C alling all family, friends, and alumni: We hope you can join us for International Day on Saturday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the

Montessori School of Mauldin. This event is our biggest of the entire year, and

we are excited to have almost 20 countries being represented this year. There will be food, music, per-formances, dancing, games, crafts, and a huge silent auction to benefit IMPACT for Education.

We have more than 100 items in our silent auction this year! The auction has begun and all items up for bid are posted around the school. Please stop at the main office and pick up a bid number. Bidding will end at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5. You do not have to be present to win.

We will be also be raffling off a wine gift basket and excursion for 10 at Bonefish Grill. This night out for 10 people includes signature appetizers, oak-grilled fish specialties and award-winning martinis, plus a gift basket with wine and other goodies. This package is valued at $450 and would make a wonderful gift or night out with friends.

We also have door prizes to give away courtesy of

Nguyen Hands and Feet nail salon and Mimi’s Cafe.A big thank you to Montessori parents and

grandparents Lisa Smith, Kate Elliott, Jessica Irey, and Camille Romano for donating items to the silent auction.

We would also like to thank Montessori volunteers Sue Anderson, Julia Powell, Susan Ward, and Layne Rice of Harlu Media for all of their hard work on the silent auction donations and International Day publications this year.

A final big thank you to all of the parent volun-teers who are setting up booths at this year’s Interna-tional Day.

Can’t wait to see all of you this Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Sixth Annual Montessori School of Mauldin International Day Festival!

We would like to recognize the companies listed below for their contributions to our International Day silent auction to benefit IMPACT for Education. Please support these very generous businesses in our community.Thanks to Sue Anderson, silent auction coordinator, for the information in this article.

Our sixth International Day Take a tour of the world this Saturday!

What’s left?

November 2011

Safety first! Follow directed parking lot flow

There have been some reports of people driving the wrong way in our parking lot, particularly when leaving the gym area.

Please remember that parking flows in a coun-terclockwise direction.

When leaving the gym, cars must turn right and travel the perimeter of the lot, rather than going directly toward the driveway into oncoming traffic.

The safety of our families is far more important than the few seconds saved by travel-ing against traffic flow.

Brennan Hall collecting small stuffed animals

The students of Bren-nan Hall are participat-ing in “Stockings for Soldiers” as one of their holiday projects.

They are collecting Beanie Babies and other small stuffed toys to go in the package. (The troops hand them out.) If you have some you no longer need, please bring them to the office or Brennan Hall.

Regal CinemasBiltmore EstateGreenville Symphony OrchestraCountry Boy’sCedar Bluff DentistryAnita’s Cat SpaKeurig Coffee SystemsGreen Mountain CoffeeProfessional Party RentalsMickey’s GaragePrecision Tune Auto CareNorth Hills AutomotiveVerdae Greens Golf ClubHejaz Shrine Golf ClubLakeview Golf ClubFurman University Golf ClubCobb’s Glen Golf CourseGenghis GrillCarolina Ale HouseMutt’s BBQSaffron Indian CuisineStella’s Southern BistroIrashiai Sushi Pub

Mimi’s SteakhouseNY Butcher ShoppeBrixx: Wood Fired PizzaP.F. Chang’sHoneyBaked HamChipotle Mexican GrillMarble Slab CreameryBruster’s Real Ice CreamImages SalonTrader Joe’sAll About SpiritsWilliams-SonomaOlive GardenElevations SalonDavid Michael Salon and Day SpaThe Spa at the CenterHead Quarters Day Spa & SalonMG’s Grand Day SpaSportsclubMedieval Times, Myrtle BeachDollywoodDiscovery Place, Charlotte

World of NailsCourtyard by Marriott, Greenville DowntownSeaWorld OrlandoPGA National Resort, Palm Beach, Fla.Crowne Plaza GreenvilleHyatt Regency GreenvilleCarolina Health InnovationsMonkey Joe’sHollywild Holiday LightsEastside Guitars and DrumsClub TabbyPump It UpThe Little GymThe Glazing PotPlayNationLet’s DanceGreenville GymnasticsKachoo PhotographyRiverbanks Zoo, ColumbiaChildren’s Museum of the Lowcountry, Charleston

