HISTORY

Parent Teacher Conferences
Conferences will be held the week of November 5-9. Conferences will be held at half hour intervals. If the time assigned to you is not convenient please call the school and arrange for another appointment. We are hopeful that both parents can attend. At this time you will have an opportunity to see your child’s work and discuss his progress and other points of interest.

American Education Week
Week of November 11-17 is American Education Week. Parents who wish to observe their children in class may do so Tuesday, Nov. 13th, Wednesday, Nov. 14th, or Thursdays, Nov. 15th. Please sign up for the day you wish to observe during Parent Teacher conference. There will no school on Nov. 12th ( Veteran’s Day ) or Nov. 16th ( Teacher’s conference ). We hope to report on the conference in our next newsletter. Miss Lena Wickramaratne, principal of Montessori Training Center, Ceylon, will lecture on the Montessori method at this conference.

Testing Program
Parents who wish to avail themselves of the testing program may make appointments during the month of November.

Montessori Materials
The greater part of our morning is spent working with the Montessori materials. Since each child is free to choose his work it is impossible to give a general account of progress in this area. Therefore, individual reports on each child will be given to parents during conferences.

Morning Circle
Many children have brought in delightful books and records for all to enjoy and we want to thank them. Any hobby, collection, or object of interest to your child which he would like to bring in to school and share with the other children is to be encouraged. Please try to have your child’s name on anything he brings in to facilitate ownership. Our circle time continues to be a gay and chatty time. The children are real song birds, even to the point of singing “ Frere Jacques “ in two parts ! We have watched the days of October hurry by – many were sunny, a few cloudy and rainy, and even one snowy day. The purpose of the calendar is to strengthen the concept of day, week, and month.

Science and Health
Mrs. Abelli’s science and health program has captivated teachers as well as children. Thus far she has presented “proper foods”, “the five senses”, “bones”, and “muscles”. Her “magic” basket creates great excitement because with each lesson something new and interesting comes out of it. Mrs. Borgman, Billy’s mother, sent in a petrie dish in which cultured bacteria was growing. Since the bacteria had come from little hands that were “clean” it taught a wonderful lesson to all the children of the need for washing hands carefully before eating. With a microscope the children were able to see dirt very clearly. These exhibits were great assets to our science and personal care lessons. We also found it interesting to see and feel the material used in making Echo, the weather satellite.

Visitors
Mrs. Qudsia Rowe from Assam, India spent one morning visiting with us. She is a Montessori teacher who is now teaching at the Sophia Montessori school in California. She was kind enough to present a few lessons to the class. The children were delighted with her lovely sari and found it interesting to see how someone from India dresses. We have also had a visit from two teachers from Medway. Since many people are interested in our school, we will continue having visitors throughout the year. We think our observation area will prove satisfactory for most people. A reporter from the Worcester Telegram came to photograph the children and we expect to see a picture and article sometime soon.

Nature
We have read many books on nature and we have had two rewarding nature walks. The children found many different kinds of leaves and plants. They also found worms, ants, a sow bug, and we finally found a lady bug right in our school room !

Art Program
All the children enjoy this experience very much and their efforts have produced colorful and interesting results. They have painted, made collages, and worked with potter’s clay. As the year goes by they will have an opportunity to work with other media.

They enjoy dancing to the music of Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Wagner, etc. Sometimes just our hands dance, then our arms, heads, and sometimes all of us !

Snack Time Treats
It is indeed a happy time here when a birthday rolls around. Thanks are extended to Mrs. Fogel for our treat on Linda’s birthday and to Kathy Larabee for her contribution to our Halloween party. We also enjoyed the jello we made at school. If any parent wishes to send cupcakes for a birthday treat, we have twenty three children in school.

Odds And Ends
Does your child have a library card ? This is National Book Week, so perhaps you could plan to take your children to the library this week or in the near future. Interest in books provides motivation for reading development.

Humor: On the second day of school, a three year old tugged at my skirt and said “Hey,teach, what do I play with now ?” J.B.

Courage: After an accident involving broken glass, a four year old held up her slightly cut hand and without a tear said “Well, this is what happens to people !” H.S.