MONTESSORI MATTERS NORTHWEST SUBURBAN MONTESSORI SCHOOL November-December 2018

UPCOMING DATES

HAT & MITTEN DRIVE

MUSIC IN CLASS

TAKE TIME TO SMELL THE EVERGREENSThe holiday season is upon us and the hustle and bustle of life will consume us for the next month or so. Although it should be a fun and enjoyable time to relax and enjoy family and friends, for many of us it becomes a very stressful and busy time of the year. Please take a few minutes to remind your self what the holidays should be about. Spend a few more minutes with your family, talk more to your children, and enjoy family dinners together. Time is precious and it is so easy to get caught up in the hurried world. Let’s try to really appreciate the true meaning of the holidays.

Have a Wonderful Holiday!

Jan Howland, Principal

Winter Break - No SchoolMonday, December 24 - Sunday, January 6

Classes Resume on Monday, January 7

Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No SchoolMonday , January 21

Thank you to Ms. Justyna and all the children for a beautiful Holiday Concert this year at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre!

We are collecting new and gently used hats and mittens for children and adults in need this Holiday Season.We are collecting through December 19th in the office.

The things the child sees are not just remembered; they form a part of their soul”

-Dr. Maria Montessori

FROM THE 3-6 YEAR OLD CLASSROOMSAt NSMS, the months of November and December are filled with holiday cheer and fun! In November, we talk about how to be thankful for everything we have and to share with people who need help. Each classroom works together to collect food for our Thanksgiving Donation Boxes which are then dropped off at the Wheeling Township. The boxes will be used to help families in need around our community. One of our favorite classroom activities is the Thanksgiving Feast! Each family cooks something for the classroom, the children dress in Pilgrim

and Indian hats, and we all sit together at a long table for a very special meal. We are incredibly thankful to have such an amazing school and community here at NSMS.

Our annual Holiday concert will be held at the end of November. Our students will sing in multiple different languages, including Sign Language, dance to our favorite holiday songs, and enjoy special performances from the Kindergartners.

In December, we will “travel around the world” to discover how other cultures and countries celebrate the holidays. Each day, we will collect a new stamp in our “passports” and a new understanding of traditions all around the globe. Some of the places we will travel to this year are Israel, Poland, The Netherlands, Africa, Sweden, Australia, and Mexico. We will celebrate traditions like Hanukkah, St.Nicholas, Kwanzaa, Santa Lucia, and more. To wrap-up our fun-filled month, we will all take a magical ride

on the Polar Express! We hope that everyone has a great holiday season with friends and family. Don’t forget to bundle-up, get outside, and play in the snow!

Karly Giannelli , Directress, Room 2 School Day

In the month of November, we have talked a lot about being Thankful! We learned a little song (which included a little sign language) to go with this theme: “Thank you for the Sun so bright. Thank you for the moon at night. Thank you for my family. I am Thankful, yes sir-ree!” This song is very simple and easy for the Toddlers to understand, but also a great reminder to be Thankful for all that we have, even as simple as a brand new day!

We have such wonderful families, and are so Thankful for your generosity. Our Thanksgiving Food Drive Basket was filled with wonderful donations to help out those in our community and our Toddlers brought in wonderful donations to make our Thanksgiving Feast a success. Each year, we prepare wonderful foods during our class time. The children helped peel clementines and bananas, wash and cut strawberries, wash blueberries and carrots and break up pieces of graham crackers. After all of this hard work, we gathered together and enjoyed all of the delicious, Toddler-friendly food! Thank you to Mrs. Diaz, Mrs. Elakatt, Mrs. Weskamp and Mrs. Wicka for your help.

The Toddlers have been preparing for our annual Holiday concert, being held at the Metropolis Performing Arts Center on 11/27. We will be singing, dancing and ringing our bells! Be sure to mark this date on your calendar to see all of our hard work!

In the month of December, we will be taking a “plane ride” to different parts of the world and learn about different Holidays being celebrated. We plan to “travel” to Israel, Australia, Germany, Mexico and then land back in the United States. At each of these places, the children will get to hear about the traditions being celebrated and taste some of the traditional foods. If any family has a celebration or tradition they would like to share with us, please contact Mrs. Amanda. We love to travel to different places and learn about new traditions!