Musical InnovationsMusic and Movement classesSnip-itsLEGO CompanyMarietta’s Quilt & SewThe Elephant’s TrunkSay It With BasketsInsideOut at homeBFGoodrichThe Melting PotStretch-n-GrowHappy Feet soccerMonkey Doodle MonogramsCoop’s Health & FitnessRingling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey CircusCostcoMaster Kim’s World Class Tae Kwon DoAuntie Anne’s gourmet pretzelsUltraSkin Wax CenterDistinctive Details

2—Mauldin Montessori NewsletterInfant room—Ms. Anne and Ms. Julie

We are growing up very quickly. Jacob is standing without help and is enjoying table food. He loves being chased by Bella and Olivia. Henry is beginning to enjoy exploring and watching his classmates while he is in the ExerSaucer, sitting up and bouncing. Olivia is walking very well and is starting to try table food. Bella is standing and climbing so she can see above the floor. She loves to watch herself and her friends in the mirror. Everyone loves reading books, singing, and clapping to our songs and music. This first year flies fast! Thank you for sharing your babies with us.

Toddler I—Ms. Brenda, Ms. Luz, and Ms. JulieFall is here and our toddlers are having so much fun watching the leaves change col-

ors. We have been working with the colors yellow and orange. We have also been painting and the children enjoy working with our fruits and vegetables. This week we will be making pumpkins. We would like to welcome Bella to our Toddler I family. Congrats to Sophia who is walking really well now. The rest of our toddlers are learning something new everyday. Happy fall!

Toddler II—Ms. Doris, Ms. Carmen, and Ms. DeborahWelcome to autumn! As the school year progresses, we will be enjoying many fun-filled

fall activities such as pumpkin painting, 3D art projects, self portraits, book illustrating, and much more.

What’s new ... We will be studying the letters L,N,O,R & S; numbers 9-13; colors black, pink, white, silver, and gold. We have planted seeds and will be discussing how plants grow, watching the progress of our plants and caring for them. We will discuss the harvest-ing of fruits and vegetables, being thankful, and will also learn about over, in, under, top and bottom.

How can parents get involved? Review your child’s school activities with them each day; read to your child and discuss the story.

Reminders: Please be sure your children have at least one complete change of clothes in their cubbies. This includes pants, shirt, socks, and underwear if appropriate. Please label all of your child’s belongings including sheets, blankets, sweaters, coats, clothes, hats, etc. Please check the white board next to the door for items your child may need daily. Thank you!

Ms. Mary’s activity classThe month of October brings us lots of spooky fun and excitement for all of our little

ghosts and goblins. Our art activities that we have worked on are witches, goblins, flying ghosts, pumpkins, and clothespin bats. We had a lot of fun, and our special art was a magnet jack-o’-lantern. I would like to thank Ms. Leigh Ramsey from the Greenville County Library System for all of the great stories that she reads to us each month. Thanks to Ms. Lisa for our Spanish class, to our music teacher Ms. Elizabeth—she makes our music so fun and special. Thanks to all of my parents for the help with our Halloween snack party. We are very excited about our International Day, Nov. 5, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Hope to see our parents there. Please watch the monthly calendars and daily activities we have planned and please check your child’s folder everyday. In November we will be discussing the first Thanksgiving. Thank you again for you support.

Art, pages 2, 3, and 4: For inspiration, students used lines and shapes given to them by art teacher Ms. Linda Wood. Lines were horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and curved. Shapes were circles, triangles, and squares. Most students drew the head of a cat, lion, or tiger. Some drew SpongeBob.

Drawing this page by Hugo (Ms. Mary).

