From the principal
August is just around the corner as we head into Term 3 at CMS. I hope that all families had a relaxing break, the Rice family enjoyed a brief holiday at the Sunshine Coast which more than lived up to its name.
I enjoyed the flyer that was sent around regarding the Trivia night. It was a tremendous event and the organizers did a fantastic job of providing the energy to make it happen. Congratulations.
Our next class parent meeting takes place on Tuesday August 3rd at 9:15 a.m., if you have a question or a suggestion regarding anything at the school and have not had an opportunity to make an appointment, feel free to ask one of the Class Parents to bring it forward at the meeting. It is a great way to stay connected.
In addition, for new families, we are holding a New Parents morning tea on Thursday August 5th at 9:15 a.m. If you have joined the school since the beginning of the school year and you have not yet had the pleasure of Judy’s biscuits and tea, please do stop by for a chat.
Our next Parent Information session will be held on July 29th and will focus on Cycle 1; we are conducting the session in the morning and hope to have a number of parents that can spend some time after drop off.
I am looking forward to our schools participation in the International Day of Peace later on this term (September 21). I think it gives us a great opportunity to connect with the purpose of Montessori Education and celebrate the legacy that Maria Montessori has given the world. Maria Montessori was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 3 times in 1949, 51 and 52 and I believe it is our obligation to keep her message alive that Peace must start with the child.
There are lots of ways to get involved in the school during Term 3, preparations for the school fair will soon begin in earnest. There is a working bee on Sat 31st July, 9-12pm for those interested in helping the Learnscapes committee complete the landscaping around the new addition. And another on Sun 8th August, 9-12pm - cleaning primary classrooms, etc. which children are welcome to attend.
Enjoy these busy times with your young families.
Peace
Jack Rice
Principal, CMS
UPCOMING DATES
TERM 3 2010
Jul 29 Parent Education Morning 9.15am
Jul 29 C2/3 Music Excursion ANU
Jul 31 Working Bee—grounds 9am-3pm
Aug 5 New Parents’ Morning Tea
Aug 8 Working Bee—classrooms 9am-12pm
Aug 18 Fundraising Committee Meeting
Aug 25 Learnscapes Committee Meeting
Sep 9 Cycle 2/3 reports due
Sep 15 Parent Information Evening
Sep16 Fundraising Committee Evening
Sep 21 International Day of Peace
Sep 22 Canteen Day
Sep 22 Learnscapes Committee Meeting
Sep 24 Last day term 3
TERM DATES FOR 2010
Term 3: 20 July – 24 September
Term 4: 12 October – 15 December
Bob
Our Business Manager, Bob Dent, continues to be on sick leave. Bob asked me to put a passage in the newsletter thanking all of the parents, staff and children for their cards and messages of support. We sure do miss Bob at the school and hope that he will be able to re-join the CMS family soon. Jack
Health Policy
Our school’s health policy aims to ensure the physical well being of all children. Please make sure that your children stay home if they are not well so they do not infect other children at the school. I have provided the staff with a copy of the school’s health policy and have encouraged them to be proactive in calling parents when children take ill during the school day. Thank you for you co-operation.
Why did Maria Montessori see
a 3-hour work cycle as vital?
Montessori was a modern pioneer whose research and discoveries have considerably advanced our understanding of child development. She gave examples of children who were so completely absorbed in their work that they were oblivious to all that was happening around them. This depth of concentration can only be achieved in an environment where the child is able to work undisturbed, according to his needs, hopefully with no interruptions. The child in quest of independence has a different rhythm from ours, working slowly, deliberately, and quite happily and needs time to complete a project.
A long work cycle is doubly important in the lives of small children because many have few chances to work on their own self-development at home for more than a short period of time. Sometimes children are interrupted regularly for a variety of valid reasons; to go to the shops, visit friends, eat snacks, watch television/films or fetch siblings from school.
Montessori states, in ‘The Advanced Montessori Method’, that: “In the first period of the morning up to about 10am the occupation is generally an easy and familiar task. At ten o’clock the children are restless, they neither work nor go in quest of materials. After a few minutes the most perfect order reigns once more; the children are promptly absorbed in work again; they have chosen new and more difficult occupations. When this work ceases the children are gentle, calm and happy.”
