Bristow Montessori School
"The Buzz" - April 2017
The Montessori Lens- The Cosmic Education
I will attempt to summarize Dr. Montessori's philosophy in using Cosmic Education as the vehicle for understanding human development and our knowledge of the Universe. Dr. Montessori tells us in her introduction of Pedagogical Anthropology that “History is the teacher of life.” Montessori's presentation of History is uniquely positive, uplifting, and distinctly different to traditional methods of teaching history in school systems around the world.
Traditional studies of history devote great attention to the history of wars and singular disasters that have marked the journey of man’s evolving civilizations by highlighting all that is vile and corrupt about man’s history. Dr. Montessori’s presentation of History starts with the origins of the Universe to peek the students’ attention and interest. It goes on to explore man’s labors, highlighting his productivity as the “hero” of human evolution and celebrates man’s accomplishments and exploration of the past and his role within the Universe.
The history and classification of all living things and their interconnection guides the students along a path of greater appreciation for mankind and the natural world. In order to do this Dr. Montessori brings vast amounts of information together calling upon the students to explore and investigate via chronological timelines, great events and centuries of evolution. Students build and research timelines that are fun, interactive, and orderly.
The spirit in which History is presented is the greatness of man as a heroic and industrious worker of human evolution. The didactic material used to present History is based upon reality such as real documents and photographs, and when possible interviews.
The Cosmic education is brought to life for the students by the introduction of “Cosmic Stories”. There are five Great Stories that provide the framework for all of Montessori Elementary education. The story of the Universe, The Coming of Life, The Coming of Human Beings, The Story of Numbers and The story of Language.
The teacher tells the story with the aid of the impressionistic charts and physical experiments that demonstrate concepts and events. The stories provide the right environment for the student to delve into difficult and vast concepts in a way that is fascinating and orderly. Starting with a great concept in its entirety and then working down in to the details through activities in classifying, chronology, research, drawing, labeling, defining and summarizing.
The students reconstruct parts of the whole and commit their discoveries in an orderly, sequential way to their growing knowledge of the world.
Cosmic Education and Cosmic Task, help to show the students how all things are interconnected. Each organism has a vital role to play, knowingly or unknowingly to help improve the life of those yet to come.
The moral awareness is kindled in the hearts of the students as they have more appreciation of every organism great or small and for the role and place each of us has within the Universe, which far exceeds an individual’s personal needs. Interdependence and the understanding it brings for each student awakens a deeper respect and enlightenment for the natural world, ecology, community and family.
In service,
Anita Ercole
BMS's Annual International Festival - Recap!
BMS Open House Recap - Saturday, March 25
I wanted to give a personal thank you to all the volunteers that came to help out with the Open House. It was one of the busiest events we have organized so far this year. We have had a lot of interest for our school and great feedback about our programs. We will continue to strive to be the best Montessori School in our area through collaboration with our families and teachers. We couldn't have done it without the help of some very dedicated parents and of course all the students that baked some wonderful cookies! Thanks a million!
New! Chinese Class
New! 3YL Club - Third Year Leadership Club
The 3YL Club is the acronym for Third Year Leadership program. The third year of Montessori education is an important stage in your child’s development. It is in the third year that the child’s learning is fully internalized and their leadership role becomes a guiding force.
BMS is proud to offer all Kindergarten students, in their third year of the Primary program, the opportunity to join this leadership club.
Examples of 3YL Club events; Story Time for Toddlers, serving lunch to classrooms, planting the wildflower garden, leadership social events to foster teamwork, peace and environmental projects, leadership luncheons, community service, and outreach work.
Our first reception lunch for the Kindergarten students was a great success, and we look forward to working with the future leaders of the school!
Egg Hunt- Friday, April 7
On the day of the hunt remember to bring in a basket or bag for your child to collect their eggs!
Spring Break! April 10-14th
BMS is scheduled to be closed from April 10th - 14th. Optional Care arrangements have been filled from the 10th through the 12th for students with a 12 month contract. We hope you all have a wonderful Spring Break with your families!
Book Fair : April 17 - April 28!
