. They explained what the disease is, how a person can (and cannot) contract it, and why it's so important that we be very generous in giving money to help children who have Leukemia. The children always enjoy spending time with the elementary children, listening intently and asking lots of questions.
Thanks to Mark Cota for sharing his safari pictures with the children. He also read the book "We All Went On Safari," which has the names of many animals and the numbers 1-10 in Swahili. This was a wonderful compliment to our current studies of Africa. The children have been enjoying looking through the photo album that he left in the classroom and learning new words in Swahili.
Thanks also to Kristie, who visited Juniper and shared pictures and stories from her trip to Ireland. She told the children about shamrock sandwiches and child's Guinness (made of sherbet and 7-up!).
Quote of the Week
"My mom came back from her business trip. She picked me up on Wednesday. Hey, ‘Wednesday’ starts with the sound ‘W.’ We should bring Wednesday for the sound of the week!" Tyler - age 4.
Reminders:
Warm weather is here, be sure to apply sunblock to your child's exposed skin every morning.
Please check you child's emergency clothing bag weekly!

LIVE OAK
Live Oak welcomed spring by starting an indoor green house. All of the children in Lake Park assisted with the planting of cucumber, eggplant, cherry tomatoes, basil and lettuce. Children saw pigeons making a nest in the apartments behind the Brown Cottage. It will be fun watching the progress.
We baked oatmeal cookies for the elementary bake sale. Thank you to everyone who bought something to benefit the Leukemia Society.
Ms. Vergara was in the classroom while Ms. Hyer was out. She gave lots of Spanish lessons and read great stories. Vikram’s grandmother and Will’s mother also came in to read stories. Thank you, the children loved it!
We continue to find worms and slugs in the yard. We want the worms in the garden but not the slugs.
The children saw a swarm of bees on the yard in the afternoon this week. We all learned that bees are not concerned with humans when they are swarming, looking for a new home, they are only concerned with protecting the queen. Once the queen finds a new spot, she lands and all of the bees make a pile on top of her. The bees were in a large cone shape from all of their bodies. Many of the children went back to the class to make books about bees from all they learned and saw.
Thank you to all of the parents who donated food for the teacher appreciation lunch. It was delicious! As a teacher, it is wonderful to have such great support from the parent community. Thank you!!
The third year children did four major activities this week. The classes shared their diverse knowledge about bees and their swarming techniques with each other. We took the movable alphabet outside and built the words for objects we found on the yard. We also learned more rules to kickball and practiced in small teams how to play. Several children practiced jumping rope.

GINKGO
It’s springtime and we have been celebrating the season by eating lunch outside, making flower arrangements, and taking nature walks around campus. The children cut tulips, clover flowers, calla lilies, and poppies in Ms. Campbell’s garden. After reading a poem about spring, the children thought of 22 words that rhyme with spring. The children have also talked about how the earth wakes ups. They have noticed leaves and flowers blooming on bare branches and how more bugs and spiders are around.
Jocelyn celebrated her 4th birthday on Wednesday, March 20.
Two elementary children talked to the Ginkgo class about the Pennies for Patients Fundraiser. Our children were touched when they heard Jack Ryan is only five years old. Our classroom continued to support this drive by baking brownies and apple bars for the elementary bake sale. The children also understood that the baked goods were to raise money for Jack’s daily treatments.
Ms. McClindon, Ms. Shah, and Ms. Owens want to personally thank all the parents who provided us with such warmth, love, and support this year. We greatly appreciated the food, gifts, cards, and flowers.
Self-expression is one of the five areas in our classroom. Montessori focuses on the process and not the product. When a child works with an art activity, it is the level of concentration and hand-eye coordination that is priceless. When the child repeats the activity it creates patterns that are eventually expressed in mastery. For example, a child begins the process of art by making scribbles. Then they learn that scribbles are lines. Eventually they will learn that lines make shapes.

MAGNOLIA
This week with Mr. Moody the children began practicing their dance that they will be performing for Earth Day. Magnolia will represent the continent of Europe with an emphasis on Spain. The children are learning a flamenco dance with wide, beautiful arm movements and strong, stomping feet involvement. We will also be performing the Spanish song “Pinpon”. This song is about a doll you prepare for bed. If your family has any Spanish artifacts or cultural traditions you would like to share with the class it would be greatly appreciated.
We have started a new chapter book for our afternoon rest time "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe". The children are completely enthralled with the book. They asked a lot of questions about the mythical creatures. We had a long talk about the fawn named Tumnus, a half goat half human character. This week the third year children played some organized games including kickball and softball.

MULBERRY
Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the parents who helped contribute to the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon! Everything was delicious and the staff truly felt appreciated.
This week the children made apple pizza with Kevin, Paul's dad, for Little Chefs. The pizzas were enjoyed by all. On Thursday the children made burritos and fruit salad with Mrs. Aima. Our Pennies for Patients box was filled to the top this week. The children had so much fun putting coins into the box. Thank you to all who brought in money.
The children began helping pull weeds in the yard with Wynee, Isabel’s mom. If any parents are interested in doing gardening with the children let Mrs. Aima know. We are beginning to prepare our gardening areas.
Song of the week:
One bunny rabbit went out to play all in a vegetable patch one day.
He had such enormous fun he asked another bunny rabbit to come.
Two bunny rabbits went out to play…
Three......(Children jump up and down while singing)
Quote of the week:
The truth is that when a free spirit exists, it has to materialize itself in some form of work, and for this the hands are needed. Everywhere we find traces of man's handiwork, and through these we can catch a glimpse of his spirit and the thoughts of his time. --Dr. Maria Montessori

CAMELLIA
The Little Chefs prepared a wonderful and delicious lunch with Paul’s dad, Kevin. He shared his secret apple & pear pizza recipe with us. They began with a pizza crust, added apples and pears, cheese, cinnamon and a little butter. They also enjoyed a juicy fruit salad with bananas, watermelon, papaya and cantaloupe. If anyone has a fun and healthy recipe to share with our Little Chefs, let us know. Remember, no lunch boxes need on Tuesdays and Thursdays!
This week’s sound was “X” and we had extra, X-ray and aXe. Next week’s sound is “Y” as in YoYo, Yogurt, and Yellow. Please continue to encourage your child to bring something from home to share, preferably not a toy.
Teacher Appreciation Day was wonderful! So much food; chicken, shrimp and rice, pastas, desserts! Thank you to all the families who helped with this special day.
Quote of the week: A Sense of Order
In the first three years of life children have a very strong sense of order – of both place and time. An infant can become very upset over things that we would not notice; for example the child who cried because an umbrella, which he had seen many times closed, was opened for the first time. A child may become disturbed as a result of being bathed after a meal when she has become accustomed to being bathed before a meal.
Book of the week:
Bunnies On The Go, Getting From Place to Place. By Rick Walton, illustrated by Paige Miglio.

3/21 Teacher Appreciation lunch 3/21 Auction...

2007-03-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

3/21 Teacher Appreciation lunch
3/21 Auction meeting 5 pm
3/30 Mural meeting 5 pm
4/6 All school assembly – Bike Safety on the asphalt yard 10 am
4/9-4/13 Spring Break – Childcare by registration

SCHOLARSHIP
The Business Office has applications available for the Independent Scholarship Fund, a fund for children K-12. The scholarship covers the lesser of:
75% of the annual school tuition or
$1,500.00 per student per academic school year
(The 75% would be calculated on your tuition deducting any existing financial aid awards). Students must be residents of and attend a school in Alameda or Contra Costa County. The application is very easy to complete-deadline is 5/4/07 but the sooner the better. GLM has a family who has taken advantage of this fund for the last 3 years. Give it a try! Contact Nancy Haskins, Business Manager/Admissions
(510) 622-0259 or nancy@grandlakemontessori.com

PENNIES FOR PATIENTS
Elementary is having a bake sale next Wednesday at 2:45 pm on the asphalt play area and the Chetwood entrance to raise money for Pennies for Patients. Please stop by for dessert!
So far, this is what the classes have raised:
Brown Cottage (Mulberry & Camellia combined) - $92. 18 Juniper - $84.17
Ginkgo -$60.15 Magnolia - $39.13 edwood - $37.42
Live Oak - $15. 18 Jacaranda - $5.31

VISITING MUSICIAN
Chris Hanson is not only the caregiver for Helen Campbell’s grandson, he is also an accomplished folk singer and writer. He won Best Song in the East Bay, 2006, in the West Coast Song Writer’s Association. He has generously agreed to visit GLM on a regular basis, with Mr. Hoffman on Thursdays, and on his own with aftercare. Please welcome him.

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “X” as in eXert, X-ray, and eXperiment.

MONTESSORI FROM A NEURO-SCIENTIST VIEWPOINT
GLM has been the learning community for your child during his/her most formative years of brain development. Two weeks ago, Dr. Bruce Perry, a neuroscientist who founded the Child Trauma Academy in Texas, spoke at the Montessori Centenary celebration in San Francisco. He reminded us that the way the Montessori approach treats children with respect is a model for how adults should treat each other. Modern neuroscience anchors what the Montessori community knows and this can be generalized into other settings. “The best time to influence a child is 100 years before his birth.”
The human being is designed to live in small multi-generational family groups. For centuries of human existence, the neurobiological ratio of adults to children has been 4 to 1. Dr. Perry observes that we are doing children a lifelong disservice by decreasing the influence of extended family and neighbors so essential to brain stimulation. He further postulates that children thrive in multi-age settings with many opportunities to relate, develop compassion and empathy and to problem solve with others. This has benefits over classrooms that serve all same-age children. This sense of security and safety, of being loved in a small group must be the anchor before higher cognitive functions (reading, math, reasoning) can develop. It is not the size of the group but the regular, repetitive relating, and communicating which develops the humanness and ability to relate in each person.
Dr. Perry points out that the part of the brain which develops caring and relating must develop through use. Repetitive practice is necessary for the brain, or areas simply do not develop. Security and safety and a sense of belonging in a compassionate community create the possibility of seeking out relatedness and discovery and learning. Dr. Perry emphasizes that humaneness is learned. Stress is a given in life, and children are more and more responding to it with unpredictability, severe behaviors and lifelong vulnerability. Montessori classrooms, Dr. Perry suggests, allow children to develop a healthy stress response–a life skill of being able to predict, to moderate, and to live resiliently.

MURAL MEETING
Sarah Lenoue (Magnolia) invites interested parents to attend a Mural Project meeting on Friday, Mar. 30, from 5 -6 pm. The meeting is to discuss using a hired ceramic tile artist to work with the children, where a tile mural would go, and funding (e-scrip). We would like this project to begin during this upcoming summer program. Please call the office if you will attend (free childcare with RSVP).

LOST JACKET
Navy/medium blue fleece zip-up jacket, size 4, embroidered "Benjamin" on front. Lost Friday 3/9. Belongs to Ben Morgan in Ginkgo. Please return to Ginkgo class. Thank you.

WATCH FOR INFO ABOUT THE NEW LUNCH PROGRAM
GLM is working with Kensington Bistro on a boxed lunch program (Lunch n Munch) experiment to hopefully begin on Wednesdays in April. You will be able to choose from a menu of items such as pasta, sandwiches, and salads. There will be no cookies, boxed juices, chips, etc. The Bistro currently provides quality lunches for Bentley, Black Pine, Head Royce, Prospect Sierra and Redwood Day schools. Check out their website at www.lunchnmunch.net.

NANNY SHARE AVAILABLE
We have been in a nanny share with the same nanny for 3 1/2 years. The other family is leaving the share and we are looking for a new family to share. Our nanny is great! She takes the kids to the park, library, zoo, etc. She will be watching our 8-month old daughter. (She started with our older daughter who is now in Ginkgo). We would love to have another child of around the same age, if possible. Preferred hours are 7:30-5:30, M - Th, although she may be willing to consider adding Fridays if required. We have been doing the share at our house (near Piedmont Ave.) but would be willing to split time between houses. Contact: Jennifer Kopec,j(kopec@vicor.com,

SUMMER DATES & GUESTS
During the summer program there will be part-time, (5 ½ days & 3 full days, 5 full days) offered for primary students.
June 15, 2007 will be the last day of this school year
June 18-22 will be staff prep week – no school or childcare for Toddlers & Primary
June 18 – 29 - Elementary Summer School/Orientation for 1st graders
June 25 – July 6 will be Session 1
July 9 – 20 will be Session 2
July 23 – Aug. 3 will be Session 3 and Opera/Performing Arts Camp
Aug. 6 – 18 will be Session 4
The week of Aug. 20 - 24 will be staff prep week; again, no school or childcare
First day of school will be Wednesday, August 29.
Some of our guest visitors for the summer:
6/25 – Nemo Jump Tent – all day
7/2 – Jeremy the Juggler – 10 am
7/13 – John Weaver, Storyteller – 10 am
7/18 – Wildlife Associates 10 am
8/6 – Fratello Marionettes – 10 am
8/15 – Magician Brian Scott – 10 am
8/17 – Castle Jump Tent – all day
NOTE: If your child does not usually attend school on the day we have an event, they are welcome to join us!

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ Weekly Aikido class
✔ Swimming at the YMCA beginning Mar. 1st
✔ Aftercare sewing class
✔ Field trip to see “People Like Me” dance performance on Mar. 20th
✔ Monthly library trips

*******************************************************************************

CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The elementary children are greatly enjoying the warm weather. They have been working on the back deck at small tables. We added some new outdoor projects and games for the children to do during our free play time. They can choose to paint outside, do a craft project, or play one of six games. We are also working on our gardening shelves.
The fourth years had a great lesson this week on wind! They are so eager to begin another big research project that they have already decided on what they will be choosing for their topics.
The fifth years are busy studying digestion. This week they are working on the food pyramid and reading food labels. They are also calculating the energy used for various activities they do throughout the day. This is helpful to them as we have children that inevitably want to discuss dieting or taking in too many calories. They are learning just how active they really are and why they need to eat well everyday!
The first years are studying the three types of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. They had a lesson this week on the properties of each of the states. We also did some experiments in the ways in which matter can change from being a solid to a liquid or a solid to a gas. We lit a candle and the wax melted. When we placed the melted wax into some cool water it returned to its solid state. They thought that was pretty cool! It was easy for them to figure out the change from ice to water.
The third years are busy studying the functions of flowers. We talked about why certain flowers have distinguished markings on them; to attract certain types of insects but to deter other insects.

JACARANDA
Zachary and Nacalah, two children from the elementary class, gave a Pennies for Patients presentation to the Jacaranda class Thursday morning. They spoke to the Jacaranda class about one child who is in need of help in the hospital. This presentation put a name and a face to the abstraction of the pennies, other coins and even dollars in the donation box. Please continue to donate so the final tally for the Pennies for Patients for the Jacaranda class will be as high as possible for the leukemia and lymphoma patients.
The five year olds joined five year olds from the other primary classes to watch a film about the children for whom Pennies for Patients are being donated.
Comments:
Serina: There was a bully who was mean to a girl and another kid said to the bully, “She has cancer, what about that?”
Zander: Her hair came out, but then it growed back.
Parents may notice that when the children arrive in the morning, they are encouraged to do as much to set up the classroom environment as possible, from taking down chairs, to setting up the snack area, to the many other areas of the environment that allow the children to be independent and to show initiative. Do not forget this at home, too: that the children are more capable than we think and that they learn faster and more quickly than we do, in age- and developmentally-appropriate amounts.
The children have been studying insects, seeds, and South America this week. The third year children are encouraged to find, to study and even draw a bee, for instance (a dead one). The children germinated and dissected a seed, identifying and labeling the parts. With Mr. Moody, the movement instructor, and Mr. Hoffman, the music instructor, the children have been learning a dance and a song from South America for the Grand Lake Montessori Earth Day celebration later this spring.

JUNIPER
Warm days are here! And with them has come the powerful sun and its UV-A and UV-B rays. Be sure to apply sunblock to your child's exposed skin before coming to school if you anticipate a sunny day. We spend more time outside on such days, so protect your child's developing skin.
The children attended a special performance by storyteller Michael Katz on Monday and had a great time. He spun yarns about magic millstones, the origin of the salty sea, and many other wonderful tales. Ask your child about it and see what impacted him/her the most.
We all need help sometimes remembering the myriad details of our daily lives. To that end, we're calling for a parent volunteer to go through the children's emergency clothing bags every other Friday to see what's missing. They will then fill out a brief form for each parent who needs to bring more items for the clothing bag and put the note in their parent pocket. It shouldn't take long, about 30-45 minutes, and the time would count toward your parent volunteer hours.
The Juniper children have begun their individual auction projects. This year they are painting terracotta flowerpots with indelible paints and inks. Look for your child's unique creation at the upcoming Wine and Cheese Auction!

LIVE OAK
We are finding lots of living creatures outside. Tuesday, we found two salamanders and a giant night crawler. One child found a bucket and added mud and water so we could bring these beings into our classroom to observe their body and movements. The ability of our classroom to redirect the afternoon to follow this excitement is one of the things that makes Montessori so unique. We are able to follow the child, or in this case, the children. Many children wrote stories of what happened today. Those that did not, helped with the research to find out more about salamanders. We learned they are vertebrates, amphibians and have eggs in water. We learned some salamanders are poisonous but the ones we found were not. They are called Mudpuppies.
We listened to an amazing storyteller who involved the children completely in the telling of the stories. He told a story from Japan about why the sea is salty, and a silly story about Lazy Jack.
Please send your child coated in sunscreen in the morning; we are doing a great deal of gardening and outdoor work. We planted gladiola bulbs in the garden on Friday.
Thank you for your enthusiasm for volunteering. If you are signed up for in class projects, please pick a date on the calendar and write your name so we have one parent a day.
The elementary students came into our class to tell us about Jack, the little boy who has Leukemia that we are raising money for. Pennies for Patients is a school wide fundraiser for Jack’s medical expenses. The school with the most pennies (or cash) will win a pizza party!!
Ms. Hyer will be out of the classroom on Monday through Wednesday. Ms. Dia and Ms. Cheney will be checking email and available for questions. Ms. Vergara will be assisting in the classroom. Also, Ms. Hyer will have her office hours every Wednesday from 4-6pm. Please email to schedule an appointment or stop by for updates.

