SWIMS April Newsletter
April
Mark Your Calendar!
1st…Mandatory Parent/Faculty Meeting 6:00am.
Just foolin’!
2nd…Happy Birthday, Carol!
4th…Happy Birthday, Ashton!
7th…Happy Birthday, Grace!
9th-10th…Spring Photos! Photographer Emma Li will be on campus to photograph all students individually and as a class:
Tuesday April 9th
El Nido Infant, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers and Tadpoles Toddler Classes
Siblings will be collected for photos at the time of the sitting for the youngest sibling on Tuesday. So an ec student who has a toddler sibling will be photographed both with their sibling on Tuesday and individually on Wednesday.
Wednesday April 10th
Bluebirds, Ladybugs & Turquoise EC classes, Wasatch Elementary, Evergreen Middle School and Bridgemont High School Classes
Siblings of students in ec and up will be assembled for sibling photos on Wednesday.
Photos are typically ready for purchase with 2 – 3 weeks.
12th…SWIMS Earth Day Celebration – No School!
All families are invited to come enjoy our Earth Day Celebration, “The Child in Nature.” Each class offers nature-themed activities for children of all ages to explore. 3rd year early childhood students will be presenting their capstone Ancestry Reports, Wasatch Elementary and Evergreen Middle School students will be presenting their Science Fair projects. And every class is preparing special activities for your family to enjoy. Bring your family to learn something new about the nature of our planet from your child.
Families A-M 9:30 – 10:30
Families N-Z 10:45 – 11:45
3rd year EC students, Wasatch and Evergreen students 9:00 – 11:45am.
Overflow parking at Matt Knoop Park to the south and along Shadow Mountain Drive.
Join us to celebrate our planet and her people!
April 13th…Happy Birthday Jillian!
15th – 19th…No School – Spring Break!
April 23rd…Happy Birthday, Agnes!
April 24th, 25th & 26th…Explore Your Child’s Potential for families of infants, toddlers and early childhood students. Invitations will go out soon with details.
April 25th…Happy Birthday, Amanda & Paulina!
April 27th…Happy Birthday, Laura!
May 7th…Family Day Celebrations! Details from teachers soon.
Happy Birthday, Bruce!
May 24th…Half Day
May 27th…No School – Memorial Day
May 31st…No School – Closing Ceremonies!
We are delighted to bring back the final missing piece from our pre-Covid era – in-person Closing Ceremonies! Join your child’s class for a simple, sweet closing to the year with special accolades to graduates (those who have completed their work at each level and are moving to the next class).
El Nido Infant Class, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers and Tadpoles toddler Classes 9:00 – 10:00am
Bluebird, Ladybug and Turquoise EC Classes, Wasatch Elementary, Evergreen Middle School and Bridgemont High School Classes 10:30 – 11:30am
Overflow parking at Matt Knoop Park to the south and along Shadow Mountain Drive.
June 3rd – 7th…Summer Break, No School
June 10th…Summer School starts!
School Bulletin Board
The snow is melting fast – between flurries! It has been a beautiful winter and we are excited to think that we may see grass, leaves and flowers again soon! Teachers are putting the final touches on our last few celebrations of the year – Earth Day, Family Day and Closing Ceremonies. We are happy to bring Closing Ceremonies back to the classroom for the first time since 2019. We loved honoring every single student and family with our drive-by ceremonies, but there is something extra special about having families into the classroom to honor the work our students have done. These ceremonies are simple and sweet. Please let your students’ teachers know how many of your family to expect on May 31st. See the calendar above for times for each class.
El Nido teacher Mandy Pratt and newborn Clementine are back in class and the two new infant classes are slowly taking shape. Our faculty keeps racking up the diplomas with Katie, Eden and Leith having recently completed credentials in Infant/Toddler, Elementary and Leadership. Paulina and Jillian are just getting started, Hollis, Richelle and Agnes closing in on the finish line, Leith just started a master’s degree and Leah, Emily and Duna are working hard on their doctorates. 63% of our teachers hold or are completing graduate degrees. And our teachers have held some very successful workshops for teachers, interns and assistants over the winter. Spring is a celebration of the progress we’ve made over the winter.
Educational research indicates that the rise in mental health concerns for our youth may be related to the decrease in unstructured play over the past 70 years. The invention of tv brought children indoors more and adults often feel that they must keep children indoors where they are safe. But children develop resilience and resourcefulness when they are solving their own problems, especially when this play experience involves attachment to nature. Dr. Peter Gray of Boston College suggests that neighbors arrange for children to go outside together with an adult present, for unstructured play at least once each week. As our parents used to tell us, go outside and play!
