The 6th and 7th graders visit and tour Grand Central Station in New York during their trip to the Montessori United Nations.
6th & 7th Graders enjoy Grand Central Park in New York
The 6th and 7th graders are enjoying their trip to the Montessori United Nations in New York. During this trip they had the opportunity to visit and enjoy Grand Central Park.
6th & 7th Graders visit Ground Zero in New York
The 6th and 7th graders are enjoying their trip to the Montessori United Nations in New York. During this trip they had the opportunity to visit Ground Zero.
Alicia’s (Span. C.H) April Newsletter
Dear Parents
We hope you had a great Easter Break. We are getting ready for our Annual Carnival this Friday, April 20th. We are expecting a fun day!!!
Our garden looks beautiful, full of flowers and herbs.
You and your children did a great job.
Special thanks to Chimene Mark and Susana Escobar for taking the time and buying everything needed for our planting day.
Observations are scheduled to begin April 30th. You will have the opportunity to see and experience how hard your children work in the environment.
“When dealing with children there is greater need for observing than
of probing.”
Maria Montessori
Here are some suggestions that will help your child practice activities with purpose at home.
- Folding laundry
- Washing dishes
- Pick up and clean their plate
- Place the placemats on the table
- Watering the plants
“The essence of independence is to be able to do something for one’s self.”
Maria Montessori
Greetings
Alicia & Carmen
Gaby’s (Span. C.H.) April Newsletter
Dear Parents,
I would like to share with you some of the experiences that we had in our class this last period. We went to Margarita’s studio to work with clay, the children enjoy this moment. A wonderful cosmic education when they learn that the clay is “a gift from the mountains” and that the color depends from the place (geography) that we found it. A lot of new words, knowledge and a sensorial experience give us joyful expressions like:
“The clay is cold”
“Smells like “tierra”
“It’s moist”
“It’s sticky”
“The wind dries the clay”
And finally “what amazing things we can do with our hands”.
Another week a wood pecker came to the tree in front of our classroom, and the children went out quietly to observe and listen to it. The spring season is a great opportunity to discover all the wonderful things that nature gives us. We are talking to the children about how the seeds grow, the plants bloom and the spider’s web and the different insects we will be seeing.
“If for the physical life it is necessary to have the child exposed to the vivifying forces of nature, it is also necessary for his physical life to place the soul of the child in contact with creation, in order that he may lay up for himself treasure from the directly educating forces of living nature. The method for arriving to this end is to set the child at agricultural labor guiding him to the cultivation of plants and animal and so the intelligent contemplation of nature” M. Montessori.
I would like to thank you for sharing the beautiful flowers, plants and pots for during our planting day. Everything looks great and the kids love it! I also thank everyone who donated and volunteered in make our social Friday a great success. All the goodies donated were a great hit during our sale!
April 20th is our annual School Carnival. The children have been rehearing a song and they look forward to presenting to all who attend. Please make plans to attend this great family event. All parents, family and friends are invited.
Sincerely, Gaby and Rosy
Mayra’s (Eng. C.H.) April Newsletter
The dusty winds of March have come and gone and so has another exciting and wonderful month. Maybe it is the wind that makes it seem as if this year is just flying by or all of the wonderful events we had in March. But enough about March, let me tell you what we got planned for April. We are so thrilled about all of the upcoming events we have planned for this month that we just know this month will probably fly by as fast as March did.
The first item on the agenda for this wonderful spring month is Planting Day on April 5th. This spring theme activity is designed to have families get together and enjoy a fabulous day in our gardens. All of the kids are excited when they think of all of the activities we have planned for that special day.
Right after our Easter Break we have a very special day that will leave a lasting memory for all of the families of Mt. West Montessori. Picture Day will be April 10th and I just know that everyone will look wonderful for that special event!
Next on our agenda will be two fun filled Friday’s that I’m sure everyone is looking forward too. The first will be Social Friday April 13. Our snack sale we will be prepared by our Room Mother Mrs. Quevedo along with several volunteer parents. During the snack sale they will be selling an assortment of snacks and other treats. All proceeds will be used in decorating our beautiful classroom, the bathrooms, and our garden.
The Friday following this event we will be having our Annual Carnival on April 20th. The children from the English Children’s House have chosen to perform to the song “You Are My SunShine” for all of the parents. We are asking parents that all children where jeans and a white t-shirt on this day.
Last but certainly not least, we have our second observation coming up this April 30th. The students of English Children’s House have been working very hard and they want you to see for yourselves what great progress is being made. They have been busy practicing and learning new presentations and materials. I will let you guys know ahead of time so you can set aside the time that best suits your schedule.
We hope that with these upcoming observations you can get a glimpse of what life is like in our Montessori classroom and what your child’s day is like.
Like I mentioned at the very beginning of this newsletter we are very excited about all of these events and we hope to see everyone their. On behalf of Lupita and I, we would like to thank everyone for their support.
Sincerely, Mayra and LupitaLike us on FACEBOOK
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Sonnie McFarland
Dear Parents:
We want to thank you for attending the Sonnie McFarland conference “Montessori Parenting”! We had around 175 attendees altogether, making it a very successful and fulfilling conference. We hope that you took from the conference many new concepts and that you can apply at least one! We would love to hear from you on her presentation.
