Mountain West Montessori Newsletter

Editor-in-Chief: Ms. Angie, Director

Managing Editor: Ms. Sheri, Assistant Director

Author: Ms. Sheri, Assistant Director

-NO SCHOOL, SPRING BREAK: Friday, April 15th - Friday, April 22nd

-LOWER ELEMENTARY "WHAT COMES NEXT?": Wednesday, April 27th 6:00 PM

-UPPER ELEMENTARY "WHAT COMES NEXT?": Thursday, April 28th 6:00 PM

-LEGO LEAGUE INFORMATIONAL NIGHT FOR PARENTS & STUDENTS: Thursday, May 5th, 7:00 PM in the Library

-EARLY RELEASE, LAST DAY OF SCHOOL: Friday, May, 27th

Parents, you may have noticed that we did not have school March 16-18th due to Professional Development—our teachers had the opportunity to travel to the national American Montessori Society Conference in Nashville, Tennessee that week! We had 22 teachers attend, and they participated in rigorous evidence-based professional development courses on topics ranging from Montessori Outcomes to The Science of Reading. This was a great learning and collaboration opportunity and our teachers had the chance to become re-inspired about teaching and Montessori. We also managed to have a lot of fun! Most of us attended the Grand Ole Opry one night:

We heard some old and new country music performers that night, but one song by Texas Hill stood out. Here are the lyrics:

You gotta do it for the love of it
Like you can't get enough of it
Like the air that you breathe, like honey to a bee
Like everything you do is 'cause of it

You can't do it for the money
You can't do it for the fame
You gotta do it for the joy, to make a joyful noise
For the love of the game

You can't do it for nobody
Until you do it for yourself
When there's love in what you do, your light comes shining through
Touching everybody else

Watching the teachers this week, I realized how much they love your kids, how joyful and conscientious they are about their jobs, and how talented they are. (I also reminded them to please stop teaching for the money and the fame… LOL)

Our teachers truly love what they do, and make such a difference in the lives of children. I’m very proud of them.

Here is a link to the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlvz6PJMuUY

Thanks for all that so many of you do to support our school and the education of your amazing children!

Best,

Angie Johnson

Ms. Sheri, Assistant Principal & Literacy Director

Fun And Simple Writing At Home

• Talk with your child regularly and ask a lot of questions. Conversations help develop skills like choosing words, expressing ideas, and reflecting on experiences. Ask open-ended questions like, “What was the most interesting thing you learned or read about today?"
• Provide writing materials at home. Make sure your child has access to paper and pencils, crayons, markers, pens, or other fun writing materials at home.
• Encourage your child to write for fun. Leave notes for your child around the house or in a lunch box and ask them to write you back. Have your child write cards or letters to loved ones. Ask your child to make up a story, write it down, and read it to you (or write down your child’s story yourself if they are still learning to write).
• Perfect spelling and sentence structure is not the goal. Encouraging your child to get their creative stories down on paper (including pictures) is the goal.
• Ask your child for help with daily writing tasks. Ask your child to help you write grocery/shopping lists, to-do lists, or text messages or emails to family or friends.

Want to know more? Here is a great article with fun and easy tips for parents! https://www.readingrockets.org/article/developing-writing-and-spelling-home

We recently had the opportunity to celebrate Spirit Week and students participated in different activities and fun themed days. However, the most astounding thing that happened during Spirit Week was our refugee supply drive. These refugees come from all over the world, arrive in Utah with very little, and depend on supplies provided by the community. We asked for supplies for refugees that have settled in Utah. Our request was met with enthusiasm from both the parents and the students. So many supplies were freely given to our school which were then passed on to our local refugees.

Thank you for giving of your time, your resources, and most importantly thank you for teaching your children to serve those that may be struggling. As a community, it is so important that we are kind and look out for each other. This hands-on experience allowed our students to realize that they can indeed make a big difference in the lives of both adults and children in need. Thank you!

Ms. Marianne, School Counselor

Testing season is upon us, and your students are going to do awesome. Here are a few tips to help your students do their very best on the tests.

Prepare Yourself:

● Get enough sleep the night before your tests. For most students, this looks like at least 8 hours of sleep. Some students need more sleep.

● Get all of your supplies ready the night before your test. This may include your uniform, your backpack, and your shoes. Nothing can make you more anxious for a test than scrambling around the morning of the test trying to find things to get to school on time.

● Wake up early the morning of your test. Give yourself plenty of time to get up, get ready, and to eat breakfast. This should be a time of peace and relaxation if possible.

● Eat a filling and healthy breakfast the morning of your test. It can be really hard to test if your tummy is grumbling because you didn’t eat breakfast or you didn’t eat enough for breakfast. Do yourself a favor and take the time for a nutritious and filling breakfast.