We are excited to announce that BareFoot Books will be hosting a Book Fair here at our school April 17th through April 28th. Ms. Amy Collins Law will be here to kick off the event on April 17th and answer any questions you may have. BareFoot Books will feature a selection of books which will be on display for purchase in-school and online for two weeks, ending April 28th.
We encourage you, your family & friends to stop by and purchase a book or two, as 20% of all book sales will be given back into the BMS Library in books! Lets continue to build our upstairs lending library with community participation and support. Ms. Jessica Struve has kindly organized this event for the entire school and she will be available to help with the ordering on April 27th. Thank you Ms. Struve!
Next PTO Meeting: April 19 at 6:30 pm
We invite all parents of BMS students to attend our PTO meeting on Wednesday, April 19 at 6:30 pm at the school. The PTO is a great way to meet other BMS Parents, chat about upcoming school news/events, learn how to volunteer your time to positively impact the BMS Community, and collaborate with BMS staff/teachers on various programs and community efforts. (childcare will not be provided).
The purpose of this month's meeting will be to continue our conversation on the events listed below and form teams. Contact the school with any questions. We look forward to seeing you there!
Event – Mom’s Night Out
Gardening Team
Social Media Team
New! Children’s Literature Team (Book Fair, BMS Library, & Book Drives)
- Event – End of the Year Picnic
Mom's Night Tickets go on Sale in APRIL!
On May 8th, BMS will be holding our first ever Mom’s Night Out. The BMS PTO wanted to create an event to celebrate mom’s, as well as honor one in particular. One of our very own BMS moms, Renee Parrott, is stoically fighting Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Not only is Renee a fabulous mom, but in the midst of her personal battle, she is still a committed volunteer at BMS, making plans to reorganize the school library and arranging for local authors to read aloud to students! BMS wants to celebrate her strength, and invite all of our moms, friends and family to join us for an evening of fabulous food and wine at Trummer’s!
Date: May 8, 2017; 7 – 9 pm
Location: Trummer’s Coffee & Wine Bar, Promenade at Virginia Gateway, Gainesville
Tickets: $40 per person with 40% of proceeds going directly to Renee and her family.
Trummer’s has also agreed to donate 10% of the profits from their cafe that evening toward this fundraiser.
Purchase tickets at the BMS Front Desk during the month of April! The BMS community, friends and family are all invited. Dads – treat the hard-working Mom in your life to a night away! Mom’s – gather your friends, fellow mom’s or your own mom and come celebrate one another. Let’s lift up this courageous Mom and show her our support!
While we hope you are able to join us for this special event, in the event you cannot, please consider donating to Renee through a Go-Fund-Me Page we have created on her behalf.
Re-enrollment time!
We value returning students, as they form an experienced base for our classes, serving as “leaders” and role models to the new students who will join us in the fall. In addition, our returning families contribute to our growing community at BMS.
We will complete our process of re-enrollment and sibling enrollment from our current Bristow Montessori School family members before opening enrollment to new members of the school community. To facilitate the re-enrollment process we have provided all current BMS families with re-enrollment packets.
Please let us know by April 15, 2014 of your decision to re-enroll by returning your contract and deposit. If you would like assistance with any re-enrollment forms, please contact us at 703-468-1191 or email us at info@bristowmontessori.com. We look forward to continuing and growing our relationships with each and every one of you and your children!
Parent volunteers
Twisted Cork Lunch Option
New BMS Website!
Downloading forms, requesting information and updated information are all within a click away. Please give us your feedback. We want to hear from you and how we can keep improving!
New Website!
Events Calendar
Elementary Program launches this Fall!
Program Schedules
Box Tops for Education
Tuition is due by the first of each month.
BMS Community Businesses
We are proud to showcase any of our BMS Community companies and hope that we can all benefit from buying and supporting local business! We will gladly pass on your recommendations. Thanks for all your support!
Long and Foster Realtor
Dog Boarding and Training
The Philly Tavern
Contact Us
Website: www.bristowmontessori.com
Location: 9050 Devlin Road, Bristow, VA, United States
Phone: 703-468-1191
Facebook: FaceBook.com/BristowMontessoriSchool