Thank you so much to everyone for coming to our exhibition! It was really great to see all of you, and we hope that you enjoyed yourselves while learning something new. We have had a lot of fun over the past couple of months (well...since the fall, really) learning about fungi and its place in the kingdoms of life. The Saplings were both nervous and excited to present to you, but they pulled it off without a hitch! Here are some photos of the event.

Now that we have wrapped up our unit on fungi and its place in the kingdoms of life, we are turning our attention to plants and animals.

The Saplings are learning about trees this spring. We have started to study the parts of trees and their functions as well as the differences between conifers and deciduous trees. The Saplings have chosen a tree that will be theirs to come back to each time we step out to do part of our tree study. This week, they drew their trees and took data on the number of conifers and deciduous trees surrounding it.

We have also begun learning about how to categorize animals into groups starting with vertebrates and invertebrates. We will learn about the external parts of vertebrates and their body functions.

• Mar. 26 Staff In-Service Day- Half day: Dismissal at 11:45am
• Apr. 2 FC Meeting 3:15 in Brook Trout classroom
• Apr. 4 Family Friday #2 Book Swap and Bake Sale (1:45-3:00).... NO ASP
• Apr. 12 Campus Clean Up (9am-1pm)
• Apr. 16 Staff Meeting- No ASP
• Apr. 25 Student Led Conferences - No School
• Apr. 28 – May 2 Spring Recess – No School
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We have added and will be adding a little more to our wishlist for items we hope to have for our spring studies. We're trying something different this time and including links to items we have our eyes on from our favorite websites like Acorn Naturalist and Alison's Montessori in addition to our running Amazon list. Thank you SO much to everyone who has contributed to our classroom in all of the ways that you do, including purchasing items from our wishlist.

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3C054KYU6O6CU?ref_=wl_share

Acorn Naturalists:

Tree Round Collection (19 Species)

Why Evergreens Keep Their Leaves

Alison's Montessori:

Montessori Materials: Parts of a Tree Nomenclature Cards 6-9 (Printed)

Montessori Materials: The Rock Cycle Nomenclature Cards (6-9)

Montessori Materials: The Rock Cycle Puzzle

In addition to the school-wide Winter Solstice celebration, we also enjoy a classroom celebration before break that includes the famous Saplings Sweet & Salty Solstice Snack Mix, Wassail, making pomanders, and a viewing of the Snowman. We added another pre-break tradition this year of cozying up with our pillows, blankets, and pjs the day before break to watch a movie together. This year's movie was Ice Age, as a little note to the Timeline of Life which we had just been presented shortly before break. Moments like this are all about community building and memory making!

We are learning about nouns at the moment. Grammar is a major area of focus in the Montessori language curriculum. We have lots of fun learning about the parts of speech through different materials and lessons. Of course, we love music in the Saplings classroom and take any opportunity to include it our learning. Not sure if the students or teachers were more excited to listen to some Schoolhouse Rock this week, but here is what was shared with the Saplings. They were promised that the video would be in the newsletter this week, since we only listened. Enjoy!

• Jan. 15 Staff Meeting- No ASP
• Jan. 16-Winter Program begins
• Jan. 20 MLK Day- No School
• Jan. 20 FC Ice skating event 10:00-11:45 (This is MLK Day. School is closed.)
• Jan. 29 Staff In-Service Day-Half day- Dismissal at 11:45. No ASP.
• Jan. 31 Re-enrollment forms are due
• Feb 19 Staff Meeting- No ASP
• Feb 20 MVCS Exhibition (evening LE 5-5:45, UE/MS 6-6:45)- Yes ASP (3-5)
• Feb. 24–28 Winter Recess – No School

The snow has arrived, and we are so excited about it! The forest at MVCS is an extra magical place during the winter. We've been enjoying strolls through the woods to collect Solstice crafting supplies and visiting our fort building spots to see how they're holding up with all of the snow. Solstice prep is also underway as we create lanterns and learns songs for the event.

There is a busy week coming up! Please make sure to look through these notes carefully, so you don't miss anything.

Did you know that you can paint vegetable oil on paper to make your own translucent window clings?! Just color your paper brush it with the oil, then stick it right to the window. So fun!

12/19

Thursday will be our class Solstice celebration. We have created some traditions that the Saplings really look forward to each year. We will make our Saplings Sweet and Salty Solstice Snack Mix and Wassail that we will enjoy while watching the Snowman. The sign up doc for Wassail and snack mix ingredients will be in your email.

5:00-6:30 MVCS Winter Solstice celebration at Hummingbird Center

12/20

Friday is a 1/2 day. The theme of the day will be cocoa, candy canes, and coziness. Saplings are invited wear their pajamas and to bring a blanket and pillow for some pre-vacation fun and relaxation.

It has been an eventful few weeks to say the least. Thank you for your patience and understanding with the absence of newsletter for most of November. We're back in action! Here's the scoop on our month so far.

Jack and Maybe came to visit us at morning recess last week.

