In anticipation of what’s sure to be an unusual Mother’s Day, we’d like to dedicate this edition of The Pinwheel to all the moms who comprise the heart and soul of Greensboro Montessori School. This one’s for the mothers who are crushing this new gig as teachers, and the ones who are struggling to relearn fourth grade math. The moms who are cheerleading their kids through remote learning, and the ones who give themselves permission to sometimes let it go. The moms who are supporting their partners, and the ones who are doing it all on their own. The ones who are plugging away at their jobs from home, and those who are bravely heading out every day to keep our community running. This is for the mothers who are emotional mainstays, and for those who aren’t afraid to let their cracks show. However you moms choose to celebrate on Sunday, we honor you. We hope you’ll take a moment to envision yourself through your child’s eyes, and marvel at the strength, wisdom, and comfort they see in you. May their unwavering love be a gift of hope and happiness on Mother’s Day, and every day.
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Starting this week, we’re also tipping our hats to our incredible faculty.
One of our Community Association’s (GMSCA) primary functions includes celebrating our faculty by coordinating snacks for Parent-Teacher Conference Days, classroom gifts for the holidays, and Teacher Appreciation Week.
Typically, our School's spring calendar is quite full with special events and overnight field trips. Hence, the GMSCA had originally planned this year’s teacher appreciation activities for the week of May 18-22, when all of our students and teachers would have been on campus. Given the current situation, we’re able to begin our celebration early and join the nationwide celebration of National Teacher Appreciation Week. For families who’d like to participate, the GMSCA is planning a fun, coordinated effort for students and families to express their thanks to our faculty. Be on the lookout for additional details to arrive in your inbox tomorrow.
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We've enjoyed gathering and growing with you during our virtual parent events. Our next event is Tuesday, May 12 from 8:30 to 9:15 p.m., when Joyce Ann Starks, a certified parent educator, will host a seminar on Punishment vs. Discipline. Participants will learn action-based techniques for turning their child's desire for control into self-control. Registration closes Monday, May 11.
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Remote Learning Highlights
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Primary students go on a virtual field trip to YMCA Camp Weaver this week with Primary 1 faculty, Stacy Cosson. (Stacy's husband, Jamie, is the Camp's executive director). After a lesson on honey bees, Stacy shows students the bee hives at YMCA Camp Weaver, and the students receive an insider's tour of their newest hive.
Watch the video.
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Lower Elementary students are enjoying poetry lessons for Mother's Day. After each lesson, students write their own poem to a special woman in their lives.
In this video lesson, Cynthia Kiddy introduces acrostic poems by reading "Spring: An Acrostic Alphabet." Katie Jones offers two additional video lessons, one on
haiku poems and another on
cinquain poems.
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While studying phonetics in Spanish, students are practicing trabalenguas (tongue twisters). Trabalenguas help students increase their fluency and decoding skills. Each one focuses on a different area of pronunciation, and with repetition and practice, students' increase their speech speed and develop mastery of the sound.
Watch Kyla's trabalengua.
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Resources for Students and Parents
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Every week we'll share several resources for students and families that might be of help to you during your time at home. Have you seen a great idea online? Do you own or are you connected to a business that has some complimentary, mission-aligned, and virtual activities you think other families would enjoy? If so, please
email them to us, so we can include them in our recommendations.
- Spring Muffins from GCM: Sometimes, of course, nothing is quite as comforting as a good homemade muffin. Check out this yummy recipe from our friends at the Greensboro Children’s Museum. (Shh...don’t tell the kids they’re healthy!)
- Banishing Boredom: This article from the Harvard Graduate School of Education offers activities and discussion starters to get children thinking about their connections to the community. Build empathy and spark creativity with prompts specially tailored for children from preschool through adolescence.
- Ten Percent Happier: This website’s Coronavirus Sanity Guide offers peaceful practices to help manage stress and find meaning in turbulent times. Meditations, inspirational talks, podcasts, and daily “live sanity breaks” will help you reconnect with your inner calm.
- Longleaf Film Festival: Join the North Carolina Museum of History for this special two-days-only virtual event, which showcases short- and long-form documentaries connected to the Tarheel state. Films will be available for free viewing this Friday and Saturday. Stay tuned to this webpage for more details, and please note that some offerings are not suitable for young children.
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Follow the links below to review previous schoolwide communications:
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Punishment vs. Discipline
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Date:
Tuesday, May 12, 8:30 to 9:15 p.m.
Location:
Zoom
Learn specific techniques to pivot your child's desire for control into self-control in this 45-minute coaching session with certified parent educator, Joyce Ann Starks.
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Date:
Friday, May 15
Location:
Email
We will let families know by Friday, May 15 if we will open All-Inclusive Summer Camp as scheduled. If we have to make any adjustments to the Summer Camp schedule, we will make corresponding financial adjustments to families' fees.
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Enjoy these family-submitted Photos of the Week of remote learning in action!
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Help us build our Photos of the Week! Did you know you can also upload photos to Vidigami! We've created albums for "Remote Learning Photos" for each of our classrooms. Please start uploading photos from your in-home learning experiences to share with your friends and teachers. We'll curate photos from each week to share with our community through The Pinwheel.
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Greensboro Montessori School
2856 Horse Pen Creek Road, Greensboro, NC 27410
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