Study: Frequent Handwashing Cuts Down on Missed School Days

Written by  Carmen Cox

 -- "Wash your hands" has been mothers' battle cry for generations. But a new study, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, gives moms some added ammunition.

Keeping a child's hands clean may have an unanticipated benefit -- keeping that child in school.

Danish researchers recently looked at two groups of students, aged 5 to 15.  One group was required to disinfect their hands with an ethanol-based gel three times a day, while another was not asked to change their behavior -- though both groups received instruction on proper handwashing techniques.

During the three-month intervention, all school absences due to illness were recorded and the data analyzed. Those who regularly cleaned their hands had 26-percent fewer missed days and 22-percent fewer illness periods than those that did not.
 

A year later, researchers switched the groups along with their handwashing habits, and found missed days declined 34 percent for those now washing regularly. And for that first group, no longer required to clean up three times a day, there was no significant change in missed days -- perhaps suggesting that hand-hygiene programs might be habit-forming.
Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Please help us spread the world and our offer from our Head of School, Deborah Drendall!

Now is the perfect time for you to visit The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes.
We would like to extend to you and your family an offer to significantly reduce the required tuition amount for the 2011-12 school year!

We are offering our Early Childhood Program 5-Day Full-Day Class for only $5,500 and our Early Childhood 5-Day Half-Day Program for $4,000. Please give us a call for additional pricing for our other levels.

We would love for your family to join ours. Please contact us at your earliest convenience so that we can make this happen!

Sincerely,

Deborah Drendall
Head of School
The Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes
ddrendall@tma-el.org
574-256-5313 Ext. 14

Integrated Curriculum Inspires Elementary Students

The integrated curriculum is designed to spark the interest of the child in knowledge, to nourish the child's creativity, and to inspire the child's discovery of the world.

The Elementary program builds on the foundation laid during the Early Childhood years. 

Children will enter Elementary with core academic skills, work habits, and concentration that gives them confidence to meet the challenge of the Montessori Elementary curriculum.

The Montessori Language Arts curriculum is a comprehensive approach to reading and writing. Reading instruction integrates phonetics, reading comprehension, grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.  In the writing area, emphasis is given to the child’s creative expression, as well as to in-depth research and integration of academic knowledge and skills.  Within the Cultural curriculum students learn the inter-connectedness of science, geography, history, botany and zoology.  Through Montessori Math students are introduced to complex concepts with concrete materials and later move into skill application with abstract lessons.  As the child’s mathematical thinking and analysis grow, the curriculum exercises a problem-solving approach to stretch those skills. 

In the Elementary program the students receive both individualized and group instruction in all subject areas.  In addition to academic growth, the elementary child is learning to be part of a larger community.  The student’s social skills are enhanced through cooperative group activities and students gain collaborative skills through dialogue, inquiry, and group discussions.

The students at this level are expected and supported to achieve their full potential in all areas and the resulting self-confidence reinforces their expanding efforts.