February days to mark on your calendar… **Week of Feb. 2-6: Upper Elementary to NCI-No Coffee & Scram on Feb. 6 • 2 - Lower El 1st years to see “Seussical the Musical” at Young Auditorium in Whitewater • 12 - Lia Sophia Jewelry Show in Sycamores from 7-9 pm-proceeds benefit Spring Fling • 13 - Coffee & Scram • 20 –Coffee & Scram & All upper and lower Elementary to see “Creole for Kids” at the

Young Auditorium in Whitewater • 23 - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS-TEACHER WORK DAY • 26 - NCM Coffee for prospective families 9:15am • 27 - Coffee & Scram

Greetings Nature’s Classroom Montessori Parents! It has been a fun filled first semester at NCM and we are looking forward to the Spring semester with many upcoming events. A big thank you to all of our contributing parents for their continued support and hard work in creating a school community of inclusion. Change is in the air and often needed from time to time in order to best meet the needs of a growing community. PABC will no longer have elected officers. At the last PABC meeting (thanks to all who attended), we discussed the importance of having proper representation from all classrooms. Therefore, beginning the 2009-2010 School Year, PABC will have classroom representatives in an effort to allow for everyone to feel they have a voice. The representative’s sole duties will be to attend open QUARTERLY meetings and assist in the coordination of volunteers for each of our preplanned events throughout the year. The events will be placed on the calendar at the beginning of the school year and we will have volunteer sign up boards available at the BACK TO SCHOOL picnic. This way the volunteers have already been recruited and it is merely a matter of following up before the event. Each event has an informational binder with all the necessary information and procedures. The goal was to make this an easy and fun opportunity for all involved. A classroom representative allows for ease of communication among the respective parents and everyone has a voice to provide feedback and get involved. So, PLEASE CONSIDER BEING A CLASSROOM REPRESENTATIVE. If you are interested contact the office and you will be forwarded any additional information you may need. This semester we look forward to events such as The Family Dance/Book Fair, Spring Fling, Movie Night…We are still trying to plan an all school Bonfire at the end of the year. Keep your fingers crossed as hopefully we will be able to plan around the weather.

We need your “active” support in whatever way you can. Please don’t

take away the “A” from our PABC, because without volunteers

actively participating, our school becomes just "school",

not a whole community.

PABC BOARD Co-Presidents - Barb Denzien & Iman Khan Vice-President - Claudia Felske Treasurer - Talene Schierl Secretary - Alana Dresden

Iman

Greetings from the Round Room

Even the children seem taken aback at how quickly the month of January has gone by and that we have already turned the page of our calendar to February. This has been a great time – these last 3 ½ weeks. The day we returned from the winter break was a

day out of Montessori text-books and one both Ms. Carlyn and I will treasure – the children

seemed almost anxious to get back into their room and certainly happy to get to work!. All around us we heard, “I missed you”, “I love you”, and the most priceless one was, of course, when one child came up to me and said, “Ms. Deepa, you seem to have grown over the break”!!!!

January was a great month for topics of discussion. On January 19th, we marked Martin Luther King Day. The story of a man who was determined to make a difference and his courage and resilience was one that the children immediately empathized with. They were inspired by his capacity to forgive and his faith in peace. The very next day presented yet another opportunity for great discussion – the historic swearing in of Barack Obama afforded us many leads to talk about – the children were reminded of the great nation they are a citizen of, the tremendous significance of this inauguration on the heels of Martin Luther King Day and the celebration of a peaceful process of change. We celebrated Chinese New Year as a culmination to the discussion we had over the month about how different communities celebrate the beginning of the New Year. The children were fascinated (and amused!) by the story of the Chinese Zodiac.

The extremely chill temperatures have hindered us from spending as much time as we would like to outside. Despite that though, the excitement was contagious when we went over to the farm to visit the absolutely adorable baby goats. The awe on the children’s faces, the tenderness with which they held tiny babies and their concern about the health of these little creatures were so touching.

It is a moment like this that puts into perspective the huge importance of what Maria Montessori called Cosmic Education. She firmly believed, being a scientist and doctor herself, that Science provided a knowledge for understanding the world. That is why Science is an integral element of the Montessori curriculum.

