November 10, 2009
First of all, I just want to thank everyone for the incredible support I have received since the accident. I appreciate all the get well cards, flowers, restaurant gift cards, books, and the cleaning service. Though my recovery has been up and down, I feel so loved and supported by everyone. It means so much and I feel deeply grateful. I also want to thank everyone for the support of Laura, Patsy, and Willa. They are doing a wonderful job holding down the fort and thanks to many of you for acknowledging them for their effort. I truly feel blessed to have such a strong team in place. I know that during this time of recovery, the children are being nurtured and moving forward and that is so reassuring to me as I anxiously put in my time to heal and look forward to being cleared to come back. I have another follow up appointment with the neurosurgeon on 12/9 so we'll see if he feels I am ready to come back at that point. Worst case scenario, I will return immediately after winter break. Either way, I will keep everyone informed.
It was so nice to visit, even briefly, with the children last Friday. Their questions were priceless...How come I have to wear the neck brace? How do I take it off? Can I eat (I assume this came from Patsy's comment that I've lost considerably more weight-thanks Patsy!) And then, how can I sleep (I explained I don't have to wear the brace to bed) which led to...How can I sleep and not hurt my neck? Hopefully, my answers helped them understand a bit of the healing process and reassured them I am ok. Overall, my neck is healing as expected. I have suffered some of the post traumatic side effects of a head injury (intense tension headaches) but have more good days than bad. It is hard to be away from the classroom and not be able to drive, etc. but I am grateful to be alive and am following the doctor's orders : )
I spoke to Margo in regard to parent teacher conferences and we agreed it would be best to postpone them until mid-January so that I have time to assess where all the children are in terms of what they have been working on, mastered, and what is to come. I hope everyone understands. In the meantime, if there are any concerns please do not hesitate to speak to Laura.
I am hoping to be able to attend the ice cream social this Friday and if able, look forward to seeing everyone.
Sincerely,
Ms. Georgene
November 6, 2009
The internet has been down off and on this week (more off than on) so I haven’t been able to check or respond to emails during the day. I’m trying to get to it in the evenings from home.
Ms. Georgene came to visit the classroom today! The children were so excited even though it was a short visit. She looked really good and sounded good too. It was a nice end to our week.
It sounds like the research is going well. Please have your child come and talk to us if they have questions.
Wednesday is Veteran’s Day; school is closed all day except for all day contracts.
The ice cream social at the After Hours Gallery is next Friday, November 13th from 3:30 – 5:00 PM. The skateboard that the children decorated will be displayed. The gallery is located at 116 W. McDowell Rd., Phoenix.
Spelling tests are on Monday. Next week is review week so there will be missed words only. For those children who haven’t missed any words for the past several weeks, they will have a free week from spelling.
Again, if you have any concerns or questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Ms. Laura
If you have time, stop by the gallery. We have some great postcards
you can pick-up about the show to pass or send out.
Also, if you want to send an e-invite to your friends and family,
I've attached a PDF of what we'll be sending out. Feel free to also
use it.
We posted some more decks to the site that you can see under
"Artists" on our website
www.alldecksonhand.org. Check them out,
there are some fun ones.
Call or email us if you have any questions.
ALL DECKS ON HAND
A skateboard art auction to benefit autism research.
Don't forget about the show at After Hours Gallery where the children's skateboard that they decorated will be on display with many others to benefit SARRC.
Opening Reception is Friday, November 6th - bidding starts at 6PM.
After Hours Gallery
116 W. McDowell Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85003
602-710-2398
Ms. Georgene’s Classroom
Newsletter
October 30, 2009
After a crazy week we finally have the research packets ready! They went home yesterday and the children all had a lesson on what is in them. Each packet contains new cover sheets to keep track of research, spelling, and reading. There is also an example (which we went over in class) to remind the children what to do. These research packets are designed to allow the children to work independently. If your child has questions or seems confused, please encourage them bring their packet to school and ask for help. Please sign up (on the website) for presentations which being on Dec. 14th, followed by our exhibit hall and luncheon on the 18th of December.
