Ellis Supplies on Wheels

Charles Ellis Montessori Academy Erdkinder students in the CTAE (Career Technical Agricultural Education) program are staffing Ellis Supplies on Wheels cart. They will be coming by our classroom at a designated time and selling the items listed. 

Ellis Supplies on Wheels by jazmin on Scribd

Wish List 2016/2017

Here is a link to my Montessori materials wish list at Alison's Montessori. I have found that in the past, parents want to know how they can help or contribute, but they can't contribute their time, so this is an avenue to be able to help where it is needed. I will be adding items as I see the need, but this is the wish list for now. Of course, there is always Donors Choose projects, but I try to keep those to one or two per year, depending on match offers etc.

Thank you for all that you do!
Alison's Montessori Wish List

Here is the Amazon wish list: Amazon Wish List

Homework?

I took an excerpt from this link Montessori Homework that perfectly describes homework in the Montessori environment:

Children in Montessori classrooms are granted many freedoms. They have the freedom to move about the classroom with purpose, to speak with each other, to choose their work, and to choose with whom they work. Lessons are given to the child, suggestions are made. The child has the responsibility to be working and to meet the expectations of society. Such expectations include the ability to read, write and do math. The teacher guides the child through observing his interests, preparing the environment, and following the Montessori curriculum in each subject area.

In addition to following the Montessori curriculum, emphasis is placed on practicing the interpersonal skills of compassion and respectful communication. Every minute of their school day students are exposed to lessons of grace and courtesy, and conflict resolution. Children 15 months “young” learn to use their words, rather than action. The students in the Primary classes discuss issues as they occur and make suggestions of how they could have resolved them better. Once the children are in the Elementary and Adolescent programs they have learned how to navigate many sticky situations that arise inside and outside of the classrooms, and they have learned to show kindness and respect to each other. The adults in a Montessori setting strive to set the example by being positive role models.

What does all this have to do with homework? Montessori Schools do not typically assign daily homework. Dr. Montessori believed that if we do not dictate the work of the child in class, then it does not make sense to dictate the work they choose at home. Therefore, traditional homework is kept to a minimum. Montessorians feel that children spend all day in the classroom learning and need their afternoons and evenings to pursue their personal interests, interact with their families and relax.

Parents know that we encourage activities which constructively direct a child’s pursuits during home hours, while nurturing their interests and building family bonds. A fundamental truth permeates Montessori’s work: children are desperate to learn. In a Montessori class, children are motivated to discover why and how things work. Therefore, homework, in a Montessori sense, is work that the child does at home, as an extension of his or her educational exploration.

Many activities may constitute homework, including household chores. Responsibilities at home help the child develop language skills and cultural awareness. Making math a real part of the home environment (pairing socks and counting by twos; dividing a pizza into equal pieces; shopping and making change) and giving the child a voice in family decisions are important to the child’s perception of math concepts and economic geography. Reading with and to your children every day will result in quality family time and confidence building.

The quality of education has become a charged topic of late, with several recent films and documentaries addressing the educational system. The question remains: Will more homework raise academic achievement and test scores? Much has been said about overly programmed after-school schedules; too much homework that steals family time; and an approach to learning that emphasizes memorization and test scores over real understanding and critical thinking. Let’s consider spending quality time with our children, inspiring their natural curiosity and love for learning.

Having said that I am happy to provide your child with additional work that they can do at home if you see fit. Also, I have sent logins to Moby Max for most students. Moby Max is great site that tests your child and places them right where they need to be. They will also be accessing Moby Max weekly in the classroom as well. 

Newsletter Week of August 22, 2016

Ms. Jazmin & Ms. Marion

Week of August 22, 2016

A Note from Ms. Jazmin:
The "green" smoothies were a hit! I think only two students didn't care for the Berry Blast they made. The smoothie included spinach, kale, coconut milk, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, chia seeds, and dried goji berries. They exclaimed how much they liked them! Thank you to all that donated to make this a success. They are already talking about next month's flavors! Next month we will be making green smoothies Friday September 23, 2016, as I will be observing out of the state, along with my Montessori training cohort, at certified public Montessori schools, the last Thursday and Friday of September. 

Unfortunately, we have not chosen Science research topics as of yet. I am waiting for normalization in the class before I add the responsibility of research. We're working hard to get them normalized! I am adding more and more lessons every day and the students are really beginning to get into the swing of things. Perhaps next week is the week for the Science research topics.. 
Next week I will present another Montessori lesson related to the Coming of the Universe/God with No Hands great Lesson called the Cosmic Story. This lessons is also beautiful and comes with a timeline! I hope you have found the time to begin discussing their own personal timelines at home as this is an important step in understanding that time follows a linear progression.

