MMA Montessori Moments
September 16th, 2019
International Day of Peace
Dr. Maria Montessori spent much of her time developing peace education within her method. She was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Peace is deeply rooted in her approach as every Montessori classroom offers a peace corner to support constructive conflict resolution and some form of Peace Education. Through Peace Education, students develop inner peace which gives them the foundation for supporting peace in all aspects of life. In the Montessori classrooms, every individual has the opportunity to celebrate their differences in a space that encourages and accepts each difference as we are all unique.
“Peace is a goal that can only be attained through common accord, and the means to achieve this unity for peace are twofold: first, an immediate effort to resolve conflicts without recourse to violent -- in other words, to prevent war -- and second, a long-term effort to establish a lasting peace among men.” (Education and Peace, Montessori, 1949, p.27)
On International Peace Day, this Saturday, September 21st, this song travels around the world, traveling from country to country. New Zealand schools start it off. To learn more about this, please visit www.singpeacearoundtheworld.com.
Ms. Andria
What three traits define you? Determined, curious, creative
What would you like to be your greatest accomplishment? I would like to someday build a house on the land of my dreams.
What's one thing you couldn't live without? A pencil and paper.
What is one thing you cannot resist? Essential oils- especially lavender, patchouli, and peppermint
What is your favorite thing to do? Anything with my family.
Where is the most interesting place you've traveled to and why? Beni Ensor, Morocco because the culture was just so unique in my experience. Plus, their fresh pink olives were unforgettable.
Who is your biggest inspiration? My ceramic mentor, Sara Swink. She taught me a lot about working in a studio, and how to let the artwork speak for itself. She means more to me than she’ll probably ever know.
What advice do you have for kids who are struggling at school? Wisdom comes from all of your works: the work of the head, the work of the heart, and the work of the hands. try not to forget your strengths while in a moment of weakness.
How do you define success? You know that feeling when your work is precious and valuable?... like when I'm holding a project that took a lot of effort to complete, and it feels like gold in my hands.
What do the students think of Ms. Andria?
1. What is the best thing about Ms. Andria? Ms. Andria is very artistic and pushes us to create new ideas.
2. Why do you think Ms. Andria is a good fit for MMA? In her class, I like that she gives us creative freedom. Freedom of imagination. She gives us the opportunities and freedom to create and brainstorm.
Ms. Angela
1. What three traits define you? Compassionate, understanding, courageous, and patient
2.What would you like to be your greatest accomplishment? Being able to pursue my career as a teacher and enhance my knowledge on how to teach with excellence.
3. What's one thing you couldn't live without? Music and my spiritual devotional books
4. What is the one thing you cannot resist? Music
5. What is your favorite thing to do? Read and go to the gym
6. Where is the most interesting place you've traveled to and why? Visiting Virginia at Monticello the home of Thomas Jefferson. Virginia is a very beautiful state and there is a lot of history lessons to learn and I found it really interesting.
7. Who is your biggest inspiration? My Aunt Bonnie, she has been there to encourage me to persevere in everything I do. She has been a very positive influence.
8. What advice do you have for kids who are struggling at school? Be encouraged it is not always easy to complete certain tasks; but, it is possible. When we all come together and help one another, we will have a better understanding throughout the progress of learning. We are all learning at different stages and we will all eventually get where we need to be in our learning; it just takes time.
9. How do you define success? Success is being able to achieve your goals. Success is being able to grow and enhance in knowledge while maximizing your potential in all areas of life’s challenges.
What do the students think about Ms. Angela?
1. What is the best thing about Ms. Angela? Ms. Angela is really funny. She laughs at jokes and she pushes us hard rather than just sitting down and doing nothing. I like the feeling in the classroom of being able to talk when necessary and being able to be with friends as long as we are working.
2. Why do you think Ms. Angela is a good fit for MMA? Ms. Angela is a lot like me. She helps me see that I can be successful. She can also relate to me and help me not be stressed out.Staffing Updates
Welcome Ms. Julia, who begins on Monday and will serve as a special education teaching assistant supporting students with IEPs and all students in the classroom.
