Search Results

We will be raising funds for our many expansion projects like the CASA dei Curiosity and especially to enhance our technology for the new space (lighting, sound, audio/visual), during Give for Good Louisville. This event is a regional day of giving and continues through 11:59pm, Thursday night. ANYONE who makes a gift to our school at this link before 11:59pm September 12th will contribute to our fundraising total this day, help us meet our school’s generous $3,000 DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR matches, and hopefully earn other matches and prizes for our school. One of these opportunities is a prize pool for the number of unique donors to the school. This is for a gift of ANY AMOUNT! The top prize range is for a total number of donors totaling ONLY 90 unique gifts!! With 350 families in our school, it should be really easy for us to blow this number out of the water! Will you join us? Please, plan to make a gift, and to share this information with friends and family! Every dollar helps our school! YES, YOU WILL RECEIVE A TEXT AND PHONE CALL - we are using this opportunity to test our texting and phone call system, which we generally use for snow day, weather and emergency situations. If you did NOT receive the text, please text "YES" to 67587 RIGHT NOW, to make sure you are opted in to receive text messages from the school. If any other information is incorrect, please email Prerana to make corrections to your contact information. We can’t wait to share the total giving from all of our generous supporters! Thank you for your gift! #CommunityMontessori

Visit this link to view a story from the News and Tribune about an awareness event and fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) which was hosted by our teen led ASSIST group. Also, here is a link to a recent story about local schools and reactions to the new ILEARN test and scores which were recently released. The story ends with a quote from CM's Director, Barbara Burke Fondren. #CMintheNews #CommunityMontessori

View the 2019-2020 Parent/Volunteer/Substitute Workshop on this page, or visit our YouTube channel. You may also download the supporting documentation here: Powerpoint presentation in PDF Format - to follow along with the video Communications Hints Handout QUESTIONNAIRE to be filled and returned to the Curved Desk Please view the entire video, complete the questionnaire here, and return the questionnaire form to the Curved Desk with all elements complete so that we can complete your background check to join us for school activities with learners. For those of you who are wonderful subs and volunteers for many years, you do need to complete this process each year. Thank you so much for your support of our school! #PIPWorkshop #ParentEducation

Welcome to the Diamond studio garden at Community Montessori School. Our studio set out on a journey to reconstruct our classroom garden. Each member of our studio worked together closely to ensure the success. As a studio, we collaborated to design a plan that would be carried out by each learner. The process encouraged teamwork, research, and effort that would in return give us a key experience to remember. #ProjectBasedLearning

Take a look at this video to see what was shared at our New Family Orientation meeting on Tuesday, August 13th. The link to the PowerPoint presentation in a .PDF to follow along can be found here. The other documents which Barbara mentions in the presentation can be found in the Family Information Tree located in the Cupola. The video link below plays the entire presentation. #PIPWorkshop #CommunityMontessori #ParentEducation #NewFamilies

View the video from our First Day of School 2019 here. Thanks to all of our community for a wonderful day! #CommunityMontessori

