The year is drawing to an end and some of the most fun community events are just around the corner.
Mark your calendars:
Friday May 18th @5:30 Art Show.
Friday June 8th @5:30 Toddler Prom
This month during work cycle, the children will continue working on our contributions to the art show. As a class, we create a piece to be auctioned off to the highest bidder and then we invite each child to create his/her own info in a piece of art to be displayed and taken home that evening. This year, we decided to create individual POP art pieces using black and white images of the children and metallic paint pens. For our group pieces we painted slices of wood and created two different pieces for auction, a four piece simple display and then a door wreath with sewn burlap.
We take our time to create these pieces because we do not want to rush the children and we want to be able to offer our tentative friends the opportunity to complete the work- if they choose. We want to express that we choose projects that all children will be able to participate in. We offer invitations to participate but we do not force a child who is uninterested in the project to complete the work. We may offer many opportunities to choose the work, but if they choose to not participate – that is OK. Art is something we want them to choose on their own – to express themselves and to love. We want the art created to completely represent who they are right now and it they are not wanting to create art, that simply shows who they are right now without any intervention from any adult.
“Art is a place for children to learn how to trust their ideas, themselves, and to explore what is possible.”- Maryann Kohl
Now what is Toddler Prom, you may ask? Only the BEST time ever! The toddler community arrives at school in their favorite interpretation of what a prom outift should look like… fancy, silly, comfortable, casual, or all out. Each family is invited to pack a picnic dinner, drinks, and a blanket. Invite extended family to join you, pair up with other toddler families to bring tasty food, but make sure you are prepared to jam out to classic booty shaking music (anything that inspires a toddler to shake shake shake). The Toddler Teaching Crew provides the decorations and music and you bring the fun…. and a CAMERA of course because this is classic! It is a great way to spend the last night of school, together, remembering all the fun we had and looking forward to growing together wherever Montessori may take you.
“Forget dancing like nobody is watching. Dance like a toddler. They don’t even care if there is music.”
Remember to check your volunteer hours for the year. By the end of the year, each family must complete 10 work pay volunteer hours (valued at $25 an hour) and two fundraising hours (valued at $100 an hour). We have some final projects that we could help with so if you are interested, just ask.
The Art show set up and clean up is also a Toddler Family/Community responsibility, so we are looking for people to help with this event, which includes helping to hang the art between 3:00-5:00 the day of the art show, setting up a beverage table, and sprucing up campus. At the end of the night, please help us to collect all unclaimed art and clean up so it doesn’t look like an event had taken place. Volunteering will count towards your hours.