● Go to the bathroom and get a drink before the test begins. Take care of your body before the test begins, get that drink, go to the bathroom, and make sure you are ready to focus on the test.

During the Test:

● Read the instructions carefully. Make sure you understand what the question is asking and how you are supposed to answer it. This can often be found in the instructions.

● Read each question carefully. Look for keywords that help you better understand what the question is asking.

● Eliminate wrong answers. If you notice that an answer is wrong, immediately eliminate that answer. Even if you don’t know the right answer, you will be more likely to guess correctly if you eliminate all of the answers you know are incorrect.

● Guess if you aren’t sure of the right answer. If a question is particularly difficult, it is okay to eliminate all of the obviously incorrect answers and to guess. Who knows, you might just get it right, but if you skip the question you will definitely get it wrong.

● Take your time. Testing isn’t a race and you don’t get more points for being the first person done. Read each question and do the best you can, it is okay to take the time to think through what you have learned.

● When you are stressed take deep breaths to calm yourself down. Testing can be stressful. When you are feeling stress in your body, take some deep breaths in and out to refocus your mind.

After the Test:

● Relax, you did it. You can’t change anything about the test after you are done, so relax and don’t worry about it anymore.

● Reward yourself with something fun. Do something you enjoy. This could be going for a bike ride or reading a book. You deserve it.

Best of luck during testing season. Your students have been learning and working hard all year. They will do just fine if they prepare themselves prior to the test, work hard during the test, and reward themselves after the test.

Mr. Alden, Computer Science Lead

We have the most supportive families at Mountain West Montessori Academy. Each time we ask for help students, parents, and families generously share their time, talents, and resources. Our Dance-Fit 2021 fundraiser was no exception. We hoped we would raise enough donations to purchase computer science materials or modular outdoor kindergarten equipment. The great news is that your generous donations made it possible to purchase both!

We now have over 125 high quality computer science books for students to enjoy in the library. The computer science section is now one of the most popular sections in the library! We also purchased minicomputers, circuits, custom computer controllers, hands-on wooden binary code materials, robotic kits, robots, temperature-controlled fans, computer stations and computer tables (that we are building) so that students can have the opportunity to explore computer science in-depth. In addition, we also purchased computer science kits (supporting grade-level content) that will soon be available for teachers to check out and utilize in each classroom for hands-on learning.

Kindergarten has been working and playing hard with their new wooden modular playground equipment. The students love working together to build and then play on bridges and all types of structures that they have created together. In addition, we were also able to purchase a storage shed to house the wooden modular equipment protecting it during inclement weather.

We were thrilled to be able to share some of the donated funds with four lucky teachers. As part of a little friendly competition, Ms. Jess, Ms. Emily, Ms. Becca, and Ms. Autumn were the first teachers to meet their fundraising goals and were given $200.00 each to spend on classroom supplies.

Ms. Sarah, MS Theatre Teacher

Melissa Zuckerman, MLIS

Library Media Teacher/Assessment Director

Dear MWMA Families,

As many of you know, I am a Librarian who wears many hats. It is that time of year for me to hang up my Librarian hat and become the Assessment Director (I know, scary sounding , right?)

Now that we are done checking out books for the year, your students have until May 13 to return their library books. This allows me the last 2 weeks of school to inventory our books. If their books are lost or damaged, please either pay the front desk or replace them by this May 13th. You should receive an email from me with any items your student has checked out. If you have multiple students, you will receive an email for each one of them (if they have items checked out).

It has been a pleasure working with your students and I look forward to seeing many of them when they return next year.

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."

- Groucho Marx

The Jordan Family Education Center provides FREE support services and classes for families and students in Jordan School District. Their services are provided by JSD school psychologists, counselors and school psychology interns.

Here are just a few of the many services they provide.

• TIMELY TOPICS: One-night seminars for parents addressing various pertinent topics. Parents are welcome to attend any or all of the sessions. Classes include: Co-Parenting Through Divorce, Video Game Addiction, Study Skills: Supporting Your Teen, Life Hacks for Coping with Depression, Internet Safety for our Children, and Raising Your Rainbow Child.
• Excellent class topics for children and teens range from anxiety to making and keeping friends.
• Several support groups are also offered.

Here is a link for all the supports and classes available.

https://guidance.jordandistrict.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/A-0316.pdf

For information or questions about classes, support groups, and counseling, call the Jordan Family Education Center 801-565-7442.

Chain Reaction

As an exercise in engineering, students in Ms. Laura's class planned and built a herringbone chain in order to explore chain reactions and the transfer of energy. The students discovered that the more energy it took to put it together, the more spectacular the release of energy would be!

April's Quote

Email: admin@mwmacademy.org
Website: https://www.mwmacademy.org/
Location: 4125 Foxview Drive, South Jordan, UT, USA
Phone: 801-566-6962

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