Today was our Halloween party! The children were so excited! They decorated cookies, made wonderful crafts, decorated pumpkins, painted faces, colored halloween posters, and we had a read-a-thon! The children read over 200 books! When we read 100 books, we are contributing to Scholastic’s mission to get a million books into the hands of needy children! The children were so excited to know that they helped with this contribution. Thanks to Patrice (Lauren’s mom) for orchestrating this party and the mom’s and dads who came to help, Tesa, Angela, Maria, Bethany, and Roger. The children had a GREAT time (and the teachers enjoyed a peaceful lunch!) Thank you Roger, for helping AGAIN with ceramics! This is such an important job and we are grateful for our generous parents!
Reminder: School pictures are next Wednesday, Nov. 4th at 8:45 AM. Please have your child here on time.
Sally Foster orders arrive next week.
We have so many thank yous, hopefully we won’t forget anyone. The parents in this class have been WONDERFUL! Thank you to Marci, Anne, Denise, and Maria for cooking with the children, they loved the recipes! Thank you Angela, Tesa, and Patrice for helping with lunch hour! Thank you, Patrice for reading with the children on Thursdays. Thank you to Bethany and Patrice for gardening with the children.
Have a great weekend!
October 23, 2009
Thank you all for the wonderful well-wishes for Georgene. She is starting to feel a bit better after receiving her new pain medication. We are very lucky to have such wonderful parents in our classroom. Patsy, Willa, and I would like to thank each of you for your continued support. We are grateful for your confidence and want to assure you that we will keep up with lessons and any educational plans that have been previously set in place. My training is almost complete, just music and health left! I have been giving lessons in the classroom for a couple of years so your children are in good hands. If there is ever a concern, please email or send a note.
Research packets for South America will be sent home next week. They are designed so the children can do the work independently with minimal help from parents. I will be going over the packets with the children in class next week so they should at least be familiar with them when the packets are sent home. If your child has not sent in their choices for topics, they need to do so right away. Every attempt will be made to give them their first choice but many of the topics have already been taken.
The first graders will be studying animals. They should have a visual aid, poster, etc. and their note cards. We will provide the ‘note cards’. The seconds will also do five written paragraphs on the paragraph forms that are included in the packet. The thirds do all of the previous work plus a final draft from their paragraph forms. Hopefully, the packets will be easy to follow, but please let us know if there is any confusion.
Homework during South America research will be limited to reading out loud, working on their reports, and math facts on the weekend if they don’t finish in class.
We have a spelling test on Monday for words that were sent home prior to fall break.
Our next field trip will be on November 18th. The children will visit Mi Cocina Mi Pas, a South American restaurant. Thank you, Tesa Bartell, for arranging this field trip!
10/8/09
Fall break is almost here! If your child has been absent either the week of 9/28-10/2 or 10/5-10/9 or fell behind otherwise, I have prepared a fall break homework packet to make up the work missed. Please have your child turn in their completed fall break homework when they return to school on Monday, 10/19. Not everyone will receive fall break work. However, today I have mentioned who should have a folder so if you ask your child they should know whether they have work or not.
Spelling tests will be given tomorrow (Friday, Oct. 9) for the words that were sent home last Friday. If your child is not at school on Friday, Oct. 9 please give the test at home and send in the written test on Monday, Oct. 19.
A field trip summary form (on green paper) and a permission slip for the year's field trips is coming home today. Please keep the green field trip summary form to reference and return the permission slip to me by Monday, Oct. 19. If you are interested in chaperoning, please indicate for what field trips you would like to chaperone and include 1st choice, 2nd choice, etc. I will do my best to accommodate your wish. However, there are only 4 field trips needing chaperones (limit of 2 per trip) so please keep this in mind.