Among other things, it represents a way of life: a clear thinking approach to gathering information and problem solving. Direct contact with nature and natural phenomena is the experience base for scientific knowledge. Learning about nature and natural phenomena occurs first through the senses. Direct observation provides the basis for

generating and testing informal hypotheses. The Montessori approach to science cultivates children's fascination with the universe and helps them develop a lifelong interest in observing nature and discovering more about the world in which we live. Maria Montessori said, “If the idea of the universe is presented to the child in the right way, it will do more for him than just arouse his interest, for it will create in him admiration and wonder, a feeling loftier than any interest and more satisfying.”

And what better place than Nature’s Classroom to develop and nurture this scientific thinking. Here, we do not have to go on a field trip to a Nature Center to experience the magnificence of nature, or to a petting zoo to care for and observe farm animals…all we have to do

is go outside!

The Parent Night was a great way to wind up the month - thank you for attending the session. If you were unable to make it, please feel welcome to visit our room and observe - it is always a rewarding experience to be able to share the joys of what we see everyday in our rooms with you! As we look ahead to February, the children will be working on the “community project” which will be their contribution to the Spring Fling auction. They will be creating a ceramic bird-feeder and a tapestry . They will also each be putting together a custom-made memory box which will have three of their works from this year. No doubt you will hear all about these as they unfold! This is a wonderful stretch – from now to Spring Break. And with some cooperation with the weather, we should be having a good, solid spell of work time, in our rooms and in the vast outdoor lab, that is Nature’s Classroom. Montessori does not measure growth in just the academic strides that a child makes, but also in the confidence they choose their works with and the focus they finish it with. Growth is not merely a harmonious increase in size, but a transformation. We are grateful to be witnesses of this transformation. Ms. Carlyn and Ms. Deepa

Ms. Dana’s and Ms. Wilma’s Children’s House Classroom

After the long, long, long and COLD winter break it is so wonderful to observe how happy every child appears as they engaged in the Montessori classroom. Everyone in making great strides academically, socially and emotionally!

This month we discussed Dr. Martin Luther King and the legacy of his life. We emphasized Dr. King’s “dream” of tolerance, equality, and respect. Additionally we talked about the great excitement of a new president, Barack Obama. As a result there were a lot of questions such as: Q: What is an inauguration?

An inauguration is a ceremony during which an elected official assumes his or her new office. In the United States, the inauguration is the day the president-elect officially becomes the acting president.

Q: Can anyone be President?

You have to be a natural born citizen or be born in the United States. You have to have lived in the United States for at least 14 years. You have to be at least 35 years old. (The Founding Fathers made an age limit because they thought the President had to be old and wise.)

Q: Who is the President? Barack H. Obama is now the 44th President of the United States.

Q:Why does the flag of the United States of America have stars and stripes?

The flag consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, seven red alternating with 6 white. The stripes represent the original 13 colonies; the stars represent the 50 states of the Union. The colors of the flag are symbolic as well: Red symbolizes Hardiness and Valor, White symbolizes Purity and Innocence and Blue represents Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice.

Classroom Wish List Bird Seed

Pencil sharpeners Paper lunch bags (white in color)

Spring Fling is right around the corner! Our classroom is donating

a beautiful hand sewn quilt AND as an extra item each child

will create a precious memory box. Please watch the weekly newsletter

regarding the GREAT items offered at the annual

Spring Fling fundraiser!!

“Gong Xi Fa Cai!” January 26th 2009 will bring in the Year of the Ox! Chinese New Year is the most important of the Chinese holidays, and is a time of feasting with the family, celebration, fireworks, and gift giving. It is a 15-day holiday, beginning on the first day of a

new moon and ending with the full moon on the day of the Lantern Festival. It is the year of the Ox. People born in the Year of the Ox are patient, speak little, and inspire confidence in others. We made paper dragons, read books, listened to music, ate fried rice and so much more!