GINKGO
We had our St. Patrick’s Day party on Wednesday March 14th. Because of the beautiful weather we had the party outside! We had a group of parents come in and help with setting up activities in our lunch area. We had bracelet making, cupcake decorating, an art activity, and special treasure hunt in Ms. Campbell garden. We also enjoyed a special snack of Iris Soda Bread and a “green fruit salad”. The Ginkgo teachers would like to thank all the parents who helped in making this a fun and unforgettable celebration for the children.
The children are becoming more independent in choosing their work without a teacher’s influence. Jake was walking around the class and looked at the metal inset material. He said, “I’m going to do the metal insets, I haven’t done that in 400 days!”
Parents, please remember to apply sun block on your child in the morning. We will reapply sun block before the children’s lunchtime.
Parents please mark your calendars for the Wine and Cheese event on May 12th. This is a school fundraiser that will benefit the school scholastic program. And, it’s fun!
This is the last week for us to raise money for Pennies for Patients. The money we raise will benefit children with Lymphoma and Leukemia. The class that raises the most money will receive a pizza party.

MAGNOLIA
It has been another busy week in Magnolia.
We have a beautiful family tree poster. Several of the children helped cut out paper leaves to put on the poster. Thank you Charity for helping us with this project.
We celebrated St. Patrick's Day on Thursday. Ms. Hernandez read a book about the life of St. Patrick. We had a great snack of lime Jello, green apples, and soda bread. The children put their measuring skills to the test when we made the soda bread together on Wednesday afternoon. The children also decorated shamrocks with paint using marbles to role the paint on.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Magnolia Pennies for Patients fund

MULBERRY
The children have been enjoying the nice weather. We are getting ready to begin planting our gardens. If any parents enjoy gardening we would love to have your help. This week a group of children helped pick flowers for our vases.
Tuesday, Little Chefs made bowtie pasta with cut up zucchini and marinara sauce. They cut up strawberries and bananas for a fruit salad. This meal was by far the children’s favorite meal. I was surprised how many children ate the zucchini! Today they make veggi rice and melon salad.
The children have been having a lot of fun putting money in our Penny for Patients box. If you haven't brought change yet there is still next week.
Song of the week:
My mother gave me a penny so I could buy some candy,
but I didn't buy any candy,
instead I bought bubble gum. umpa, umpa bubble gum, umpa umpa bubble gum.
My mother gave me a nickel so I could buy a pickle....
My mother gave me dime so I could buy a lime.....
My mother gave me a quarter so I could buy some water.....
My mother gave me a dollar so I could scream and howler.......
Quote of the week:
A beautiful, organized, and uncluttered environment can help in many ways: dressing and undressing is simplified; the favorite book and toy is always within reach; the child can participate in the life of the family and feel needed; challenging work that focuses the child's attention and fulfills her needs is always available; a more fun, creative, and peaceful life comes into being for the whole family.

CAMELLIA
Tuesday, the Little Chefs made bowtie pasta with organic tomato basil sauce, and a fruit salad. The pasta was so delicious all the children asked, "More please, more please!" On Thursday they prepared a veggie rice dish with carrots, peas, and green onion, plus a juicy melon salad.
The weather has been so beautiful lately the children are spending more time in the outside classroom, with water activities. table washing, baby washing, bubble making. Their favorite water play is water painting (paint brush and can). They pretend they are painters. One child said," I"m going to paint my mommy’s car."
The Camellia teachers would like parents to bring extra layers of clothing for changing. Please label them. As the weather gets warmer, please dress the children properly; t-shirts, shorts, and sandals that are firmly attached to the feet. Thank you.
The toddlers got a special treat from the primary children. They were invited to help the older children add new soil in the flower box. They were shown how to use the shovel and the rake, and were very excited! Thank you, primary children!
This week’s sound was "W", we had water, watch, wheels, whistle, whisk, washcloth, and the color white. Next week’s sound is "X"; X-ray, eXtra, and eXit. Good luck!
Please be sure to check your parent's pocket and your children’s cubbies. Thank you.
Quote of the week: Music and Language cont...
After several of these exchanges many children purposefully begin to make sounds for you to imitate, and eventually will try to imitate the adult's sound. This is a very exciting first communication for both parties. It is not baby talk: It is real communication.
Book of the week: " We’re Going on a Bear Hunt", by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.
The Camellia families would like to welcome the Laub-Sabater family: Nicolas, mom Christina, and dad, Peter.

Calendar 3/12 All School Assembly – Michael Kat...

2007-03-09T16:18:00.000-08:00

Calendar
3/12 All School Assembly – Michael Katz, Storyteller 10 am
3/14 Core meeting 5 pm
3/21 Mural meeting 5 pm
4/3 All school assembly – Bike Safety on the asphalt yard 10 am
4/9-4/13 Spring Break – Childcare by registration

SCHOLARSHIP
The Business Office has applications available for the Independent Scholarship Fund, a fund for children K-12 . The scholarship covers the lesser of:
75% of the annual school tuition or
$1,500.00 per student per academic school year
(The 75% would be calculated on your tuition deducting any existing financial aid awards). Students must be residents of and attend a school in Alameda or Contra Costa County. The application is very easy to complete-deadline is 5/4/07 but the sooner the better. GLM has a family who has taken advantage of this fund for the last 3 years. Give it a try! Contact Nancy Haskins, Business Manager/Admissions
(510) 622-0259 or nancy@grandlakemontessori.com

FORMS MISSING
GLM is expecting a Licensing visit within the next two months. There are quite a few forms missing from children’s files: emergency, field trip permission, etc. Families with incomplete paperwork will be receiving notes next week attached to the forms that are required by Licensing. It is of utmost importance that these forms be completed and returned to the office ASAP.

SUMMER DATES & GUESTS
During the summer program there will be part-time, 5 ½ days & 3 full days offered for primary students.
June 15, 2007 will be the last day of this school year
June 18-22 will be staff prep week – no school or childcare for Toddlers & Primary
June 18 – 29 - Elementary Summer School/Orientation for 1st graders
June 25 – July 6 will be Session 1
July 9 – 20 will be Session 2
continued on page 2
July 23 – Aug. 3 will be Session 3 and Opera/Performing Arts Camp
Aug. 6 – 18 will be Session 4
The week of Aug. 20 - 24 will be staff prep week; again, no school or childcare
First day of school will be Wednesday, August 29.
Some of our guest visitors for the summer:
6/25 – Nemo Jump Tent – all day
7/2 – Jeremy the Juggler – 10 am
7/13 – John Weaver, Storyteller – 10 am
7/18 – Wildlife Associates 10 am
8/6 – Fratello Marionettes – 10 am
8/15 – Magician Brian Scott – 10 am
8/17 – Castle Jump Tent – all day
NOTE: If your child does not usually attend school on the day we have an event, they are welcome to join us!

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “W”, as in Watermelon, Worm, and Welcome.

WATCH FOR INFO ABOUT THE NEW LUNCH PROGRAM
GLM is working with Kensington Bistro on a boxed lunch program (Lunch n Munch) experiment to hopefully begin on Wednesdays in April. You will be able to choose from a menu of items such as pasta, sandwiches, and salads. There will be no cookies, boxed juices, chips, etc. The Bistro currently provides quality lunches for Bently, Black Pine, Head Royce, Prospect Sierra and redwood Day schools. Check out their website at www.lunchnmunch.net

NANNY SHARE AVAILABLE
We have been in a nanny share with the same nanny for 3 1/2 years. The other family is leaving the share and we are looking for a new family to share. Our nanny is great! She takes the kids to the park, library, zoo, etc. She will be watching our 8 month old daughter. (She started with our older daughter who is now in Ginkgo). We would love to have another child of around the same age, if possible. Preferred hours are 7:30-5:30, M-Th, although she may be willing to consider adding Fridays if required. We have been doing the share at our house (near Piedmont Ave.) but would be willing to split time between houses. Contact: Jennifer Kopec, jkopec@vicor.com,

THE SAFETY CORNER
Parents, guardians, and adults who care for children face constant challenges when trying to help keep children safer in today's fast-paced world.
For decades, children were taught to stay away from "strangers." But this concept is difficult for children to grasp and often the perpetrator is someone the child knows. It is more beneficial to help build children's confidence and teach them to respond to a potentially dangerous situation, rather than teaching them to look out for a particular type of person. Here are some tips I found from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
1. The most important things you should teach your children are to never leave anywhere without checking in with a parent, teacher or trusted adult. Do not go anywhere alone, always take a friend even if it’s to play outside. Say no if someone tries to touch you, or treats you in a way that makes you feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused. Get out of the situation as quickly as possible. Yell for help if you need to. Tell a parent, guardian, or trusted adult if you feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused. There will always be someone to help you, and you have the right to be safe.
2. In talking to your children remember to talk calmly. Don’t forget older children. Children ages 11-17 are at high risk. Speak openly.
Do not teach stranger danger. Practice what you preach and tell your child safety is much more important than good manners.

TODDLER REALITY
Ms. Mac Donald was crossing the toddler yard when Niccolo asked Ms. Aima, “Who is that?” Ms. Aima told him she was Ms. Mac Donald. Niccolo’s eyes got VERY BIG, and he announced, “That’s Mac Donald?! She has a farm! With pigs, and chickens, and cows!”

WHAT IS PRACTICAL LIFE?
“A child’s work,” Dr. Montessori wrote, “is to create the man he will become. An adult works to perfect the environment but a child works to perfect himself.”
In the practical life exercises we use common everyday activities to satisfy the child’s need for meaningful activity. For the young child there is something special about ordinary tasks such as washing dishes or polishing silver. They are exciting to the child because it allows him/her to imitate adults. Imitation and repetition are the ways a child learns.
While the activities in Practical Life seem simple, there is great work behind it. The child works on coordination as he carries a water pitcher. His concentration skills become longer and stronger as absorbs himself in the work. He learns to pay attention to detail as he follows a sequence of tasks and he learns great work habits as he cleans up after the work and puts it away for others to use.

PENNIES FOR PATIENTS
This fund-raising event has begun and will run through the 21st of March. Look for the collection containers in all the classes. The class that raises the most money for the Leukemia Society will earn a pizza party.

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ Swimming at the YMCA began Mar. 1st
✔ Aftercare sewing class started Mar. 2nd
✔ Field trip to see “People Like Me” dance performance on Mar. 20th
✔ Monthly library trips

************************************************************************************

CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The children have started their swim lessons at the Berkeley YMCA on Thursdays! The class is divided into two groups, lower elementary and upper elementary. Each group has a half hour of swim lessons and a half hour of free swim. The children are doing so well! They enjoy the swimming and it is great exercise for them.
Our class and the kindergarteners had an amazing science show on Wednesday. They watched as water and rubbing alcohol were mixed together. Then, a handkerchief was soaked in the solution. The handkerchief was then set on fire. The cloth was dried because the rubbing alcohol was burned off! The science guest was also pretty funny.
The children have been doing a lot of wonderful games and art projects in aftercare as well. Ms. Vanessa has been teaching the children Four Corners on the blacktop and Heads Up Seven Up inside. They made Cootie Catchers, and Chinese paper cut-outs. Mr. Keating taught the children about drawing realistic pictures of animals on Monday. The children were using watercolor and pastels. Last Friday, our class had the first sewing class with Mrs. Aima. They made sewing bags on the sewing machines to store all of their sewing projects. It was a lot of fun to observe!
Congratulations to Zachary, he completed the next belt test in Aikido! He is now a yellow belt.

JACARANDA
The Jacaranda cultural calendar for March includes the study of Africa. On Monday, we read a book from South Africa that reminded the children of the basic human needs: food, shelter, clothes and love. The family in the story reminded the children of their own families and the homes in the story reminded the children of their own homes.
During the Jacaranda class study of flowers, the children went to the garden to find flowers that they could use to identify the parts of the flower. During their search, the children ended up with pollen on their noses and pretended to be the insects that pollinate the flowers and plants. Could there be a better way to learn, than to become the bee or butterfly, moving throughout the garden with your "bee" or "butterfly" friends?
Thank you to Ariel, Ruby's mom, for helping the Jacaranda class to celebrate the Hebrew tradition of Purim on Monday. Thank you, also, to Ariel for hosting the talk about eating and self-esteem issues last Thursday evening. For those of you with further questions, she has expressed interest in additional conversations in the future.
Besides the ongoing culture of respect in the environment, one of the basic tools that the children use during conflict resolution is the "peace rose". When they need to resolve conflict between themselves, the children take the peace rose from its vase on the shelf and take turns listening to one another talk, looking into the other person's eyes to show that they are listening. The act of listening and sharing turns completely meets their needs to be heard and to talk to one another in a civil manner. At the end of this exchange they follow the last step which is to hold the stem of the rose together and say: " We declare peace"
The Jacaranda contributions to the Grand Lake Montessori Auction are being planned. An initial project meeting took place on March 8, when volunteers began a discussion of how the projects will look. All Jacaranda parents are welcome to volunteer their time and efforts in exchange for valuable parent participation hours and for the benefit of the children.
When the Jacaranda class hosted the third year children last Thursday, they entered the classroom in small groups to join a worm lesson. After finding worms in the worm bin, the children sat in a circle and noted the parts of the worm while having a group discussion about what they saw.
Remember Pennies for Patients! Even though the incentive is to help the children suffering from leukemia and lymphoma, winning a pizza party is good incentive, too. Please remember it can be dollars for patients too!
The Jacaranda class is asking for rinsed eggshells for a spring project. Thank you.
We’d like to invite a family to come and explain the St. Patrick's Day celebration on or near March 16, 2007. Please contact the teachers via email, phone or in person about this opportunity to share with the Jacaranda children.

JUNIPER
The children's study of Africa has really been taking off. They've been learning some words in Swahili from the book "Jambo Means Hello" which is on our cultural shelf. Some of their favorites are "baba" (father), "mama" (mother), "jambo" (hello), and "rafiki" (friend). They've also learned about several countries, including Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopa, and Nigeria.
Reading is big in Juniper. The oldest children are inspired by each other's success to read more and the younger children, seeing this special thing called reading that their elders are doing, are being inspired to learn more of the sandpaper letters and trace letters in our sand tray. The group is gaining a clear understanding of identifying the beginning and ending sounds of words as well. Throughout the day, one child or other is almost always walking around saying things like, "m...m...mommy. a...a...africa. b...b...bird."
Thank you to Stephanie and Chris for visiting Juniper and teaching the children about the Jewish celebration of Purim. They learned the story of a mean man named Haman who tried to send the Jewish people away. They made shakers which traditionally would be shaken every time they heard the name "Haman." They also ate hamantaschen (which means Haman's hat); triangle shaped cookies that recall the hat of the mean man and drank apple juice.
Also, a Juniper welcome to Luna and her mom, Maya Maybeck. Luna is a new student who came for her visit on Thursday. She spent time with Ms. Koerber and watched all the activities that the Juniper children were doing.

LIVE OAK
Live Oak is happy to report Mrs. Dia is back from Senegal this week!! We were all very excited to see her.
Our children have been learning all about snails and earthworms. They are all over the yard and the children have been collecting them and building habitats for them. Don’t worry, snails are very clean animals; the children will not get sick from handling them. We are studying all kinds of invertebrates inside the classroom as well.
We role model interactions for children using the technique “Grace and Courtesies”. They are successful in giving children the script of what to say when they are in a social situation. Children rehearse their roles and perform them for other children. We are working on how to encourage a friend to stop following him/her around when a child would like to choose his/her own work. One child pretends to follow another child and the other says, “I really enjoy being your friend, but I need to choose my own work right now.” Then the child walks away. We practiced this several times with several children.
Please remember to send slippers to school. They should be similar to ballet slippers or moccasins with a tread and no characters.
Live Oak class is looking for a typewriter. If anyone has access to a typewriter either electric or manual, please let us know. Thank you.

GINKGO
The Ginkgo class is enjoying the spring-like weather. We are excited about starting the garden that Ms. Cheney (from Live Oak) and a number of other staff members are working on and planning. Moira Chapman, Aidan’s mom, came in on Friday March 9th to work with the Ginkgo class on preparing the soil for planting.
The children are working beautifully in class each day. All the material in class helps develop their sense of order, concentration, coordination, and fosters independence.
In our Second Step lessons we’ve talked about “name calling”. We told a story about a girl named Cathy. Cathy was walking along and a boy named Robert followed behind her calling her names like “purple toad”. Then a question was posed to the children. “How do you think Cathy feels?” The children had a dozen responses, mad, hurt or sad.
Then we asked, “What woul happen if Cathy called Robert names back?” The children thought of a lot of different answers. Then we talked about how to calm down when you become angry. First: Take a deep breath to clam down; second: Tell the other child how you feel. If they’re not listening to your words, tell them to stop and then tell a teacher.

MAGNOLIA
The children were all very busy this week enjoying some new jobs we put on the shelves. They are particularly fond of the color mixing work. In this activity the children put drops of primary colored water in a bowl to make a secondary color; i.e. mixing red and yellow to make orange. We also have a measuring cup and measuring spoon activity. In this exercise the children look at cards that say different measurements, 1 and 1/2 cups, and scoop the proper amount of rice, level it off with a spatula and pour it into an empty bowl. This a great exercise for home as well.
This week the third year children did a flower bisection of a lily with Ms. Olivares. They closely examined the different parts of the flower and all thought it was very interesting that a flower had both male and female parts. The children also learned some names of different flowers in Spanish and did a painting project to go with it.
Rose - Rosa
Sunflower - Girasol
Lily - Lirio
Daisy - Margarita
Tulip - Tulipan

MULBERRY
Monday night was our educational meeting on "Setting Limits" and what a great evening it was! Thank you to all who took time out of their busy lives to come. It was an evening of sharing strategies as well as educating.
This week in the classroom the children have really been enjoying the book "Once Upon A Potty". It has sparked lots of conversations and interests. Some of the children have begun sitting on the potty and some just want to watch.
This week the Little Chefs made grilled cheese sandwiches and cut up strawberries to put in yogurt on Tuesday with Mr. Tien. On Thursday the children cut up apples and cooked them with cinnamon and brown sugar. They also made egg salad sandwiches for lunch.
Next week is St. Patrick's Day. If any parent is interested in coming to do an activity let Mrs. Aima know, or if at some time you would like to share something from your culture. Song of the week:
All the little fish are swimming in the water, swimming in the water, swimming in the water All the little fish are swimming in the water: bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble, splash.
All the big fish.....,
All the whales....,
All the children.....
Quote of the week: One simple, everyday way to help your child learn is to make observations. Little ones are scientists, figuring out cause and effect, discovering how things work. Put words into discoveries she makes: "The wind is blowing!", "Do you hear the raindrops?", "This diaper is wet", "The toy is stuck!"