Reminder...topics for South America should be chosen over fall break, written down along with your child's name, and turned in on Monday, Oct. 19 along with the homework due for Week 6 (Oct. 5-11).
10/6/09
A quick word on illness...If your child is not feeling well and you are contemplating keeping them home but worry they will miss school, please know that it is perfectly fine to keep them home. I am happy to accommodate their absence by gathering work to send home to complete when they feel better and by adjusting the work expected to be completed due to their illness. We are noticing continuing cold/flu symptoms and may be calling to ask that you pick up your child to get further rest in an effort to fully recover from their illness. It is hard to know how your child is doing while at school so it is understandable that you let them try to come back if well enough. However, it is apparent that some children cannot focus on work when they are coughing frequently or feeling drained from their illness. These are the times we will choose to call you to pick up your child. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Ms. Georgene
10/2/09
Illness
If your child is ill and will not be coming to school, we are happy to gather work to send home. Please allow at least 24 hours to get the work ready. There are several children who are sick at the same time as your child and also require work to be gathered so we are going to need ample time to put work together.
Upcoming Speaker
Our first "field trip" will be an in class presentation on etiquette. Ms. Sylvie will be coming to the classroom on Oct. 6 and will be teaching the children the proper way to answer a telephone, be a guest in someone else's home (proper behavior-age appropriate), set the table, and basic table manners. With the upcoming holidays, these teachings should be very useful to the children as a wonderful practical life experience.
Field Trips
Tesa, Laura, and I are working out the final details of our field trip plans for this year. As I mentioned during parent night, the trips we are planning are meant to enrich our studies and the emphasis is on quality trips/in class presentations each month. With our limited budget, we have to include not only the field trip cost but the bus fee as well (typically around $50 per trip). Therefore, we have scheduled both outside trips as well as in class presentations for each month from Oct.-April. There are 3 trips we are taking that offer an opportunity for two parent chaperones to accompany us. If you are interested in chaperoning, there will be a space to indicate your interest and the fee required to attend (our activity funds are reserved for students and teachers to attend) on the permission slip form. Permission slip forms and a field trip summary will be sent home by Friday, Oct. 9.
Practice Emergency Drill
We had a practice emergency drill on Thursday of this week. We went into lockdown, following the emergency plan as explained during the mandatory parent night meeting. The children were told it was just a drill and did quite well in following directions. The drill went well.
Spelling
Due to Fall break, next week's spelling lists will be coming home today (Fri., Oct. 2). This week's spelling words will be tested on Monday, Oct. 5. Next week's spelling words will be tested on Friday, Oct. 9. If your child is absent on the day of their spelling test, please give your child their spelling test at home and send in the test via their communication folder.
Fall Break Homework
Other than daily reading, there is no official homework during fall break. However, our study of South America will begin Nov. 2 so I have asked the children to consider what they would like to study and write down their top 3 choices during fall break. Focus of studies: 1st years-choose a South American animal, 2nd years-famous South American landmark, and 3rd years-country in South America. A detailed research plan will be sent home toward the end of Oct.
Free Book Offer
Tesa Bartell passed on the following information...For every ten books read, Bookman's will issue a $5 coupon toward the purchase of a book, comic, or magazine. For each book read, your child will need to write a paragraph including their name and age, name of the book, author's name, and why they liked the book. Once ten books have been read, bring the written paragraphs in to Bookmans and your child will receive their coupon. No dates given as to how long this program will last. Call Bookman's for further details.
9/25/09
Spelling
This week everyone received a review list of words from the past 3 weeks that have not yet been mastered. Activities are to be chosen from the activity list on our website or choose your own. All activities are due on Monday, as usual.
Sally Foster
If you have not yet turned in your Sally Foster orders, please do so. They were due on Monday, 9/21 (reminder on homework cover letter).
Absence Line (602) 458-1356
Please be sure to call the absence line if your child is sick and will not be attending school.