In February we will be having a Valentine’s Day celebration on Friday February 13th 2009. We are in need of two parent volunteers to help make, serve and prepare a special snack. Please contact Ms. Dana Gagnon Hubka via e-mail if you are interested. dghubka@gmail.com

Elementary News

A new year, and a new outlook on life, not to mention a new addition to our classroom. The Lower Elementary classroom has a new pet, Gilbert the Leopard Gecko. Leopard Geckos are native to the rocky deserts and grasslands of southern Asia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq-all areas that are really hot, contrary to our blustery state of Wisconsin. They are also nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and are active at night. If this is true, why choose this as a classroom pet? Leopard Geckos are low maintenance and make a great starter pet. This means everyone in the community can take part in the care of this lovely creature. Some fun facts about Leopard Geckos: • They measure between 6 and 8 inches when fully grown. • They have eyelids unlike other species of geckos. • They do not have suction cups on their toes, which hinders their great escape from

our classroom. • They eat crickets and mealworms...yum! • They do not have bladders, so their urine is solid. • When they are scared they will drop their tail, a new one will eventually grow back.

History is Made!!

And we were part of it! As an entire elementary community we watched history being made as Barack Obama was sworn in as our 44th president. We thought it was really amazing how this coincided with our celebration of Martin Luther King’s birthday. During the morning we discussed some inaugural history such as: the shortest speech, the longest speech, first one broadcast on television and the internet, and the first inauguration on Super Bowl Sunday. I hope all of the families, no matter how you voted, had time to view history being made last January 20th.

To celebrate Martin Luther King Day, our community talked about the key historical events for African-Americans in our country. We learned about some of Martin Luther King’s ideas and read an excerpt from: I Have a Dream: The Story of Martin Luther King. We read about how he formed the SCLC and how the peaceful way four African Americans sat at a lunch counter in North Carolina started an amazing movement. Our community discussed the MLK quote: “Hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that.”

News from Upper Elementary

This month in Upper Elementary we have been working on a fun, multi-disciplinary project. Our bi-weekly visits to the library yield not only wonderful books for reading pleasure and resources for research, but also lots of laughs on the drive home while they pour over and share their favorite comics.

We learned about the amazing profession of illustration and have ventured forth into creating our own comics. Each student has selected a moral/character trait and is writing a comic strip highlighting that quality, preparing a lesson to give to our lower elementary friends. Our themes cover acceptance, loyalty, forgiveness, honesty, generosity, respect, and responsibility.

Reminders: • Please review the morning calendar for morning

meeting dates. • DOL sentences are due every Tuesday morning. • Students should have a sweatshirt or a polar

fleece that stays at school. • Please send healthy snacks and lunches to

school. • Field trips to Whitewater: Seussical- 1st grade only

Feb. 2nd (no chaperones needed) This is a re-placement for the field trip that was paid for in December. Please dress for the theater and bring a disposable lunch.

• Creole for Kids: all elementary students February 20th. More information coming.

• Please check take home folders daily and return them to school the next day.

We have just finished our read aloud of Witness, a novel by Ken Hesse. It is the story of a young African-American girl and a young Jewish girl, recently moved to a small Vermont town in 1924, under the watchful eye of the Ku Klux Klan. We are eagerly looking forward to seeing this novel adapted as a play at the First Stage Theater in Milwaukee. The students wonder how they will suit the original format of one person talking as a journal entry into a play with character interactions. We are also eagerly anticipating our second week of Nature's Classroom Institute coming up the first week in February. We are so lucky to have this opportunity to live on campus in community and experience the myriad of outdoor opportunities and the wisdom and enthusiasm of our environmental education staff.

Middle School Musings

By Chloe

We have had a few new additions to the school farm, baby goats! I must say that they are the cutest things I have seen! Unfortunately some of them died, as well as one of the moms, but there are still many living. Kevin, one of the NCI teachers, is hoping to sell the goats to good, loving families, as pets. I have got to say it was a BIG surprise to find two of the many baby goats when I went to the farm to do my farm business in the morning. They are all staying warm and in pretty good shape for this bitter weather. Next week while Upper Elementary is at NCI, I'll be doing an internship, An internship, in my case, is where I go to a place that I might want to work when I'm older. Next Monday and Tuesday I will be going to the Fox Valley Veterinary Clinic in Waterford. I'll help out from 8 am to 4 pm, I'll keep a journal of what I do. I don't get paid for the work I do. (Too bad huh? Hee-hee) Then on Wednesday and Thursday I hope to be helping out at HAWS in Waukesha. Friday I plan to write up my observations and experiences. If anyone has any further suggestions to visit, that would be great! I am interested in anything that has to do with animals, wildlife, or photography of them. Thank you!