2022 Newsletter Term 03 | Issue 02 – Farmhouse Montessori School

AUGUST

Mon 20-26th – Book Week – both Campuses
Wed 24th – Primary School tour – 3.15pm
Wed 24th August – 25th – Great Aussie Bush Camp – Primary
Tues 30th – School Photos – Preschool Campus
Tues 30th – Poetry & Music Night Primary Campus 4.30-6.00pm
Wed 31st – Maria Montessori Birthday

SEPTEMBER

Thurs 1st – School Photos – Preschool Campus
Thurs 1st – Father’s Day – Primary Campus
Thurs 1st – Preschool tour 4.30pm – Adult only
Fri 9th – Father’s Day Parent Mixer Evening – Preschool Campus
Fri 9th – Fees Due
Fri 23rd – Last day of term

Click HERE to see further calendar dates.

Dear Farmhouse Montessori Families,

Welcome Week 5, the year is certainly flying by. I am most grateful for the ongoing warm welcome by all in the community towards me. Thank you, parents, for attending the welcome picnic for me. One of the highlights for me was reading to Stage 2 students. Schools are a busy place with learning in a range of forms. My observation of classes notes a depth of student engagement and learning. I highlight some of the activities and experiences of the past week and some that are yet to come. I commend the students of Stage 3 for their initiative for the bake sale to raise funds for the Head Land Library.

Last week we said Farewell to Amanda, a long term and highly valued member of our teaching team. We wish her well for the future, with the hope that one day she will return to our classrooms. Thank you Amanda for your wonderful service and leadership and mentoring of all students, and staff, with which you engaged.

I share with you of some events for the coming weeks and warmly invite parents to attend where applicable:

Friday 19 August, Aikya students will be experiencing the production of “Earth’s Prehistoric World” at the wonderful Glen Street Theatre

Monday 22 August, at 3.15pm to 4.00pm, North Head Campus, Fiona Campbell will continue her conversations with parents on the principles of Montessori education, this time focusing on Stage 2 Parents.

Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 August Camp. Stage 3 will be attending next week their overnight excursion with Aussie Bush Camp. I look forward to sharing their experiences during their stay.

Wednesday 24 August Stage 2 and 3 School Tour at 3.15pm, at North Head Campus, led by Jenny and Harshitha. I am delighted that a large number of parents have already booked. Please feel free to join the tour.

Book Week will be held throughout all next week. I am looking forward to experiencing this with the children.

30 August – Poetry and Music Night, 4.30pm to 6.00pm at North Head Campus, were Stage 2 and 3 will perform musically and present their poetry.

1 September, 9.30am – Father’s Day Breakfast, at North Head Campus

9 September 7.00pm – Father’s Day Mixer (with partners) at North Balgowlah

Much is being undertaken across the school campuses. I am grateful to the staff and parents for their engagement with the school in these, and many other activities and student experiences.

Bruce Rixon | Interim Principal

Practical life is a cornerstone of any Montessori classroom and is important for all ages from infants through to young adults. The activities change as the child develops, starting with things as simple as putting on their own hat or washing their hands, all the way through to baking and developing business plans.

Practical life is not ‘just’ getting dressed or ‘just’ washing the dishes, they are purposeful activities that develop motor control, coordination, and develops independence, concentration, and a sense of responsibility.

At the moment our favourite practical life activities in the Elouera classroom are egg peeling and cutting, washing the fruit and vegetables, flower arranging (with flowers from our garden!), and grinding the eggshells for the worms.

— Corinne, Nina & Rachel.

Children learn a great deal simply by observing. Watching older children do their work not only provides a model for how to proceed, but it also motivates young students to practice and achieve mastery over their tasks. The value of a mixed-age class is evident in the behaviour of all children. Both younger and older students have a chance to implicitly develop a “growth mindset” by observing all three years of the learning process in one classroom. Watching younger students progress from one material to the next teaches older students the value of practice and hard work along with becoming mentors to their younger classmates, learning and practicing important leadership skills. Conversely, younger students look up to their older classmates, and look forward to reaching their level of ability.

— Helen, Teresa & Claire

In the 3 to 6 environment mathematical concepts such as the decimal system are presented in a concrete form which children can manipulate in this case through beautiful golden beads. Only after they have experienced the concrete material are they given the symbolic mathematical notation. When the child is comfortable with the concrete representation and the oral language, mathematical symbols are introduced. Only after the child has completed the first two steps are the concrete materials and symbols combined. After being introduced to new concepts the children need the opportunity for repetition and independent exploration.

— Jenny, Catalina, Jo & Angela.