9/11/09
This Week's Practical Life Activity:
Oopsies : ) This week's practical life activity requires a postcard which is being sent home today. If your child needs additional time on this activity, given I had not provided the postcard until today, just send me an email and let me know.
National Grandparents Day:
Sunday, 9/13
Early Dismissal Day:
Also, please remember Friday, 9/18 is an early dismissal day. All children not in the circle program will need to be picked up by 11:30 and there is no Pizza Friday on this day.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Ms. Georgene
9/9/09
Spelling
The children all took their first spelling tests yesterday. The tests were sent home yesterday as well. Please note if your child has not mastered four or more of their spelling words (meaning, 4 or more incorrect), it would be a good idea to increase the time spent on spelling activities. A new list went home yesterday. The next test will be Monday, 9/14.
Math Fact Practice
Yesterday I sent home all the practice sheets and tests taken in class thusfar. Please have your child practice their math facts at home by completing any unfinished sheets that we send. I will be sending the sheets and test on a weekly basis.
Mandatory Parent Meeting
Tonight is the mandatory parent meeting at Camelback High at 7:00. I am unable to attend as I have a night class tonight. When you arrive, please check in with Shelley Hubbard who will be taking my place for this evening's event. At least one parent from each family is expected to be in attendance tonight.
Obama Speech to the Children
Some of you were wondering if this would be televised for the children at school yesterday. I received word from the administration that we do not have the technology necessary and therefore, would not be able to watch the speech. A school-wide email was sent regarding this so hopefully everyone was aware that we would not be watching the speech in class.
Homework
In an effort to prepare the children for later expectations as they move through our program, I hold all children accountable for turning in their homework on time. However, as I mentioned during parent night, I do offer a one day grace period. After that, anyone who has not turned in homework must complete what they can during recess. If homework is lost or there is a solid reason for your child not to turn in their homework, please email me and let me know the circumstances. Otherwise, accountability and the habit of being responsible for turning in their homework once a week is my expectation for all students in my class.
Ms. Georgene
8/31/09 Part 2
In reference to the reading form in the homework packet, the form is meant to be a guide to be aware of what to listen for when your child is reading aloud. If you find the form to be too time-consuming, just use it in whatever way you feel is helpful even if it is just to note particular phonograms or issues your child is struggling with while reading. It is also helpful to note the level of the book being read and whether the level seems appropriate or too difficult. If I read comments indicating a need for more appropriate leveled books, I can then send home some new ones to try. Most important, use the form as a tool to communicate what you feel I need to know. I will not be expecting daily use of the form unless you find it useful/helpful to do so. Just send in the form along with the cover sheet without regard to how many times it was used.
If you have further questions, feel free to email me.
Ms. Georgene
8/31/09 Part 1
Today is Maria Montessori's birthday : )
Scholastic book orders are due Tuesday, 9/1. For your convenience, there is a link on our website (Scholastic Online) for online orders.
Some of the communication folders do not appear to be emptied each day. Please check your child's communication folder daily.
We are in need of vegetable oil for a lava experiment.
Homework binders will be coming home today. Be sure to look through as this week's spelling list is within the Week 1 section. Remember, 2-3 activities will need to be turned in next Tues., 9/8 along with the weekly cover sheet, reading form, and practical life activity. A few homework binders were not turned in so the homework will be sent home by folder. Please sort into your child's binder for each week of the 8 week homework cycle.
Ms. Georgene
8/21/09
This week we had a special art project we made with Quinn's mom, Rhonda. She and her helpers came in on Thursday afternoon to help the children paint their handprints on a skateboard for a special exhibit at her gallery called After Hours. We are participating in a special benefit for Sarrc (
www.autismcenter.org). The event will be in November and will feature art on skateboard decks that over 200 artists from all over the country are creating including us! The event is called "All Decks on Hand." Rhonda has graciously offered to host a special ice cream social at the gallery to offer an opportunity to view our art as well as that of the other artists with work on display. The date for the ice cream social is Friday, November 13.
