Greetings Banyan Families!
“Language and Culture are the frameworks through which humans experience, communicate, and understand reality.” – Lev Vygotsky
Our sincere thanks to all our parents for respectfully following your child at our “Follow the Child” event. It was a great opportunity for me to observe the students in the classroom quietly, I was excited, happy and amazed to observe these little minds. I took some notes to myself; extension ideas for the lessons, the lessons that need modifications, and refreshment of few activities. March was a busy and quick month for the Banyans. Also, we welcomed our new friend Giulianna to our classroom.
April is cultural curriculum month at our school. The Banyans chose to learn about the continent of South America for our cultural studies. We will learn about the countries, flags, culture, animals and rain forest of South America. We will continue our studies about the South America continent until the big day, Cultural Immersion day, on May 12th. We encourage you to share any books or knowledge about South America with the Banyans. Each student will study about an animal from South America; please help them build a biome at home. I will send an e-mail with more details soon.
April Events
April 4 – Transitioning Toddler Night @ 5:00pm – 6:00pm
April 5 – “Staying the Course” Primary and Elementary Parent Education Night @ 5:00pm – 6:30pm
April 17,19,21 – Early Dismissal – Parent Teacher Conferences
The topic of the Month:
The importance of the leadership year (age 5 years to 6 years) in the Montessori classroom:
Being a leader in a Montessori classroom is a magical time in a child’s life as he or she approaches the end of the first plane of development. All of the skills that have been mastered will provide the backbone for the mastery of others. The mixed age environment plays a key role in this year. Here, even the shyest child has the opportunity to lead. At this level, the child is well adapted to his/her environment; the classroom has become a second home to the child. In many ways, she is master of her domain and finds that she/he may operate in the room for an entire day without needing assistance from any of the adults in her/his environment. The Kindergarten year is also a time of academic achievement. Children possess the patience to stick with lessons that just a few months ago would have been impossible. Because they have had ample experience in choosing their work, they recognize the need for diversifying their efforts. They will become a Teacher to the younger students in the classroom. This magic of leadership would happen only by allowing the child being in the same environment for the entire plane of development.
Unit Study: South America
Sincerely,
Ms.Karthi and Ms.Marleny