November 2011—3Morning gym activity class—Ms. Lydia and Ms. Ceomi

Happy fall, y’all! The cold weather is here and we have been very busy this October. We have made a child-size skeleton and learned about our bones. The kids voted on a name for our skeleton and Mr. Bones won!! As a continuation from the afternoon activity class we are learning sign language. The kids know their alphabet, Happy Birthday, ketchup, milk, water, eat, drink, boy, girl, mom, dad, and the list goes on and on. We have been learning a yoga poses for each letter in the alphabet. So far we have learned: arrow, butterfly, relaxed butter-fly, cat, cow, downward dog, easy pose, and frog. Making the pumpkin bread was definitely a treat. I sure hope all the parents we able to enjoy a taste too. One final thought ... a lot of kids have similar coats. So to prevent your child’s coat accidentally going home with another child just please put a name on the inside.

Western Swallowtail and White Admiral—Ms. Beth and Ms. SadiaWelcome, fall! Our classes are enjoying the transition to cooler weather. Coats and

sweaters are appearing, which offers the opportunity for practicing self-help skills. It’s impor-tant to know how to hang up your coat (by yourself )! We are noticing the seasonal changes; most evident are the beautiful leaves. We’re singing the songs of the season as well. Of course the Halloween holiday brings much excitement! We are picking corn for the squirrels, scrubbing pumpkins and enjoying new lessons in all areas. The afternoon class is enjoying the reading each day of a chapter of one of our favorite books, “Charlotte’s Web.” We love the familiar story of Wilbur, Fern, and Charlotte, and we’re learning new vocabulary words: runt, salutations, and sedentary. What fun! Congratulations to big brother Gento, who welcomes a new baby brother, Luca, to the family, and to new big sister Alina who welcomes twin brothers! Happy Halloween!

Red Admiral and Eastern Swallowtail—Ms. Faria and Ms. WynettaIt’s autumn!!! We have been very busy decorating our room for fall with fall leaf arrange-

ments and pumpkins. We have been learning some new fall songs all about pumpkins and fall leaves.

We have also been busy classifying living and nonliving things in our environment, and are ready to stretch our observation skills to classify them into plants and animals, vertebrates and invertebrates. We have been really enjoying Spanish in the mornings and often hear chil-dren express their feelings in Spanish. It is simply adorable. We are all geared up in the after-noon class for our International Day performance. Yes, we’ll be singing an Urdu song (native language of Pakistan). I’m sure we’ll do great.

A special birthday wish for Jackson, Ethan, Charley, Sofia, and Serene who celebrated their special days with us in the month of October. With Halloween, International Day and Thanksgiving coming up, the next few weeks are going to be filled with lots of activities, crafts, and special celebrations. We will definitely keep you posted.

A big thank you to Ursula (Oliver’s mom) for helping us with our pin punching draw-ings and Rosa (Ana’s mom) for volunteering to come in and read a book to us. We thoroughly enjoyed it and as always, Mrs. Wynetta and I are ever so grateful for all the parents’ help and support. We look forward to seeing you all on International Day.

SpongeBob, showing mo-tion of arms and legs, by Kamaria (Ms. Beth).

Cat, by Violette (Ms. Beth).

4—Mauldin Montessori NewsletterMonarch class—Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Lori

The children have settled in nicely to the daily routine of the classroom after these first two months of school. Everyone is making good progress in their lessons and learning new things everyday. Our class was very lucky to have a visit from Ms. Lori’s husband who is a professional photographer. He was kind enough to volunteer to come in to take candid shots of the kids busy at work. Look for their pictures up on our tree by the door. The visit to the pumpkin patch was a huge success and lots of fun despite the weather. Everyone enjoyed the tractor ride and especially the corn maze. A big thank you to Ani and Jalak (the moms of Nava and Raina) for preparing the crafts for our field trip. Now the children are beginning to prepare for the performance at International Day on Saturday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. We hope to see everyone there. Also in November we will be getting ready for Thanksgiving and hope to make mini pumpkin pies for a special snack. The children have enjoyed learning all about pumpkins, so now it’s time to enjoy tasting them too!