In the outdoor classroom children can choose to work with others on group activities, a friend or alone. Being constantly stimulated by new information can be exhausting and sometimes children just want to relax and gather their thoughts. Being outdoors can often be a beautiful environment for finding some quiet time be that sitting by the native bees watching them fly in and out of their hive and land on you or choosing a book and finding a comfy spot to just ‘read’. It may be the child relaxes by being engrossed in drawing a picture. Whatever they choose can help with emotional regulation, concentration, increased independence and overall give them down time.

Maybe we should follow their lead and allow ourselves a little more ‘quiet time’, have a good week.

– Dawn

In Kindergarten this week the children requested that we revisit our maths rotation activities. These activities use concrete materials to support the understanding of mathematical concepts explored during stage one.

The study of mathematics is a reflection of the human tendencies for investigation and orientation, for order and classification, for reasoning and making judgements, and for calculating and measuring. In the Montessori Children’s House (children 3-6 years of age), when mathematical concepts are first presented to children, they are embodied in concrete materials.

Mathematics in the Children’s House builds on and extends the exercises of practical life and the exercises of the senses, as well as the many mathematical experiences children encounter incidentally in their daily lives.

— Helen

This fortnight in Aikya, we have engaged incredibly in various subjects as a community and taken on many challenges as individuals.

First, we would like to thank Rachel Edirisuriya, who graciously visited our class to discuss dental health with the children during dental health week. Racheal and her lovely assistant discussed all aspects of dental health, including how to maintain healthy teeth and what foods cause us the most dental issues. We all thoroughly enjoyed sharing knowledge, and I’m sure all took away some healthy habits. Thank you, Racheal!

Our Peer Mentor program is also in full swing, and our community has benefited from the program that’s been in the pipeline all this year. Each week we welcome some senior students from Yani (stage 3) who discuss social and emotional issues through purposeful activities and active discussions. It has been wonderful to have some older mentors spending time with the Aikya students, and we look forward to this time every week.

Furthermore, our community meetings have continued to be a welcomed addition to the classroom, with children regularly contributing to our classroom guidelines and helping to make our environment joyful and safe for all. We have especially enjoyed giving thanks to others and actively making a difference in our environment.

– Harshitha, Toby, Alison & Amy

The Yani Classroom welcomed our new principal, Bruce Rixon last week. Bruce came in to meet some of the students and to be a part of our lunch-time circle. The students look forward to getting to know their new principal in the coming weeks. Our group of older students; Billy, Oscar and Dash, have been hard at work over the weekend in preparation for their bake sale which is happening Wednesday 10th of August. The group of boys recently cooked German inspired dishes for the Yani Classroom, which were delish. Soooo, we highly recommend getting to their bake sale and snapping up a scrumptious treat.

In other news this week, students took the opportunity in their afternoons to get on top of their computer skills and start Yani’s Typing Tournament. Students have been practicing their finger placements on the home row and have also been working towards the goal of touch typing.

They have been enjoying the freedom of game integrated learning and keeping up with the challenges that they come across each level!

We as a class are excited to continue our typing journey for the rest of the term.

— Thomas, Nick, Amy & Ella Lee

PRE-SCHOOL CAMPUS
In music we are continuing to learn about the orchestra!
We have met the string family and know that these instruments make sound when their strings vibrate with strumming/plucking/bowing.
We have met the wind family, this is a big group broken into brass and woodwind and these instruments need our breath to create a sound.
This week we meet the percussion family, the group of instruments that make a sound by being struck, tapped or shaken!

Pop Quiz – see if your kids can tell you where each family sits in the orchestra and what they need to make a sound.

NORTH HEAD CLASSROOM MUSIC
Aikaya and Yani have been rehearsing 3 musical items in preparation for the upcoming music and poetry night. They have been singing All You Need is Love by the Beatles and Surfer Girl by the Beach Boys. They have also been playing Let’s go Surfing by the drums with Aikiya on the Xylophones and Yani on the Ukuleles.

MONTESSORI BAND
The band has been busy rehearsing 2 songs for the upcoming music and poetry night. They will be performing Cloudy Day by Tones and I and Come Together by The Beatles. This term has seen them start to gel as an ensemble and they are really looking forward to performing

James, Angie, Ben & Deb
The Evergreen Music Team

Farmhouse News

2022 Newsletter Term 03 | Issue 02

Upcoming events & Important Dates

Principal’s Message

Science week at the Preschool Campus

ELOUERA | Stage 1 Infant Community

BURBANGANA | Stage 1

BURBANGANA IN ACTION

COOINDA | Stage 1

AMAROO | OUTDOOR CLASSROOM

KINDERGARTEN

AIKYA | Stage 2

YANI | Stage 3

FRENCH

AIKYA & YANI

EVERGREEN | Music

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