CAMELLIA
The educational night, "Setting Limits" was a big success. Thank you for coming and sharing your experiences with other families. Please watch the newsletter for the next upcoming educational night.
Little Chefs made grilled cheese sandwiches, and the kids thought they were delicious. They grated cheese, sprinkled it on the bread, then put them in the oven and watched the cheese melt. They also made a healthy strawberry and yogurt salad. On Thursday they will make egg salad sandwiches.
St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner. If anybody wants to come in to do a craft, food dish, or read a story, feel free to let the Camellia teachers know. In the classroom children have been decorating their shamrocks in many creative ways, using pretty tissue paper, stamps, and painting.
This week sound was "V", and we shared the words Vaseline, Vest, Violin, Velcro, Valentine, and a picture of planet Venus. Remember, next week’s sound is " W", as in Walnut, Wallet, and Wig.
Please label all your children’s belongings: clothing, lunch boxes, food containers, bedding, shoes, and jackets. Many of the children have identical items, and it is not easy for the teachers to identify which item belongs with which child.
It is also important that you check your parent pockets for school information and your children’s cubbies for art projects. Thank you.
Continue to bring any loose change you can find for the Pennies for Patients fundraiser. There is a white donation box in the Brown Cottage kitchen.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: continuing with Music and Language
An adult can engage in a conversation with even the youngest child in the following way: when the child makes a sound, imitate it - the pitch and the length of the sound. Baby says "maaaa ga", adult says "maaaa ga", etc. One often gets an amazing response from the child the first time this happens, as if she is saying, "At last, someone understands and speaks my language!"

Calendar 3/6 Setting Limits meeting 5 – 6:30 pm...

2007-03-02T15:57:00.000-08:00

Calendar
3/6 Setting Limits meeting 5 – 6:30 pm
3/7 Science show, 2 pm for Kindergartners & Elementary
3/12 All School Assembly – Michael Katz, Storyteller 10 am
3/14 Core meeting 5 pm
3/21 Mural meeting 5 pm
4/3 All school assembly – Bike Safety on the asphalt yard 10 am
4/9-4/13 Spring Break – Childcare by registration

FIELD TRIP FORMS
If you have not yet turned in the campus field trip form for your child, please do so ASAP. There are quite a few children participating in Tuff Tumblers and the art class that do not have this form completed.

SUMMER DATES & GUESTS
During the summer program there will be part-time, 5 ½ days & 3 full days offered for primary students.
June 15, 2007 will be the last day of this school year
June 18-22 will be staff prep week – no school or childcare for Toddlers & Primary
June 18 - Elementary Summer School/Orientation for 1st graders
June 25 – July 6 will be Session 1
July 9 – 20 will be Session 2
July 23 – Aug. 3 will be Session 3 and Opera/Performing Arts Camp
Aug. 6 – 18 will be Session 4
The week of Aug. 20 - 25 will be staff prep week; again, no school or childcare
First day of school will be Wednesday, August 29.
Some of our guest visitors for the summer:
6/25 – Nemo Jump Tent – all day
7/2 – Jeremy the Juggler – 10 am
7/18 – Wildlife Associates 10 am
8/6 – Fratello Marionettes – 10 am
8/15 – Magician Brian Scott – 10 am
8/17 – Castle Jump Tent – all day
NOTE: If your child does not usually attend school on the day we have an event, they are welcome to join us!
More to come!

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “V”, as in Vampire, Vitamin, and Velvet.

SETTING LIMITS
GLM is hosting another “Setting Limits” meeting for Tuesday, Mar. 6th , from 5 – 6:30 pm. Childcare is available. Please RSVP with the office to attend and for childcare, 510-836-4313.

GINKGO STAFFING
Mr. Jason Sheen has decided that working in the field of early childhood education is not a good fit for him. He made February 16th his last day. We wish him well in his next career move. Ms. Owens continues to work within Gingko, act as site director for Lake Park, and do art projects with the other classes, 9:30 to 11 am, 3 days a week. Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Moody are weekly in the classroom as well as our new Spanish teacher, Ms. Vergara. We are introducing her to all families little by little and you can read her biography (below).

NEW SPANISH TEACHER
We are pleased to introduce Maria Paula Vergara as our Spanish teacher at GLM. Ms. Vergara moved to America just 6 months ago from Bogata, Colombia, where she was born. She holds a degree in Political Science and Government. Ms. Vergara worked with a government children’s agency setting up special projects through the libraries across the country. It often involved going to unsafe regions. Her mother is a special education teacher and her father is a lawyer in Colombia. She hopes to continue her education here in the Bay Area.

THE SAFETY CORNER
Do you and your family practice fire drills at home? Do your children know what the smoke alarm sounds like and what to do should it go off? The United States has one of the
highest fire death and injury rates in the world. Fire -- in the form of flames and smoke -- is the second leading cause of accidental death in the home.
More than 4,000 people die each year in home fires. Every year, there are more than 500,000 residential fires serious enough to be reported to fire departments. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has targeted the principal consumer products associated with fires, namely home heating devices, upholstered furniture, bedding, cigarette lighters, matches, and wearing apparel.
Planning ahead, rehearsing, thinking, and acting clearly are keys to surviving a fire.
Does your family have an escape plan and an alternate escape plan?
Does your family have an escape route and plans that are rehearsed periodically?
Does your escape plan include choosing a place safely outside the house where the family can meet to be sure everyone got out safely?

MARTIAL ARTS PROGRAM
Oakland Kajubenbo Kwoon has an amazing martial arts (kung fu) class for children ages 3-5 (there is also a class for 6-12 if elementary students are interested). The teacher, Sifu Kate Hobbs, is a third degree black belt with over twenty-five years experience teaching
children. She teaches traditional martial arts physical skills, and at the same time really focuses on developing community, respect, diversity, verbal self-defense, and grace. The fee is extremely affordable ($1-$12 per class) and it's a wonderfully diverse group of kids. The cost includes a uniform and chances to perform in some great Oakland/East Bay community celebrations.
Classes are held Monday, Wednesday from 3:15-4:00PM and Saturdays from 10:00AM-10:45AM.
To register or for more information contact teacher
Kate Hobbs at katehobbs@comcast.net/ 510-290-8060
Or, for more recommendations from moms of students, contact Rachel Neumann (Luna's mom) at rachelbeatrice@yahoo.com.

WHAT IS A METAL INSET?
Often, children come home excited about a new lesson they received at school and they have no way to describe the work. Every week Monica Mac Donald will attempt to explain work the children do in the classroom and the purposes beginning with the Metal Insets. The metal inset work has an inset and a frame using geometric shapes. This is often the child’s first time to hold pencils. The child traces inside the frame and outside the inset and then using a third color fills in the inside space with lines. The purpose of this work is to prepare the muscles in the hands for writing and geometric design.

SCIENCE SHOW
Wednesday, March 6th, the Bureau of Lectures & Concert Artists, Inc., will present a Science program to the elementary and kindergarten children at GLM. The program begins at 2 pm in the elementary classroom. The children will learn about optics and illusions, chemical magic, a flying saucer that rides on a beam of light, exploding flour, things seen but not there, and electric wonders, just to name a few!

TAKE A BREAK
Forms for the next “round” of Take A Break (TAB), the Friday pizza lunch, have been distributed to parent pockets & cubbies. The form covers Fridays starting March 2nd, and ending May 4th. Extra forms are available in both offices. PLEASE turn the form in no later than the Wednesday before the Friday you wish your child to participate. Pizzas have to be ordered in advance.

PENNIES FOR PATIENTS
This fund-raising event has begun and will run through the 21st of March. Look for the collection containers in all the classes. The class that raises the most money for the Leukemia Society will earn a pizza party.

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ Swimming at the YMCA beginning Mar. 1st
✔ Aftercare sewing class starting Mar. 2nd
✔ Mar. 7th: “Color of Justice”, a TheaterWorks production I the AM; Science show in the PM
✔ Field trip to see “People Like Me” dance performance on Mar. 20th
✔ Monthly library trips

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CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
Our class had a great trip to Norden right before the winter break! We were a little concerned that there was not going to be enough snow for the children since it had not snowed all that much. However, luck was with us and there was a storm the weekend prior to us going! We stayed at a lodge and three parents came with us, Mariana and Sean Harris and Heidi Hudson. Thank you to all three of you. The snow trip was our exercise in independent living - the children were responsible for the entire trip. The day before I took four children with me to Costco and Safeway so they could go shopping for the food we needed. The shopping list was put together by 2 other children. The children were given a budget and they managed to only narrowly go over that budget! The children did all of the cooking and cleaning up; we had hamburgers and hotdogs, pasta salad, and pineapple the first night; spaghetti, corn on the cob, and a green salad the second night. They made pancakes, eggs, and sausage for breakfast while we had sandwiches for lunch. The children learned a lot about cooking in a very different altitude from what we are normally used to. When we go camping we turn the little stoves on, start our campfire and our meals take under 45 minutes to cook but in Norden it took twice the time. When we weren't cooking we were playing in the snow. Prior to traveling to Norden the children and I talked about the snowball fights and decided it wasn't a very good idea. Well, by Thursday, we just needed to let the dire need to throw snowballs go...everyone, including the adults participated...of course, it seemed that all the snowballs were directed at Mrs. Gilliam! We had so much fun. It was great watching the children, Mr. Keating, and the parents sled down the hill where the lodge was located. We were soaked but had such a great time. There was actually 2-3 feet of snow so upon arrival the children grew frustrated by sinking in the snow but by the next morning they were out there packing it down, creating new toboggan and sled runs!

JACARANDA
Remember that this time of year, when the weather warms briefly then turns cool again, that your children need to come prepared for winter weather with hats, coats and sweaters; and on rainy days, with hats, boots and raincoats. Imagine being told that you cannot join your friends on a walk in the rain because you need a coat.
There is always focus and concentration in the Montessori classroom, but this is the time of year when we see the many lessons and resulting independent work really come to fruition. Whether the youngest first year child has been working toward being able to sit and focus on a simple task for several minutes or the oldest third years having built up their social and individual concentration to work through a complex golden bead math problem, the children continue to grow at their own pace with the adult's guidance.
Heard on the yard as the children are studying a dead bee: "My mom is a studier."
As part of Jacaranda class study of the needs of humans and of the other life on earth, we read a book called "If You Went to The Moon," and discussed how different the moon is from the earth and how happy one would be to return to the earth's diversity of life, oxygen and gravity!
In February we have also been studying weather. On Tuesday we learned about what causes lightening and thunder: electricity in the water molecules traveling from one cloud to another and the speed of light being faster than the speed of sound causing the rumbling noise shortly after! We learned how to count after we see the lightning to tell how far away the lightning is from us. We learned about all the safe places to be away from 'conductors' when we are close to lightning. We were so lucky to have the lesson turn into a sensorial one (very Montessori!) when we experienced a lightening and thunder storm later in the afternoon! The children spontaneously started counting one, one thousand, two, one thousand...........
Remember "Pennies for Patients", the effort by the Grand Lake Montessori elementary class to help children suffering from leukemia and lymphoma. Thank you, elementary class, for the inspiration and for organizing this effort. The donation box is on top of the children’s' cubbies.

JUNIPER
Throughout the month of March, our cultural calendar will be focusing on the following subjects:
Geography: Africa
Botany/Science: Parts of the flower, varieties of flowers
Geometry: Measurement
Holidays: Spring Equinox, St. Patrick's Day
If you have anything you'd like to share about any of these topics, please let us know. We'd love to have parental involvement for any and all of them!
A big Juniper thank you goes out to David Hardtke for the presentation he gave to the children on his trip to Antarctica. They were so interested by his pictures of airplanes with skis, the south pole, penguins, seals, and heavy cold-weather clothing, that they sat for nearly 45 minutes, listening to every word of his wonderful stories. Thank you, Dave!
Parent Volunteer Opportunities
Can you sew? If so, we'd love to have you create heavy-duty, washable table covers for the class to use during lunch. If you'd like to take on this project, please talk to Ms. Koerber about the details.
Also, our class needs 2 recycling containers (one for outside and one for inside), with child-friendly lids. If you'd like to hunt for these containers, let us know and we can talk about the details.

LIVE OAK
Welcome back from Winter Break! Thursday was the first day since the beginning of the year that all of the children in the class were all back at the same time. It was a joyful reunion!
We had several exciting things happen this week. Charlie, our turtle, went to the veterinarian to find out why he was shedding. We thought he was sick, it turns out that turtles shed their scales when they grow and he is a very healthy four or five-year old.
We would like a parent to come help us clean his home once a week.
We have built our family tree and we need family pictures of each child’s family. Please do not feel pressure to have a perfect picture, the child is most excited just to see their own family at school.
We would like each of the children to have slippers or inside shoes that stay at school. The purpose of the slippers are to keep the classroom cleaner, quieter and help ground the children as they enter the classroom. These slippers should meet the following guidelines: They should have a back (not mules), have tread, and they cannot have any cartoon character on them (these are incredibly distracting in class). If you have any questions, please feel free to check with any of the teachers.
We have been working on learning some sign language incorporated into songs. The current song we are working on is “Friends are Nothing”:
Friends are nothing till they play together
They must play all day
They must play the night away
They must play
Together they must play.
The verses only change one word. Play changes to work, laugh, sing, run, cry, etc.
We will have a sign up for volunteers for a variety of tasks next week, please check to see what you can help with.

GINKGO
Welcome back! We hope that everyone had a wonderful break.
On Friday, February 16th, Alan and Glenda Poon, Jocelyn’s parents, came in the class and talked to the children about Lunar New Year! The children enjoyed hearing about traditions and celebrations. The Poon family also gave red envelopes to each child and told the children that during Lunar New Year the older family members give money to the children to wish them good fortune. Also in honor of Lunar New Year, Moira Chapman, Aidan’s mom, came in on Monday, February 26th, to teach the children how to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” in Mandarin (a Chinese dialect).
After the song the children began making Chinese lanterns. Samantha and Emily Wu mom’s, Yui Zhu, came in and also helped the children finish making them.

MAGNOLIA
Welcome back, everybody!
The children were all excited to get back into the school routine and have had been doing some very focused work.
This week for Sound of the Week Ethan Feldstein brought a pineapple upside down cake with a pineapple "U" on it! It was a huge hit with the children. Thank you!
Some of the things coming up in March on the cultural calendar are parts of the flower and varieties, invertebrates, and measurements. We will also be celebrating Spring Equinox, and St. Patrick's Day. If you would like to help with any of these activities please let us know.
This week with Mr. Moody the children learned the second part of a Chinese dance. They started with large arm movements and then added wide circle movements with their legs. It was quite entertaining to watch.

MULBERRY
We've had a small group this week, with children away on vacation and out sick. Last week was Winter Break and Mr. Tien, Ms. Kebede and Mrs. Aima painted the kitchen and bathroom. Our handyman extraordinaire, Bill Wright, also installed a new tile bathroom floor. Be sure to check out the new look!
This week Ms. Aima introduced egg peeling, slicing, eating and smashing up the shells with a mortar and pestle. What a great hit (especially the smashing part!)! I'm surprised how many children like eggs.
Outside, the children have been filling a bucket with camellia flowers for composting, along with the eggshells.
This week we resumed Little Chefs on Tuesdays, and added Thursdays. Tuesday the children made vegetable soup and fruit salad with Ms. Lau. On Thursday the children made Jello with bananas slices. Then they stuffed pasta and grated cheese over the pasta. They also spread butter on French bread. Thank you to Kevin (Paul’s dad) for helping with the cooking.
Alex Luce’s dad, Graham, repaired the art easel. Thank you, very much! Next Tuesday, March 6th, we will continue the educational meeting of setting limits, from 5 - 6:30pm in the Rosemary House. Please RSVP if you need childcare.
Song of the week:
Way up high in a tree 3 red apples smiled at me,
So I shook that tree just as hard as I could,
Down came the apples, um, um good.
Way up high in a tree two oranges smiled at me ........
Quote of the week: The use of knobbed puzzles and other toys that call for special finger and hand grips, called the pincer grip, will prepare the child for writing and other fine muscle activities, while it satisfies her need to think and problem solve.

CAMELLIA
Welcome back from what we hope was a wonderful and relaxing winter break.
Everybody has been very busy with their work this week; table washing, polishing, and baby washing. At this age the toddlers are very curious and eager to help. Recently Mr. Tien was getting ready to make snack. A child asked, "What are you doing?”, then "What is the butter for?", and finally "Can I help?" Mr. Tien said "I'm going to make snack and I'm going spread the butter on the bread. Would you like to help?” The child began jumping up and down and announced "I'm going to help Mr. Tien with snack and I'm going spread the butter on the bread!” Remember, if you are doing a project at home inside or outside, invite your child, whether it’s washing the car, folding laundry, setting the table, or taking the trash out.
Little Chefs is going to be two days a week now, Tuesdays and Thursdays. This Tuesday they made vegetable soup and a fruit salad. Thursday they made stuffed pasta shells and Jello salad.
This week’s sound was "U", and we had lots: Umbrellas, a Unicorn, and Upper letters. Next week’s sound is "V", as in Violin, Vase, and Vegetables.
The elementary students are doing a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, called Pennies for Patients. There are boxes in the BC kitchen marked Camellia and Mulberry where you can deposit loose change (or the kind of money that doesn’t jingle). So start checking under your car seats and the pockets of that jacket you haven’t worn for six months.
Mark your calendar for Tuesday, March 6th – Part Two of Taking Montessori Home, "Setting Limits". 5 - 6:30 p.m. in the Rosemary building. Please RSVP to the office.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Continuing with MUSIC AND LANGUAGE
We can tell funny and interesting stories of our lives, recite favorite poems, talk about what we are doing ("Now I am washing your feet, rubbing each little toe to get it really clean") and enjoy ourselves in this important communication. And we can listen: to music, to silence, and to each other.

GLM news 2006 Friday, February 16, 2007 Calendar 2...

2007-02-16T14:05:00.000-08:00

GLM news 2006
Friday, February 16, 2007
Calendar
2/19 President’s Day – School closed, no childcare
2/20-2/23 Winter Break – Childcare by prior registration
3/1 Evening Discussion 7 pm
3/7 Science show, 2 pm for Kindergartners & Elementary

PARENT’S RIGHTS FORMS
You will be receiving a new Parent’s Rights form with your February statement. You will need to read, sign and return it immediately to the school office. Childcare Licensing is adamant about having the new form in your child’s file. Thank you.