ASK—Ms. LydiaOctober has come and gone very quickly. I presented the kids with two choices for

their Halloween project. Choice A was to make jack-o’-lanterns out of milk jugs and Christ-mas lights. Choice B was an orange tie-dyed t-shirt. Choice A won, and the milk jug jack-o’-lanterns turned out to be very cute. See our photo below! For November, the kids and I have discussed making a Pilgrim-styled home out of rectangular-prism shaped boxes. We will need to collect a lot of boxes for this project!

Bergamo I—Ms. SamanthaAnd the winner is ... Milkshake with 38 votes. Thank you to everyone who participated

in our snake-naming election. We had more than 100 votes to count, and Milkshake domi-nated over Slither, Severus, Sam, Snake-y, and Salazar. The class toured the entire campus to present our snake research and introduce our new pet. Since his arrival last month, Milk-shake has eaten five mice and completely shed his skin! We are eagerly anticipating his first birthday, which just so happens to be on Nov. 11, 2011, or 11-11-11. We are planning a very special celebration for him.

Halloween was another special day in our classrooms. We don’t need costumes and candy to have a treat—we each chose a spooky poem to memorize for our “Coffee House Poetry Reading,” which took place on Halloween itself. Some of the authors include Maya Angelou, Carl Sandburg, Shel Silverstein, and Mary Howitt ... just to name a few. We also are planning on packing up and shipping off our shoeboxes to support “Operation Christ-mas Child.” The children have been collecting items to help children in impoverished areas for an immediate impact.

We started off November with a Mexican holiday/tradition called “Dia De Los Muer-tos,” or Day of the Dead. As is customary during this festival, we prepared and decorated sugar skulls. We have also been very busy preparing for and practicing our Indian dance to the song “J’ai Ho.” The children have been working very hard and cannot wait to showcase their performance at International Day.

Drawing, above, by Luke (Ms. Jennifer).

Nina, by Grayson; Pinta, by Lathika; Santa Maria, by Lida (Ms. Maryann).

November 2011—5

Bergamo II—Ms. MaryannHappy fall, everyone! Our class has been very busy since the

start of the school year. The students have been getting new lessons and reviewing old ones. First-year students are working with addi-tion, subtraction, tally marks, money, time, greater and less than, word problems, nouns, synonyms, compound words, opposites, masculine and feminine forms, and sound alike. The older students are working on decimal fractions, least common multiples, fractions, prerequisite to squaring and cubing, finding the radius and diameter of a circle, measuring angles, helping verbs, sentence analysis, and list poems.

As a group, we worked on Venn diagram, baking brownies, making tissue-paper roses, salt-dough objects, acrostic poems, and a list poem. The children made a list poem called, “The Life Cycle of a Flower.” The older students are knitting together to make teddy bears. A special thanks to Lathika’s mom, Purnima, for doing a won-derful craft project with the first-year students.

This month we will be going to Sky Top Apple Orchard to pick apples, and with the apples we are going to bake apple bread. We will also bake pumpkin bread for students to take home. We will also be working on Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. We are collect-ing basic need items and by the end of October, the students will help in filling the shoe boxes with all the donated items.

Both Bergamo classes are busy practicing a Bollywood dance for International Day, which is Nov. 5 at 10 a.m. The children are very excited to participate in the dance.

October also has Christopher Columbus Day and the first year students did research on his voyage. The older kids did a list and acrostic poem on Halloween. The third-years had to write a letter to a friend about their favorite book. Some of their work appears on pages 4 and 5.

Neha and Addison (both Ms. Maryann) work on a project during which they outlined each other’s bodies, overlapping the figures to suggest holding hands. They chose one figure as dominant and colored the other as a shadow image.

Above, poem and illustration by Katherine. At right, letter to a friend, by Xavier (both Ms. Maryann).

October 7, 2011Dear Shaun,Hey Shaun I read a book that my Mom printed. It told me about never losing faith in myself. It’s about a kid named Atlas who tried to save a bird on a tree that was crackled in the sun, by hanging on a branch. Atlas fell through the thin branches, but he caught a ledge before he fell to the ground. After that one by one strange stars that were really planets spoke to him. He was afraid because he felt that there was no one else, because the birds had flown away and the tree was dust. Atlas let go of the ledge and the birds came and caught him and Atlas never lost hope again.

