SWIMS October 2024 Newsletter
October
2…Back-to-School! Come by for a lesson with your student!
2:45 – 3:15pm Families with last names starting with N – Z
3:15 – 3:45pm Families with last names starting with A – M
Overflow parking at Matt Knoop Park.
8 & 9…School Photos!
Tuesday all infant and toddler students will be photographed including their older siblings – Ducklings, Owlets, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers and Tadpoles Classes.
Wednesday all early childhood, elementary and secondary students will be photographed including their older siblings – Bluebird, Ladybugs, Turquoise, Wildflowers, Wasatch/Evergreen and Bridgemont Classes.
Contact photographer Emma Thongrit at emliphotography.info@gmail.com to include siblings from outside of SWIMS.
7…Happy Birthday, Summer!
14…Happy Birthday, Eden & Erika!
16…Half Day – Early Dismissal
11:30 – 11:45 dismissal for Ducklings Infant Class, Bumblebees & Sunflowers Toddler Classes, Turquoise & Ladybugs Early Childhood Classes.
11:45 – noon dismissal for Owlets Infant Class, Chickadees & Tadpoles Toddler Classes, Bluebirds & Wildflowers Early Childhood Classes and Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary & Bridgemont Secondary Classes.
17 – 18…Fall Break – No School.
23…Happy Birthday, Nathy!
10/25 & 11/1…Parent Conferences – No School. Teachers will send out sign-up links soon.
31…Party Day for all classes! Regular schedule. Teachers will follow with details. Costumes welcome! No candy, nuts, weapons, bloody or grotesque costumes, please. See class sign-ups for needed supplies.
November
26…Half Day
27 – 29…Thanksgiving – No School
School Bulletin Board
We often notice what a terrific community we have at our school.The children are growing strong and bright and their families bring us joy each day. We traditionally spend the first six weeks of each school year settling into the routine – “normalizing.” We have normalized well. And we are anxious to see what the rest of this school year brings!
We are proud of our scholars who are busier than usual this year – Leith is working on a Master’s in Business Creation at the U, Hollis completed her Montessori credential with the Center for Guided Montessori Studies, Eden, Agnes, Audrey, Richelle, Paulina, Dejah and Gretta are all at various stages with their CGMS work, and Leah, Duna and Emily are almost halfway through their doctoral programs at University of Wisconsin. There is lots of homework to manage, but, boy, are our philosophy discussions terrific! We spend many meetings deep in pedagogical theory. But with 13 graduate degrees among a faculty of 36, are you surprised? Not really.
And we are proud of Emily for leading the Utah Montessori Council, and the UMC Fall Workshop that most of our faculty attended last month. We brought back inspirations to last us our lifetimes.
October is Indigenous Peoples month and every classroom offers a variety of indigenous photos, books, artifacts and stories, building up to our study of North America in November.
We have begun a drive for our Montessori friends in North Carolina and Georgia through colleagues whose schools were severely impacted by the recent hurricane. The schools have become refuges for their communities. Check out this link for GoFundMe information. Also check Channel 4 news for an interview with Leith on this project. Thank you.
Lowdown from Lower School: Infant, Toddler and Early Childhood
Infant & Toddler Impressions – Notes from Ducklings, Owlets, Bumblebees, Chickadees, Sunflowers and Tadpoles Classes
October brings the 6th week of the new school year and normalization! This is traditionally the time when students have settled into the routine and are feeling comfortable in the school environment. They have by now learned to wash hands, those who can walk are setting places for snack and lunch, clearing places and washing their dishes. They are working on blowing noses, keeping faces clean and getting in and out of the bathroom successfully. All of this self care brings the joy of independence as children realize how much they can do for themselves. Take a look at how teachers do this in class and think about how to set up your home for your child’s success. By placing low hooks and child-sized seating by the door your child can dress and undress for the weather. A small table and chair in the kitchen and a low cupboard where your child can access eating utensils and acceptable snacks allow your child to prepare breakfast, lunch or a snack when hungry. Also supply a small broom and dust pan, small sponge and spray bottle and your child can clean their dining space.
We have introduced the primary colors and will begin blending red, yellow and blue paint this month. As we get better at controlling drips we will move from finger paint and tempera paint with large brushes, to liquid water colors with small brushes.
Simple science experiments are being introduced such as sink and float, magnetic and non-magnetic and the properties of water.
