Chili Time

IT’S THAT TIME!

WHAT TIME?

CHILI TIME!

 

 

WHEN:  TUES., OCT. 16

WHERE: TMA GYM

TIME: 6 P.M.

Grab the whole family and join the UE staff for a Chili Night in the Gym!

 

The teachers will provide the chili and we’re asking the families to round out the meal.                                          

 

If your name begins A-M, please bring a salad, relish or vegetable, and if your name comes after, please bring something ‘yummy’ to end the meal.

 

 

Following dinner we’ll declare “Open Gym”!

 

For a head count, please RSVP as soon as possible.

Camp Eberhart 2012

Back to school with the upper elementary children is always a great bonding time. What a great way for our 5^th and 6^th year children to welcome and embrace their new family members, the 4^th year and ‘new to the school’ children. We go to Camp Eberhart in Three Rivers, Michigan, at the beginning of every school year. The children spend two days and one night in Leighton Lodge on beautiful Corey Lake. There is much excitement on the bus when we leave from the school. All of the children must carry their own bedding and backpacks onto the bus. This year was an exceptional year! The children had it down to a science. I don’t think any sleeping bags fell apart as the children squeezed onto the bus.

There are always many activities and classes run by counselors who come from all over the world to work at Camp Eberhart. One class, “Birds of a Feather”, allowed the children to be detectives and discover what some birds eat as a regular diet. By dissecting sterilized owl vomit, the children put together skeletons and match them to pictures that explained what the delicious diet had been. After some ‘yuck’ moments, everyone thought this was really cool! They also played a game where they used kitchen tongs as beaks and tried to catch ‘fish’ as they swam or rather rolled by their feet. Standing on one foot, symbolizing a crane, made it very funny and challenging.

 
‘Edible Plants’ landed the children by the lake and into the woods for samplings of vegetation that Native Americans and colonists had eaten. Poisonous ones were also sought out for a history lesson. Did you know that Abraham Lincoln’s mother died from ‘milk sickness’? Her milk cow had eaten one of these deadly plants in the field, and when Mrs. Lincoln drank some milk, she became ill and passed away. The children also made tea from some of the plants.


‘Group Dynamics’ presented a timed, problem solving game that kept being played over and over again for a better finishing time as the children planned together new strategies.

 

Rock climbing was a thrill for all. A large stationary wall was used as well as a moving wall. Needless to say, more children excelled on the stationary wall. A few brave souls did tackle the moving wall with some success.

The waterfront held many activities that the children could travel to in groups at their leisure. Tubing, swimming, jumping off Coop’s Tower, and archery were enjoyed on both days. Archery brought out the best in everyone. Believe me, it’s harder than it looks! Keeping the arrow on the bow and making it to the target can be challenging. Canoeing was also on the water front. Everyone partnered up, and after a training lesson, off the children went with a counselor following in another canoe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A camp fire with stories and songs, smores, and a night walk without flashlights was a perfect ending for our first day at camp. Then, the real fun began! Spending the night in Leighton Lodge is always a thrill! You will have to ask an upper elementary student for the details!

The bus going to camp was a noisy experience with very excited children, eager to have fun. Coming back home at the end of the second day was a much quieter experience. After the fun of camp, sleep came very easily to many. We left for camp to bond with our new friends, as well as to re-establish old friendships, and came home with our upper elementary family ready for the new school year.

 

 

 

Cooking with Montessori

Food and its preparation play an intrinsic part in a Montessori education.  In Early Childhood classes the children learn with practical life materials how to pour, measure, cut, and chop.  They learn grace and courtesy by serving and accepting food items.  Sometimes Lower Elementary children continue the use of these skills by preparing their snacks as a group exercise in the school’s kitchen.  As part of their cultural studies, the children taste, as well as make, foods from many foreign cultures.  It is at this time that many children, both girls and boys, show a keen curiosity about food and cooking.  The incorporation of different foods into the curriculum continues through Upper Elementary and Junior High.  Their culinary skills and tastes expand as knowledge of their surrounding world develops.  This past year the Junior High students took part in TMA’s International Festival by creating a diverse sampling of ethnic dishes.