Children are always curious and generally do not tire as long as they can function according to their own inner rhythm. From our own and Montessori’s observations and current research, we know that the first few hours of the day are a child’s best working time. They know the routine of the day in advance and plan subconsciously for it. A child enjoys knowing their environment, what is in it and exactly where to find everything.
In the second period of work the children tend to choose something more difficult than anything they have done previously and tackle it with renewed energy. This seems to be the time when the children are most involved in the work of constructing themselves. Montessori reminds us often that each child will approach the materials differently, with varying interest and concentration, and length of attention span.
As we consider Montessori in this day and age we know that her vision for education was complete and deliberate. There were no aspects of the classroom left to chance or included incidentally. We cannot pick and choose areas of a Montessori class, eg: a child starting after 3 ½ or 4 years of age; not completing the 3 years in a cycle; arriving late each day and not having the 3 hour work cycle. With each missing piece, with each compromise, that we as adults make, we sacrifice immeasurable unrealized potential of each child.
Montessori said that ‘man is a fusion of personality and education, and education includes the series of experiences he undergoes during his life…the individual cannot be divorced from his environment…because the content of environment is an essential part of him, and, indeed, is the individual himself.
She further states: ‘to ensure the continuance of the child’s good attitude and of the development of personality, it is essential that some real task should be performed each day; for it is from the completed cycle of an activity, from methodical concentration, that the child develops equilibrium, elasticity, adaptability, and the resulting power to perform the higher actions, such as those which are termed acts of obedience…children have always need of the period of concentration, and serious work from which they derive the capacity for final development.’
Sarah Beresford-Jones (Acacia Class Director)
Parent Education Morning
Thursday 29th July, 2010
9.15am in Jacaranda
“The 3 to 6 year old child is undergoing a process of self-construction. During this period he receives sensations from whatever environment he finds himself in, he lays the foundations of his intelligence by a continual exercise of observation, comparison and judgement”. (Maria Montessori)
Come along and be introduced to the importance of the sensorial curriculum in a Cycle 1 classroom.
This part of the Montessori syllabus provides a key to the world, a means for a growth in perception and understanding that forms the basis for abstraction in thought.
See if you can build the Roman Arch, Binomial cube and Pink Tower. Find out what our Montessori environments offer your child to develop their senses. Try and match 6 different sounds and different weights. How hard would it be to find one particular geometric shape amongst many others? With your eyes closed?
Looking forward to seeing you on Thursday.
Sarah (Acacia Class Director)
Excursion to Mirinjani
The Cycle 3 students walked to the Mirinjani Retirement Village on Thursday at the end of term two to share their music with the residents.
Our students sang some folk and traditional songs, and played some pretty recorder pieces. Both Dion and Nyingari played a performance piece each on the piano, and Jordan accompanied some pieces with the guitar.
It was wonderful to observe the positive interaction between our students and the residents. The staff at the Village provided our students with afternoon tea.
Our students' professionalism whilst performing and walking to and from the venue was exemplary. Well done Cycle 3 students! You did yourselves and the school proud!
The Car Park
In the interests of your children’s safety please remember the following:
The strip between parking spaces in the centre
of the car park is designed to be a safe area for children to walk from their car to the crossing. Please do not drive across this strip, especially
at pick up and drop off times.
Traffic flow in the car park should be one way only. Please follow the direction of the arrows.
Minister’s Physical Activity Challenge
This term C2 & C3 are participating in the Minister’s Challenge which involves a different theme for each week, such as ‘reduce screen time’ or ‘help around the house’ and a goal of 60 minutes physical activity each day. Ask your Class Director if you’d like more information.
School Toilets for general use
Just a reminder that toilets are available for parents and children to use outside our new Jacaranda building
.
Thanks to some more of the generous sponsors who contributed to the success of Trivia Night. Please support them where you can.
The Molonglo Group
Active Leisure Centre
Canberra Indoor Rock Climbing
Cockington Green
Petland, Phillip
Rama's Fiji Indian Restaraunt
The Penguin Group
AFP
Centrepiece Creol
Magnet Mart, Phillip
Sakeena's Cafe
Questacon
Bunnings Warehouse, Fyshwick
Good Guys, Fyshwick
Chloe Hair Design