The Montessori House school is still closed as we continue to have no electric power on Friday, November 2nd.

The most up-to-date information continues to be found at 201-816-8343. We will update our information by 6:00 a.m. Monday. Please call 201-816-8343 after 6:00 a.m. Monday for the latest information.

Finally, we have extended our deadline for any payments that were due November 1st.  Please deliver November 1 payments on the first day school is open. 

 We hope all families are safe, and that your electric power (and ours!) is restored this weekend!

The Montessori House is still closed today,Wednesday, October 31st.  Happy Halloween! (Trick or Treat?) 

The school has not elecrtric power, and until power is restored we cannot re-open.

We have very limited access to the internet.  The most up-to-date information can be found by calling 201-816-8343 — we will update our message each day by 6 a.m. to let you know our status.  

For the most up-to-date information,  PLEASE CALL 201-816-8343

The Montessori House is closed today, Monday, October 29th. 

It is likely school will also be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, October 30th. 

We will provide an update on school closing as follows:

1. Here in NEWS on the website.
2. Via the phone message at 201-816-8343.
3. Via e-mail to our 2012-13 parents and teachers.  

In case you see no further update in NEWS, we’ve probably lost internet communications. 

Generally, for the most up-to-date information,  PLEASE CALL 201-816-8343.

On Monday, October 8, 2012 (Columbus Day), all Montessori classes are in session on the usual schedule.

Many school in NJ are in session.  Here’s a quick sampling:

• Tenafly Public
• Cresskill Public (minimum day)
• Paramus Public (minimum day)
• Elizabeth Morrow
• Bergen Academies
• Oakland Public

In fact, The Montessori House will be open Monday-Friday on the regular schedule all of October; the next holiday with a school closing is Thanksgiving — school is closed November 21, 22, 23 (Wed. Thur. Friday).

A recent essay in the Wall Street Journal ( “The Perils of Texting While Parenting“) starts out with this question:

Are too many parents [or nannies or babysitters] distracted by mobile devices when they should be watching their kids? A recent rise in injuries, reversing the longstanding trend, has doctors worried that the answer is yes.

At The Montessori House, we also think the answer is “yes”.  Whenever children are present — during classtime, or during After Care — our teachers may not use their devices.  And we strongly recommend that parents put their devices away once they leave the car during arrival or dismissal. 

If the adult is distracted, clearly the risk is increased. We know that drivers and pedestrians are distracted and more at risk when they use devices. It’s a fairly small leap to suggest that supervisors are distracted.

For example:

One afternoon at a swimming pool at a Foxwood Resort Casino hotel in Connecticut, Habibah Abdul-Hakeem was watching a friend’s 2-year-old son when another friend texted, asking how her day was going. She texted back that she would send him a photo of herself.

The child sat down on a step in the pool, slipped and began sinking … There was no lifeguard. The boy flailed for about a minute, drifting toward the deep end, then sank.   … About three minutes after she began fiddling with the phone, she dropped it.   Only then did she notice the young boy underwater. She plunged in and pulled him out.  Her calls for help brought a pool attendant who resuscitated the child, who recovered fully.Ms. Abdul-Hakeem told an emergency technician that she had taken her eyes off the boy for about 20 seconds  … security-camera footage suggested she didn’t look at him for more than three minutes.

Parents also get distracted:

Psychologist Kathy Hirsh-Pasek of Temple University recently had students observe 30 parents and their children in public places. In almost every case, she says, the parent interrupted an activity with the child to use a device. “In one case a parent let go of her kid’s hand in the middle of a big street in Philadelphia in order to check a text message,” she says.

All of us who care for children — parents, relatives, friends, babysitters, teachers, camp counselors — must manage distractions, and especially distractions we choose, like our devices.

If you haven’t settled on a school for your child 2 to 4 years old, we still have a handful of openings for 2012-13:

1. For children age 3 or 4 before October 1, 2012, we have openings in the afternoon session of our half-day Pre-Primary Montessori program (M-F, 12:15 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. with after school classes and After Care available until 6:00 p.m. ).   Tuition for the full year is $8,200.
2. For children who turn age 3 after October 1, 2012 and before April 1, 2013, we have openings in our half-day Montessori Stepping Stones program (early session meets 8:45 to 11:15 a.m., late session meets 11:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.).  We only accept children once they turn 2-1/2.  If your child starts during the school year (say, in January), then you will pay a reduced, pro-rated tuition, based on the number of days the program meets during the school year — full-year tuition is $9,300, pro-rated tuition from January 1 is $6,500.

Children who enroll at The Montessori House for 2012-13 will receive placement in the program of their choice for 2013-14.

If you would like to enroll your child for 2012-13 or have questions, please contact us at 201-816-8343 or at admissions@themontessorihouse.com.

In a recent article in the WSJ — What Happens When Toddlers Zone Out With an iPad 

More than half of the young children in the U.S. now have access to an iPad, iPhone or similar touch-screen device.
…
In many ways, the average toddler using an iPad is a guinea pig. While the iPad went on sale two years ago, rigorous, scientific studies of how such a device affects the development of young children typically take three to five years.

There is “little research on the impact of technology like this on kids,” says Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Hospital
…
In the list of parental worries about tablet use: that it will make kids more sedentary and less sociable. There’s also the mystery of just what is happening in a child’s brain while using the device.
…
“Unfortunately a lot of the real-life experimentation is going to be done by parents who now have young kids,” says Glenda Revelle, associate professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Arkansas.

At The Montessori House we generally discourage screen time for young children.  A significant aspect of The Montessori Method is having children interact with the real world — in three dimensions, with all five senses.  When we “follow the child” we follow them through the real world, and Montessori “works” lead them through the real world.  Children engage through senses, and learn through all their senses — the Sand Paper Letters are a great example of helping children to learn by seeing the letter, moving their hands, and feeling the texture. 

The more television children watch during these formative years, Dr. Christakis says, the more likely they are to develop attention problems later on.  … While he hasn’t studied tablets and young children, he suspects the effect could be similar—or perhaps more significant. “One of the strengths of the iPad”—it is interactive—”may be the weakness,” Dr. Christakis says.

Remember in The Montessori classroom children make the choices and control their pace.  It’s different with interactive “apps”:

The child decides when a building is finished; an app determines when the task is completed correctly.

“It gives him a dopamine squirt,” says Michael Rich, director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital in Boston, referring to the brain chemical often associated with pleasure.

Many apps for kids are designed to stimulate dopamine releases—hence encouraging a child to keep playing—by offering rewards or exciting visuals at unpredictable times.

Whatever approach you take with your child, keep in mind the proverb: “Moderation in all things”.

One of our Montessori House parents (Ingrid a.k.a. Nana, mother of Julieta and Sami) ) has entered an art competition.  If she garners enough votes, her sculpture may be displayed in Times Square!

If you’d like to see her sculpture and vote to support her, click on Contact at this link:  http://nanacampos.artistswanted.org/atts2012#.T6oR_kW4y-Q.facebook

On Monday, 3/26/12, parent volunteers from the Nutrition Committee made guacamole with the children at the Montessori House. 

With their Montessori training and expertise in ”practical life”, the children did the measuring, assembly and mixing themselves.   Of course the parents and teachers helped them with the eating!  Guacamole was a great hit! 

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try this at home:

• 5 Hass avocados (ripe)

• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

• Juice of 1 lime

• Sea salt (to taste)

• 1 tbsp. minced garlic

• One tomato diced

Mix together, add some chips or other dipping food, and enjoy!  Ole!