Thank you to everyone who helped pull off our first (hopefully annual) Friendsgiving! Lower El had so much fun preparing for it, and we could feel the excitement about it build throughout the week. The food was delicious, and the kids put an impressive dent in all of it! As always, we appreciate everything you do to contribute to our celebrations. Without your support, we wouldn't be able to do so many fun and special events. Thank you!!

• Nov. 24 FC Lantern Making Event 9-2 in Upper El (Plymouth Holiday Parade Prep)
• Nov. 25 Sign up for Conferences on December 13
• Nov. 27 Half Day-Dismissal at 11:45am
• Nov. 28– Nov. 29 Thanksgiving Recess- No School
  
• Dec. 7 Plymouth Hometown Holiday Parade (5:00) and Festival of Trees
• Dec. 12 Progress Reports will go home
• Dec. 13 Parent– Parent Teacher Conferences- No School
  
• Dec. 18 Staff Meeting-No ASP
• Dec. 19 Solstice Celebration 5:00-6:30, Hummingbird Center, No ASP
• Dec. 20 Half Day-Dismissal at 11:45 **Lower El Solstice Celebration will also happen on this day
• Dec. 23-Jan. 1st-Holiday Break

This week we had lots of fun with leaves and pumpkins. We did a multi-step pumpkin investigation that included some science, math, and art. Students estimated how many seeds each pumpkin had, measured the circumference of their pumpkin, its height, and then finally got to dig in and find out for sure how many seeds were in each pumpkin. The Saplings were shocked by the number of seeds in each pumpkin with most of them realizing they had greatly underestimated the amount! They were also surprised to discover that the largest pumpkin was not the one that had the most seeds. For our math challenge this week, we will figure out how many seeds we found all together from all 7 pumpkins. Thank you to those of you who donated pumpkins to our pumpkin investigation!

The leaves were simply stunning this week and provided us with some extra fun in our outdoor spaces. We read an annual favorite, Leaf Man, then created our own leaf images outside and wrote a corresponding story in our writing journals. Fort Creek Friday was all about creating and then jumping in a leaf pile! The freshly fallen leaves are also proving to be great insulation as we prepare the forts we've been working on for winter.

Our school wide Halloween celebration is on Thursday, October 31st. We will have a classroom celebration in the morning followed by a whole school Halloween costume parade and fair in the afternoon. Thank you to everyone who has signed up to bring in a treat for our classroom party! Please note that we will be outside quite a bit on Thursday. If you are concerned about your child's costume getting dirty or damaged, perhaps consider an alternative for school.

Fall is fully upon us, and we are loving it! The beautiful leaves have arrived as has the cold weather. The Saplings are learning quickly that it is now too cold in the mornings for just long sleeves. Time to bring out the cold weather gear! It is the time of year when we may be starting our day geared up in jackets, hats, and mittens but end the day in a t-shirt. Please start sending your child with cold weather gear that will keep them comfortable being outside for long periods. There are mornings when your Sapling might be outside for an hour or more before coming in. Do you have a child that refuses to put on warm gear for school? Don't sweat it! Just send the gear with them, and we will take care of it!

This week, the Saplings learned about the meaning of the word "Integrity". We read the book The I in Integrity by Julia Cook, then discussed what it means to have integrity. Here is what the Saplings had to share.

Having integrity means:

-being honest

-keeping promises

-fixing mistakes

-speaking kindly to others

-doing the right thing, even when no one is watching

We have fun plans ahead for learning about and with pumpkins for the next couple of weeks. We are in need of a collection of pumpkins for various math, science, and art projects that we are hoping you might be able to help with. We are looking for pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. If you are at the grocery store or pumpkin patch over the next week or so and want to help us out by picking up an extra pumpkin for our classroom, we would greatly appreciate it. Having pumpkins on hand for some science work by Tuesday, October 15th would be especially helpful. Please feel free to email dawn@mountainvillagecharterschool.org if you have any pumpkin related questions.

Friday, October 18th-Family Friday, 1:45-3:00

Family Friday is your opportunity to get a tour of our indoor and outdoor space from your Sapling and for them to show you what they've been learning so far this year. Following your visit to our classroom, you are invited to make your way to Fort Creek for a bake sale and to the Upper El building for the winter gear swap. Please park at the Upper El parking lot and take the trail to Lower el. Hope to see you all there!

October 23-Half Day, Dismissal 11:45-12:00

October 31-Halloween Celebration-details to come!

November 2-Family Committee Halloween Festival in Fort Creek, 1:00-3:00

"The child gives us the beautiful lesson-that in order to form and maintain our intelligence, we must use our hands." -Maria Montessori

Every Friday, the Eaglets and Saplings join together for some nature exploration at Fort Creek. While we're down there, you'll find students engaging in a variety of activities from fungi hunting, fort building, clay mining, or playing a group game like Eagle Eye or Hide and Seek. It's a favorite part of the week for both teachers and students!