FIELD TRIP FORMS
If you have not yet turned in the campus field trip form for your child, please do so ASAP. There are quite a few children participating in Tuff Tumblers and the art class that do not have this form completed.

JOIN US, MARCH 1ST
"Encouraging our children's healthy relationships with their bodies and with food"
Mark your calendars: As part of National Eating Disorder Awareness/Celebrate Your Body Week, Ariel Trost (Jacaranda parent) will be offering an evening talk/discussion at GLM on Thursday March 1ST, from 7-8:30 pm. More info/location to follow.

SUMMER DATES
June 15, 2007 will be the last day of this school year
June 18-22 will be staff prep week – no school, no childcare
June 25 – July 6 will be Session 1
July 9 – 20 will be Session 2
July 23 – Aug. 3 will be Session 3 and Opera/Performing Arts Camp
Aug. 6 – 18 will be Session 4
The week of Aug. 20 - 25 will be staff prep week; again, no school or childcare
First day of school to be announced.

THE SAFETY CORNER
In the midst of rushing through everyday life, it's important to take a minute or two to prepare for emergencies. Being prepared helps you and your family minimize the impact of any disaster.
continued

SOUND OF THE WEEK Due to Winter Break next week there will be no Sound of the Week. The sound for the following week is “U” as in Uncle, Umpire, and Usher.

The best way to make your family and your home safer is to be prepared before disaster strikes.
* Make a family communications plan that includes an evacuation plan and coordinates with your school, work and community communication plans. Practice this plan with your entire family.
* Build a disaster supplies kit that includes enough supplies for each family member for three days. Remember to check your kit every six months. There are six basics you should stock for your home in the case of an emergency:
* Water, food, first aid supplies, clothing and bedding, tools and emergency supplies, and special items for medical conditions.
* Know what may happen and how you can help
Learn what disasters or emergencies may occur where you live, work and play and how they can affect you, your family and community.
* Identify how authorities will notify you and how you will get important information.
* Learn what you can do to prepare by contacting your local chapter of the American Red Cross to ask about first aid, CPR and disaster training.
We at GLM are doing the same. We are creating and implementing communication plans which we will keep you informed about.

TAKE A BREAK
Forms for the next “round” of Take A Break (TAB), the Friday pizza lunch, have been distributed to parent pockets & cubbies. The form covers Fridays starting March 2nd, and ending May 4th. Extra forms are available in both offices.

NANNY NEEDED
I'm seeking a nanny for my 3 month old, 3-4 days a week, M-F from 7:30 AM-4:30 PM. I'm returning to work THE 2nd week in March. My work week is different each week, so I'm looking for someone who is willing to be flexible. I'm also looking for someone who is Infant/Child CPR certified, speaks English well, very energetic and likes to go for walks, has a clean CA drivers license, and has current references. We live around lower Rockridge area, close to public transportation (BART), shops and restaurants. We are looking for someone who will be a great fit for our family. We also have a small dog who loves people, so must love dogs too. Thanks! Email: Gethurman@yahoo.com (Greta Dedmon, Mulberry class).

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ A snow trip Feb 14 – 16 to Norden, CA!
✔ Pennies for Patients fundraising drive 2/26 – 3/21
✔ Swimming at the YMCA beginning Mar. 1st
✔ Aftercare sewing class starting Mar. 2nd
✔ Mar. 7th: “Color of Justice”, a TheaterWorks production
✔ Field trip to see “People Like Me” dance performance on Mar. 20th

PENNIES FOR PATIENTS
Every year the elementary class at GLM participates in Pennies for Patients, a fund-raising event for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This year’s event will begin February 26th and run through March 21st. There will be containers in each class for spare change – look under your car seats, lift the cushions off your sofa, empty the pockets of your raincoat! The GLM class that raises the most money gets a pizza party, and children with cancer benefit from funding for further research.

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CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
Elementary is on their eagerly anticipated snow trip to Norden, CA. Check here next week to find out all about it!

JACARANDA
Overheard on the yard as children were playing "Red Light, Green Light": "Remember, I can go on red and do a right turn on red!"
Thank you to everyone who helped with the Jacaranda Valentine's Day celebrations: Ariel, Ruby's mom, with the parent's valentines and Stephanie (Zander) and Gina (Soli) for helping the children make their bags. On the day, thank you to Kendra (Camille) for her help with set up and clean up and Erika (Isabella) for bringing in all the goodies for the tea party. Zayda (Logan) baked delicious shortbread cookies, too. The children really enjoy this time of sharing, giving and receiving. Ms. Leck would especially like to thank all the families for honoring the Jacaranda Valentine's Day guidelines. The children's bags were stuffed with many sweet cards filled with messages of love. We appreciate your efforts so much!
We have started doing job time in our classroom at the end of every morning. The children choose a job off the job time chart at our Monday morning meeting and are then responsible for doing this job at the end of every morning for the week. A piece of music signals the transition from the end of the morning to job time. They do things like clean the snack area, feed the animals, roll up our work rugs and dust the shelves. Ask your child about their job for the week. They can also show you the job time chart.
Please remember that the clipboard sign in sheet at the front of the Jacaranda classroom is a Licensing requirement. In the event of an emergency, like an earthquake, we will use the day's roster for a head count, and search and rescue, if necessary. This is important, folks!
The third years in our class (otherwise known as the kindergarteners) went on a fieldtrip with all of the other third years in the school on Thursday. They visited the Discovery Museum in Sausalito to see an exhibit honoring 100 years of Montessori Education. Thank you to our parent drivers for making it all possible. Ms. Leck and some of the other teachers will be attending the International Centenary Celebrations of Montessori in San Francisco this weekend. They will be going to workshops and other meetings with 1400 other Montessori teachers and administrators from around the world!
At the most recent all-staff meeting, the Disaster Consultant who reviewed the Grand Lake Montessori emergency and disaster plan was impressed at the school's level of preparedness in the event of an actual crisis. Please remember that your responsibility in to replenish your child's clothes bag as well as write your child a letter of comfort .

JUNIPER
Juniper's Valentine's celebration was a lot of fun. The children took turns being the "postman," wearing a red hat and red scarf, delivering their valentines to all of the children in the class. After giving their friends valentines, they had a holiday snack of red Jello and red cornbread.
Elizabeth, Tyler Knowlton's mother, spent time on two different days making Chinese Dragons with the children from egg cartons, ribbon, paint, glue, and other items. It was a great way for them to get a hands on experience of the Chinese celebration of the Lunar New Year. Thank you, Elizabeth!
The third year students are going on a field trip this week to celebrate the centennial year of Montessori. We will report back after the break to let you know how it went.
Reminder! Next week is GLM's Winter Break. The school is closed Monday, February 19 for Presidents' Day and will be opened for childcare Tuesday-Friday by sign-up only.
We've been practicing our fire and earthquake drills with the children. Though they're not yet perfect, they are getting better. We now have 100% of the children wearing slippers in the classroom, so their feet are protected when we go out of the classroom during our fire drills. Also, be sure to replenish your child's clothing bag every week (or every day if they are potty training). This is an important part of our emergency preparedness, so please take it seriously!
During March, we will be studying the parts of a flower, among other things. We need one or two parent volunteers each week to bring in fresh flowers (cut or potted) for us to dissect and examine. Look for a sign-up sheet on the door after the break, and talk to Ms. Koerber or Mr. Hennigan if you have any questions.

LIVE OAK
Thank you to all of the parents who helped us prepare for our Valentine’s Celebration this week!! We had sugar free Jell-O, frozen grapes and blueberry muffins while the children enjoyed talking about whom they loved and why. The responses were precious: Mia- “I loved my friend Nathan, we were friends before we were in the hospital born”. Isabella- “My mom, we go different places together”. Lucy- “My millipede, it tickles me a lot and I kiss it”. Lucas- “My mom, she plays Legos with me”. Michael- “Will, he plays tag with me and calms my body”. Lorenzo- “My mom, she goes different places with me and gives me more choices than my dad”. Mark- “My uncle John, he chases us and now he lives in Japan”. Keiley- “My Mimi, she lives in Philadelphia”. Vikram- “My dadama, it is my mom’s sister and I love my mom”. Kaya- “I love Felicia because I went to her house”. Kalyn- “I love my Jell-O because I like to lick it”. Jackson- “Lorenzo because he plays with me a lot”. Ariana- “My brother because he likes to share stuff with me”. Alexandra- “My mom, she hugs me”. Lali- “Sachi, she runs around and plays and when she comes down she spoils the computer”. Ananda- “Daddy and Mommy- they play with me and my sister”.
We have enjoyed having Ms. Lescure in our classroom this week. She is a trainee from the Montessori Teacher Training Center for Northern California. She has been practicing giving lessons to the children.
Please remember to bring in a picture of your family. Photos are welcome to include dogs, cats and fish!

GINKGO
The Ginkgo class has been making sure our classroom is clean, especially during the cold and flu season. The children have been quite helpful in the care of our environment. They have helped by dusting shelves, scrubbing tables, and polishing wood and metal trays. These practical life activities prepare the children's fine and gross motor skills that are needed for higher learning. These exercises also require focus, attention to detail, and concentration. For example, polishing requires children to judge and reason how much polish to use. Dusting requires them to carefully move materials to and from shelves. The results of this work are not just a clean classroom but also a sense of pride, joy, and respect of our communal space.
The care of the children's environment is also applicable at home. There are various fun opportunities for your child/ren to participate at home. S/he can help pick up litter in the neighborhood, scrub the car, or even help drying dishes. These are great ways to do the chores needed in the home and have fun with your child/ren.

MAGNOLIA
The children had a busy week filled with love. On Tuesday they decorated their cereal boxes with cut out hearts, glitter, stickers, and various other collage materials. Thank you Corey Weinstein for helping us with this project. On Valentine’s Day we celebrated Amina's third birthday with a tasty snack of bagels and fruit. The children were all very excited to pass out their Valentines. Thank you Heather Hood, Naima Hart, and Aleka Eisentraut for helping us with this.
The children have been playing some fun games as a way to learn the names of geometric solids. One of the favorites is when the teacher asks the children playing the game (usually 3-4) to each pick up a solid cube, cylinder, or cone and switch it with another child's shape: "If you have the sphere please switch it with person who has the cone." Next week we will go on a walk to look for some of these shapes in nature. Connor brought in some pinecones from his trip to the mountains which are the same shape as an ovoid.
This week, with Mr. Moody, the children learned some meditative poses while listening to some Mandarin music. Mr. Hoffmann is teaching the children a French song, "Alouette", to go along with our study of Europe.

MULBERRY
Our Valentine's Day celebration made for a busy morning. To carry their valentines the children decorated bags. At one table the children attempted to make Cheerio necklaces but most of them decided to eat their Cheerios instead. For snack they helped make heart shaped French toast with spread strawberry jam and cream cheese. They also had ice cream cones filled with strawberries and cranberry juice. The children passed out their valentines at circle and put them in their decorated bags. All the homemade Valentines were so creative! Thank you to all the parents who helped out.
Thursday we celebrated Lunar New Year. Mulberry children dressed up in Mandarin suits (from our Opera costume collection). Alex Luces mom, Tuyen, and grandpa Minh, came in along with Megan Lin’s moms, KoKo and Margot. They planned a wonderful morning in the Brown Cottage, including books about Lunar New Year. Children took turns standing with the lion head on for the lion dance. They had Vietnamese music which the children danced to with enthusiasm. The children helped cut up fruit for a fruit salad and learned to make little egg rolls. They then served themselves a delicious lunch of fried rice, egg rolls, and fruit salad.
This week Little Chefs was another great success. The children made lasagna and fruit salad. Next week there will be no Little Chefs because it is Winter Break. We will resume this wonderful cooking activity after the break.
Song of the week:
Skinna ma rink a dink a dink,
Skinna ma a rink a do, I love you.
I love you in the morning and in the afternoon,
I love you in the evening and underneath the moon.
Oh, skinna ma rink a dink a dink,
Skinna ma rink a do, I love you and you and you and you.
Quote of the week: The child can only develop by means of experience in his environment. We call such experience "work." --Maria Montessori

CAMELLIA
Thank you to all the parents who took the time at home with your children to make Valentine cards. Our tea party was a hit. The children made pink Cheerios necklaces, and a healthy and juicy fruit cone. They all had a wonderful time (teachers, too!). Thank you to Paul's dad, Kevin, and Megan's mom, Koko, for setting the activities for the children, and Selina's mom, Mia, for the muffins and bags. The children passed out cards to their friends, and after they were done, they all gave each other hugs.
Let me tell you, the Little Chefs really know how to cook. The lasagna was so good they ate until their plates were empty. Remember next week is Winter Break, so there will be no Little Chefs; it will resume Feb. 27th.
This week’s sound was "T" and we had lots of Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Telephones, and Turtles. There will be no Sound of the Week during Winter Break, but will resume on Feb. 28th with the sound of "U", as in Umbrella.
A fond farewell to Mary Elizabeth and her parents who are moving to the East Coast. We will miss you all. Send us a postcard!
Dates to remember:
2/19/07 - President's Day school closed
2/20-2/23 - Winter Break - childcare by prior registration
Camellia class would like to welcome the Thompson's family: Hayden, Rahsaan (dad), Kara (mom), and sister Keiley .
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: cont... WITH MUSIC AND LANGUAGE
We can feed the child's intense interest in language, and prepare for later spoken language, by speaking clearly, not using "baby talk", by not raising our voices to an unnatural pitch, often reserved for speaking to pets, and not oversimplifying language in the presence of the child.

2/14 Core meeting 5 – 6 pm 2/19 President’s ...

2007-02-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

2/14 Core meeting 5 – 6 pm
2/19 President’s Day – School closed, no childcare
2/20-2/23 Winter Break – Childcare by prior registration
3/7 Science show, 2 pm for Kindergartners & Elementary

PARENT’S RIGHTS FORMS
You will be receiving a new Parent’s Rights form with your February statement. You will need to read, sign and return it immediately to the school office. Childcare Licensing is adamant about having the new form in your child’s file. Thank you.

THE SAFETY CORNER
This space is dedicated to a weekly safety note. Everyone at GLM works very hard to keep your children safe. We have fire drills, earthquake drills and are planning a series of skits to practice our preparedness even more. We want to use this space to update you on our preparedness so that in case of any emergency you would know what we were doing and what we would like you to do as well.
Your children deserve to be in safe environments and it is the responsibility of every adult to keep them safe. The children should not be expected to actively protect themselves; however, it is important to offer children the opportunity to learn about safety. Teaching safety is not very different from any other lesson in our classrooms with the focus being on what we can do to be safe and not what is out of our control. For example, children can learn to fasten a seat belt, but they can’t do anything about an adult driving too fast.
Children learn by interacting with their environments. Adding safety-related materials to our curriculum and demonstrating and practicing drills are very important. As we grow through the year and implement new safety curriculum we will inform you here so you use the same language and practice at home.

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “T”, as in Taco, Tea, and Tower.

NANNY NEEDED
I'm seeking a nanny for my 3 month old, 3-4 days a week, M-F from 7:30AM-4:30 PM. I'm returning to work THE 2nd week in March. My work week is different each week, so I'm looking for someone who is willing to be flexible. I'm also looking for someone who is Infant/Child CPR certified, speaks English well, very energetic and likes to go for walks, has a clean CA drivers license, and has current references. We live around lower Rockridge area, close to public transportation (BART), shops and restaurants. We are looking for someone who will be a great fit for our family. We also have a small dog who loves people, so must love dogs too. Thanks! Email: Gethurman@yahoo.com

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ A snow trip Feb 14 – 16 to Norden, CA!
✔ Swimming at the YMCA beginning Mar. 1st
✔ Aftercare sewing class starting Mar. 2nd
✔ Mar. 7th “Color of Justice”, a Theater Works production
✔ Field trip to see “People Like Me” dance performance on Mar. 20th

PENNIES FOR PATIENTS
Every year the elementary class at GLM participates in Pennies for Patients, a fund-raising event for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This year’s event will begin February 26th and run through March 21st. There will be containers in each class for spare change – look under your car seats, lift the cushions off your sofa, empty the pockets of your raincoat! The GLM class that raises the most money gets a pizza party, and children with cancer benefit from funding for further research.

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CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
Last Friday the elementary teachers, Mrs. Gilliam and Mr. Flushman, went to the Portland Montessori Training Center for a refresher course on the third period lesson. This is the lesson format we follow in the Montessori method and it is defined as the association of the terminology of a concept associated with the senses. The first period in elementary is to simply give the terminology to the children, the second is the children recognizing the terminology and the third period is the children relating that terminology to a different concept. Here are two examples of the elementary children using the third period lesson this week:
◆ This week the third years began studying quotation marks. We were using the movable alphabets to make our own quotes. Kai and Angelina stated, “We can use the adverb from our grammar box, excitedly, in these sentences.”
◆ Charlie, on the other hand, decided that he would like to incorporate his Spanish language, “Buenos dias, Profesora Gilliam.”
The fifth years have begun to study fluid pressure. We were discussing the concept of a straw and fluid pressure. Zachary said, “This is related to Newton’s third law of motion; for every action there is an equal reaction.”
This week Zachary, Camille and Nacalah prepared jambalaya for lunch. We used a Gilliam family recipe that included tomatoes, celery, bell peppers, onions, garlic, kielbasa sausage, chicken, rice broth, and many spices. We also had cornbread. It was all delicious!
This week the first years had a lesson on mountain formation and we began to look at the different types of mountains around the world. They are currently working on making a map of the world of all major mountains.
The fourth years have been busy with their many research projects. Some of them have completed their invertebrate research, eras of the Earth’s history research, and botany research. They have been very busy!
The entire class has been eagerly anticipating our upcoming three-day trip to the snow. Everyone will bring their gear on Monday to have it checked. A group of children will do the shopping on Tuesday morning, and Wednesday, we leave!

