We invite parents to view their children in the classroom on our 2nd floor vestibule television monitors.

Starting the morning of Thursday, September 22, teachers will permit viewing shortly after classes begin.  We have two cameras each for the East and South classrooms, and a single camera for the Stepping Stones classroom.  All cameras allow for remote control to pan, tilt and zoom: you may view almost any part of the room and zoom in for a close-up picture. 

Please be gentle with the equipment (especially the pan/tilt controls) and understand that each camera has limits to its viewing area: please do not try to force the cameras beyond these limits. 

Finally, if other parents are waiting to control the camera, our informal rule asks that you cede control of the camera to the next waiting parent after five minutes.  You may continue to view your child’s class, but allow the next parent to choose the camera’s focus.

If you encounter problems with the equipment or have other questions, please let Anne Marie know.

Thanks to Daniel (Piano – Mondays), Carrie (Mandarin – Tuesdays), and Lisa (Violin – Wednesdays) for spending time with our families this afternoon to describe their instructional programs and answer parent questions. 

No doubt children will enjoy and learn in any one of these programs.  We’ve already received several enrollments in each program, but still have space for more students.  Remember, these classes start the first week of October.   However, After Care is available starting next week (Monday September 19) — please remember to fund your After Care account.  

If you’d like more information, look in the Parents section of the website, under Downloads (log-on required) — there you’ll find a description of all the after school programs, including enrollment forms.  (You can also pick up enrollment forms from the office).   Of course, if you have questions, please e-mail them to us at contact@themontessorihouse.com.

Correction:the enrollment form for Piano says there’s a limit of three (3) students in the program.  The limit is three (3) students per session, but we can accommodate 4 sessions, so a total of 12 students.

Phase-in for students starts next week.  Check your individual schedule for details.

Parents may want to put the following dates on their calendars for next week.

• Meet the Teachers Night
  Tuesday, September 13, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (parents only please)
  Refreshments provided
• After-School Programs Open House
  Wednesday, September 14, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
  Piano, Mandarin, Violin and After Care
  Email sent with all the details and enrollment forms
• Optional Information Meeting on Volunteer Committees
  Thursday, September 15, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
  Register on-line in the Parents section.
  On-line you’ll find details on all the committees. 
  Email sent with information and instructions for on-line registration.

Just wanted to let our families know that The Montessori House is fine in the wake of Irene.   The playground’s a bit messy, but no worse than most people’s yards.  It should all be ship shape by the time teachers come on Sept. 6 and students on Sept. 12.  In fact, you’ll see that the parking lot has been patched, sealed, and re-striped!
We’ll see you in September!

Welcome to the over 80 families enrolled at The Montessori House for 2011-12.  Most of our sessions are full and have a wait list.  We still have a handful of openings in our Stepping stones program for children born after July 1, 2008.  If you’re interested please call or e-mail.

If your child is older, call us joining the wait list (your application will carry over for 2012-13. 

We continue to offer school tours until students arrive in September.  If you’d like to see the school “in action” (with students and teachers in the classroom), tours of the school will start again in October.  You may call for an appointment and also to join our mailing list so that we can keep you informed about our enrollment calendar for 2012-13.

Many of you attended our 2011 Summer Camp and enjoyed 5 weeks of fun and excitement.  Our themes this year included: The Silk Road, Tomie diPaola, The Nile, The Amazon Rain Forest, and US Westward Expansion! 

Some of the activities included:

• Chase by a grizzly bear.
• Painting a house.
• Trading on the Silk Road.
• Riding a Nile crocodile.
• Collecting nuts in the rain forest.

Luckily we had beautiful weather, so we could enjoy The Beach every day!

 Thanks to Ms. Hillarie, Ms. Deepthi, Ms. Christine and Ms. Maria, as well as to all our volunteers — Sydney, Morgan, Elle, Maxine, Maxie, Liel, Hailey, Isabelle, Madeline, Anne Maire, Olivia, and Isabella.

Last night’s Parent Night presentation (sponsored by Friends of Montessori Foundation) on Sexual Health was just fascinating.  Miriam Baker, parent of two Montessori house alumni and a noted expert on sexual health, led the discussion and addressed issues of great interest to anyone who is a parent or a spouse.  THANKS Miriam!

For more information about Miriam Baker and her practice in NYC and Englewood, NJ, or to contact her, you may visit the website of her professional practice: http://mbaker-ngrigorian.com/about/about.htm.

The Montessori Mafia

By Peter Sims

 It may seem like a laughable “only in New York” story that Manhattan mother, Nicole Imprescia, is suing her 4-year-old daughter’s untraditional private preschool for failing to prepare her for a private school admissions exam.

But her daughter’s future and ours might be much brighter with a little less conditioning to perform well on tests and more encouragement to discover as they teach in Montessori schools. Ironically, the Montessori educational approach might be the surest route to joining the creative elite, which are so overrepresented by the school’s alumni that one might suspect a Montessori Mafia: Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, videogame pioneer Will Wright, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, not to mention Julia Child and rapper Sean “P.Diddy” Combs.

Is there something going on here?  Is there something about the Montessori approach that nurtures creativity and inventiveness that we can all learn from?

…

By the end of kindergarten, among 5-year-olds, “Montessori students proved to be significantly better prepared for elementary school in reading and math skills than the non-Montessori children,” according to the researchers.  “They also tested better on “executive function,” the ability to adapt to changing and more complex problems, an indicator of future school and life success.”

Of course, Montessori methods go against the grain of traditional educational methods.  We are given very little opportunity, for instance, to perform our own, original experiments, and there is also little or no margin for failure or mistakes.  We are judged primarily on getting answers right.  There is much less emphasis on developing our creative thinking abilities, our abilities to let our minds run imaginatively and to discover things on our own.

…

From the Wall Street Journal April 5, 2011, 10:57 AM ET

Classes at The Montessori House school are canceled for Wednesday, February 2, 2011. 

The office will be closed, all classes and tours are canceled.  We expect to return to our normal schedule and hours tomorrow.

Wow!  That ice is really something!

The Montessori House will be open on its normal schedule, Tuesday, February 1, 2011. 

Local conditions vary; parents, please exercise caution planning your time and route to school today.  Feel free to keep your children at home, arrive late, or pick up early,  if that is your best, safest course of action.