    

This past Friday all field trip money and forms for the year were due! Thank you to all that have turned yours in! We are only missing a couple of students' forms and money.

We are continuing our initial assessments in SRI(Scholastic Reading Inventory), MAP(Measure of Academic Progress-in math), and DIBELS(first year students). This year students will be taking the assessments three times: fall, winter, spring. This first go around gives a sort of baseline to go off of, but remember that in most cases there is summer backslide, so please do not be shocked, especially with SRI, as it is the first time second year students are seeing this type of assessment, if I call you in for a quick conference to share the results with you, as we are just making sure that you are aware of the results of the fall testing, and also the gateway benchmarks for end of year. If your child scored far below end of year benchmarks I will request a meeting with you early September. If your child scored near, at, or above, the benchmark for the end of the school year we will discuss scores at regular parent/teacher conferences mid October.     

We are continuing our study of North America that we began last year, and we will transition into South America mid year. We have received many postcards from throughout North America, but we are still missing some locations! We would love post cards from Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, San Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Virgin Islands, and Greenland. We are also missing several of the mid western states. We have not received post cards for the states that do not have pins.

Feel free to share details on social media as well! This activity really helps bring the children into the research. 

Charles Ellis Montessori Academy 
Ms. Jazmin Room 20
220 E. 49th St.
Savannah, GA 31405



Wish List
Guinea Pig Supplies- food, Timothy hay, pine shavings or other bedding , and treats if you wish.  

Dates to Remember:
8/30         Parent Education-Cosmic and Cultural Education in the Lower                             Elementary(1-3) Classroom-5:30 Media Center
8/30         PTA 6:30 Multipurpose Room- Lower Elementary will also be                               performing/singing!
8/31         Maria Montessori's Birthday!

9/5           School Holiday- Labor Day
9/21         International Peace Day-Sing Along
9/22         Fall Equinox
9/30         Dress Down Day $1- Lymphoma (Proceeds to benefit Wyatt Rath)
                Here is the link to his story and GoFundMe page:Wyatt's GoFundMe page 

10/18       Parent Education 5:30 PTA 6:30
10/24-28  Great Pumpkin Book Characters (Media Center)
10/28       Dress Down Day $1-Ellis Athletics Program
10/31       Halloween 

Upcoming Healthy and Nutrient Dense snack weeks for 25 students: We do have a low level peanut allergy in the classroom, so we prefer peanut free snacks so that the student may also participate in snack with the class. 

Some suggestions for snack are: precut fruit (apples, grapes, bananas cut in half, oranges, etc.), precut vegetables with hummus for dipping, cheese and crackers, granola bars or chewies, trail mix, applesauce, hummus and crackers, yogurt or Gogurt, graham crackers…  The purpose of snack is to provide a nutritious energy booster when the students need it.  Please keep in mind the nutritional value when choosing a snack. 

          

8/29    ALEX
9/5      JOHNNY
9/12    FRANCIS
9/19    ETHAN
9/26    OLIVIA

Cultural and Cosmic Focus

Where I Live-Cosmic Nesting Box
Georgia-Geography and Historic Figures

North America
Democratic Process-Government/Voting etc. 
Montessori Great Lesson: The Coming of the Universe and subsequent exploration of Earth's materials (soils, minerals, rocks, etc), planet research...

Nature of Science - Donors Choose Project

Hello Families!

I want to make sure our students have the materials they need to succeed, so I've created a classroom project request through DonorsChoose.org, an award-winning charity.

Donations of any size will help our kids. Right now, any contribution you make to my project will be doubled by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Your donation will brighten our students' school year, and you'll get heartfelt thank yous from my class and photos of your gift in action. This is not the Tom's of Maine match I was expecting but it's a match offer, and it's a wonderful opportunity!

Here's my classroom request:

Nature of Science

To have your donation matched dollar for dollar, just make a contribution on that project page - donations will be doubled automatically, but only while funding lasts. I also suggest turning off the suggested donation to Donors Choose when you make your donation, because that adds $273.29 to our project total. 

If you know anyone who is passionate about education, please pass this along. My students and I greatly appreciate your support. Family members such as grandparents and aunts and uncles love to help as well!

Thank you,

Ms. Jazmin

Peaceful Community Art

Would anybody be interested in coming in and working with the students in small groups to create something like this? It could be several volunteers over several scheduled days.

Here is the link for the only information/instructions I found: Peaceful Community. It seems pretty self explanatory, and of course we would make it our own.
This quote by Maria Montessori for the center seems fitting: "Peace is what every human being is craving for, and it can be brought about by humanity through the child."

Please email me if you are interested!