JACARANDA
Now that the rain has begun again the children spend more time inside. This time is filled with the same enriched choices that their normal, non-rainy day morning and afternoon work times offer. Besides choosing from the Montessori choices on the shelves of the Jacaranda environment, other cooperative work that leads to focus, concentration, order and coordination are offered.
On Monday the class celebrated both Owen’s 3rd and Garren’s 4th birthdays. Thank you, Owen, for the frog book, and Garren, for the soccer ball!
Please refer to the Jacaranda Valentine guidelines for those parents who are celebrating Valentine’s Day for the first time with us, and for those families who need a reminder of how the class shares in this community event. These guidelines will be available this week.
In the month of February Jacaranda will be studying the weather, the fifth and last group of vertebrates, mammals, and the continent of South America. We will also be celebrating the Lunar New Year. If you would like to help us with this holiday please contact the Jacaranda Teachers. We would love somebody to help the children make some Chinese food!

JUNIPER
The children have started learning the names of sea mammals. They are matching labels for seal lion, harbor seal, fur seal, blue whale, sperm whale, orca, manatee, dolphin, and walrus to small models of the animals. It’s always amazing how little practice it takes for them to memorize the names.
We’ve started our celebration of Lunar New Year on Wednesday and will continue through next week. This week we set up a presentation table with various items related to the holiday and will rotate the items throughout the coming week to reflect the activities we are doing. On Wednesday the children took turns making sweet dumplings (Nei Gauo). They wrapped sweet rice cake inside dumpling skins, cooked it in oil, then shared their treat with the class. Eating Nei Gauo symbolizes bringing sweetness and success to the coming year.
There is no need to bring a valentine’s snack to class as the children will be making a snack together in class. Despite the plethora of commercially made valentine cards, the most appreciated and enjoyable valentines for children to give are those they have made themselves. Young children love crafts and this is a great opportunity for them to practice making gifts for others! Also, when getting their valentines ready they only need to write their own name on them since they will be giving one to every child in the class. It’s a great chance to practice writing their own names.
As we study the continent of Europe this month we encourage all parents to share their experiences of the continent. Whether it’s books, music, photos or clothing, bring it in and share!
The children have become so proficient at doing the puzzles in the classroom that some of them have begun doing the puzzles blindfolded. Despite the difficulty of the activity, many of them are finding success on their first attempt! This builds their sensory-motor skills as well as patience. We encourage you to revisit puzzles they may have mastered at home with blindfolds as well.
For safety reasons please make sure your child has slippers in the classroom. If they do not, please bring a pair ASAP. In the event of an emergency there would not be time to put shoes on. Therefore, all children wear slippers at all times in the classroom.
The Juniper teachers would like to thank all of the parents once again for their continued support. The children are doing great, and we couldn’t have helped them to this level of success without all of your help!

LIVE OAK
This has been a quiet week. There have been several sick children - we miss you, please feel better soon.
We have several reminders this week. Please bring in your picture of your family for our family tree. If any families would like to come give presentations for Lunar New Year, African American History Month or give us a concert playing your favorite instrument, we would love it!!
The children have been working on recognizing when children in our class may need help, from a fall or a difficult work, and what we can say to offer our help. When a child falls, the nearest child asks if the fallen child is ok, and if there is anything they can do to help, either giving the child a hug or getting a teacher. This helps the children to practice empathy for others.
Live Oak children are growing quickly and are eating everything that is sent for lunch. Please send more food with your child. Many children are becoming hungry only one hour after lunch. Please also send protein with every lunch every day.
A new song we are learning:
Love is Something
Love is something if you give it away, give it away, give it away,
Love is something if you give it away, you’ll end up having more.
It’s just like a magic penny,
Hold it tight and you wont have any
Lend it, spend it, you’ll have so many,
They’ll roll all over the floor.
So… Love is something if you give it away, give it away, give it away
Love is something if you give it away, you’ll end up having more.

Valentine’s Day is next Wednesday. Please help your child to learn the meaning of the holiday, focusing on friendship and love of their friends and family. If you have to purchase cards, please remember that we avoid characters and super heroes in our classrooms. Hand making Valentines for the children in the class is a way to let your child practice the skills they learned in school (cutting, painting gluing, writing) and a fun way for you to earn your Parent Participation hours!
LIVE OAK PARENTS – Please see the letter from Helen Campbell that follows this newsletter.

GINKGO
The Ginkgo children have just finished their study of the human body. We have talked about ears, skin and the heart. We talked about how everyone looks different, even though we have two eyes, a nose, two arms, and so on, we still all look so different that we can recognize each person we know without getting anyone confused (with the exception of identical twins).
We are getting ready for our Valentine’s Day tea party! We would like to celebrate, and be mindful of, the spirit of the holiday: love, friendship and appreciation. We would like to take focus off store-brought themes such as princesses, Superman etc. If you think your child will be tempted by store-brought commercial themes incongruent with the Montessori ethic, you may wish to create handmade cards with your child or shop for cards without your child.
Thank you to the parents who helped children make Valentine’s Day bags, Erin Scott (Chiara’s mom), and Joanne Yoshimura (Ben Morgan’s mom).
Last week we had a birthday celebration for Julia Mascola who is now 4 years-old. Her parents Jennifer and Robert came in and shared a story and pictures with the children, and we all enjoyed a special snack.
Mr. Hoffman began teaching the children a South American song entitled “Bogando A La Luz Del Sol”, which in English means “Rowing Toward The Sunlight”. The children are learning the lyrics in Spanish.

MAGNOLIA
In the month of February we will be studying different types of mammals, geometric solids, and the continent of Europe. We will also celebrate Valentine’s Day and Lunar New Year.
This week a fourth year elementary student, Clare Keating, came to the class to present her research project on the Magnolia tree. The children sat with baited breath as she talked about different varieties of the tree and the pollination process (Magnolia trees are pollinated by beetles!). She also passed around a beautiful Magnolia blossom for the children to touch and smell.
The third years went to the Live Oak classroom for a science experiment about flame and oxygen. They watched as a vase was placed over a lit candle, and counted how long it took for the flame to die with the lack of oxygen. Next week they will be working on their continent maps of Europe; tracing, painting and labeling them.
Please bring in an empty cereal box to decorate for Valentine’s Day. We will make them extra fancy next week!

MULBERRY
GLM is sorry to report that Ms. Aima was hospitalized this week with a non-life-threatening condition. She is resting comfortably at Kaiser. We wish her well and will be sending her flowers. Furthermore, her husband is convalescing from surgery and her daughter has the flu!
In her absence the class is running smoothly with Ms. Kebede, Ms. Mollel, and Ms. Velasquez. Mr. Tien is acting Site Director.
Some thoughts about Valentines:
This can be an unnecessarily expensive commercial holiday. For children, it isn’t about candy or special “Ninja Valentines”. In keeping with the Montessori ethic give your child opportunities to sensorially express the spirit of the holiday; Affectionate and caring cards to friends and family. At GLM the children will be making special snacks and passing out unlabelled cards. Use up your parent hours by:
✔ buying doilies, red paper: materials for card making
✔ supervising two children at a time while they make Valentines
✔ make heart-shaped pancakes with the children
Little Chefs prepared macaroni and cheese this week – everyone’s all-time favorite. NO left-overs! Next week they will put together a vegetarian lasagna.

CAMELLIA
During the month of February we have two celebrations. First we have our Camellia Valentine's tea party when children will enjoy having muffins and a delicious, healthy fruit cone. We ask that each child bring 14 cards, unaddressed, to be delivered. Please be mindful of the spirit of the holiday; this is about love and friendship, not candy and super heroes. If you think your child will be tempted by store-bought Valentines with commercial themes, you may wish to create handmade cards and shop for cards without your child or even better, come in and do a Valentine's card project with your child and the class.
The second celebration is the Lunar New Years (year of the pig) on Thursday, Feb.15. Megan's moms, KoKo and Margot (Camellia Class) and Alex's (Mulberry class) grandpa Minh and mom, Tuyen, are doing crafts, music, stories, and will prepare a wonderful dish with the children. We have been talking about the Lunar New Year, firecrackers, lion dance, dragon dance and many delicious foods.
This week the Little Chefs prepared the old-fashioned macaroni and cheese. It was a big hit and everyone asked for seconds and thirds. We can't forget the delicious fruit salads! Next week their menu is a vegetarian lasagna, mmm...... again no lunch boxes needed.
This week’s sound was "S" and we had Screwdriver, Salt, Sea lion, Soap, Spoon. Sophie said her name and her brother’s (Spencer) both started with the "S" sound, too. Remember next week’s sound is "T" as in Tomatoes, Train and Track, and Tea.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: MUSIC AND LANGUAGE
“In the first days, months, and the first year of life the infant is especially interested in the sound of the human voice and in watching the face and lips of a speaking person. It is not an accident that the focusing distance of the eyes of a newborn are exactly the space between his face and that of the mother while nursing. Perhaps the best first communication experiences are provided while nursing the baby.”
More Music and Language next week.

Dear Live Oak Parents,

Whenever there is a change GLM strives to blur and overlap the transitions so the children see the adults modeling change as ordinary. There are some planned changes and some unplanned staff absences coming up in Live Oak in mid-February. Awa Dia will be absent from February 12 to February 28 due to a family illness in Senegal. We wish her a safe journey. During her absence, a Montessori teacher-intern will be doing her practice teaching in Live Oak, which means the children receive lots of lessons from the visiting teacher.

Monica MacDonald is doing more and more with Montessori teacher training. She is absent one day a week observing teacher trainees in other schools. We were planning to have her step back out of the classroom in June since there will be several weeks that she is training students over the summer. Instead of waiting until June, Monica is beginning now and Amanda Hyer is assuming the lead teacher role with Awa Dia and Maggie Cheney as support teachers.

Monica will be taking on a new job at GLM both in curriculum design and administration. She will be coordinating disaster preparation drills and readiness for all staff monthly meetings. In addition, Monica will start working 4 days a week and help GLM design a child in nature greenhouse experience that could expose all the children comfortably to gardening and composting. She is currently researching other schools in Marin and Berkeley that have edible gardens, and active hands-on programs for school age and preschool children.

Ginni Sackett, teacher trainer, pointed out that Live Oak has many qualified staff to serve the children’s needs. Monica will continue to be a peripheral presence to the children. She will greet children in the mornings, and do occasional special activities in Live Oak. Amanda will be the anchoring teacher along with Awa Dia, who completes her Montessori internship this May. Maggie Cheney and Amanda will on occasion switch teaching shifts so that Amanda can greet parents in the mornings, and still be available for conferences one afternoon weekly. While we are all very excited about the changes, we also recognize it is a transition for the children. Please keep the Live Oak teachers up-to-date about how your child is processing these changes.

Sincerely,

Helen Campbell
Head of School

GLM news 2006 2/14 Core meeting 5 – 6 pm 2/19 ...

2007-02-02T16:35:00.000-08:00

GLM news 2006

2/14 Core meeting 5 – 6 pm
2/19 President’s Day – School closed, no childcare
2/20-2/23 Winter Break – Childcare by prior registration
3/7 Science show, 2 pm for Kindergartners & Elementary

RE-ENROLLMENT SCHEDULE
TO RETAIN YOUR CHILD’S SPACE FOR 2007/2008
Due 2/1/07: Enrollment Contract and 50% of Tuition Deposit (non-refundable)
Due 4/1/07: Remaining 50% of Tuition Deposit
5/31/07: This is the final date to withdraw your child’s enrollment in the 2007/2008 school year. On 6/1/07 the obligation to pay the full tuition for the entire school year becomes a fixed obligation.
Families filing for Financial Aid: A copy of your PFS (due to the office) will hold your child’s space until an award is determined and your Enrollment Contract is mailed.
Returning families due date: 1/1/07
New families due date: 2/1/07

GINNY SACKETT
For the second time this school year, GLM has hosted Montessori teacher trainer, Ginny Sackett. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday she observed Toddler and Primary classrooms. She had hour-long meetings with each classroom team of teachers. The teachers enjoy sharing with her and always feel supported and invigorated by her suggestions. Tuesday evening she screened the Montessori film “Edison’s Day” a day in the life of a 20 month-old.She then spoke for an hour about parenting and setting limits. Some highlights:
☛ Changing practices of Family Life will change behavior
☛ The later we start to initiate changes, the longer it will take for the child’s behavior to change
☛ We have to think of applying principles, not a formula throughout childhood
☛ See yourself in partnership with your child
☛ To become a person of their time and place a child needs to be able to imitate adults. The best way to get your child to do behaviors is you model them first. “This is what we do”. If we do things together, we model it first and the child imitates us. The child want to get along with you, wants to cooperate, want s to love you. Believe that.
Thank you all for joining us – we had a fantastic turn-out!

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “S”, as in Sandwich, Snake, and Shower.

Raise $$ for a Mosaic Mural project that each class will participate in
AT NO COST TO YOU!!
Sign up with eScrip. Local eScrip merchants will contribute up to 8%* of the purchases to Grand Lake Montessori when you make purchases at merchants like Safeway, Piedmont Market, Whole Foods, Macy's, Planet Organics, Khana Peena Indian Cuisine, Viva Voce Cafe, Milano Ristorante, using your eScrip registered credit card. You can register any one or all of your existing grocery loyalty, debit and credit cards for use in the program. eScrip is unique -THERE IS NO COST TO YOU!!!!!
Group Name: Grand Lake Montessori
Group ID: 118429423
Sign up online. It’s quick and easy!
Go to www.escrip.com
Click on “sign-up”
Follow the instructions
There are no receipts to collect, no vouchers or certificates to buy, no hassles for you - and every purchase counts! Now, just shop at eScrip merchants. Check www.escrip.com for participating merchant locations. Sign Up Today!
Also, if you are interested in helping with the Mosaic Mural project by joining the planning committee, please email Sarah Lenoue at lenoue@yahoo.com. This is another great opportunity, along with the upcoming Wine and Cheese Auction, for you to work off your parent participation hours and build the GLM community.

WHAT’S ELEMENTARY UP TO?
✔ A snow trip Feb 14 – 16 to Norden, CA!
✔ Swimming at the YMCA beginning Mar. 1st
✔ Aftercare sewing class starting Mar. 2nd
✔ Mar. 7th “Color of Justice”, a Theater Works production
✔ Field trip to see “People Like Me” dance performance on Mar. 20th

ITEMS LEFT AT THE CRAB FEED
Someone left a sweatshirt and a child’s toy at the Crab Feed. Please contact the administrative office to identify, 510—836-4313.

PENNIES FOR PATIENTS
Every year the elementary class at GLM participates in Pennies for Patients, a fund-raising event for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This year’s event will begin February 26th and run through March 21st. There will be containers in each class for spare change – look under your car seats, lift the cushions off your sofa, empty the pockets of your raincoat! The GLM class that raises the most money gets a pizza party, and children with cancer benefit from funding for further research.

THE NEXT TUFF TUMBLERS
New classes begin next week, Wed. Feb. 7th, and will end Wed. March 21st, and Fri. Feb. 9th, and will end on Fri. March 23rd. Registration forms have been distributed – turn them in ASAP as classes fill up quickly. Please note that you will be charged for, and need to sign-up for, childcare on the days that your child stays late for Tuff Tumblers.
MONDAY & FRIDAY 3 PM CLASSES ARE FULL.

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CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
Last week our class made delicious soup with homemade noodles! Angelina’s mom, Mariana, came in and the children, in groups of three, each made noodles. The noodles were made with flour, milk, and eggs. They hand mixed the ingredients, rolled the dough out, and then cut it into strips. We also had homemade corn bread. The children had a lot of fun and almost everyone really enjoyed the soup. It was packed with zucchini, carrots, onions (for flavor) tomatoes, and celery. We have been making lunch a few times out of the month for our practical life program and to give parents a second day out of the week that they don't need to make lunch. It is great for the children because everything they make is from "scratch". They get so excited when they realize that macaroni and cheese actually doesn't have to come from the box, and is a longer process but it sure does taste good!
This week we had some delicious yogurt lemon muffins with leftover lemons from the crab feed. The children also delivered some of the lemons to the other primary classes as well. Camille brought some tangerines, which she shared with the class. She also brought her ostrich egg to share this week as we are focusing on Africa.
Nacalah did a presentation on the Loleta cheese factory this week. She shared three different types of cheese with the children: salami cheddar, Havarti dill, and garden vegetable. They were very good. She explained how cheese is made and the varieties the Loleta cheese factory focuses on making. They make 40 different types and they get all of their milk from the dairy, which is right across the street. The whey is then fed back to the cows.
Last week we went to see a storyteller at the library who told the children a story handed down by her grandmother. The story was based on a painted ceramic plate. This week the children painted their own plates for homework and came up with their own stories to tell the class orally.
We have been working on a lot of creative writing and research. The first years this week wrote a story based on pretending they were a bug in a room. They needed to tell what they would see, hear, feel, smell or taste. This was Camille's story:
“This room is an apple. It looks like a green apple. I can hear the wind and other bugs in the apple. There is a room with carpet in the apple. The carpet is so deep! It makes a hole in the ground when I walk on the carpet. I can smell flowers. I can also smell fruits. This strawberry on the carpet tastes sweet. It is big. The carpet is big, too. The strawberry is tasty. The door is a circle with a seed for a door handle. My desk is a half of a plum. The end.”

JACARANDA
The children continue to thrive in the classroom this week: exploring, partnering and being guided by the adults through the array of work choices on the shelves. Even when friends and teachers are sick (or the child of a teacher, as happened this week), the environment provides the children the consistency and continuity that they need.
The environment that includes the parents and the home, the classroom and the work arranged on the shelves, and the adults as guides in the classroom forms one important triangle of experience for the children.
Following the cultural calendar, the children's study of Europe threads its way through the classroom in the morning and the afternoon. To name a few, the flags of Europe wait on the cultural shelf, books with European clothing and architecture placed on the bookshelves, the puzzle maps on the shelf include Europe on the map of the world and the European map itself, and human needs and tendencies of European cultures discussed at appropriate moments, just as with the other continents in previous months.
February is the month of Valentine's Day and the lunar new year, so if you would like to volunteer to help the children in any way, please talk to Ms. Leck, Mr. Keating or Mrs. Saleem. Expect some guidelines around how the Jacaranda classroom deals with the Valentine's Day celebration soon.
When you are dropping your children off in the morning at the door of the Jacaranda classroom, please direct any questions to the teacher who is closest to the door from 8:45-9am. After this time, we thank you for your cooperation in dropping your children off as quietly as possible so as to not interrupt the other children who are already engaged in their own activities.