Goal setting conferences are coming up on the 10th & 11th. These conferences are meant to be a casual time for us all to get together, your Sapling included, and share with each other any hopes, goals, or wonderings that we have for the school year. It is a great time for students to see how their teachers and caregivers work together as part of their team to support their academic and social-emotional well-being. We're looking forward to seeing you all there!

NH RSA 200:59 requires school districts to screen all students upon enrollment
in kindergarten or first grade by November 30 of each school year.

Data from the baseline screening is one indicator of whether a child is at-risk
for dyslexia. The cut score determined by the screening tool or the local
school district triggers the initiation of an intervention. Progress monitoring
for these students occurs at regular intervals in order to determine the
effectiveness of the intervention. The frequency of progress monitoring needs
to be such that it provides timely information without detracting from the
educational process.

At MV progress monitoring will happen 3 times a year for first years (Sept-Jan-June) and one time a year (Sept) for second and third years. Students identifying as "at-risk" for dyslexia will receive evidence-based interventions responsive to the child’s needs. Results of progress monitoring are an indicator of the effectiveness of the intervention.

Families of children identified as having risk factors for dyslexia or related
disorders will be notified and provided with the results and findings of
initial and ongoing screenings.

In art this week, Lower El students learned about expressionist portraits. Students were invited to pain a portrait of themselves or someone in the room who could give their permission to have their portraits painted. The Saplings LOVE art class and create some truly inspiring and beautiful work each week. If you are wondering how you can support the Lower El art program, here is a link to the art supplies wish list.https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1BE6RJNRU8Z0P?ref_=wl_share

Continuing with concepts presented in the First Great Lesson, we started learning about the layers of the Earth this week. The Saplings (or most of them anyway) are getting a kick out of this silly song.

Friday, September is a half day. Dismissal runs from 11:45-12:00.

-On half days, rather than having both snack and lunch, we do something called "Slunch". It's a bit of a later and longer snack period and is one of our favorite traditions!

October 3: Picture Day

October 11: Goal Setting Conferences

October 14: No school-Indigenous People's Day

October 18: Family Friday

"What we do know, and what we can assert without further hesitation, is that the universe had a beginning.

The universe continues to evolve.

And yes, every one of our body’s atoms is traceable to the big bang and to the thermonuclear furnaces within high-mass stars that exploded more than five billion years ago.

We are stardust brought to life, then empowered by the universe to figure itself out – and we have only just begun."

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

The First Great Lesson is one of five lessons in Montessori curriculum called The Great Lessons. In these lessons, students are introduced to the history of the universe and their place within it (more information on Cosmic Curriculum coming soon!). In the First Great Lesson, students are presented a story of how the universe began up to how planets were formed. This lesson provides a broad overview with the intention of sparking interest and curiosity. Through follow up lessons, students dive deeper into various concepts and areas of study based on curriculum plans as well as personal interest. This year is year 2 in Lower El's 3 year cycle in our cultural curriculum, where we focus on land (air and water make up the other 2 years in the cycle). We will be studying the formation and composition of Earth and other planets in our solar system, plate tectonics, states of matter, and geology. There are many exciting observations, experiments, and research topics on the horizon this year!

We've spent lots of time these first few weeks of school learning about how our classroom will function so that everyone in our community feels safe, happy, and ready to learn. Every detail of our classroom is practiced with repetition from how we line up for lunch down to how we roll out work mats and put shoes away in our cubbies. All of these little pieces come together to create an environment that is calm and peaceful as well as one where everyone participates in the care and function of our space. Here are some photos of new Saplings being shown how we roll out, roll up, and put away work mats by returning Saplings.

We have been building up our work mornings slowly over the past couple of weeks to ensure that everyone has an understanding of how they function. Here are the Saplings engaging in independent choices during the work morning as well as doing follow up work from math lessons.

Gear:

Food:

Please make sure to check in with your Saplings about whether they have enough for in their lunchbox for snack and lunch. We have some hungry lower el students each day checking in that they are still hungry. Overpacking is always a good idea!

We have had a lot of fun getting to know each other this week! We have gone on outdoor adventures, played fun games, and are getting comfortable with classroom routines and expectations. Everyone experienced their first writing prompt of the year when we wrote about some of the fun things we did over summer vacation. Saplings also got a glimpse of some of the math concepts we'll be learning about this year through a math station exploration. Here is a sampling of the fun we've been having!

We have so many favorite spots on the MVCS campus. We will spend the first few weeks of school stopping by many of them so that new friends can be introduced and returning Saplings can say hello. These are a few of our favorite spots from this week and the activities that brought us there.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who have gifted our classroom with books from our wishlist! Our classroom library is a beloved location in our classroom, and we are going to be working hard to make sure that our collection is brought up to date with books for readers of all levels. We still need lots of help to complete this big goal. The wishlist link is attached here. Please feel free to spread the word and keep an eye out at Labor Day yard sales! Note: if you do purchase any books outside of the Amazon wishlist, please email Dawn so that they can be removed to avoid duplicates. Thank you!!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3C054KYU6O6CU?ref_=wl_share