September Community Helpers
This month we learned about typical community helpers, such as doctors, firemen and police women, just to name a few. We discussed how a community is formed, including the role each person plays as a contributing member. We also spent some time talking about the peace rose as a tool for solving disagreements.
Dr. Montessori observed how being peaceful influences our abilities to feel at ease, to concentrate, and to consider the needs of others. In 1948 she commented, “Peace is what every human being is craving for, and it can be brought about by humanity through the child.” Our students embraced their roles of being peacemakers in our classroom and began to experience the positive results of this teaching.
We also discussed how taking on the role of leadership fosters the growth and development of both the leader and the person being helped or nurtured. Practicing these communication skills helped the children understand the responsibility and importance of being in a community, and learning how to take care of themselves and each other.
A heartwarming moment came this month when one of our youngest friends decided to challenge herself to work with the step board. To the sheer delight of our kindergartners who were watching in the wings, they cheered her on (in the quietest possible way). When she completed and cleaned up her work, our “cheerleaders” were asked how they were feeling right now. “Happy, excited, and warm inside,” they replied. These same feelings are shared by teachers when we watch our students work diligently, and especially when students receive new lessons and then work independently with the materials.
Reminders:
October brings two all-school events to campus. First, the PTO Fall Festival on Friday, 10/18 and then World History Day on Thursday, 10/24. On World History Day, each classroom is transformed to represent a particular epoch of history and students get to “travel” to different classrooms sampling activities, food, and art activities reflective of that time period.
We will also host our first of three parent/child nights on Thursday, 10/10 where parents are invited to the classroom and shown a sampling of favorite works by their child. We invite families with last names starting with A-M to visit the classroom from 4:30-5:15, and families with last names starting with N-Z to visit the classroom from 5:15-6:00. Please let us know if you have a scheduling conflict and prefer the other time.