Xavier

Wettest field trip on recordOctober started out hot and dry, and then we

(Bergamo and Brennan Hall) decided to plan a field trip to Paris Mountain State Park to study ecology. Boy, what a day that was! It rained and rained, and you probably noticed that when your children got home, they were still pretty wet.

We arrived and were presented with rain ponchos which we promptly put on. The park ranger then talked about what we were going to see and do and we then hiked down to the river.

At the river the two classes were separated. Ber-gamo got to put on tall boots and wade into the river to look for interesting things while Brennan Hall did pH tests on the river water. We also used thermom-eters to see if the water was either colder than the air around us, or warmer (that day, definitely warmer). There were also trays with tiny crayfish that the kids really enjoyed seeing.

During all of this it continued to rain! (It was not unlike trying work inside of a carwash.) Then we switched with the Bergamo kids and wore the boots and waded in the water to search for larvae, more crayfish, or anything similar. After we got out, all of the kids were starving so we hiked back and ate lunch in the pavilion, then Ms. Samantha wisely decided that the rain just wasn’t going to stop and we all headed back to school. We want to thank all of the parents who braved the weather with us!

Friday Art with Brennan HallWe also started a new thing called ‘Friday Art

with Brennan Hall’. We were inspired by downtown Greenville’s Friday Art Nights. The kids’ art is posted down in the main building over Snickers, the guinea pig’s, cage. Each week we rotate it out to show the wide array of new skills that the kids have learned. Check it out!

Apples, apples, and more applesGriffin and Jennifer went with their families to Sky

Top Orchard in North Carolina and brought us back some apples. We had so many apples left over after snacks that we decided to make something. Ms. Kris brought in her crock pot and we had Slow Cooker Apple Crisp. All the children did their part to make the dessert, whether peeling and coring apples, mea-suring spices, or stirring. (Next time we need whipped cream to put on top.) Here is the recipe.

Slow Cooker Apple CrispTopping1 cup all-purpose flour½ cup light brown sugar½ cup white sugar½ tsp. ground cinnamon¼ tsp. ground nutmeg1 pinch salt½ cup butter, cut into pieces1 cup chopped walnutsApple mixture1/3 cup white sugar or to taste1 Tbsp. cornstarch½ tsp. ground ginger½ tsp. ground cinnamon6 cups of apples, peeled, cored, and chopped2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Tae Kwon Do and International DayWe want to thank Master Kim’s Tae Kwon Do for

teaching us Tae Kwon Do for our gym class. Master Michelle Kim has generously donated time, lessons, and space to us while our regular gym teacher, Coach Kim (no relation), is recovering from having baby Austin.

We are getting ramped up for International Day on Nov. 5. Our kids are exhibiting Tae Kwon Do and we will be manning the booth for South Korea. Please come and eat great food and see how great your kids are doing!

Brennan Hall NewsUpper School News—the 4th-8th grades of Brennan Hall

Fantastic fun: field trip, Fridays, food, and fitness!Directions

1. For topping, mix flour, brown sugar, ½ cup of white sugar, ½ tsp. of cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a bowl. Combine butter with the flour mixture using fingers or a fork until coarse crumbs form. Stir in walnuts and set aside.

2. Whisk together 1/3 cup of sugar, cornstarch, ginger, and ½ tsp. cinnamon. Place the apples in a slow cooker, stir in cornstarch mixture, toss with lemon juice. Sprinkle the walnut crumb topping on top. Cover and cook on high for two hours or low for four hours until apples are tender. Partially uncover the slow cooker to allow the topping to harden, about an hour.

Tae Kwon Do girls, by Lindsay.

Get well soon card, by Natalia.

November 2011—7

My Hero, Rocky Balboaby Ryan

My hero is Rocky Balboa because he taught me to never give up. In the movie “Rocky,” he became the heavyweight champion of the world. Rocky grew up in a tough neighborhood and was very poor. He worked hard at his job to support his family. He trained everyday to be the best boxer he could be. After he became the world champion, Rocky was able to buy nice things for his family. He bought a new coat for his wife and a robot for his son.