JUNIPER
Cultural Calendar for February
During the month of February, the children will be focusing their studies on the following topics:
Geography: Europe
Botany/Science: Weather
Zoology: Mammals, parts of the horse, varieties of mammals
Geometry: Geometric solids, making solids
Holidays/Events: Valentines Day, Lunar New Year
As always, we extend an open invitation for parents to come and share with the children on any of the subjects above. The children really enjoy it when parents come in to visit them.
Five-Year Olds Learn About Dental Care From a Professional
On Thursday, Diana Fong (Claudia Lee's mother and a dentist) spent an hour with the five-year olds teaching them about their teeth and how to care for them. They all received a gift bag containing a toothbrush, Tom's toothpaste, a coupon and pamphlets on brushing, flossing, and keeping the mouth healthy. A big thanks to Diana!
All Day Students
All day students (those staying beyond afternoon snack) should collect and bring in egg cartons for a special project that Elizabeth Rynecki - Tyler and Owen's mom - will be leading. The egg cartons will be used to make Chinese Dragons!

LIVE OAK
A new month, and a new round of cultural studies. This month we will be exploring mammals, Europe, famous African-Americans and the Lunar New Year. Please feel free to come in and share a story or do a craft with the children. We have lots of ideas if you have the time!
As you’ve probably noticed we are experiencing some sort of flu that is hitting adults very badly. Please do not send your children to school if they have discharge from their noses that is not clear or if they have diarrhea or feel like they are going to throw up. We would really like to get this bug out of here.
Valentine’s Day is coming soon. Please remember not to put individual names on the envelopes. If your child would like to write names let them write Live Oak Child or To My Friend, or something generic. 24 times 24 are a lot of valentines to pass out. Thank you for your consideration in this. We would also love for a parent to come in and help the children make bags.
Thursday is our coming together of kindergartners for sports and other activities. Thursday the 8th is Live Oak’s “sponsor day” and we would love a parent to come help us with all the extra kindergartners. We would need someone from 1:30-2:45. Let us know and always, thanks.

GINKGO
Touching is an important aspect of human interactions. It is also a strong sensorial and social experience. Sometimes we feel the need to hug or be hugged and other times we do not. The Gingko children have been using grace and courtesy lessons to channel these energies into positive experiences. We introduce these lessons not as lessons but as games. This is a fun and interactive way of teaching the children what are appropriate ways of touching and dealing with touching. Our first game is how to touch our own bodies gently. This teaches movement control and anatomy. For example, touch your chin gently or touch your nose lightly. The second game is a social lesson through role-playing. A child begins by asking to touch another child's body such as "May I touch your hair?" The other child responds with yes or no, thank you. Then the children act accordingly to the response. This lesson empowers children with the responses of his/her own body.

MAGNOLIA
Welcome back Ben Weinstein, He has returned from a six-week trip to India. He brought back some wonderful gifts wrapped in beautiful hand-made paper for the classroom. We looked at where India is on the Asia continent map and read one of the Indian folk tale books (The Eyes on The Peacock's Tail) he brought for us.
Jake brought in an interesting nest made of dirt and twigs; any artifacts from nature are always welcome.
Next week Ms Olivares will bring in some special bird visitors to share with the children.
Valentine's day is coming!
Just a quick reminder for the day: If you plan on your child passing out Valentines please remember that there are 32 children in our classroom. Please do not address them to individual students. Also, making homemade Valentines gives the child an opportunity to practice the skills they have been developing in the classroom; these include cutting, color and shape recognition. Children need to bring in an empty cereal box that will be decorated in the classroom as a container for all of their Valentines.
Thank you, Charity Ellis, Desmond's mom, for helping the children make their family tree ornaments.

MULBERRY
Thank you to all of the parents who took time out of their busy lives to come hear Ginny Sackett speak on setting limits. She was amazing and the movie about Edison really showed what a 20-month old is capable of doing if their environment is set up for them.
"Little Chefs" this week made vegetable soup with dumplings and a fruit salad. The children cut potatoes, carrots, broccoli, onion, celery and snap peas for the soup. Then they rolled dough for the dumplings into balls and dropped them in the soup with noodles. They also cut peaches, bananas, and cantaloupe for the fruit salad. Lunch was a big hit. Everyone ate well. Next Tuesday "little Chefs" will make homemade macaroni and cheese. Reminder to label lunch containers, coats and clothing.
Song of the week:
Old Mac Donald had a farm E I E I O.
And on his farm he had a cow E I E I O.
With a moo, moo here and a moo, moo there, here a moo, there a moo,
Everywhere a moo, moo.
Old Mac Donald had a farm, E I E I O.
Quote of the week: All the activities connected with looking after yourself and your surroundings, such as getting dressed, preparing food, laying the table, wiping the floor, clearing the dishes, doing the dusting, etc., are activities belonging to what Maria Montessori called "Practical Life" and are precisely the tasks that adults like least. But between the ages of one and four years, children love these jobs and are delighted to be called on to participate in them. - Dr. Silva Montanaro

CAMELLIA
Thank you to all the parents who came to the "Setting Limits" workshop. A big thank you to Ginny Sackett for coming back to speak to us! We hope everyone got his or her questions answered.
This week "Little Chefs" special was vegetable soup, along with a fruit salad. They really enjoy being involved in the process of preparing what they eat. The soup, with dumplings rolled by the children, was such a hit that we had it for snack in the afternoon. Next week’s special is old fashioned Mac and cheese. Again, no lunch boxes needed.
With toddlers comes a very strong sense of order. Lots of them make sure the door is closed when we enter or exit the building, and in the classroom they make sure all the chairs get pushed under the tables. One time Mr. Tien opened the gate to let a child and didn’t close the gate. Another child very quickly announced, "Mr. Tien, you forgot to close the gate!”
This week’s sound was "R" and we had Robot, Remote control, Rubber band, Rock, Rice, and Roses. Next week’s sound is "S" as in Snake, Sock, and Sand. Please label the item you bring so we may ensure it’s return home via the cubbies. Parents please check your cubbies for G.L.M information and your child’s cubbies for artwork. Thank you.
The Camellia class would like to welcome the Megan Dedmon family; dad (Chuck), mom (Greta) and baby sister Madeline.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: continued toddlers and infants play (Achieving Balance):
We surely need a balance. We don't want to be either too "intrusive" or too "just observing" so nothing happens in terms of growth and learning through play. Do you see that we have to dance somewhere in the middle on the tightropes of life - not too intrusive or only observing? You can observe all you want, but if one child is poking another, I surely hope that you do intervene.

Calendar 1/27 3rd Annual Crab Feed 4 – 8 pm (Ki...

2007-01-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

Calendar
1/27 3rd Annual Crab Feed 4 – 8 pm (Kid’s Fest in Redwood)
1/30 “Setting Limits” workshop, 5 – 6:30 pm
2/19 President’s Day – School closed, no childcare
2/20-2/23 Winter Break – Childcare by prior registration

RE-ENROLLMENT SCHEDULE
TO RETAIN YOUR CHILD’S SPACE FOR 2007/2008
Due 2/1/07: Enrollment Contract and 50% of Tuition Deposit (non-refundable)
Due 4/1/07: Remaining 50% of Tuition Deposit
5/31/07: This is the final date to withdraw your child’s enrollment in the 2007/2008 school year. On 6/1/07 the obligation to pay the full tuition for the entire school year becomes a fixed obligation.
Families filing for Financial Aid: A copy of your PFS (due to the office) will hold your child’s space until an award is determined and your Enrollment Contract is mailed.
Returning families due date: 1/1/07
New families due date: 2/1/07
Enrollment packets will be mailed by the end of this week.

CRAB FEED!
The GLM 3rd annual Crab Feed is this Saturday, Jan. 27th, from 4 - 8 pm. Besides all-you-can-eat crab, there will be chicken and vegetarian dishes. Childcare provided (in the Redwood classroom at GLM – children are to be dropped off and picked up there - contact Mr. Tien or Ms. Olivares at 510-836-4313) by sign-up. Deadline for childcare sign-up was Wed., 1/24/07. Price is $25 for one child, $20 for siblings. With music, dancing, raffle prizes and tons of food, this event puts the FUN in fundraising! For more information email: crgrinage@yahoo.com

SETTING LIMITS WORKSHOP, JAN. 30TH
Please join us Tuesday, Jan. 30th, from 5 – 6:30 PM for a workshop on “Setting Limits”. Montessori teacher, Ginny Sackett from Oregon, will be speaking about bringing Montessori home. There will also be a short video, “Edison’s Day”, and refreshments. Free childcare in the Brown Cottage is available with RSVP.

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “R”, as in Rabbit, Ring, and Roof.

SCHOOL RECOMMENDATIONS
Parents have been submitting school recommendations to teachers for their children for next fall. Please be aware that the forms can take a while to complete and then need to be approved by school administration. Our turn-around time is 2 weeks. Also, be sure to include an addressed, stamped envelope for EACH school you wish us to send the forms to.

GLM LIBRARY
GLM has several very good books available for parents to borrow.
We have 5 titles:
“How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & Listen so Kids Will talk”
“Siblings Without Rivalry”
“Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child”
“Montessori – The Science Behind The Genius”
Please see Joanna in the Administrative office if you are interested.

LETTER FROM LUCCIOLA CHILDRENS’S BOOKSTORE
“Dear Staff, Parents and Students:
During the last month of December, many families purchased in our store and collaborated with the Grand Lake Montessori School and Lucciola Children’s Bookstore Scrip Fundraising Program. We want to thank you for giving us such a great opportunity to participate in your wonderful school community.
On February 28th, 2007, our store will close its door to the public. However, we will move “on wheels”. Lucciola Children’s Bookstore will hold regular book fairs around Bay Area schools. We will keep providing you with high service and great quality of educational books.
Thank you for your support and we look forward to continuing to serve you.
Sincerely,
Ines Tisker
Laura Juarez Codicetti
Lucciola@sbcglobal.net”

PENNIES FOR PATIENTS
Every year the elementary class at GLM participates in Pennies for Patients, a fund-raising event for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This year’s event will begin at the end of February. There will be containers in each class for spare change – look under your car seats, lift the cushions off your sofa, empty the pockets of your raincoat! The GLM class that raises the most money gets a pizza party, and children with cancer benefit from funding for further research.

FIELD TRIP PERMISSION
Permission forms were distributed to every parent pocket/folder/cubby this week. The form allows your child to travel escorted around the entire campus to participate in various activities. Licensing considers GLM to be three different campuses and requires signed permission from parents for every event a child travels from one campus to another. Please complete the form and return to the school office ASAP. Thank you.

THE NEXT TUFF TUMBLERS
New classes begin Wed. Feb. 7th, and will end Wed. March 21st, and Fri. Feb. 9th, and will end on Fri. March 23rd. Registration forms have been distributed – turn them in ASAP as classes fill up quickly. Please note that you will be charged for, and need to sign-up for, childcare on the days that your child stays late for Tuff Tumblers.

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CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
The upper elementary children watched a slide show this week about the Northwest Native Americans. We saw an eagle dancer, various masks, totem poles, and other dances. We also discussed the significance of the raven to many northwest Native American tribes. As was the monkey in many Chinese folktales, the raven was also a trickster. He is acquainted with stealing salmon and giving them to man, stealing the sun which was hidden in a box to give light to man, and he is a much honored creature. A lot of the dances and totem poles feature carvings of him.
The lower elementary children looked at pictures of the Maasai people of Tanzania and Kenya. We discussed that the tribes of Tanzania have been affected by the western world and they no longer live in the traditional manner. We looked at photos of jewelry, houses, ceremonial dances and rites of passage, roles of women and men, issues concerning food, and hunting, etc. We also enjoyed some of the authentic items, which we have been loaned by Folk Art.
Last Friday, the upper elementary children were shown a slide show and lesson of some of Carl Larrson's most famous works by Mr. Flushman. He explained in great detail to the children the technique the artist used. He gave them each a packet to practice their own artist renditions. The lower elementary children made a large mural drawing of the East African savannah complete with their renditions of the various animals. They needed to strategically place the animals as they would really be so that a wildebeest and a lion would not be next to each other in a friendly manner.
On Saturday the class all got together with their parents to sell raffle tickets for the Crab Feed. We had a good time! Afterwards we all went to Top Dog and had lunch. It was a lot of fun for the children to hang out and play off campus. Thanks to all of the parents who helped out. It was nice for all of us to get to socialize as well!

JACARANDA
• Ginny Sackett, teacher trainer, consultant and lecturer from the Portland Montessori Training Center, will be in town again next week to give a talk on Montessori in the home. This event is scheduled for January 30, 2007, 5-6:30 p.m. RSVP for this event and for childcare, also.
• Specialists who visit the classroom on a weekly basis are:
- Ms. Velasquez, who teaches Spanish;
- Ms. Dia, who teaches French;
- and Ms. Owens, who teaches art.
• The Sound of the Week, every Wednesday, is an opportunity for each child to bring in to the classroom an object, not a toy, whose name begins with the phonetic sound of the week. Please leave objects and toys other than the sound of the week in your child's car seat or at home before walking to class.
• Group lessons given to the children this week:
- how to observe someone's work (without interrupting the other person's work);
- how to find an available space for your work rug;
- how to cover mouth when you sneeze or cough and how to find and use a tissue for your nose.
• Please do not forget how unpredictable the weather is this time of year and that every child needs to bring a warm coat and/or hat on cold, wintry days. On rainy days, rain coats, boots and rain hats. In the classroom, please ensure your child has a drinking cup on the snack shelf, clearly labeled with your child's name. Please also ensure that your child has extra clothes in his or her extra clothes bag in the event that s/he needs to change for whatever reason. Remember, ours is a common effort to prepare your child for independence - the more we plan, the more they can do themselves.

JUNIPER
World Instruments
The Juniper children have enjoyed playing instruments from around the world. Their favorites have been the monkey drum, wooden frog, and wooden lizard. They have also enjoyed listening to songs from various countries, particularly ukulele music from Hawaii as well as music from India.
State Quarters
The third years this week helped Ms. Koerber work on her state quarter collection. They matched the quarters to the states on a map, discussed the different elements on each quarter, and explored the meaning of money.
Paper Birds
All of the children got to make paper birds with Ms. Owens this week. They glued eyes and feathers onto paper, then threaded a string to hang it from. Many of the children liked their birds so much that they wouldn't let us hang them in the window, insisting instead that they take them home right away!
A New Song
The children have been learning the following song with both Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Hennigan:
Froggie Went A Courtin'
Froggie went a courtin' he did ride, uh huh, uh huh
Froggie went a courtin' he did ride, uh huh, uh huh
Froggie went a courtin' he did ride, wore his coat on the satin side, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh
He went down to Miss Mousie's den, uh huh
He went down to Miss Mousie's den, uh huh
He went down to Miss Mousie's den, said hey Miss Mousie won't let me in, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh
Dear Miss Mousie will you marry me, uh huh
Dear Miss Mousie will you marry me, uh huh
Dear Miss Mousie will you marry me, way down 'neath the old oak tree, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh
Froggie dear I'll marry you, uh huh
Froggie dear I'll marry you, uh huh
Froggie dear I'll marry you, let's grow old together 'cause I love you, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh
First they told her uncle rat, uh huh
First they told her uncle rat, uh huh
First they told her uncle rat, said hey uncle rat what you think about that, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh
Next they told two little black ants, uh huh
Next they told two little black ants, uh huh
Next they told two little black ants, everybody jumped up and they started to dance, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh.

LIVE OAK
Can it be another week has passed already?? The classroom has truly been busy this week with the introduction of book-making kits in the classroom. Ask your children about their bird booklets.
Thanks so much for your response to family pictures, earthquake clothing, Nordstrom boxes and the Sound of the Week (Q); We actually had Quiche this week for the children to eat. You parents are so amazing!
I hope a lot of you are planning on attending the Crab Fest this week. These events are fundraising events, and great opportunities to socialize when you are not in a hurry to get to work or home.
We also have another event approaching that I invite you not to miss. Our favorite trainer from Portland, Ginny Sackett, is returning to GLM and planning a great evening for you. The evening will begin with a 20-minute film about a 20-month old child who attends Montessori and whose parent’s have implemented the Montessori Method at home. It will be a great evening for any parent with young children. Lots and lots of ideas about problem solving and parenting at home. It will be from 5-6:30 next Tuesday evening and of course, childcare is available with RSVP. Refreshments will be served.

GINKGO
The Ginkgo Classroom would like to welcome Wesley Whitaker. Wesley Whitaker is Lou Whitaker younger brother. Wesley started in December and transitioned from the Brown Cottage.
Ella Fenster and her moms, Emily Fenster and Tracey Carter, went to Gambia in West Africa. They shared pictures, musical instruments, and brought the class a game called “Wuri” which the children are excited to learn how to play.
Moira Chapman, Aidan’s mom, served in the Peace Corps for 2 years in Mali. She also shared pictures and beautiful art with the children. The children enjoyed listening to the stories and experiences that the families talked about. They remembered a lot of details and talked about Africa all day. This also sparked an interest in the map of Africa. This map has been out all week with different groups of children taking it out to study the names of the different countries in Africa.
Thank you to the parents who are helping with this year’s auction project. The children painted trays! They want to take them home right away but we explained to them what they’re for. Soon, the children will begin working on their group project.
This week we started studying more about animals and where they live (nests, dens, burrows) and what part of the world they come from. In our cultural studies next week we will begin to study the Human Body.

MAGNOLIA
This week the children had a cultural lesson in front of the birdcage. We examined the birds, pointing out the different parts of the bird (beak, tail feathers, wings, and claws). We looked at the birdseed troughs and at the empty seed hulls, explaining to the children that birds crack open the seeds with their beaks and eat the inside.
Mr. Hoffman began teaching the children a new South American song called “Bogando a La Luz del Sol” (Rowing Toward The Sunlight).
Please bring in an empty cereal box in the next week or so as we will be using them for a special Valentines Day project. If you would like to help out in the classroom with this project please let us know.
The third year children from all five primary classes came together this week to learn some folk dances in Jacaranda. They will be getting together weekly for a variety of activities.