Faith Stout has been an Early Education Teacher at Community Montessori for 14 years. She came to our school as a parent and volunteer, before becoming an employee. She has two children that are graduates of Community Montessori. Through these experiences, she has learned so much about child development and would like to share the following information with you. I recently saw a movie and when the preview for Disney’s new Lion King came on, I was impressed with its beauty and the art of what they had done. Before you get all excited about taking your little one to see it, I wanted to give you a word of caution. As parents, we are all trying to do the best we can, and we do this by learning from each other. Here are some thoughts to guide you when choosing a summer movie to enjoy. As many of you know Maria Montessori spoke frequently about reality and fantasy and her concerns about introducing children too soon to fantasy. Current research backs her up, with the discovery that most children before the age of five are unable to differentiate between real and fictitious characters and situations. This might be difficult for us as adults to understand, but it is important for us to figure it out. Children have very strong imaginations and might pretend a stick is a horse, sword, cane, pry bar, telescope, the sky's the limit, but all of those things will be things they have seen or had contact with. A child has a strong reproductive imagination, meaning they can hold a mental image of what is seen and experienced then use that mental image or experience in play acting. The problem becomes when they see cartoons or movies with things that are not real like flying cars and people, monsters, people with superpowers, talking animals and other things that are fantastical. This isn’t a child using their imagination; it’s the adult who used theirs. The child is simply watching and absorbing. This can be hard enough to explain to a child that something isn’t real that they have seen in a movie, but the Lion King really crosses a line. They are taking real images and computer generated imagery, CGI characters, to a point that it was hard for even me to tell the difference. While I thought it was beautiful, I quickly became concerned not only about the very real looking talking animals, but also the dark undertones of the preview. If you remember Scar does try to kill Simba, then eventually Simba’s father is killed in a stampede and then Scar makes Simba feel as if his father's death is his fault. Now imagine (see what I did there) this from very real looking animals, dark scenes and music. Wow, I was shocked! So shocked in fact that I’m writing this. I also looked up what might happen if a child is exposed to scary images too early in life. Some of which I lived! After showing my son (age 3) my favorite cartoon, Winnie the Pooh, he became afraid of the dark and afraid of sleeping by himself. I didn’t know where all of this was coming from. Each night before bed he would begin to run and spin and get so amped up! My house was in chaos each night. It wasn’t until later I began to understand that that sweet movie was the root cause, specifically the scene with the Heffalumps and Woozles. In reality, the scene was a nightmare that Pooh had; as an adult I just saw the beautiful colors, cute animals and the happy song. Wow, I was so wrong. They may repeatedly act out a scene that disturbed them while they try to process and understand what they have seen. Even though children can understand cognitively what happens in the movie (i.e. lions, the savannah, family members, death), they can’t emotionally process or navigate it because they don’t have the experience or capacity for the most meaningful abstract parts of the story. When you notice a child repeatedly reenacting scenes from a movie like the Lion King, it’s because they are trying to process it. My co-teacher’s daughter saw the animated Lion King when she was three and played out the scene of Scar killing Mufasa and the hyenas threatening Simba repeatedly. Even though she cognitively knows what death, an uncle, a nephew is, an uncle being the villian was so far out of her scope of understanding. If you choose to see the Lion King, here is a convenient but scary list of things you might experience with your little one: fear of losing control; fear of dying; trouble sleeping (yep, lived that one!); increased aggression; solving problems with violence. On the other end of the scale, they might become clingy or fearful of letting you out of their sight; it might impact their tendency to be compassionate. Now, I’m not telling you to not see this movie, but if you have little ones, 6 and under, you should go into it with caution. Perhaps watch a few trailers (one is linked here) so you can understand where my concerns are coming from. If you do watch the movie, talk with your child and ask them questions: either right away, at dinner, or at bathtime. Use the phrases “I wonder...” “I noticed…” or “What do you remember?” Whatever you decide to do, remember to give them lots of real experiences* this summer and have fun! *Here’s a great list of places in the area you can explore all year around! #ParentEducation #Montessori

View this beautiful slide show of some of the MANY activities that happened at all age levels in the school to honor the Last Day of School for the 2018-2019 school year.

Check out the video below to see a view from "inside" the Senior Parade for the graduates in the Class of 2019. This has been a much loved school tradition - all of the learners ages 3-18 sending our wonderful graduates off to the next phase of their lives.

Check out this short slideshow of photos from the wonderful Big History Exhibition last week. More than 200 people attended this exhibition of teens' projects and studies over an entire year of work in Humanities, Biology, Physics, and Chemistry was held on Thursday, May 16th, 2019. #CommunityMontessori #ProjectBasedLearning