We are still searching for assistants. We had two fantastic interviews last week. Right now, Ms. Karen, Ms. Vanessa, and Ms. Stacey do not have teaching assistants. We have a special education teaching assistant position open at this time as well. We are doing our best to hire excellent individuals to fill these part-time positions; and, until then we are arranging for subs to cover these positions in order to best support our teachers and students.
Please pass along the word and tell anyone interested in these teaching assistant positions that they just need to email Lana and René their resume to apply.
Autumn is near
MMA's Cross Country Team
All athletes improved their times in last week's second meet. Be sure to congratulate all of the athletes and thank Coach Hyrum and Coach Heather!
Redwoods Parent Information Night
In case you missed the Redwoods meeting on Thursday, please see the essential document below that discusses information such as costs, chaperone needs, trip expectations, and volunteer opportunities. All future meetings about Alliance Redwoods, are mandatory and vital in order to assist everyone with the process. We look forward to meeting you and sharing our experiences.
If you have questions, please contact Ms. Nicoletta or Ms. Lana.
The wording in this year's parent letter is slightly different than in past years to be in accordance with the school fees law, Rule 277-407. The letter no longer says that families are being "charged" for the trip; it says that there is a "suggested donation." The law states that schools cannot charge students in grades K-6 any fees. There is an exception listed that allowed 6th graders to be charged fees if 6th grade was part of a secondary program. Although MMA has a secondary program, 6th grade students at MMA are clearly part of an elementary program; therefore, students are not allowed to be charged a fee and a field trip counts as a fee.
What this means is that if MMA does not get enough students attending the trip to make the "suggested donation," the trip will have to be cancelled. Please note that any families that qualify for a fee waiver and submit these forms with required documentation will be granted a fee waiver and not have to pay for this trip. You can obtain the fee waiver form from MMA's website on the Forms and Documents page. The fee waiver forms should be submitted directly to René.
MMA already pays for about half of the total cost per child to attend the Redwoods trip. This cost includes academic programming, food and lodging at the Redwoods facility, plane ticket, train ticket, and a coach bus. Again, we will not be able to attend if enough families do not make the "suggested donation."
Please abide by all deadlines listed in this and subsequent parent letters. We will not be able to take students who submit their forms late as we purchase tickets that cannot be reimbursed.
A student may be prohibited from attending this trip if their behavior in school is unsafe, or otherwise causes school staff question if the child will be safe on this trip. A refund cannot be provided in these cases.
I am so happy to share with you that we are doing Original Works again this year. For those of you who do not know what this is, the students make artwork and we send it to a company that will put it on all sorts of things you can purchase. These things include magnets, cards, bags, cups, ornaments, towels, and pillowcases, to name a few. I use the things I order as holiday gifts for my own children's grandparents. I also like to order an ornament to add to my Christmas tree. The proceeds from this go to your student's classroom to be used for their class. In the past, I have used my funds for field trips, a class pet, and materials. This is a wonderful way to help get money for the classroom and things teachers and students may need.Classroom teachers may choose to participate. Please contact your student's teacher for more information.
Thank you,
Ms. Jalee and Volunteer Parents
Coach's Corner
Do you ever wonder what your child is talking about when they come home? What is this lingo that they are speaking? This is a great resource of Montessori terminology a library of terms: https://montessori-ami.org/resource-library/facts/glossary-montessori-terms
Indirect Presentation
Because of the absorbent nature of the young child's mind, every action or event can be seen as a lesson. It is understood that children learn by watching other children work or by overseeing a lesson given to another. In the same way, they quickly absorb the behaviour patterns and the language used by the family, the neighborhood children and even TV.
Normalisation
If young children are repeatedly able to experience periods of spontaneous concentration on a piece of work freely chosen, they will begin to display the characteristics of normal development: a love of work, an attachment to reality, and a love of silence and working alone. Normalised children are happier children: enthusiastic, generous, and helpful to others. They make constructive work choices and their work reflects their level of development.