MULBERRY
This week the Mulberry class has been busy. Ms. Aima has been gone and Lydia Sears has been subbing. Tuesday Ms. Kebede ran our "Little Chef" program. The children made veggie rice and fruit salad. The children cut the vegetables and fruits themselves. The rice was well liked by all of the children.
There has been a lot of illness this week. Just a reminder to parents to keep children home who have a fever or low energy. The school policy is children have to be 24 hours without fever before returning to school.
Don't forget the Crab Feed, Saturday, January 27th, from 4:00-8:00. It is definitely an event not to be missed! The Mulberry parents are in charge of set up from 3:00-4:00. Come help if you can.
Quote of the week: Dr. Christian Guilleminault and Dr. William C. Dement came up with the five fundamental principles of understanding sleep:
1. The sleeping brain is not a resting brain.
2. The sleeping brain functions in a different manner than the waking brain.
3. The activity and work of the sleeping brain are purposeful.
4. The process of falling asleep is learned.
5. Providing the growing brain with sufficient sleep is necessary for developing the ability to concentrate and an easier temperament.

CAMELLIA
This week the Little Chefs prepared a wonderful veggie and rice dish along with a colorful and healthy fruit salad. They cut carrots, green onion, and shelled peas, then mixed them in with the rice. One child said, "It smells good!" They chopped watermelon, bananas, and grapefruit: one piece in the bowl, one piece in the month… When all the prep work was done they got a cloth and cleaned their table and cutting boards. Next Tuesday the Little Chefs menu is vegetable soup and fruit salad. No lunch boxes needed.
In the classroom some of the older children are giving lesson to the younger children in baby washing, polishing, and table washing. And after naptime they showed them how to roll up their blankets and to fold the mat.
This week sound was "Q" we had Q-Tips, Question mark, and lots and lots of Quarters! Parents, please continue to encourage your children to bring something in for Sound of the Week. Next week’s sound is "R" as in Raisins, Ring, and Rolling pin.
Mark your calendar: Tuesday, January 30TH, from 5-6:30 p.m. in Magnolia. We are having a workshop with a special guest from Portland, Ginny Sackett, Montessori teacher trainer. She will be discussing bringing Montessori home. Refreshments will be provided. Childcare is available - please R.S.V.P with the office or let Mr. Tien or Mrs. Aima know.
A current favorite song:
2 little blue birds, sitting on a tree.
One is named (child's name).
One is named (another child's name).
Fly away, (name).
Fly away, (name).
Come back, (name).
Come back (name).
Repeat, changing the names and even the color of the bird.
Quote of the week: WHAT INFANTS AND TODDLERS LEARN FROM PLAY
Children play what they know and if we try to squash it, sometimes we can't learn about the child. One thing Dr. Montessori taught us is to be good observers. We have to watch children play because we glean important insights, including as they say, some that may make us feel uncomfortable. But, they are really important to know about children. Not only do children play what they know, but also the interesting thing is that through play children also gain more knowledge about themselves, their peers and their teachers.

GLM news 2006 Calendar 1/27 3rd Annual Crab Fee...

2007-01-19T15:41:00.000-08:00

GLM news 2006
Calendar
1/27 3rd Annual Crab Feed 4 – 8 pm
1/30 “Setting Limits” workshop, 5 – 6:30 pm
2/19 President’s Day – School closed, no childcare
2/20-2/23 Winter Break – Childcare by prior registration

RE-ENROLLMENT SCHEDULE
TO RETAIN YOUR CHILD’S SPACE FOR 2007/2008
Due 2/1/07: Enrollment Contract and 50% of Tuition Deposit (non-refundable)
Due 4/1/07: Remaining 50% of Tuition Deposit
5/31/07: This is the final date to withdraw your child’s enrollment in the 2007/2008 school year. On 6/1/07 the obligation to pay the full tuition for the entire school year becomes a fixed obligation.
Families filing for Financial Aid: A copy of your PFS (due to the office) will hold your child’s space until an award is determined and your Enrollment Contract is mailed.
Returning families due date: 1/1/07
New families due date: 2/1/07
Enrollment packets will be mailed by the end of this week.

CRAB FEED!
Be sure to get your tickets to the GLM 3rd annual Crab Feed, coming up soon on Saturday, Jan. 27th, from 4 - 8 pm. Besides all-you-can-eat crab, there will be chicken and vegetarian dishes. Childcare provided (in the Redwood classroom at GLM – children are to be dropped off and picked up there - contact Mr. Tien or Ms. Olivares at 510-836-4313) by sign-up. Deadline for childcare sign-up is Wed., 1/24/07. Price is $25 for one child, $20 for siblings. With music, dancing, raffle prizes and tons of food, this event puts the FUN in fundraising! For more information email: crgrinage@yahoo.com

THE NEXT TUFF TUMBLERS
New classes begin Wed. Feb. 7th, end Wed. March 21st, and Fri. Feb. 9th, and will end on Fri. March 23rd. registration forms will be distributed – turn them in ASAP as classes fill up quickly. Please note that you will be charged for, and need to sign-up for, childcare on the days that your child stays late for Tuff Tumblers

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “Q”, as in Quince, Quake, and Quarter.

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CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
This week our class enjoyed a presentation on naturalized citizens by Zachary and Charlie. A few weeks ago they attended the naturalization at the Masonic Temple for their uncle. They then shared the sample test questions people need to take as part of the process. Many of the answers the children knew! I was amazed because the fifth years are currently studying the structure of our government and when the question was asked “What are the branches of our government?” the children all responded and said we know that because that’s what the fifth years are studying.
Our class made some delicious pumpkin bread in aftercare on Wednesday for our snack this week. It was really good.
Clare and Nacalah began studying the early settlements in the New World. They are focusing on Spanish settlements and how those impacted the Native Americans already living here. The first years have begun studying the parts of stems. They conducted an experiment with celery and colored water to see how water is transported through the stem. Charlie and Angelina are studying bees and the importance of their pollination. They learned how important bees actually are to farmers; they are responsible for $9 billion dollars of our fruit supply every year!
The Pennies for Patients items have arrived. We will be running the campaign beginning next month. Please start saving all of your loose change! We will distribute the collection boxes next month to the classes. Pennies for Patients is our school’s annual fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Every year the campaign has an honored hero, a child who is suffering from Leukemia. This year the child is only 5 years old. So, please help us raise money to help him and many others.

JACARANDA
• Children are beginning to bring toothbrushes and toothbrush covers (or bags for the toothbrushes) to their cubbies. If your child wishes to brush his or her teeth in the classroom, please have him or her bring a toothbrush and cover or bag to his or her cubby. The adults will dispense toothpaste upon request throughout the day. If you have any questions, email or ask the Jacaranda teachers directly.
• Thank you to the Juniper class for sharing a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., song last week.
"Martin Luther King was a mighty, mighty man and a mighty, mighty man was he.
That's right! (clap, clap)
He was a preacher and a teacher
And a man of God, and he loved both you and me.
That's right! (clap, clap)
• Ms. Owens will be helping the children with art every Thursday. The projects she brings to the classroom are challenging but also facilitate the childrens' independence. Just as they do with Mr. Moody or Mr. Hoffman on Wednesday and Thursday, they anticipate her time in the Jacaranda class.
• From the cultural calendar: On Tuesday, the children assembled the human body model and talked at length about the parts and functions of the organs of the body. On Wednesday, the group read "What Makes a Bird a Bird," which in the end proved that even though other living things may fly, sing or have wings, only birds have feathers.
•This time of year when families are planning their childrens' futures, remember this passage from the Grand Lake Montessori handbook: " The Kindergarten year is the crucial last year of the three year cycle in the Montessori primary class. Teachers give individual attention...each child progressing at his or her own speed...integrating his or her experiences with the group...building confidence and self-esteem. The classroom is a community where the maturing child finds widening opportunities. The Kindergarten curriculum includes: Creative writing/science experiments/telling time/botany; advanced cultural lessons; physical education and creative movement, and field trips.

JUNIPER
Co-mingling 5 Year Olds
We've started co-mingling the five-year olds from all primary classes every Thursday afternoon. Each week a different class takes a turn hosting children from the other classes. During the first few weeks, the focus was on sports and games, providing a chance for the children to get to know each other better. In the coming weeks, the focus will be on special lessons. This congregation of older children prepares them for the transition into elementary. "The lessons are taught in small groups, which allows for more peer interaction and teaching. The classroom is a community where the maturing child finds widening opportunities. During the second semester children in their third year are invited to visit and participate in the elementary class." (from the Parent Handbook)
Children Make Their Own Afternoon Snack
This week in Juniper the children enjoyed some potato pancakes (brought for sound of the week) and applesauce. They also helped Mr. Hennigan make the afternoon snack on Tuesday and Wednesday. They cut fruit, grated cheese, opened and emptied yogurt containers, and assembled quesadillas. And after all the food prep? They cleaned up!
Call for World Instruments
Next week Juniper will be studying music/instruments from around the world as part of our cultural studies. If you have any unusual or rare instruments from other parts of the world, we would love to borrow them for the week. Bring 'em in!
They Love Juicing
Using the electric juicer with Ms. Koerber last week to make their own juice was such a hit that the children decided to do it again next Wednesday. This activity connects directly with our study of the human body and nutrition that we are focusing on this month. So, we are asking each child to bring in one juice-able fruit or vegetable next Wednesday. Look for reminders early next week.

LIVE OAK
Live Oak classroom is abuzz with children exploding into reading and writing. It is very exciting and a testimony of how Montessori truly works with children. Everyone is so excited about their work and it’s truly inspiring to witness the joy and excitement.
Please check your parent folders. There is an article about the home environment to help you help your child be more independent. It is filled with great ideas. There is also a field trip permission slip for the third year students. Beginning January 25, we will be using the Rosemary House for Thursday afternoon indoor projects. It is our way of continuing our third year “special day” together.
We now have a Sound of the Week table. We are really enjoying your contributions and thank all of you who are participating. Children can bring in an object for the table on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Next week the sound is Q. Please help us!
The February Calendar is up on the bulletin board. Please sign up to come read or cook or volunteer some time with us.

GINKGO
Welcome back from a long weekend!
The children came back from their break full of energy and really ready to learn new things.
Ms. Shah has begun counting with the children in Chinese! She has begun teaching this in a casual way (counting how many children are in line, on the yard, etc.).
In class we have begun talking about respecting other’s personal space. The children have been told that people have to ask permission to touch your body. This includes teachers. For example, if a friend wants to give you a hug, that’s ok, but they should ask for permission. Our children are naturally loving and affectionate, but we want to be respectful. The grace and courtesy lessons given in our classroom daily are also used as tools.
The children greatly enjoy “Sound of the Week”. Even if they do not have an item, they’re becoming more and more aware of words that they can use.
On Friday, Ms. Owens did art class with the Ginkgo class and they made birds.

MAGNOLIA
This week with Mr. Moody the children played a game in which he played different pieces of music and the children identified what instrument was being played (i.e. flute, violin, drums).
The children were introduced to a new practical life activity of window washing. They especially love standing on a low stool and using the squeegee.
During the afternoon work period some of the children began making their own continent maps tracing all of the pieces from the puzzle maps, then painting and labeling each country.
There are some classroom volunteer opportunities coming up in the classroom. Please email us if you are interested.
Be sure to get your tickets for the Crab Fest. This is a great opportunity to relax and socialize with other parents and staff!

MULBERRY
This week the children have been working on “doing for themselves”. We have been practicing the up-and-over technique when putting on their coats. The children are getting quite good at this and some children don’t need a teacher’s help any more.
We had our second week of "Little Chefs". Mr. Tien made mini pizzas and melon salad with a small group of children. The cooking in the kitchen is a lot of fun for the children. Next week Mrs. Kebede will be making vegetable rice and a fruit salad with the children.
Just a reminder that Mrs. Aima will be out next week for her husband’s surgery, but will be checking in daily.
Song of the week:
Two little black birds sitting on a stick,
One is named Slowly, the other is Quick.
Fly away Slowly, fly away Quick!
Come back Slowly, come back Quick!
Two little black birds sitting on a stick,
One is named Slowly, and the other is Quick.

CAMELLIA
Welcome back! We hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend.
We started off the week with the Little Chefs making mini English muffin pizzas. The children spread tomato sauce on the muffins very carefully and then added cheese. They all decided to take a taste test and agreed it tasted delicious! They then made a fruit salad, cutting up watermelon and cantaloupe. During the cutting there was lots of tasting - trust me, lots of tasting! We put the pizzas in the oven, put all the dishes in the sink, and cleaned the table. Next Tuesday Little Chefs will prepare a veggie rice dish. Remember, no lunch boxes needed.
This week’s sound was "P": We had Pear, Pencil, Picture, Penny, Paint, Purse, and Plate. Next week’s sound will be "Q", as in Queen, Question mark, and Quilt.
Date to remember: Saturday, January 27th, is GLM’s 3rd annual crab feed, from 4-8 p.m. Lot's of wonderful food and music - come and enjoy the event. Need childcare? Contact Mr. Tien or Ms. Olivares.
Quote of the week: It's best to be at the child’s level, where he can easily see what you're doing. Show him with clear, slow, economical movements, talking only if it is really necessary.

Calendar 1/12 Staff In-service day – School clo...

2007-01-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

Calendar
1/12 Staff In-service day – School closed, no childcare
1/15 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – School closed, no childcare
1/18 2nd Elementary Information night 6:30 pm
1/27 3rd Annual Crab Feed 4 – 8 pm

RE-ENROLLMENT SCHEDULE
TO RETAIN YOUR CHILD’S SPACE FOR 2007/2008
Due 2/1/07: Enrollment Contract and 50% of Tuition Deposit (non-refundable)
Due 4/1/07: Remaining 50% of Tuition Deposit
5/31/07: This is the final date to withdraw your child’s enrollment in the 2007/2008 school year. On 6/1/07 the obligation to pay the full tuition for the entire school year becomes a fixed obligation.
Families filing for Financial Aid: A copy of your PFS (due to the office) will hold your child’s space until an award is determined and your Enrollment Contract is mailed.
Returning families due date: 1/1/07
New families due date: 2/1/07
Enrollment packets will be mailed by the end of this week.

IN-SERVICE AND HOLIDAY
This Friday, Jan. 12, is an all-staff in-service day. There will be no school or childcare. Monday, Jan. 15, is Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Toddler teacher, Mary Aima, is offering childcare on the 15th in the Brown Cottage. Space is limited

2nd ELEMENTARY INFORMATION NIGHT
Please join us on Jan. 18th, at 6:30 pm for an evening hosted by elementary parents about Montessori elementary. This is an excellent opportunity to talk with parents who have already done vast research on elementary program options in the Bay Area. GLM is in recruitment talks with Montessori teacher,Kathy Brunner, and planning on expanding the elementary program.Dinner will be served; free childcare with RSVP to the office, 510-836-4313 (or email joanna@grandlakemontessori.com).

CRAB FEED!
Be sure to get your tickets to the GLM 3rd annual Crab Feed, coming up soon on Saturday, Jan. 27th, from 4 - 8 pm. Besides all-you-can-eat crab, there will be chicken and vegetarian dishes. Childcare provided (in the Redwood at GLM – children are to be dropped off and picked up there - contact Mr. Tien or Ms. Olivares at 510-836-4313) by sign-up. Deadline for childcare sign-up is Wed.,1/20/07. Price is $25 for one child, $20 for siblings.
With music, dancing, raffle prizes and tons of food, this event puts the FUN in fundraising! For more information email: crgrinage@yahoo.com

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “P”, as in Potato, Pumpkin, and Pasta.

CRIBS NEEDED
We are looking for two full size cribs to use for a family visit in February. If you have one or two that you would be willing to lend/rent for a week, we would appreciate it. Please email us at: bob@roberthouser.com
Thank you,
Bob + Marianna Houser – Magnolia

❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●

CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
This week we read a shortened version of the Martin Luther King, Jr. speech, “I Have A Dream”. We are now making miniatures of ourselves and writing our own “I Have A Dream” poem on them. The children are writing them on the “Color of People” construction paper. We will be hanging them in the entryway of our classroom at the end of the week. The children are hoping that there will be no more hunger, poverty, and homeless animals in the future.
We will be making chili dogs for lunch this week with homemade chili (one each, beef and meatless). A group of children went with Mr. Flushman to Safeway to buy the ingredients. They had to locate all the ingredients, do price comparisons and figure out the total cost. They did a great job!
We have a new artist we are focusing on, Carl Larsson. He is Sweden’s most famous painter and he specialized in oils and watercolors. He lived from 1853 to 1919. He is most well-known for his illustrations for the Hans Christian book, “Fairy Tales”.
Grant brought his crested gecko named Speedy to school on Monday. The children all had a chance to pet him and Grant explained that geckos really don’t camouflage all the colors of the rainbow, but actually become lighter and darker depending on their body temperature.
Angelina brought in a sea star from Sea Ranch for the children to see. The third years shared with the others why it is inaccurate to call them starfish; considering that they are not vertebrates (have an internal skeleton and backbone) but rather they are invertebrates and they belong to the echinoderm family. We have it on our Quiet table for the children to further study with a magnifying glass.

JACARANDA
Welcome to Camille Collins, who has joined the Jacaranda class full-time as of the beginning of this year. Please welcome her mother Kendra, her father Josh, and her younger brother Hunter.
It was nice to see Jacaranda parents at the elementary and third year primary meeting in the Redwood elementary class earlier this week. The elementary parents hosted the lively and thorough discussion, and if you are interested and were unable to attend this week, please RSVP to the office, 836-4313, for the next meeting on January 18.
The Grand Lake Montessori admissions and administration is available to answer your questions about the third year of primary or about the elementary program. Consider the Jacaranda teachers a resource, also; Mr. Keating has two children in the Elementary program: a first year student, Grant, and fourth year student, Clare, who have been through the third year in primary also.
As part of our cultural calendar, we have assembled and talked about a model of the human skeleton this week. The discussion includes joints, which help the skeleton to move, and other important elements of the structure of the human body.
In addition to the many individual elements given by the Jacaranda teachers every day, we often give group lessons, too. To smaller or larger groups, to older or younger children, the composition of the groups change according to the message or to the needs of the children. The older children showed the group how to interrupt while someone is already working and how to open the door for another person. The children watch with rapt attention when other children are asked to give part of the lesson.