As the leaves change around us we will notice the signs of the new season – fall. This takes us into trying on hats and masks in preparation for Halloween so these youngest students can see that even with a mask on, it’s still the same person underneath. We will focus on what is real in celebrating Halloween – cats, bats, pumpkins and spiders – creating crafts to decorate the classrooms so students take part in making the room spooky in time for Halloween parties. There will be special snacks, crafts, stories and a dance party on the 31st. Check with teachers for what is needed!
Every Day in Early Childhood – Events in the Bluebirds, Ladybugs, Turquoise & Wildflowers Classes
Daily lessons include exercises in Practical Life, Sensorial, Math and Language as well as Science, Art, Music, History and Geography. Every student assimilates the hundreds of lessons in the ec curriculum at their own pace. By their 3rd year in ec students are feeling the power of being able to polish off the big lessons all by themselves, like creating stories with the class farm.
In October we are finishing the Art History Timeline that gave us a peek into Early Art, Egyptian Art, Roman Art and Renaissance Art. From the earliest cave paintings 40,000 years ago people were leaving their stories for us to find on walls, tombs, pyramids, sarcophagi and mosaics. With the invention of books came more attention on portraits. With the invention of the camera came the experimentation of the Impressionists and Modern Artists. With each chapter students try their hand at a different style of art. You will see their self-portraits at Parent/Teacher Conferences.
We complete our study of fall in time to begin our Thanksgiving Timeline that takes a look at Indigenous Peoples and explorers in general, and the Wampanoags, in particular. This story builds through November with students taking part in adding each chapter in time for our Feast on November 21st.
Our study of the Earth and its basic land and water forms continues through October leading up to the introduction of the globe and map with students taking turns identifying the islands, lakes, bays, capes, gulfs, peninsulas, isthmuses and straits on the globe. They often recreate the basic landforms in the sand on the playground. Next time you are playing in the sand, challenge your ec students to see how many landforms they can create!
Botany lessons cover seeds, needs and edible parts of a plant in time to begin chopping vegetables for Stone Soup for our feasts.
Authors Anno and Tomie DePaola add to the threads weaving together to produce a tapestry of where North America is on the globe and the cultures that have made their homes here.
Ask your ec students about these topics and see what they remember from the daily lessons. You might get them started by dialing up the old Donovan song, “Happiness Runs” which is what we sing as we begin circle every day.
What’s Up in the Upper School: Elementary, Middle and High School
Elements of Elementary and Middle School with High School Highlights – News from the Wasatch/Evergreen Elementary & Bridgemont Secondary School Classes
The theme of Indigenous Peoples resonates through every classroom right up into the Upper School where the big kids often take the lead in our relationship with our “adopted” Navajo Grandma Frances. She is 98 now and unable to come to Park City, but loves to hear from her “grandkids” a few times each year. This month we will take a look at a variety of the Indigenous Peoples contributing to all parts of our curriculum.
Upper School classes are completing the Great Lessons that begin the study of how our planet and cultures came to be. They are finishing up game skills and team building while the weather is warm and planning the year’s Friday field trips and excursions. These students run their own meetings and plan their own curriculum around their class time spent practicing academics at their own individual level. Those who need a little extra time on a concept can work on it in a variety of ways. Those who have mastered the current material move ahead. This mastery learning has much to do with the phenomenal test scores we see from these classes as well as the building of intrinsic motivation.
Weekly field trips allow students to confirm in the real world what they have learned in class. They recently visited Clark Planetarium bringing together all the science, history and functional geography they have learned from the Great Lessons. Bridgemont is expanding their entrepreneurial ideas and planning field trips between their rigorous coursework. And these Upper School students are starting to think about what this year’s Winter Celebration will be about. Details will emerge in November.
The Montessori approach to learning including mastery learning, uninterrupted work periods and allowing students to plan their own curricula to include their own interests as well as required components, results in a remarkable group of peaceful, joyous learners and explorers of the world. With our school bus ready to go anywhere, everything is possible. This group of elementary, middle and high school students lives up to their motto – they work harder and play harder, too!
Also…
Speech and language screenings for all students will be offered by Serena Mueller of Silver Creek Speech and Language at school during school hours. If you are interested, please return the form below along with the $25 fee. Contact Serena for more information.
https://silvercreekspeech.com