My Heroes, Animal Rescue Workersby Erick

Animal Rescue Teams are very important to me because they help animals. These people help heal animals and help them have a better life. In fact, I believe they make God happy. If you have ever had a pet that has been hurt, and an Animal Rescue Team has helped them, I know you were grateful. They even help pregnant animals too. If an animal has fleas, they will help by putting flea poison on them. If an animal has rabies, they will have to treat it with a medi-cal shot. And if a cat falls down a well, the Animal Rescue Team will get the cat out. This job is very important because if we didn’t have people to help animals in trouble, then many animals’ lives would be at risk. And this is why I think Animal Rescue Teams are important.

World history: without a mapImagine what it would be like to live without

maps. In ancient times, most people lived their entire lives without ever seeing a map. The very earliest maps that are still in existence today were drawn on clay by the people of Mesopotamia (now Iraq). Meso-potamia means “between the rivers” (meso=middle, potam=river). Here is a way that you can remember which river is which. The Tigris is the Top river and the Euphrates is the lower one.

Here is a map of Mesopotamia, drawn by Rader:

Nonfiction writing and research: heroes and historyRead a few samples of our nonfiction writing and look at our drawings. One of our ongoing topics in character

development is what courage and responsibility mean to us. Here are two essays about our heroes. We will be singing the “Song for the Unsung Hero” at International Day. Come hear us.

Map of Mesopotamia by Rader. Boat by Griffin.

8—Mauldin Montessori Newsletter

Poetry corner: making pictures with wordsWriting poetry is one of our most popular activities in our classroom. We try both formal and informal poems.

The formal ones are written according to a set of rules, or a ‘form.’ We start with a few of our cinquains, poems with five lines, and at left, a longer unrhymed poem.

Brady,Brady working,Hand flipping his pages,Using ink carefully, My friend. by Kevan

Vera, Killed a mole,In the backyard,For her breakfast,My cat.by Natalia

Leaf,Green and delicate, High up on the tree,Wanting to fall to us,But staying there.by Jennifer

I, myself,Wrote this poem,In the classroom, Before lunch,Because I wanted to.by Griffin

Bryan,Built a fort,At school, For recess,Because forts are cool.by Rader

A baseball,White and new,Got hit in the face, Sailed into the outfield and got caught,He is out!by Brady

Brady,Gaming Brady,Fingers hitting buttons,Moving on a video game,My friend. by Griffin

Grapes,Round, yummy,A colossal vine,I am so fat and juicy,Then all pruney.by Kevan

Plants,Nice and green,Sitting in the soil,Thinking happy thoughts,Green growers.by Rader

The Human Mindby Lindsay

The way,the humanMind works,is, byKnowledge.If heKnowsSomething,then he isFine.If he, doesNot,then he, isScared.The humanMind works,by,Knowledge,Power,and Fear. Becauseall of usHumans,have a fearof

TheGreat Unknown.

Here are “Who, What, Where, When and Why” Poems. With this form we are trying to deliver the basic, most important information … with minimal words.

Horse,Run up, horse, The snowy mountains, Race up to the soft, green grass.Horse.by Kevan

Fish,Swimming fish,All of his fins are,Pushing through the blue water,Fish.by Rader

Dog, Playing catch,Running really fast,Barking at some other dog,Dog.by Griffin

Cows,Are Mooing,Chewing on a hill,Wanting juicy grass to eat ... all the time,Big bovines.by Griffin

Here are some “one-syllable animal” poems with descriptive words counted out in syllables for each line (1/3/5/7/1).

Lindsay,Practicing guitar,At school,For recess,“Practice makes perfect.”by Jennifer

BradyPlayed baseball,On the field,After breakfast,Because he likes base-ball.by Brady

Maggie walked,across the road,After playing fetch with another dogbecause she was going home

by Alex

Kevan,Writing a poem,At school,At 12:24 P.M.Because I needed work.by Kevan

The shark,Is a fish,That lives in the water,and at night,he hunts for foodby Bryan