And, for your tax preparation enjoyment the SWIMS EIN# is 45-0949195.
Lower School
Infant & Toddler Impressions – News from the El Nido Infant Class, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers & Tadpoles Toddler Classes
April is the time to get started planting things for the greenhouses. We will take a look at birds, filling our feeders and watching for the return of our favorites. The red-tailed hawk family is back, as are the robins, red-winged blackbirds and geese. It won’t be long before we hear the sandhill cranes calling as they come back to make their nests in the wetlands. One of the many talents of a Montessori teacher is how they bring a study of zoology into the classroom at a level even the youngest infant can enjoy. The “key experience” is always observing the real animal, then feathers, puppets, models, pictures, nests, eggs and accompanying stories, songs and art projects.
The geography unit for April is Africa. This is a good month for a trip to the zoo to see the wildlife of Africa live and in person. For this unit teachers are preparing real artifacts from Africa like masks, baskets, carved animals, as well as books, songs, photos, snacks, and music.
Of course, the Great Work of the infant and toddler classes continues – dressing, toileting, washing hands, setting places, culinary skills, washing dishes, cleaning up the work space – all at the individual child’s pace. As soon as your child is walking, consider adding a small table and chair to your kitchen area along with some child-sized cooking implements like a small spreader for spreading peanut butter, cream cheese or butter on a piece of bread or toast. If you equip a cupboard at your child’s level with what they need to prepare a healthy snack, you will find that you may be able to sleep a little longer on the weekends! Go to www.montessoriservices.com or www.sprout-kids.com for ideas on how to help your child become more independent at home.
Remember to bring the family by on April 12th between 9:30 and 11:45am to explore “The Child in Nature.”
Excellence from Early Childhood – Every Day in the Bluebirds, Ladybugs & Turquoise Classes
April brings us back to the study of Tchaikovsky, Flowers, Africa, Birds and Shel Silverstein…
We can’t thank Michele Wiles enough for presenting The Best of Sleeping Beauty by her company, BalletNEXT, complete with orchestra, storyteller, full costumes and lighting. It was a beautiful afternoon at the ballet and it brought our Tchaikovsky unit to life! Endless thanks, Michele.
Students are working to replant the greenhouses since the water was cut off during construction. Maybe we’ll see some flowers before all the snow is gone from our garden beds! We will look at the parts of a flower, dissect a flower in class and read about The Reason for a Flower. This is good time to bring a bouquet home for the dining table and see how many you can name.
Africa is a big unit in geography because who doesn’t love the animals, the biomes, the music, the cultures and the artwork? If you have any artifacts to share, please send them to school.
We are currently without bird friends in school. If you have a bird who may enjoy at visit to Schoo, talk to any teacher.
Shel Silverstein is the poet for April. We dare you to read The Giving Tree without crying. It can’t be done. But follow it up with Jimmy Jet and His TV set, Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout or the Sharp-toothed Snail!
The past several weeks we have all been preparing for our Earth Day Celebration “The Child in Nature.” Each class has chosen an aspect of the Earth to learn about and prepare activities for your family. Early childhood classes have chosen water – lakes, rivers and oceans. Remember to bring the family by on April 12th between 9:30 and 11:45am so your child can give you a lesson!
Upper School
Updates from Upper School: News from the Wasatch Elementary, Evergreen Middle School & Bridgemont High School Classes
It seems as if every time you walk into the Upper School classes there is a flurry of math going on. Montessori Math is an incredible experience – the materials are beautiful and precisely crafted so you can see and feel the difference between quantities and operations. Every student has a choice each day – do I want to work on Language, Math, Geography, History, Science, the Arts or perhaps a project like working on the tree house or working on the class entrepreneurial project? The math materials have such allure they are often what is chosen. The Evergreen Middle School Class has carried their math skills into a practical life experience by working on financial planning. Their new Wild Pine Coffee Shop has students learning how to make a good cup of coffee in order to finance their upcoming field trip to Washington DC. Remember to stop in every Monday – Thursday at drop-off and pick-up for a hand-crafted cup of coffee and know you’ve helped send these students to the nation’s capital!
Dr. Montessori saw that as children proceed through each level of learning, while the teacher keeps in mind the main goal and directs the learning at each level, a foundation is laid – from manipulating geometric shapes as infants to calculating geometry and algebra effortlessly as middle schoolers. Every lesson is offered when the student is ready, not before and not after. When the student is ready for the next piece it locks solidly into place. By middle school these learners have laid a sturdy foundation including motor memory, vocabulary, and the sensory input of the finely crafted beds of glass and cubes of solid wood. The understanding of these concepts is in their soma, ready for use when needed.
