The Three Year Cycle and its Importance

We are proud to be part of a vibrant and rich learning community here at Kingswood Montessori Academy in Homestead, Fl. We are a small private school that educates students from toddlers, preschool and Elementary. Being a small private school allows us to connect with our families and students, we are lucky to see our students grow both academically and socially in our classsrooms through the three year cycle. Parents come to tour Kingswood Montessori campus and always are curious how the three year cycle works. Below is an article from a Montessori blog that refers to the three year cycle that is very helpful. The three-year cycle refers to an essential element of Montessori education. Children at Kingswood Montessori Academy from 3- 6 years are able to stay in the same classroom, with the same teacher, the same classmates and as a result are able to build a strong, cohesive community. They move through the stages of development experiencing different roles, responsibilities, and lessons and having their developmental, social, intellectual and emotional needs met at each stage they pass through. The physical changes that we witness at Kingswood Montessori during this time are obvious but the mental and emotional changes are visible through close observation of the child. This ‘metamorphosis’ of a 3 year old to a 6 year old is so dramatic that it can be likened to the caterpillar, changing from a pupa into a butterfly. In this paper I will be specifically looking at the changes that occur in the third year or the Kindergarten year that child experiences in a Montessori classroom and how these changes represent the fruits of the child’s labor, and the formation and perfection of traits that will serve the child throughout his life. It’s easy for everyone to understand how the child of 3 benefits from working in a community with older children. The child the Kingswood Montessori preschool classroom is able to observe the more advanced work the older children do, something the child will be aspiring to do some day. He can witness the grace and courtesy modeled in regard to how to resolve a dispute, how to express frustrations and how to use our words effectively. If the child struggles with work he has chosen, then an older child will be ready and eager to help. What’s not so easy to see immediately is how the older child of 5 or 6 benefits from the mixed-age community. Parents have asked me why their child would benefit from staying in their Montessori classroom for the child’s Kindergarten year. I tell them, you have built a house with strong foundations, an excellent structure, and a beautiful interior. You wouldn’t decide to finish you work without building the roof, would you? It is during this third year that the fruits of all the child’s labor begin to grow. Repetition with the materials have led to perfection of skills Ability to concentrate for long periods of time. Perseverance from working with materials that require the child to follow a lengthy sequence and complete a cycle of challenging work. Problem solving skills from the child’s interaction with materials and situations that allow the child to resolve a situation independently. Making positive, independent choices. Long term practice of constructive, purposeful work. The practical life exercises that engage and fascinate the younger children, for example folding, washing, polishing, the dressing frames, evolve into a way of contributing and caring for your community for the third year child. The third year child will be folding the napkins and placemats so they are ready for snack, preparing snack and sweeping up the crumbs left behind after snack. The third year child is taking conscious responsibility to perform tasks that keep the classroom beautiful and modeling this for all to see. In the area of language, all the work he did during the first two years with the sandpaper letters, learning the sounds and the symbols of the letters, and building words with the moveable alphabet by breaking them apart into individual sounds, now forms the foundation for reading. And it’s not just the task of acquiring fluency and comprehension in reading that occupies the third-year Primary child. There’s also work with nouns, articles, adjectives and verbs, etc, the foundation of grammar, perfecting cursive handwriting and writing one’s own stories and so much more. In the math area, the work that the child of three and four has done to count first from 1 to 10, then to 100, then to 1000, and her concrete experience with the decimal system prepares her well for the beginnings of abstraction in the third year of Primary. Now she can work with the four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in a variety of ways and she can memorize math facts. We all know your child will undoubtedly learn to read and write and will learn to do the mathematical operations and these are all important skills, but I believe that these are not the most important things a third year child will learn. The greatest skills or gifts that the third year Primary child receives are the qualities of character the child creates. Self-confidence, self-motivation and responsibility for the community among others. These character traits are practiced and perfected each day, practicing empathy, showing love and affection for others of all ages and for oneself, exercising leadership skills, and being a positive role model to others. As a Montessori Primary guide at Kingswood Montessori we feel sad when I hear that my third year children are leaving the community for traditional school. The third year is the opportunity to complete the full cycle of activity with the classroom materials and curriculum, and the chance to be the leaders that they themselves had looked up to those previous years. With your guidance, they have laid the foundations, built the structure, made their interior beautiful and now it’s time to put the roof on their house. Thank you Polly Goode Primary Guide in Thyme class for sharing this article with Kingswood Montessori Community