Speaking of dates...I have updated this year's calendar and it is available for you to view/print on our website.
By Monday, 8/24: Please send in your child's homework binder. They will be sent home with all necessary cover sheets and practical life activities on Monday, 8/31.
Spelling: After assessing all of the children, I have made some adjustments to my original plan for Spelling. I have personally chosen lists of words which I feel will best meet each of the children's needs. Some lists will include sight words and others will vary.
For some, depending on the source of their spelling words, I may be including spelling activities. These spelling activities are great practice for test prep.Many of you already know, I would not spend valuable Montessori classroom time on test prep/worksheets. Since Montessori work/lessons are not available at home, providing these spelling activities for the purpose of test prep will give your child exposure to some of the terminology used when testing begins in the spring. If your child receives a list with spelling activities attached, have your child choose 3 activities. It is not necessary to do them all and I am not expecting them to.
For others, I will be sending home a list of words indicating which words follow a particular rule. For the first list, I will attach a copy of the spelling rules for you or your child to reference. Please keep this list handy for future spelling lists. If you should lose your copy and need another, just email me and I will send home another one. 3 activities are expected as well as time spent reviewing the rules that apply to particular words on the list.
Pizza Funds are due no later than Thursday, 8/27. Friday, 8/28 we will order pizza according to the number of children who have paid so if you would like your child included, be sure to meet the deadline (of Thurs. 8/27). Also, if you already have or will be participating, please sign up to volunteer for a Pizza Friday. With all participating families taking a turn to volunteer, there should only be a need to volunteer approx. 2 times for the school year. Please help keep this fair for all and sign up, if you haven't already done so.
Looking for a way to volunteer? Ceramics volunteers are greatly needed. The schedule is posted on the website. Please consider a Fri. you may be able to help and sign up under the Volunteer List link.
Science Experiment: 2 empty water bottles are needed from each child (asap)
Have a wonderful weekend,
Ms. Georgene
8/15/09
Everything on the website has been updated. I will be adding more pages/links to the website in the coming weeks.
Ms. Georgene
8/14/09
We had a nice, easygoing week this week in an effort to help the children transition back to being in the classroom. The children have all been given their Dibels assessments, Morrison McCall test for spelling, started their Math assessments and writing sample. There will be further assessments next week as well as beginning lessons (core curriculum).
Specials start, officially, next Friday. However, today the children did have a 30 minute PE session to go over the rules. We will also begin ceramics next Friday from 10:00-10:45. Please, please, please consider volunteering to help during this time. There is a volunteer link on our website to sign up for this need or another volunteering position. If you have not yet signed up to help, you may very well find a position that will work with your schedule including work that can be done from home.
Facebook Update-As staff of Villa Montessori, we are unable to be "friends" with students. I am awaiting word from Margo as to the specific school policy regarding parents.
Portfolios (discussed during Parent Orientation)-On Fridays, the children will be selecting a few works they are especially proud of. The rest of their written work, other than what is kept in their books in class, will be sent home. However, your child should not be bringing work home on any other days but Friday as we are keeping everything until the end of the week so they can reflect on what work they are most proud of and want to add to their portfolios.
Pizza Friday Reminder-checks are due by Thurs., Aug. 27. Checks should be made payable to Charmagne Moran, our pizza Fri. coordinator. If your child will be participating, please sign up on the website. The link has been updated.
Enrichment Fair-Today the children had an enrichment fair. At the fair, students rotated through different stations and heard brief presentations on each specific enrichment class. Students will be bringing home a sheet indicating their favorites along with the Enrichment schedule and registration form. Please make sure the registration form is returned by no later than Aug. 21, if you would like your child to participate.
Saturday, Aug. 15
Everything on the website has been updated. I will be adding more pages/links to the website in the coming weeks.
Ms. Georgene