The HOUSE of Children
The Early Childhood has five afternoon spots available for enrollment.
What will you find in a Montessori Early Childhood? This is a great reference as to what to expect in a Montessori Early Childhood here at The HOUSE of Children.
https://amshq.org/About-Montessori/Inside-the-Montessori-Classroom/Early-Childhood
If you or a friend are interested in a tour, please contact Nicoletta Householder at nhouseholder@mariamontessoriacademy.org or call the front office to make an appointment 801-827-0150.
Volunteer Background Checks
There will be someone at MMA to conduct background checks this week on September 17th at 5pm - before the MAPA begins at 6pm. Volunteers will need to make 2 payments at this time - $37 to MMA for processing and $25 to Academica West for doing the live scan. Cash, check, and charge are all accepted.
If you are unavailable on the 17th, you can also visit other locations to complete your background check and fingerprinting process. Check out the paper below to see alternate locations. If you complete your background check outside of MMA, you will need to return the last page of the paper below to MMA as we are required to keep this on file. You will also need to bring the $37 processing fee to MMA as soon as you can. Presenting this paper when getting background checks outside of MMA is very important to make your results show up in the Rapback system and accessible by MMA.
We realize that it can be tough for some of our families to pay for background checks and we don't want this to be a barrier to volunteering inside school. Please know that once you're in this new system (Rapback), you will not have to pay or do this again. If you want to know if they're already in the system or not, please email Ms. Lana.
School Land Trust Council - Seeking Volunteers
Each public school in Utah elects a school community council consisting of parents, teachers, and the principal. All councils have a two parent member majority. Each council carefully reviews student assessments and progress to decide which academic areas they want to focus on. Plans are developed to improve student academic performance in the identified academic areas with the annual School LAND Trust funds. The plans are approved by the council, submitted, and approved by the school board.
We are seeking parent volunteers to serve on this council. The time commitment involved includes attending one in-person meeting at MMA for a mandatory training, review last year's plan, and to draft a plan for next year. After that, all feedback and final approval will happen via email.
We don't want to jeopardize these funds, which is why it's crucial to have parent volunteers. Please email Ms. René this week if you are interested in this volunteer opportunity.
Missing Lunches
We are very concerned about this and want to prevent it from happening in the future. To alleviate this issue, we are increasing accountability where students have to sign out of their classrooms when they leave. We are asking teachers and assistants to supervise their classes when children visit their lockers; although, many classes already do this.
MAPA Information
Pizza Friday
Jr. Artisan Fair at the Fall Festival
Room Parents
Updated - Emergency Response & Preparedness Plan
The guide outlines how MMA will keep students safe in emergency situations like a fire or earthquake. We have already conducted two fire drills this school year. Please contact Ms. René if you have questions.
September
17 -Background Checks available @5pm
17--MAPA Meeting @ 6pm
19-- MMA Cross Country "Home" Meet @ Harrisville Park
(1350 N. Hwy 89 Harrisville, UT 84404)
21--International Day of Peace
23--Normalization Ends
26-- MMA Cross Country @ Ben Lomond (Big D Park)
27--Professional Development; Early Release
October
3-- MMA Cross Country @ Highmark
4--MAPA Meeting @ 8:45am
4--Fall Festival @ 4-7pm
8--MMA Board Meeting, 5:30pm
16--End of Quarter
17-18--Fall Break; No School
22--Picture Day
23-30--Red Ribbon Week
24-25--Junior High Intersession
24--Box Top Store (11:00am-1:00pm)
28--Junior High Parent-Teacher Conference Sign-ups Open
Quick Links
Track It Forward - school events calendar and volunteer sign-ups
Maria Montessori Academy
Email: info@mariamontessoriacademy.org
Website: www.mariamontessoriacademy.org
Location: 2505 N 200 E, North Ogden, UT, United States
Phone: 801.827.0150
Facebook: facebook.com/MMAofUT
Twitter: @MMAofUT