Montessori At Home

Parents at Kingswood Montessori www.kingswoodmontessori.com have often asked how they can prepare their homes to follow the Montessori principles that their children are learning here at the school. Following is a great article form American Montessori Academy: Have you marveled at the remarkable order of the Montessori classroom? Has your toddler told you that at school she pours her own juice? Does your teenager hang or put away all her clothes—without being asked? Encouraging order, independence, and self-motivation are fundamental to the Montessori approach. Carefully designed classrooms allow students to develop competence in caring for themselves and their surroundings. And from the sense of pride that “I did it myself!” blooms the confidence to take on the world. Bringing Montessori principles into your home can be a valuable bridge to what your child learns at school. Here are some ways to build that connection. Create an Ordered Environment Having a place for everything, on a child-friendly scale, encourages both independence and self-discipline. Children know where to find what they need, and where to put it when they’re done. An ordered environment also has fewer distractions, allowing children to focus on the task at hand. To make things accessible to your young child: Provide low shelves or drawers for clothing; lower the rod in the bedroom closet. Keep a small step stool in the bathroom and kitchen so your child can reach the sink. Arrange toys and games on low open shelves with a particular place for each. Sort smaller items into trays or baskets by category, such as puzzles, art supplies, and blocks. Put healthy snacks and foods on a low pantry shelf so your child can help himself. Pour drinks into small, manageable pitchers placed on a low refrigerator shelf. Keep cups within your child’s reach—along with a sponge to clean up spills. Teach Real-Life Skills Montessori students are taught to take care of themselves and their classroom and to be helpful to others. They wash tables, organize shelves, prepare their own meals, and assist younger children. In addition to mastering real-life skills, they come to see themselves as valued members of the community. Parents here at Kingswood Montessori Academy in Homestead, Fl, have often asked me about how they can prepare their home to serve an extension of the Montessori classroom. Following is a great article for American Montessori Society that will guide you. Having your child help at home can bring similar rewards. Take the time to teach each skill separately and to repeat the lesson as needed. Each task your child masters adds to his confidence and self-esteem. Young children, for example, can peel vegetables, fold their clothes, match their socks, and care for pets. “Tweens” can sort the mail and take out the recycling. And adolescents can prepare the family dinner, read to their younger siblings, help with computer maintenance and home repair, and manage their own bank account. Promote Concentration The ability to focus and concentrate is an important skill for learning. You can help develop your child’s concentration by observing what sparks her interest. Set her up with the means and materials to explore it, and let her work without interruption. While your child’s work environment should be free of distraction, it doesn’t have to be away from family activity. Some children prefer working at the kitchen table or reading in a cozy corner of the living room to holing up in a bedroom or study. Observe your child’s response to various environments, ask questions, and make adjustments as needed. Nurture Inner Motivation Children are most willing to apply themselves when they feel there’s intrinsic value to their work. Some parents use external rewards as motivation, but only pride and pleasure from within has lasting, and meaningful, effects. Montessori teachers refrain from using traditional classroom rewards such as gold stars and merit-based privileges. Instead, they focus on nurturing each child’s personal sense of accomplishment. Even praise is given sparingly—saved to acknowledge a child’s effort, rather than the outcome of her work. By expressing encouragement and appreciation for your child’s efforts, you—like her teachers—help nurture an inner motivation that will serve her for life. Kingswood Montessori Academy is a private school in Homestead, Fl. Kingswood Monstessori is an accredited school serving children Toddlers through Elementary. www.kingswoodmontessori.com

Summer Time: Active Bodies and Active Minds

The Summer is finally here! The students look forward to it with such anticipation. A time to take it slow, after all they've worked hard all year, ... right? Well, before you send your child to three long months of relaxation take a moment to think about the possibility of keeping them engaged academically as well... always with fun in mind of course. The long summer months are a great time to reinforce key concepts your child has already mastered,. For the young preschoolers, fine motor skills are so important, older preschooler flashcards with sight words. For Elementary, read, read, read. Visits to the library are so much fun and they always have cool activities and math facts also with Flashcards for those long road trips, The teacher's store is a great resource to find cool workbooks for your child. I can not stress enough the importance of vocabulary building, any activity could be a an opportunity to introduce new words. We have 2 months left, have fun and LEARN! Kingswood Montessori it's a private school in Homestead, FL offering toddlers, preschool and Elementary students education as well as Summer Camp.

"Let's Sit Down For Dinner"

Last night I invited Dr. Joseph Mallet, child psychologist, to come and speak about positive discipline. He began his lecture with encouraging parents to sit down to dinner as a family every day. A simple routine that today with over scheduling, over working, over stimulation is sometimes lost.

Dinner time is a wonderful opportunity to expose children to new vocabulary, get sparks of interest on different topics and get their feedback on things that they are interested in and would like to explore further.

Those few minutes a day are an optimal time to build upon skills such as rational thinking, comprehension and cause and effect.

Some food for thought!

Peacocks: Friend or Foe?