We had a wonderful workshop along many Montessori schools that joined us on Thursday for the “Honoring the Light of the Child” workshop, around 50 staff, parents and Directors took part. Sonnie revitalized the peace education work that Dr. Maria Montessori promotes through her pedagogy, and created concrete ways in which to introduce the child to wonderful concepts. “How is your love light today?” Your child might ask you. Perhaps they will tell you that their love light is bright or dim. So what does this mean? Your love light is right in the middle of your chest, and it shines when you feel love and are happy and it dims when you are sad or angry. The language around the concepts are beautiful, we hope you can hear them and use them as well. We learned so many wonderful concrete materials that help us show the child the many ways to understand the source of our feelings, to be empathic and know how we are feeling. We are so looking forward to the work we will begin with the children in helping them understand themselves, their spirit and their conscious love for one another. We are preparing the materials and will begin our work with the children. So keep an ear out for words like Love Light, Positive mind and Negative mind,etc.
We are grateful for Sonnie’s visit to El Paso and thank her for teaching us many concepts that we can take with us and put to practice at home and in the school environments.
Best regards, Natalia Bennett Head of SchoolElementary students enjoy a fun past time while they wait to be picked up!
Natalia’s February Newsletter
Dearest Parents:
Welcome to the second semester at Mt. West Montessori. During the second semester and more evidently starting on February at Mt. West Montessori, children appear to be very industrious and interested! Their adaptation period has passed; they have become accustomed to the work and enjoy their environment! During this time of the year the children’s energy is more condensed towards academics, they enjoy their work, their levels of concentration are strong and they work very hard. This is a pre-welcome to Spring, a beautiful time here on the school property, as the children live the transformation of the sleeping plants and trees to the live and colorful beauty they bring.
The timing also brings a great opportunity for our staff to refresh our work with Montessori. It is important for us participate in continuing education to recharge and reconnect so as a school we are traveling to Dallas for the AMI conference, “Montessori: Engaging the Human personality”. We are looking forward to the messages the conference offers. There will be some changes on our schedule, please be aware! We thank you in advance for your support and patience. We will be there during the weekend of the 17th of February until the 20th. School will be closed on Monday and open on Friday for the children. So children will have Presidents Day OFF!
BIG CONFERENCE! We’ve been planning this conference for quite some time! Sonnie McFarland’s visit to El Paso is going to create a wonderful opportunity for parents, schools and staff! Her “Montessori Parenting” Conference (Wednesday, February 22nd 6-8 pm and Day Workshop February 23rd 8-4 pm are going to be fabulous! Please make plans to attend both if possible. We are opening the events to other schools, and are giving our parents the opportunity to purchase tickets in advance. We hope that we have a wonderful presence from our parents! It is for you that we bring speakers like Sonnie! Don’t miss it.
Montessori Model United Nations (MMUN): This is our first year experiencing the preparation to the MMUN and it is absolutely exciting to see the children involved, speaking so openly and thoroughly about their current and international topics! Mostly to have them so interested in the world and current events. Some of the topics that the students are preparing to debate are “Demobilization of child soldiers”, “trade improvements” on behalf of Ukraine’s point of view as the delegates of The CCR Committee.
Monica Gomez’s place in our school has been a special one. She is now moving on to a new life in Dallas and we are sad to see her go, but at the same time so happy for the new opportunities and dreams this move brings to her and the school. We are going to miss her dearly not only as a wonderful Montessori Guide but as a sweet, loving, full of smiles friend we all had in her. Mayra will continue what Monica so beautifully began with the students and parents in her environment. Thank you all for your love and care in this transition. Monica will be missed.
Social Fridays have become a fun and wonderful way to re connect with friends and families. I hope you are enjoying them and I hope you continue to come. This next Friday, February 10th the adolescent program will continue to present their carpentry work in support of the MMUN trip to New York coming up in April, and the Infant community program will have some sweets to sell for Valentines! The room mothers are organizing some sweet surprises during each of the following Social Fridays so send your child with $1 or $2 in change if possible to purchase from them! Fun fun….
Parent Meetings: We had a wonderful turnout on the Level Introduction meetings, thank you to all the moms who participated in the roundtable meetings. Your voice is important and very helpful for all the parents to hear!
Registrations for next school year: It is time again for parents to reconsider their commitment to the Montessori education for their children. I see this as an opportunity to redefine and reinforce the reasons why we believe the philosophy is the best! I urge you to take the time to visit with your child’s guide if you have concerns or questions for the next years, also to observe a classroom of the next level if your child is moving up. The Montessori program is well established, the concepts are easy to grasp if you attend the informational meetings and listen to the concepts and the parents talk about their thoughts. I hope that if you have any concerns and doubts you come to us, so we can help you clarify. We understand the choosing a school for your children is a very important decision. We want to aid you in anyway we can.
New families: We welcome all new families that enrolled this spring semester. Please feel free to speak to us if you have any questions or concerns; email, call or come into the office. Welcome to our Montessori environment.
Best regards, Natalia Bennett Head of School