Newsletter Week of August 15

Ms. Jazmin & Ms. Marion

Week of August 15, 2016

A Note from Ms. Jazmin:
This week was a busy one with language, reading, word study, arithmetic, penmanship lessons as well as the first Great Lesson; the Coming of the Universe also known as God with No Hands. The first Great Lesson is a story of how the earth was created and serves as a spring board into deeper study of matter, rocks, minerals, land forms, weather, magnetism, heat, energy, the universe/space, etc. It is a beautiful lesson and one of my favorite Great Lessons. This link may provide more incite:The Great Lessons   

Next week we will continue with language, reading, word study, arithmetic, and penmanship lessons and add on geometry and paragraph writing. Science research topics will be selected Monday, and due dates will be given to each child/group. I generally give two to three weeks of time to complete research and presentations, as the research projects are to be completed in class as well as at home if need be. This first time I will extend due dates to four or five weeks as students, especially new to the class, will need time to acclimate and learn how to balance their time. The week after next a Social Studies topics will be chosen as well. 

We will be making our green smoothies Friday!! Please read this entry Classroom Cooking. The students are very excited for this as am I! A few parents have mentioned that they will bring in the items needed, thank you! If we get more than we need this time, we will save the ingredients for next month. We could also used some canned organic coconut milk.

I have a brand new Donors Choose project in the works. I am waiting for the approval and then a Tom's of Maine match offer that may take up to two weeks to receive. Hopefully we will receive the offer and that will cut the project cost in half, once that happens I will share the project with our families. I can tell you that the new materials we received from last year's projects are being LOVED by students. When I hear multiple students exclaim, "This looks like fun!" during a lesson, my heart sings!

This Friday all field trip money and forms for the year are due! Thank you to all that have turned yours in!

We are continuing our initial assessments in SRI(Scholastic Reading Inventory), MAP(Measure of Academic Progress-in math), and DIBELS(first year students). This year students will be taking the assessments three times: fall, winter, spring. This first go around gives a sort of baseline to go off of, but remember that in most cases there is summer backslide, so please do not be shocked, especially with SRI, as it is the first time second year students are seeing this type of assessment, if I call you in for a quick conference to share the results with you, as we are just making sure that you are aware of the results of the fall testing, and also the gateway benchmarks for end of year. If your child scored far below end of year benchmarks I will request a meeting with you early September. If your child scored near, at, or above, the benchmark for the end of the school year we will discuss scores at regular parent/teacher conferences mid October.     

We are continuing our study of North America that we began last year, and we will transition into South America mid year. We have received many postcards from throughout North America, but we are still missing some locations! We would love post cards from Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, San Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Virgin Islands, and Greenland. We are also missing several of the mid western states. We have not received post cards for the states that do not have pins.

Feel free to share details on social media as well! This activity really helps bring the children into the research. 

Charles Ellis Montessori Academy 
Ms. Jazmin Room 20
220 E. 49th St.
Savannah, GA 31405



Wish List
Construction Paper- all colors welcome

Dates to Remember:
8/26         Green Smoothie Day!
8/26         Fall Picture Day-Free Dress Up Day!
8/30         Parent Education-Cosmic and Cultural Education in the Lower                             Elementary(1-3) Classroom-5:30 Media Center
8/30         PTA 6:30 Multipurpose Room- Lower Elementary will also be                             performing/singing!
8/31         Maria Montessori's Birthday!

9/5           School Holiday- Labor Day
9/21         International Peace Day-Sing Along
9/22         Fall Equinox
9/30         Dress Down Day $1- Lymphoma (Proceeds to benefit Wyatt Rath)
                Here is the link to his story and GoFundMe page:Wyatt's GoFundMe page 

10/18       Parent Education 5:30 PTA 6:30
10/24-28  Great Pumpkin Book Characters (Media Center)
10/28       Dress Down Day $1-Ellis Athletics Program
10/31       Halloween 

Upcoming Healthy and Nutrient Dense snack weeks for 25 students: We do have a low level peanut allergy in the classroom, so we prefer peanut free snacks so that the student may also participate in snack with the class. 

Some suggestions for snack are: precut fruit (apples, grapes, bananas cut in half, oranges, etc.), precut vegetables with hummus for dipping, cheese and crackers, granola bars or chewies, trail mix, applesauce, hummus and crackers, yogurt or Gogurt, graham crackers…  The purpose of snack is to provide a nutritious energy booster when the students need it.  Please keep in mind the nutritional value when choosing a snack. 

          

8/22    GIANCARLO
8/29    ALEX
9/5      JOHNNY   

Cultural and Cosmic Focus

Where I Live
Georgia

North America
Democratic Process-Government/Voting etc. 
Montessori Great Lesson: The Coming of the Universe and subsequent exploration of Earth's materials (soils, minerals, rocks, etc), planet research...