We hope that everyone has wonderful Holiday season!

Mrs. Amanda, Mrs. Barb and Mrs. KrisToddler Room

FROM THE 3-6 YEAR OLD CLASSROOMS

FROM THE TODDLER CLASSROOM

Hola amigos,

We’ve been busy learning Spanish! Whether this is your child’s first time learning a different language or not, I want to make their Spanish learning experience a fun and positive one. It’s never too late or too early to introduce your child to other languages. Studies show that learning another language before the age of ten would be easy for a child, and even easier for a child under five. As one becomes older it can become challenging and even discouraging, but with patience the child can also pick up on another language. Being bilingual or trilingual does not cause language confusion or delay. While there are many alphabets and different sounds of the letters, the children are able to distinguish between languages. They are in the stage where their minds can absorb any information with ease. I’m happy to say that the children have learned and picked up so much in such a short time, and I’m looking forward to see their progress at the end of our school year.

I’ve been visiting every classroom on Wednesday’s and do our Spanish line time. In November we counted from 1-20 and added four more colors. We’ve been singing songs, do body movements, go through my bag full mysteries, and even do silence (silencio) with our friend “pato” (duck), which seems to be one of the kids favorite.

For the month of December we will be learning our winter gear;

Hat- Gorro, Gloves- Guantes, Coat- Abrigo, Scarf- BufandaI would also talk about how Mexico celebrates the holidays and how the children play a big part of the traditions.

In January we will be reviewing our words, a good way to refresh our memories after our winter break. So continue to practice at home when possible. Feliz Navidad!

Gracias, Sra. Maribel, Spanish Teacher

Happy Fall everyone! My name is Ms. Molly, I am the Art Director, Room 1 Assistant, Gardening Instructor and bulletin board creator here at NSMS since 2015. I am Montessori certified as of 2018 by the NAMC. In 2013 I received my Bachelors of Science from Bradley University in Painting and a minor in Art History, during this time I was honored to be a nominee of the prestigious Yale University Norfolk artist residency fellowship program. Upon graduating I moved to North Carolina where I ran an organic farm and lived on a homestead. During this time I attended the Organic Growers School at UNC Asheville. I am extremely fortunate to be granted the opportunity to impart my knowledge of sustainable living and gardening with our friends at NSMS.

I am a visual artists working in a variety of mediums such as oil painting, colored pencil and weaving; my personal work reflects upon aspects surrealism, abstraction and art nouveau. My pedagogy as Art Director is to introduce art in a manner that gives friends freedom to develop skills in self expression and creative problem solving. At this age art education, just like the Montessori philosophy, focuses on the process rather than the product. This fall we have explored self portraits, and mosaics made of colorful corn. This month we are learning about how to appreciate our creations for being a little more “-ish”, not all of our creations are perfect however, the are perfect-ish if we look at them right. We are learning about this perspective through the book “Ish” by Peter H. Reynolds. When your child brings home a new work of art I encourage you to ask them about their work, ask them to explain what they have created and what it means to them. I cannot wait to discover the creative ways our friends at NSMS view the world!

Ms. Molly, Art Director, Room 1 Assistant

FROM THE ART ROOM

FROM THE SPANISH ROOM

HELP PAVE THE PATH TO A BETTER NSMS!

Help define a legacy of learning at NSMS by purchasing a customized brick for the school pathway. Watch your children’s faces light up every day when they get to see their name on a brick on the way into school or walking to the park each day!

Not only will you be leaving your child’s legacy at their very first school, but you will be supporting NSMS in a very important way. With the funds from the Buy-a-Brick program, NSMS can continue to maintain a proper educational environment for years to come. It is a great way to provide a lasting tribute to your child and the starting years of their lifelong education!

Each brick is $100. Visit the NSMS school office to fill out a form or to obtain additional information.

Examples of existing bricks...

800 North Fernandez AvenueArlington Heights, Illinois 60004

847-259-6044fax 847-259-6063www.nsms.org