JUNIPER
Frogs!
The children have been focusing on frogs and their many parts this week. They've been working with the frog puzzle, making books of the parts of a frog, and observing the frogs in the classroom. On Monday, we took one of the frogs out of the aquarium and the children took turns touching the frogs. We talked about the different parts of a frog's body, the proper way to handle them, and the need to wash your hands after handling them.
Emergency Clothing Bags
Please be sure that your child's emergency clothing bag is fully stocked. It should have at least one of each of the following: socks, underwear, shirt, pants/dress, jacket/sweater, shoes. The children's bags get depleted over time as we use them in case of accidents or other large messes, so it's important that you check from time to time to make sure that everything is there. Thanks! And, the children grow so fast that some of the items don’t even fit anymore.
Juicing Fresh Fruits
The Juniper children got to juice their own juice with Ms. Koerber this week. They took turns juicing apples, bananas and oranges in an electric juicer and then enjoyed the “fruits” of their labor. All of them really liked their juice, and Kenyon liked it so much that he exclaimed, "Oh, this is good! Oh, this is good! Oh, this is good!"
Come Share
As always, all Juniper parents are invited to come to the classroom and share any cultural or other things that you think the class would enjoy. The children love it when parents spend time with them, so come make their day!

LIVE OAK
It is so nice to see everyone back at school this week….especially Ms. MacDonald, who has been out ill.
We have some very important dates for you to mark on your calendar this month:
Saturday, January 27th, is our annual Crab Feed. It is actually a food festival with all sorts of choices of delicious food. There will also be dancing and socializing. It really is a lot of fun. There will be childcare available on campus (RSVP Mr. Tien in the Brown Cottage) as well, and it is a fundraiser for our scholarship fund. Hope to see you all there.
Thursday, January 18th, we are offering a second evening to come find out about why you should choose GLM elementary program instead of other programs. We might not be big but we offer an excellent, well-rounded program. There will be dinner served and childcare available (RSVP the school office). Please come and find out before you make a final decision about next year.
Here’s a great Live Oak story: This morning a child was very upset at drop off. Another child came up to her and said, “I’m sorry you’re sad today, how can I make you feel better?” The child asked for a hug and received one. It was really nice.
Here’s our MLK, Jr. song. We hope you take some time Monday to honor this great human being.
Martin Luther King was a mighty, mighty man
And a mighty, mighty man was he.
He was a preacher and a teacher and a man of God
And he loved both you and me.

GINKGO
We are still welcoming back most of the children from the holiday break. When children come in the others haven’t seen for a long time everyone gets excited and very happy.
The children enjoy studying geography, the different continents and the country and city we live in. It is wonderful to see the children point out on maps the places they have been and where relatives and friends live. They are discovering how big the world around them really is. It is incredible the things the children say and the intelligent questions they ask.
We have begun talking about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We talked about how Dr. King used his words, not violence to fight for equality. We shared some of the words he would use. He said, “together” when others said “separate”, he said “peace” when others said, “war”. “Sooner or later, all people of the world will have to discover a way to live together”. One child raised his hand and said, “Yes, he is right”.
We had a birthday celebration this week for Mia Noval who is now 3 years old. Her mother, Sonia, came in and told the story of Mia’s life. We had a special snack of muffins, grapes, and apple slices.

MAGNOLIA
Along with our study of birds we will also focus on the human body. We have been learning the parts of the body in Spanish through music.
One of the children's favorite new songs is called "Pinpon", about a doll who gets ready for bed by washing various parts of his body.
We will also begin discussing the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. We had been reading some books about him and his important work in our country.
Happy birthday to Eva and Cecily, thanks for the delicious treats.
Please remember to check your Parent Pockets for important information, and your children’s extra clothing bag for weather-appropriate items. And, please, label everything!
Thank you!

MULBERRY
This Tuesday we began our "Little Chef" program. Four children started by cutting apples and placing them in a pan. The children then mixed cinnamon, brown sugar, and water to boil on the stove. While the apples were cooking we began making our burritos. The children placed a tortilla on a tray, one scoop of rice, one scoop of black beans, and one scoop of cheese. Next the children rolled the burritos and placed them on the cookie sheet to bake. While they were baking the children washed the tables, swept the floor and one child washed the dishes. The apples were a big hit at lunch and the burritos were a hit for some and others picked at them. Next week Mr. Tien will be making mini pizza with a group of children.
Wednesday’s Sound of the Week was "O". We had Oatmeal, Olives, Orange, Octopus, and an Onion.
Mrs. Aima will be off work January 19th - January 26th due to her husband’s upcoming major back surgery.
Song of the week:
Three green speckled frogs sat on a speckled log
Eating some most delicious bugs - yum, yum .
One jumped into the pool where it was nice and cool
Now there are two green speckled frogs. (count down till all frogs are gone)
Quote of the week:
Parents may wonder what a small child can do to participate in the preparation of food. Listed below are tasks that may seem simple to adults but are exciting to the child. Some activities are done in collaboration.
SOME ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER:
1. Setting table
2. Arranging flowers
3. Washing and tearing lettuce
4. Washing herbs
5. Slicing apples with a two- handled slicer
6. Cutting carrots, cucumbers, broccoli
7. Snapping string beans
8. Slicing cheese
9. Spreading nut butters or hummus on bread or crackers
10. Peeling and slicing boiled eggs
11. Peeling and slicing bananas
12. Mixing fruit with plain yogurt
13. Mixing eggs for scrambling
14. Dipping bread into eggs for French toast
15. Measuring and pouring rice into rice cooker
16. Rolling out and cutting biscuit dough
17. Kneading bread dough
18. Making orange water
19. Washing dishes and work areas
20. Filling the dishwasher

CAMELLIA
Today’s special was the "Little Chef Burrito". Step by step, and with great focus and concentration the children spread cheese, rice and beans on tortillas and then of course, rolled and folded them up. One child proudly stated "Look, I made a burrito". They also cut apples and put cinnamon and brown sugar on them. The first “Little Chef” was a huge success and they had a wonderful time in the kitchen. Remember, “Little Chef” is every Tuesday; No lunch needed.
Next week’s sound is "P" as in Pear, Pencil, and Picture.
Please label all objects your child brings to school so we can make sure the objects will be in your child’s cubby at the end of the day. Thank you.
REMINDER: No school or childcare this Friday, January 12 due to a teacher In-service Day. Monday, January 15, school is closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday.
And - Saturday, January 27th, is GLM’s 3rd annual Crab Feed, from 4-8 p.m. There will be music, a raffle, dancing and lots of delicious food. Be sure to join us for a great afternoon.
QUOTE: Have everything it takes to complete the task at-hand, together in a convenient place before beginning to show it. This helps the child to concentrate on the task. He also feels more secure if things are in order and have their place. His tools should be scaled to his size, if possible, a dust cloth about six inches square, a little scrub brush about four inches long, etc.

Calendar 1/12 Staff In-service day – School clo...

2007-01-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

Calendar
1/12 Staff In-service day – School closed, no childcare
1/15 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – School closed, no childcare
1/18 2nd Elementary Information night 6:30 pm
1/27 3rd Annual Crab Feed 4 – 8 pm

RE-ENROLLMENT SCHEDULE
TO RETAIN YOUR CHILD’S SPACE FOR 2007/2008
Due 2/1/07: Enrollment Contract and 50% of Tuition Deposit (non-refundable)
Due 4/1/07: Remaining 50% of Tuition Deposit
5/31/07: This is the final date to withdraw your child’s enrollment in the 2007/2008 school year. On 6/1/07 the obligation to pay the full tuition for the entire school year becomes a fixed obligation.
Families filing for Financial Aid: A copy of your PFS (due to the office) will hold your child’s space until an award is determined and your Enrollment Contract is mailed.
Returning families due date: 1/1/07
New families due date: 2/1/07
Enrollment packets will be mailed by the end of this week.

IN-SERVICE AND HOLIDAY
This Friday, Jan. 12, is an all-staff in-service day. There will be no school or childcare. Monday, Jan. 15, is Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Toddler teacher, Mary Aima, is offering childcare on the 15th in the Brown Cottage. Space is limited

2nd ELEMENTARY INFORMATION NIGHT
Please join us on Jan. 18th, at 6:30 pm for an evening hosted by elementary parents about Montessori elementary. This is an excellent opportunity to talk with parents who have already done vast research on elementary program options in the Bay Area.We are in recruitment talks with another elementary teacher, Kathy Brunner. GLM plans to increase the elementary program. Dinner will be served; free childcare with RSVP to the office, 510-836-4313 (or email joanna@grandlakemontessori.com).

CRAB FEED!
Be sure to get your tickets to the GLM 3rd annual Crab Feed, coming up soon on Saturday, Jan. 27th, from 4 - 8 pm. Besides all-you-can-eat crab, there will be chicken and vegetarian dishes. Childcare provided (in the Redwood at GLM – children are to be dropped off and picked up there - contact Mr. Tien or Ms. Olivares at 510-836-4313) by sign-up. Deadline for childcare sign-up is Wed.,1/20/07. Price is $25 for one child, $20 for siblings.
With music, dancing, raffle prizes and tons of food, this event puts the FUN in fundraising! For more information email: crgrinage@yahoo.com

SOUND OF THE WEEK Each Wednesday your child is encouraged, with your help, to find an object at home (preferably not a toy) that contains with the sound of the week. Put it in a labeled bag to share with your child’s class. The sound for next week is “P”, as in Potato, Pumpkin, and Pasta.

CRIBS NEEDED
We are looking for two full size cribs to use for a family visit in February. If you have one or two that you would be willing to lend/rent for a week, we would appreciate it. Please email us at: bob@roberthouser.com
Thank you,
Bob + Marianna Houser – Magnolia

❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●❄●

CLASS NEWS

REDWOOD (ELEMENTARY)
This week we read a shortened version of the Martin Luther King, Jr. speech, “I Have A Dream”. We are now making miniatures of ourselves and writing our own “I Have A Dream” poem on them. The children are writing them on the “Color of People” construction paper. We will be hanging them in the entryway of our classroom at the end of the week. The children are hoping that there will be no more hunger, poverty, and homeless animals in the future.
We will be making chili dogs for lunch this week with homemade chili (one each, beef and meatless). A group of children went with Mr. Flushman to Safeway to buy the ingredients. They had to locate all the ingredients, do price comparisons and figure out the total cost. They did a great job!
We have a new artist we are focusing on, Carl Larsson. He is Sweden’s most famous painter and he specialized in oils and watercolors. He lived from 1853 to 1919. He is most well-known for his illustrations for the Hans Christian book, “Fairy Tales”.
Grant brought his crested gecko named Speedy to school on Monday. The children all had a chance to pet him and Grant explained that geckos really don’t camouflage all the colors of the rainbow, but actually become lighter and darker depending on their body temperature.
Angelina brought in a sea star from Sea Ranch for the children to see. The third years shared with the others why it is inaccurate to call them starfish; considering that they are not vertebrates (have an internal skeleton and backbone) but rather they are invertebrates and they belong to the echinoderm family. We have it on our Quiet table for the children to further study with a magnifying glass.

JACARANDA
Welcome to Camille Collins, who has joined the Jacaranda class full-time as of the beginning of this year. Please welcome her mother Kendra, her father Josh, and her younger brother Hunter.
It was nice to see Jacaranda parents at the elementary and third year primary meeting in the Redwood elementary class earlier this week. The elementary parents hosted the lively and thorough discussion, and if you are interested and were unable to attend this week, please RSVP to the office, 836-4313, for the next meeting on January 18.
The Grand Lake Montessori admissions and administration is available to answer your questions about the third year of primary or about the elementary program. Consider the Jacaranda teachers a resource, also; Mr. Keating has two children in the Elementary program: a first year student, Grant, and fourth year student, Clare, who have been through the third year in primary also.
As part of our cultural calendar, we have assembled and talked about a model of the human skeleton this week. The discussion includes joints, which help the skeleton to move, and other important elements of the structure of the human body.
In addition to the many individual elements given by the Jacaranda teachers every day, we often give group lessons, too. To smaller or larger groups, to older or younger children, the composition of the groups change according to the message or to the needs of the children. The older children showed the group how to interrupt while someone is already working and how to open the door for another person. The children watch with rapt attention when other children are asked to give part of the lesson.

JUNIPER
Frogs!
The children have been focusing on frogs and their many parts this week. They've been working with the frog puzzle, making books of the parts of a frog, and observing the frogs in the classroom. On Monday, we took one of the frogs out of the aquarium and the children took turns touching the frogs. We talked about the different parts of a frog's body, the proper way to handle them, and the need to wash your hands after handling them.
Emergency Clothing Bags
Please be sure that your child's emergency clothing bag is fully stocked. It should have at least one of each of the following: socks, underwear, shirt, pants/dress, jacket/sweater, shoes. The children's bags get depleted over time as we use them in case of accidents or other large messes, so it's important that you check from time to time to make sure that everything is there. Thanks! And, the children grow so fast that some of the items don’t even fit anymore.
Juicing Fresh Fruits
The Juniper children got to juice their own juice with Ms. Koerber this week. They took turns juicing apples, bananas and oranges in an electric juicer and then enjoyed the “fruits” of their labor. All of them really liked their juice, and Kenyon liked it so much that he exclaimed, "Oh, this is good! Oh, this is good! Oh, this is good!"
Come Share
As always, all Juniper parents are invited to come to the classroom and share any cultural or other things that you think the class would enjoy. The children love it when parents spend time with them, so come make their day!

LIVE OAK
It is so nice to see everyone back at school this week….especially Ms. MacDonald, who has been out ill.
We have some very important dates for you to mark on your calendar this month:
Saturday, January 27th, is our annual Crab Feed. It is actually a food festival with all sorts of choices of delicious food. There will also be dancing and socializing. It really is a lot of fun. There will be childcare available on campus (RSVP Mr. Tien in the Brown Cottage) as well, and it is a fundraiser for our scholarship fund. Hope to see you all there.
Thursday, January 18th, we are offering a second evening to come find out about why you should choose GLM elementary program instead of other programs. We might not be big but we offer an excellent, well-rounded program. There will be dinner served and childcare available (RSVP the school office). Please come and find out before you make a final decision about next year.
Here’s a great Live Oak story: This morning a child was very upset at drop off. Another child came up to her and said, “I’m sorry you’re sad today, how can I make you feel better?” The child asked for a hug and received one. It was really nice.
Here’s our MLK, Jr. song. We hope you take some time Monday to honor this great human being.
Martin Luther King was a mighty, mighty man
And a mighty, mighty man was he.
He was a preacher and a teacher and a man of God
And he loved both you and me.

GINKGO
We are still welcoming back most of the children from the holiday break. When children come in the others haven’t seen for a long time everyone gets excited and very happy.
The children enjoy studying geography, the different continents and the country and city we live in. It is wonderful to see the children point out on maps the places they have been and where relatives and friends live. They are discovering how big the world around them really is. It is incredible the things the children say and the intelligent questions they ask.
We have begun talking about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We talked about how Dr. King used his words, not violence to fight for equality. We shared some of the words he would use. He said, “together” when others said “separate”, he said “peace” when others said, “war”. “Sooner or later, all people of the world will have to discover a way to live together”. One child raised his hand and said, “Yes, he is right”.
We had a birthday celebration this week for Mia Noval who is now 3 years old. Her mother, Sonia, came in and told the story of Mia’s life. We had a special snack of muffins, grapes, and apple slices.

MAGNOLIA
Along with our study of birds we will also focus on the human body. We have been learning the parts of the body in Spanish through music.
One of the children's favorite new songs is called "Pinpon", about a doll who gets ready for bed by washing various parts of his body.
We will also begin discussing the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. We had been reading some books about him and his important work in our country.
Happy birthday to Eva and Cecily, thanks for the delicious treats.
Please remember to check your Parent Pockets for important information, and your children’s extra clothing bag for weather-appropriate items. And, please, label everything!
Thank you!

MULBERRY
This Tuesday we began our "Little Chef" program. Four children started by cutting apples and placing them in a pan. The children then mixed cinnamon, brown sugar, and water to boil on the stove. While the apples were cooking we began making our burritos. The children placed a tortilla on a tray, one scoop of rice, one scoop of black beans, and one scoop of cheese. Next the children rolled the burritos and placed them on the cookie sheet to bake. While they were baking the children washed the tables, swept the floor and one child washed the dishes. The apples were a big hit at lunch and the burritos were a hit for some and others picked at them. Next week Mr. Tien will be making mini pizza with a group of children.
Wednesday’s Sound of the Week was "O". We had Oatmeal, Olives, Orange, Octopus, and an Onion.
Mrs. Aima will be off work January 19th - January 26th due to her husband’s upcoming major back surgery.
Song of the week:
Three green speckled frogs sat on a speckled log
Eating some most delicious bugs - yum, yum .
One jumped into the pool where it was nice and cool
Now there are two green speckled frogs. (count down till all frogs are gone)
Quote of the week:
Parents may wonder what a small child can do to participate in the preparation of food. Listed below are tasks that may seem simple to adults but are exciting to the child. Some activities are done in collaboration.
SOME ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER:
1. Setting table
2. Arranging flowers
3. Washing and tearing lettuce
4. Washing herbs
5. Slicing apples with a two- handled slicer
6. Cutting carrots, cucumbers, broccoli
7. Snapping string beans
8. Slicing cheese
9. Spreading nut butters or hummus on bread or crackers
10. Peeling and slicing boiled eggs
11. Peeling and slicing bananas
12. Mixing fruit with plain yogurt
13. Mixing eggs for scrambling
14. Dipping bread into eggs for French toast
15. Measuring and pouring rice into rice cooker
16. Rolling out and cutting biscuit dough
17. Kneading bread dough
18. Making orange water
19. Washing dishes and work areas
20. Filling the dishwasher

CAMELLIA
Today’s special was the "Little Chef Burrito". Step by step, and with great focus and concentration the children spread cheese, rice and beans on tortillas and then of course, rolled and folded them up. One child proudly stated "Look, I made a burrito". They also cut apples and put cinnamon and brown sugar on them. The first “Little Chef” was a huge success and they had a wonderful time in the kitchen. Remember, “Little Chef” is every Tuesday; No lunch needed.
Next week’s sound is "P" as in Pear, Pencil, and Picture.
Please label all objects your child brings to school so we can make sure the objects will be in your child’s cubby at the end of the day. Thank you.
REMINDER: No school or childcare this Friday, January 12 due to a teacher In-service Day. Monday, January 15, school is closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday.
And - Saturday, January 27th, is GLM’s 3rd annual Crab Feed, from 4-8 p.m. There will be music, a raffle, dancing and lots of delicious food. Be sure to join us for a great afternoon.
QUOTE: Have everything it takes to complete the task at-hand, together in a convenient place before beginning to show it. This helps the child to concentrate on the task. He also feels more secure if things are in order and have their place. His tools should be scaled to his size, if possible, a dust cloth about six inches square, a little scrub brush about four inches long, etc.