The Critter Keeper is coming to CMS

On Wednesday, March 27th the Critter Keeper is coming to Clemson Montessori.
Entertaining and exciting, surprising and sometimes a little scary, the Critter Keeper will captivate our students with interesting facts, entertaining stories, appropriate life applications, and of course, all his critter sidekicks.
Students will meet Julius, the albino Burmese python; Citrus, the Australian Bearded Dragon; Clyde, the Savannah Monitor; Fiona, the Argentine Tegu, as well as other reptiles and arthropods from all over the world. 
If you are curious about what is in store, visit the Critter Keeper's website... http://www.critterkeeperupstate.com/

Dine Out for PTO this month

Hi all!

There are lots of things to look forward to this month, but our monthly PTO meeting is not one of them!

In lieu of our second-Monday meeting, we are hosting a couple of Dine Out for Clemson Montessori PTO events. We hope you will mark the following dates and locations on your calendars, so that you, your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers can participate!

The first fundraiser is being generously supported by Three Spoons Yogurt of Clemson. All you have to do is purchase frozen yogurt between noon and 1 a.m., Friday, February 15th, and make sure to tell the cashier that you are there in support of Clemson Montessori. Feel free to download the attached image and forward it to everyone you know. The more we buy, the more we make! 25 percent of all sales that reference our school will be donated back to CMS. We also encourage you to "like" 3 Spoons on facebook, and use email and social media to spread the word the day of, please. Don't worry. We will remind you!

Our second Dine Out event this month is being generously hosted by Columbo's Pizza, which is conveniently located next door to the school at 203 Pendleton Road. We encourage you to eat in at Columbo's between 5 and 8 p.m., Tuesday, February 19th. They will have their dinner buffet set up, and 10 percent of all sales between those hours will be donated to CMS. Please "like" Columbo's on facebook, and spread the word on email and on facebook. Once again, the more we buy, the more we earn. Columbo's donates 10 percent of every bill to our school during those hours, regardless of whether you say you're with the school or not. But do us and them a favor, and say "thanks" for supporting CMS.

Thanks to you for all that you do to support Clemson Montessori School. And if you haven't already, be sure to "like" our PTO page on facebook. It's a great way to stay plugged in to what's happening, and to other Montessori parents.

Take care, and happy dining!
Heidi & Drake

PTO meeting minutes and Sensorial Workshop overview

Many thanks to secretary Nadia Moysey for compiling these great notes from this week's PTO meeting and Sensorial Materials and Concepts workshop.

It was a great, hands-on experience for all of us who participated, but for those who were unable to attend, here's a nice overview with some helpful resources, to get you up to speed.

Remember, every parent is a member of our Parent Teacher Organization, and we value your involvement and your support. So, please take time to review this information, and we welcome your feedback and input.

Thanks,
Heidi & Drake

CMS PTO Minutes 01/14/2013

Time: 7:00 pm

Attendance: 12 PTO officers, parents, staff, teachers

Fundraising Updates

-       School earned $323 in credit from the For Small Hands fund raiser.

-       We will not have a February PTO meeting but will do a fundraising night at Columbo’s and/or 3 Spoons instead.

-       PTO account (non-profit account) has a balance of $5,178.64. The balance on this account has increased by about $165 since November.

-       SCRIP account has a balance of approximately $1,700. We made approximately $115 in December and $8 in January.

-       Looking into setting up an “in-house: field trip with the Critter Keeper using PTO funds.

Greenhouse Update

-       The school would like to get a greenhouse using PTO funds. Drake will be discussing this project at the March PTO meeting.

-       We already have enough funds for a small greenhouse that would have to be replaced every 2-3 years.

-       Some catalogs with ideas for greenhouses were circulated at the meeting and given to the school administrators.

Plant Sale

-       Scheduled for April 19, 2013

-       Need plastic or foam egg cartons and plastic yogurt cups (6 oz size).  Yoplait yogurt cups cannot be used.

-       Publicity for the plant sale will be discussed in March when we have an idea of how many plants will be available.

Important Dates

-       January 21 – MLK Day – No school or childcare

-       February 18 – Professional Development Day – No school or childcare

-       March 18 – 22 – Spring Break

-       School is still working to securing a date for a spring performance to replace to winter program

Sensorial Presentation – Presented by Natalie and Susan

-       Watched a video clip from Dr. Steve Hughes, a pediatric neuropsychologist, Montessori researcher and Montessori parent.  The clip was titled “Why 20^th Century Educational Methods Won’t Work in the 21^st Century and What We Can Do About It”.  The clip is available for viewing on Dr. Hughes website: www.goodatdoingthings.com

-       Montessori provides a developmental method of education that is highly personalized.