We have a family of peacocks living at Kingswood. They stroll around right before sunrise and come out again at dusk. When the weather is cooperative they like to take afternoon walks. They are magical creatures, reminiscent of ancient times, that truly exemplify the beauty of nature. The preschool children scream with joy every time they see one, like if the bird was a super hero or their favorite cartoon character. Adults are also fascinated by them. Sometimes while giving tours, they decide to make a presence as to impress the new visitors. Sure enough they are always greeted by surprise and amazement by the new comers, and they ask me, "are the peacocks also part of the school," until recently my answer was always, "No."
Last October one of the upper elementary students came up to me very upset, apparently the peacock had eaten the pineapple she had so diligently planted with her friends. It turns out the peacocks like to eat all the seeds the children plant. This made all the bird's beauty and splendor disappear in the eyes of those children; all they saw now was a bird that destroyed all their hard work.
Yet the peacocks have caused us to come up with clever more efficient ways to make our gardens blossom. For example: researching plants that the peacocks dislike, and asking gardeners for their expert advice on building contraptions that will deter the birds from eating our seeds. The experience has taught the children the hard work that goes behind tending a garden, and appreciate more the fruits of their labor. Now and again the peacocks outsmart us and get away with their share of the harvest, but that only makes us want to continue to strive to be better. This process is called growth, and for that we are thankful to the peacocks! But besides all that, its still pretty cool to have peacocks at our school. :)

Healthy Kingswood Kids!

Children’s health is something of great concern to me. The statistics are alarming in this country. Lately you can’t pick up a parenting magazine without finding at least 5 articles about health issues. Unfortunately, even with all of this attention, our children are facing severe and worsening health challenges.
One out of four children suffers from allergies
One in ten children has been diagnosed with asthma
Type II diabetes is being diagnosed in children as young as 10
25% of our kids are overweight
One in twelve children has ADD or ADHD
One in ninety-one children is on the autism spectrum.
And for the first time in recent history, our children are not expected to live longer than we are. Luckily, there are many steps you can take to help your children move in the right direction on the path toward better health. The following are what I consider to be the top five things to do on your quest for better health. Of course there are more things you can do, and I encourage them, but for the sake of space, here are the top five.
1.Put good things into your body. This is the number one thing in achieving better health. Our body needs good building blocks. The food we eat should be whole, fresh, organic, clean, unprocessed, and full of nutritive value the way nature designed. We should avoid “edible food like substances” – processed foods full of chemical additives, dyes, and sweeteners (especially artificial).
2.Our drinks should be clean and pure as well. Water is the best liquid you can put into your body. 75% of your body is water and it needs to be replenished daily.
3.Get proper amounts of sleep. Sleep is the time that our bodies use to build, process, heal, regenerate and rest. We all need it. Without it our brains, digestive systems, immune systems, and muscular systems don’t work as well. Most children require 10-14 hours of sleep per day (newborns need more).
4.Have a positive mental attitude. It is absolutely true that our bodies are affected by our attitudes. In order to have a positive mental attitude, children need a home where they feel safe, happy, comfortable and confident. The saying “laughter is the best medicine” is very true. It boosts immunity, thereby making our children healthier. Focus on giving your child an environment where they feel loved, accepted, and confident.
5.Get plenty of exercise. Children are little balls of energy and they need to move. Kids should be getting at least one hour of structured physical activity and one hour of unstructured physical play per day. It stimulates their brains, balance, dexterity, muscles, and bones. And, it prepares them for a lifestyle of activity as they grow. Children who are active are more likely to become adults who are active.

At Kingswood we promote healthy eating habits and teach the children the importance of respecting their bodies as well as their environment. If you have any ideas on healthy options for children, send them our way to share with our community.

Coping With Seperation Anxiety

One of the most difficult things for parents and children new to starting a school is coping with the separation anxiety. Seeing your child cry when he or she realizes you are leaving can be very emotional and difficult. However take comfort in knowing that your child's reactions as well as your own is very normal, hopefully this can make the process easier. Here are some tips you can take to hopefully make the transition a bit smoother for them as well as yourself.:
Familiarity: Face day and Open House are great opportunities for your child to adjust to his/her new environment and get to know their teachers and classmates. Visit the school several times before and talk to your child about what he/she will expect once they start.
Be Prepared: Recognize that your child may have may have difficulties separating. Young children often gauge situations by how adults respond to them. Therefore, try not to make your concerns too evident to your child. On the other hand, do not ignore or diminish your child's concerns. For example, it is okay to tell your child, "I know you are sad when mommy leaves, but I think of you all day and will be back to get you after you nap." Remember, too that staff members at Kingswood have a lot of experience with separation issues, and are there to help you and your child work through the transition. Feel free to call as many times as you like to check up during the day.
Be consistent: Having a routine during the first few weeks is essential. Young children cannot tell time or even recall day-today events, their sense of security comes from predictable routines. Waking up in the morning, leaving the house, saying your goodbyes in the same way each day, and picking up your child at the same of the day will provide much needed consistency. Sometimes having special rituals during drop-off and pick-up times can be helpful. After a time your child will learn that you will come back when you day you will. AS important, a foundation of trust is established between you and your child, one that will make future transitions easier.