Join us on Saturday, May 18th, 2019 from 11am-3pm at Perrin Park (414 Perrin Lane, Jeffersonville, IN) for Spring Celebration! This is our annual family event to support our children, have companionship, and raise a little money for the school and our Parent Involvement Partnership (PIP)! Did you know that PIP gave $5,487 in funds back to studios this year for projects and going out trips?! The Spring Celebration will have something for everyone: Studio Performances - learners have been working hard on these over the past few months. (Scroll down the page to see a detailed schedule.) Food Trucks - Fistful of Tacos, Wiltshire Pantry, Fun in a Bun and Kona Ice! Activity Booths - including the popular inflatable and face painting. Silent Auction - win some great items and support our school! VISIT (AND SHARE!) THE LINK BELOW TO BID ON THE SILENT AUCTION. https://www.biddingOwl.com/CommunityMontessori The Silent Auction will run from May 6th through the date of our annual Spring Celebration, Saturday, May 18th, 2019 at 2:30pm. You can check out all these wonderful items in person in the Cupola beginning on May 6th. Performance Schedule: (Approximate times - you will want to arrive a little earlier than the listed time to ensure you see your learner's performance and that they can participate!) 11:30am - Early Education (3-6) Studios 12:15pm - Biomes (6-9) Studios 12:45pm - Islands and Woods Learner Performances 2:00pm - Gemstones (9-12) Studios

“Hey Mommy, I can count by ones to 100! Want to hear?” Our 5 year-old starts counting on our way home from school one afternoon….”1, 3, 5, 7, 9….” and so on. He pauses somewhere around 35, and asks me to guess the next number. We get to 43 alternating turns to say the next number, and that’s when the Montessori Guide in me got the best of me. So, I say, “Hey, I notice something...” He responds confidently, before I can share what I noticed, “Yeah, there’s a pattern-- it’s every other number.” To which I add, “And, It’s every other ODD number”. Then: Silence. “What’s an Odd Number?” It’s too late--I’ve already spoiled self-discovery for him on that one. So, I go on to explain, trying to abstractly use the Montessori lesson I’m familiar with to describe….and within seconds, he’s lost interest in counting for the moment. In those quiet moments that followed, I reflected on what I like to call “Spoilers”. Those tiny moments with our Montessori kiddos where we, as parents, spoil the self-discovery of patterns and concepts that so naturally happen within a Montessori Education. Sometimes, I think it happens, as in the case above, completely accidentally. We are enjoying engaging conversations with our kids, excited about what they are sharing, and then: Spoiler Alert! Sometimes, I think we as parents aren’t always sure what our children really know or what they are working on throughout their days in the Montessori environment, or we get nervous when we think about the differences of the Montessori Method and Philosophy in comparison to our childhood school experiences, or that of other friends and family, and we forget to “trust the process” of a Montessori education. As both a parent and a Montessori Guide, I have adopted the following and hope that, by sharing, as a fellow parent walking this path, you may also avoid a few ‘spoilers’ along the way when talking with your children: WAIT! W: Wonder….Use “I wonder” statements to avoid questions if you are unsure what your child already knows or has not yet discovered. Then the “pressure is off” if faced with an unknown direct question. Or wonder quietly to yourself and proceed to A or I (below). A: Ask….your child what lessons and work he/she has been practicing at school. Most studios send a snapshot of lessons or work in their emailed newsletters each week--read and chat about that together. Younger studios use Transparent Classroom. If you aren’t already receiving pictures and notes, ask your child’s teacher how to receive those helpful notifications. I: Investigate….Make it a point to drop by your child’s studio once a week if possible, or at least once or twice a month. Let your child be the guide and give you a lesson with a material they have been working on, and/or chat with their teachers while you’re there to get a few ideas. Send a quick email to get information periodically if you are unable to stop in. T: Trust the Process! Remember what it feels like to really figure something out by yourself, or ‘master’ a skill through trial & error or repetition? Montessori learners get those opportunities all the time! Try not to get hung up on what you think they should know how to do, and instead trust the Montessori process and your child. It’s not a perfect art! Sometimes we will “nail it” and other times we will be left sitting in a reflective silence after going one step too far or asking one too many questions. As a mom and a Montessori Guide, I am enjoying this journey with my own children, learning together each and every day. Here’s to remembering to, “W-A-I-T”, and sometimes avoiding a few of those little spoilers that are going to happen along the way! Trust the process and enjoy the journey. A note for the extra curious readers: I wrote this post from a parent’s perspective, and attempted to avoid too much depth about the Montessori philosophy rationale behind this idea of “spoiler alerts” and self discovery. If this is something you are interested in learning more about, feel free to email me, or if you prefer, I know that many of our teachers would enjoy discussing this with you as well. We are here to support you! #Montessori