Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
Music by Michael Legrand
Since we've last had the opportunity to share here, it's been a fantastically busy and productive nine weeks at CMC! We've put a pause on scheduling first days for new children while focusing on interviewing and hiring new Children's House Assistants. The results have been encouraging. Sunny has brought a new light and energy to our work in Children's House East. We're hopeful Gale will bring a dynamic new energy of her own to her work in Children's House West in the weeks and months ahead!
Please let us know if you know of any Skys, Rains, Auroras, Summers, Autumns or individuals of any name that may be interested in joining team CMC in the months ahead. (The referral of a successful job candidate will fulfill a family's entire Community Hours commitment for the session in which the referral was made!)
The Week of February 12th
Everyone in Children's House East took notice as our first sprouts of the season shot out of their glasses!
While everyone in Children's House West took notice of Isla turning five!
And everyone in the nap and rest room took notice of the new "light show"! (Thank you for the much loved idea and donation, Lauren!)
Jiraiya and James both worked towards documenting their growing numeracy, each in their own way!
Isla and Willow both enjoyed a sudden little snowstorm!
The Week of February 19th
Jiraiya taught Chloe a favorite mantra of cleaning crew (with a little help from me, Taylor).
Avriel marked his birthday photos with our numbers and counters while explaining things to a crowd less familiar with the proceedings.
Isla developed a fabulous new way of playing in the mud!
Phoenix "read" (they've actually memorized it) the sign hanging in the CMC Train Station Lobby!
The children's journey towards numeracy continued with Zane laying out the large number cards, Soraya copying the date onto a hummus tub lid (the contents of which we can highly recommend), and Jiraiya making many, many "fair trades" (often called "carrying" or "borrowing") during Golden Bead operations. . . the one shown below was during a division problem.
The Week of February 26th
Avriel joined the Golden Bead crew in Children's House East this winter with a keen eye for detail! We're all excited about the contributions he'll make to our group math work in the months ahead (and I'm excited about what he'll gain from it).
The Week of March 4th
The video above is a great example of why we engage the children in so much Practical Life work at CMC — it builds independence, concentration, coordination, and specific skills (like the spacial reasoning used in packing the cart or the communication required to plan the packing, respond to my reminder, and steer the cart to the hall). See more great examples directly below!
On March 4th the Children's House West community experienced something like the birthday walk equivalent of an eclipse in celebrating James turning five and Teddy turning four on the same day!
In Montessori we encode (write) first. . .
. . . and then use what we've learned encoding (writing) to decode (read)!
We also build understanding of numbers like twelve and thirteen (in work like Zane's), processes like addition of four-digit numbers (in work like Syd and Lincoln's), and complex, multi-base systems like telling time (in work like Chrissy's) on an understanding of the decimal system (in work like Willow's, Lincoln's, and Soraya's)!
Week of March 11th
Sometimes we all just need a good goof or a good birthday walk before getting back to work! Congratulations on turning five Vera!
Jiraiya builds confidence while working through his first official reading activity in Children's House East (although he's been reading bits of his own writing and that of his peers for a few months now)!
On Friday afternoon, many of us were happy to meet Sunny's daughter, Sylvie, for the first time while we all anticipated the first official day of spring and our annual celebration of it just a few days away!
Above, Lincoln and Syd craft some handmade flyers for the potluck! And here are our spring countdowns nearly all counted down!
The Spring Equinox Potluck (March 19th)
Then, after many weeks of anticipation, spring was upon us again! Thank you to all those who made our fourth annual Spring Equinox Potluck a success!
The Week of March 18th
The Week of March 25th
"Two Person Yoga" continued to be a big hit (as well as an important community building activity) in Children's House East!
Meanwhile, new rings brought new opportunities and new life to our slack line! (A big thanks goes to Sara for researching, purchasing, and installing these excellent new additions to our outdoor area!)
Our new Children's House Assistant, Sunny, got the hang of some Montessori teaching strategies!
These two videos are for all those interested in better understanding what all our children mean when they beam, "Golden Beads!!"
On March 28th — the improbable last day of our School Year Session before the April 8th eclipse — we built understanding and preparedness around all the eclipse excitement that had started to buzz around our little communities.
About midway through Yung and my adventures in more adult-led, traditional teaching techniques on the subject, Lincoln very sweetly pointed out that he wasn't sure the "little ones" understood what makes night and day (and that he might be a little fuzzy on the details himself). We figured out the best ways to model and explain this phenomena together before presenting to a little eclipse symposium during the Afternoon Work Cycle.
Then, we went outside to observe the sun "shining down day" through all the glory of a regular, partially-overcast Central Ohio afternoon (and get in a bit of practice with our eclipse glasses before the big day).
Please be on the lookout for our next post in May for pictures and videos from our Eclipse Party on the 8th!
March 29th through April 5th (Spring Break Session Care)
I feel like this one is pretty self explanatory, please let me know if you feel otherwise!
All in all, it was a beautiful, muddy week! Well done team!
Thank you for spending time with our community through these pictures and videos! If you're a family member of a currently enrolled child, please also know you are always welcome to spend time with us in-person by scheduling an observation (we'll do our best to offer you tea and a few comfortable places to sit)! Spending time here and observing in person are also the best ways to prepare for Family Guide Conferences at CMC which are coming up next the week of April 22nd.
You may sign up for a morning observation in Children's House West here!
You may sign up for a conference with Yung in Children's House West here!
You may sign up for a morning observation in Children's House East here!
You may sign up for a conference with Taylor in Children's House East here!
We hope to see many of your in person at 5400 Karl Rd. soon!