Children's House News

February 25, 2011

It is a busy time at HMS! Re-enrollment, middle school launch, new building to plan………….all very exciting! March 15 will bring our next parent education, one for each level: Children’s House, Elementary and Middle School. We will be inviting prospective families to this event along with the greater community for the Middle School. If you know of anyone interested, pass the word!

A few announcements: We have lots of lovely winter wear with no owners. PLEASE label any clothing that comes to school (including extra clothes, we have many pairs of underwear that have gotten out of their bags!). In the meantime if you could take stock of your winter wear and notice if anything is missing. We have a lost and found for families to go through. Also, all day families, please remember to send with your child a placemat and napkin each day. It really helps setup go more smoothly and creates a lovelier lunch. Parents are welcome to join us occasionally for lunch. A day or two notice is helpful so that we only have one family visiting at a time for space reasons.

Have you heard about a purple ellipse on our floor? It is for an exercise called walking on the line. This is a control of movement exercise that uses the big ellipse on our floor. This lesson involves learning how to walk carefully on the line working on balance and control of movement. There are many exercises for it: walking to various rhythm beats, walking heel to toe, walking to slow, and steady music. It then progresses to different musical beats (including marching, skipping, galloping and running), and to carefully carrying and balancing objects while walking. The children remove their slippers and socks in order to feel the line beneath their feet so that their head may be held high. This work can be done by individual children during the work period as well. We can learn so much about the children by observing how they move on the line and how their gross motor skills are developing.

We are excited to welcome to our community baby Jenni, sister of Mindi Hu, who was born last week. Congratulations to her parents!

Enjoy the winter break!

February 4, 2011

It feels like the beginning of the week as I write this! I hope everyone had lots of fun in the snow this week despite the inconvenience.

We have explained quite a bit this year about Going Out trips and their significance to the elementary students. While Going Out trips are extremely important, traditional field trips (planned by adults rather than students) can still be enjoyed by the whole group! Even with the span of ages we have in the elementary we have found several experiences that can interest all.

A lot of the work in the elementary stems from the Fundamental Needs of Human Beings presentations. This is a chart that shows certain elements of living that are necessary for survival both long ago and still today. The needs are broken down into physical needs and spiritual needs. The physical needs are those that are more essential to staying alive (nourishment, clothing, defense, housing, transportation) and then there are needs that help keep us happy and enriched. The spiritual needs became more developed when humans had to spend less time meeting their physical needs and as a result had more time to experiment with tools, materials, colors, thoughts, rhythms, tunes, and collaborate.

One of our physical needs is for clothing. The American Textile in Lowell can enrich our understanding of fibers, one of the main ways that human beings have met this need throughout history and still today. The younger group will explore how fleece off of a sheep is transformed into yarn and fabric and the Upper Elementary students will explore the history of fabric as it was used in America over time.

Music is a spiritual need that can be very powerful. We know that long ago people were making instruments, and music today has the power to fill us with emotion and form connections with other cultures who also enjoy music. Our trip to the Boston Symphony Orchestra will allow the students to see and hear some of the instruments, sounds, and rhythms that they have been exploring in school as well as to have the experience of hearing the music of famous composers.

We are fortunate to be in an area where there are so many opportunities. Later this year we hope to visit an art museum to explore techniques, styles, or artistic periods.

In addition to the field trips the older students continue to work on their Montessori Model United Nations work. The committees are now working on writing position papers from the point of view of Somalia. The topics include: malnutrition, terrorism, conflict minerals, hazardous waste, and solutions for poor farming. In addition to their work on the topics they also continue to fund-raise. Most recently they have hand-written letters to companies, firms, and businesses to request donations. They have raised about half of what their trip will cost.

Enjoy the weekend!