All I need to Know...

As we get ready to welcome in a new school year, I know that some parents might feel nervous, specially for those little ones that are starting school for the first time. Recently I ran into an excerpt on a wonderful book by Robert Fulghum: The only thing I ever really needed to know I learned in Kindergarten. I am sure you are familiar with it, and I thought it would be timely to share it with you now. Enjoy!

Share everything.

Play Fair.

Don't hit people.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours

Say you are sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life-learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out in the world watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.

Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we aer all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the seed in the Styrofoam cup-they all die, so do we.

And then remember the Dick and Jane books and the first word you learned- the biggest word of all- LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. Take any of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if all -the whole world- would have cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down for a nap. Or if all governments had a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and clean up there own mess. And it is true, no matter how old you are - when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Summer Fun!

Spring Break Happenings by First Grade

"We went to a hotel in Daytona Beach, had an Easter Egg hunt at my grandma's house, and made a bag for my Aunt's birthday." ~ Alexa

"I had an Easter Egg hunt and went and visited my dad's school and I also played with my friend!" ~Victoria L.

"My family went to Tampa, went to a Sea Aquarium, and also saw my Aunt's first baby. At the aquarium my favorite animals were the killer whales and dolphins." ~ Payne

"I had an Easter Egg hunt and the rest of the time I played in the pool with my brother. The water was COLD!" ~ R.J.

"I played a LOT of wii. I'm great at Mario Party Eight!" ~ Ian

"I went to Columbia with my Aunt for five days and visited my family." ~ Camilo

"My grandpa took me to Rapids Water Park, it was really fun when we went in the wave pool. I also went to Lion Country Safari with my grandparents and cousins." ~ Stephen

Feel the love at PATCHES! By Lacie and Moncia

The Friday before Valentine's Day we delivered Valentine cards made by upper elementary to a place called PATCHES. PATCHES is like a school for children who have special medical needs. We greeted the children with Valentine's cards. They were so excited to see us and we were so excited to see them! Our visit inspired us to help PATCHES and their special needs children. Every Friday, we will have a bake sale and the money we make will be donated to PATCHES. We know they really need diapers, medicine, and some toys. Also, at movie night we want to collect money.

If you would like to learn more about PATCHES you can go to their website http://www.patchesppec.org/. Together we can all make a difference.

Winterfest FUN!

A fun time was had by all in January at the Kingswood annual Winterfest event. See below for some great pictures of some great times!

Haiti Relief - One Piggy Bank at a time!

Two Kingswood students showed a lot of compassion last week. Upon hearing about the many needs of the people in Haiti, our school started collecting funds to donate. Liam and Sonya, both Lower Elementary students, took this to heart. They went home, emptied their ENTIRE "piggy bank" savings, and brought in their money to donate. We are so proud of you two for showing such an act of kindness!

When asked why they chose to donate all the money they had in their "piggy banks", as opposed to some of it, they replied:

"I really wanted to help because the houses are all torn down." ~Sonya

"I wanted to feel good for Haiti. Now lots of people can buy the supplies they need."~Liam

Upper Elementary Letters to the students of Tepeyac.

Below are the letters written by Monica, Jordi, Emilee, and Brandon.

They were created in a word document and the students had to add photos or clip art, and choose their font style, color, and size.


Some decided to write in English and others decided to write in Spanish (they best they could!) Enjoy!!

Update - Letters arrive from Tepeyac, Nicaragua!

HOW EXCITING!!!! The students received letters from the children at the Tepeyac school in Nicaragua. They also received a disc with new pictures and videos that the children took of themselves with some interesting facts about their school and where they live.

The Kingswood Upper Elementary students, along with the Third Grade students, are creating letters and cards on the computer. They should be done before winter break and will be sent along with the school supplies we collected. Once printed, the students will sign and illustrate their letters and prepare them to be sent. Starting in January the Upper Elementary multi-media class will begin a video collage to send as well.

Something we've learned...the children and families of Tepeyac are VERY dependant on the coffee bean harvest. Almost every card we received had a picture drawn by the students of the coffee plants. We also found out they will break from school for over a month until the harvest is complete. How interesting!

In my own words (December)

The students had a camp out in November. Here is what some of them had to say about it.

"We had sandwiches for dinner! We had a fire and roasted marshmallows!" -Kayla

"The camp out was really fun! We had a funny skit with the girls." - Rebekah

"The best part, we were in our tent doing hair and nails and playing video games." -Lacie

Tepeyac school in Nicaragua

Our first question to the students of the Tepeyac school in Nicaragua is, "What do you like most about your school?" Check back later for their answers and the answer to that question by our Upper Elementary students here at Kingswood.