-       Montessori is based on an integration of culture, method and materials.

-       This is a “Brain Based” approach to education. The brain needs experimental interactions with the environment.

-       A tremendous amount of the brain’s geography is devoted to the hands. Hands are the instrument of the mind.

-       Focus on a refinement of the senses.  Montessori materials are precise and scientifically based.  Manipulation of these materials builds the foundation for reading/math.

The 11 Senses (as identified by Maria Montessori)

1.     Visual

2.     Chromatic

3.     Tactile – eye to discriminate textures

4.     Auditory

5.     Baric – weight

6.     Thermic

7.     Kinesthetic – eye to recognize 2D shapes; move from 3D to 2D

8.     Olfactory

9.     Gustatory – taste; recognize that different areas of the tongue taste different things

10.  Equilibrium – balance within the body

11.  Stereognostic – ability to determine 3D shapes with muscle memory of the eye

Sensory Materials

1.     Contain a control of error/self-correcting

2.     Aesthetically beautiful à  attractive

3.     Specific language/corresponds with concept being taught

4.     Self-teaching à independence

5.     Progressively challenging – helps refine the senses in a logical sequence

e.g. The Brown Stair work refers to the blocks as “prisms”. Introduces the concept of thickest and thinnest and uses very specific vocabulary.

Moving from concrete to more abstract concepts.

Aims of Sensorial Materials

Direct:

1.     Provide a sense of order, observation, concentration, attention, reasoning, decision-making, ability to make judgments, comparisons (science/math)

2.     Isolation of senses/concepts (touch, sight, taste, bigness, length, thickness)

3.     Strengthen motor skills (writing)

Indirect:

1.     Teach abstract concepts tangibly

2.     Repetition à mastery

3.     Endless possibilities for explorarion/discovery

4.     Prepares for math by refining the idea of relationships (little to big, correlates to operations in math; short to long à bead cabinet; ten parts leads to the concept of base 10)

5.     Prepares for language development by training child to work for left to right

Montessori uses correct vocabulary for the materials – quatrefoil, prism, ellipse, etc.

Montessori materials are very scientifically precise. In the Pink Tower work, the children get to explore the heaviness of the largest cubes and the lightness of the smallest cubes. Each cube in the tower has a 1 cm difference in the length of the sides. The smallest cube is 1 cm long so the children can use this cube to check their own work and see if the cubes are arranged in the correct order. The materials engage more than one sense.\

Tactile learners need to touch more than a screen.  A screen does not engage all of the senses.

Anderson Independent Mail article on “The New Kindergarten”

"The standards soon to be adopted by public schools hint at ones the Montessori education method introduced more than 100 years ago."

 http://www.independentmail.com/news/2013/jan/10/not-your-fathers-kindergarten-naps-cookies-out-hom/

Minutes compiled by Nadia Moysey, PTO Secretary

Sensorial Materials & Concepts: PTO Meeting Programming

Welcome back from winter break!

Now that we're through the flurry of fall fundraising, the PTO would like to turn our focus back to developing our Parent Teacher Organization as an informed and active group. That's why we hope you'll join us at 7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 14 for the monthly PTO meeting where our teachers will provide a programming workshop on sensorial materials and concepts. 

What is this? It's a great opportunity to gain additional insight into your child's classroom experience. Have you heard your child talk about the pink tower, brown stair, colored cylinders, geometric solids? 

OK, if you're like most of us, you haven't. But guess what? You can find out what this work is, and then you might be able to prompt your child to tell you more about what he or she is doing!

At the sensorial materials and concepts workshop, which will be held during the regularly scheduled PTO meeting, you can come investigate why the Sensorial area of the classroom is often considered the most intellectual area in a Montessori environment.  Maria Montessori said children perceive the world through their senses, and these materials encourage the child to classify, thus organize and sort, their sensorial impressions. This ability to classify is a basis for intelligence.  

On one hand, so many sensory-based activities exist for children these days. On the other hand, with even more screen-based activities available, children are not engaging with their environments in the same ways they were even a decade ago. Our teachers will discuss why hands-on activities are so important, and how Montessori Sensorial activities are unique and provide a basis for mathematical reasoning, scientific thinking, and literacy.  

As always, childcare will be provided. We ask only that you please RSVP to Ellen at ellen@clemsonmontessori.com by Friday, January 11. 

Thanks for your support, and we look forward to seeing you at our first meeting of the New Year!

-- Heidi & Drake