TMA’s Library contains many books on food and its preparation at different learning levels.  Beginning cooks might start with The Children’s Step-By-Step Cookbook.  The Library has children’s cookbooks by Emeril Lagasse and well known food editors from Better Homes and Gardens, Cooking Light, Williams and Sonoma, and Disney.  More experienced cooks might like to try Kid Favorites Made Healthy, The Magic Kitchen Cookbook or The International Cookbook for Kids.  Perhaps your child would like to have a tea party or a sleepover.  The Library can help with copies of Come to Tea, Let’s Have a Tea Party!, The Sleepover Cookbook, and Super-Duper Cupcakes.  There is even a book on how to have a Japanese tea ceremony.  Maybe young cooks would like to check out the After School Snacks Cookbook, Silly Snacks: Family Fun in the Kitchen or the Cheerios Cookbook.

Your young cook’s interest might be sparked by history.  TMA’s Library can take students on a journey across North America with Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking, Colonial Cooking, and Food for the Settler.  Perhaps you have a fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books.  The Library has a copy of The Little House Cookbook based on the frontier foods from her stories.

For the cook who is dreaming of becoming a world traveler, he or she can get a start by creating and tasting ethnic foods.  TMA’s Library can make it possible.  The Library has three excellent series of books that cover many countries and continents of the world.  Sampling books from each of these series (“A Taste of Culture,” “Food and Festivals,” and “Food and Recipes of…”) will get their gastronomical tour started.

Cooking together is a wonderful way to expand Montessori into the home.  Within a prepared environment a child is focused on a purposeful activity.  The child gets to taste and explore the cultural history of each food.  Let’s face it: cooking and eating together is just plain fun.  The Montessori Academy Library is here to help make it happen.

                                                                                                Linda Meyer

                                                                                                Library Assistant

Early Chapter Book Series for Younger Readers

“Summer reading” is a phrase that calls to mind relaxing with a book on a porch, at the beach, in a tent or at some lovely vacation spot.  We tend to spend more time outdoors and our books go with us.  We want the same to be true for our children and grandchildren, hoping that they’ll have fond memories of reading one of their childhood favorites by flashlight under the stars (or under the covers).  With some of our children, we can’t imagine them without books in their backpacks or on their bedside tables.  With other children, helping them make reading a habit definitely requires more coaxing.  Sometimes discovering just the right series for those children can launch them into a reading habit.  For both the natural readers in your life and for the ones who need some inspiration, here are some series for younger readers to consider for those special summer reading times.

Early Chapter Book Series for Younger Readers:

Anna Hibiscus: Anna Hibiscus lives in Africa, "Amazing Africa." A warm-hearted multicultural story. Advanced.

Bed & Biscuit: Grandpa Bender, a veterinarian, boards animals at the Bed & Biscuit. Advanced.

Breyer Stablemates: Young girls who love horses will love these stories and learn facts about horses, too.

Buddy Files: Buddy, a dog, devotes himself to taking care of his boy, Connor, and to solving mysteries.

Cam Jansen: Cam uses her photographic memory to solve mysteries.

Dinosaur Cove: Two boys travel back in time to the days of dinosaurs. Advanced.

Down Girl and Sit: Two busy dogs who think they are named "Down Girl" and "Sit" work hard to train their masters.

Flat Stanley: Flat Stanley has returned.  See both his original adventures and his new "Worldwide Adventures."

Fluffy the Classroom Guinea Pig: Fluffy relates his own hilarious version of day-to-day classroom life. Easy.

Fly Guy: As a pet fly, Fly Guy has adventures with his boy, just like Lassie used to do (sort of). Easy.

Henry and Mudge: Young Henry and his very large dog Mudge have fun together through all the seasons. Easy.

Magic Tree House: Long-time favorites of children who can read longer chapters; a brother and sister travel in time.

Mercy Watson: Mercy Watson is a pet pig who keeps the neighborhood crime-free and eats a lot of buttered toast.

Miami Jackson: Nine-year old Miami Jackson deals with a strict teacher, baseball camp, and other challenges.

Sugar Plum Ballerinas: Nine-year-old Alexandrea takes ballet classes and makes friends in Harlem.

Time Warp Trio: This long-running series is a favorite of boys. Magic, adventure, and history mix easily. Advanced.

Young Cam Jansen: Stories of Cam's earlier years, matched with easier reading levels.