Oak Farm Montessori November 2018
TIME
TALENT
TREASURE
November is the month of gratitude. While we do not need a specific month for this, it is always good to take time to reflect. It comes as no surprise that in the Oak Farm Community there is much to be grateful for. As a parent of the school I always sensed how supportive the community was, but in my new role as Head of School, I have gained a new appreciation of the time, the talent, and the treasures that so many of you give to make Oak Farm a place where children are empowered to realize the “Portrait of a Graduate” and reach their full potential.
“If you understand the value of time, you will convert it into products.” -Sunday Adelaja The giving of TIME. A gift that we all want more of in life is time. 950! That is how many trackable hours parents, grandparents, and vested community members gave last year while volunteering. I use the word “trackable” because these hours have actually been documented when volunteers come on campus; through Totally Terrific Task Tuesdays, support in the kitchen, support preparing for the Gala, or through efforts of fund development. This doesn’t include the countless number of hours many of you give at home; whether that is supporting a gala project, putting together materials for the classrooms, or preparing for community wide and school events.
“Everyone has a purpose in life and a unique talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of own spirit, which is the ultimate goal or all goals.” -Kallam Anji Reddy
The giving of TALENT. As I get to know the faculty, I have had the opportunity to learn of many talents that exist beyond the love for children and Montessori education; including passions for creative media, landscape architecture, baking, performing arts, and research just to name a few. These talents have provided new opportunities and helped shape the landscape of Oak Farm, both figuratively and physically. This fall we had a community event where children, families, and faculty came together to restore Oak Farm’s native habitat with a focus on the prairie. I had the opportunity to walk the 100 acre campus with Ecoliteracy Specialist, Brett Bloom and John Brittenham, Oak Farm Parent and Environmentalist at Blue Heron Ministries, to highlight the existing beauty and the need to continue to beautify our campus with purpose. Talents extend beyond the Oak Farm faculty and into the Oak Farm community, which is evident in the vast array of clubs and summer camps offered. Oak Farm has also had guests work with classes including, but not limited to: a Mindfulness Instructor, Veterinary Technician to perform dissection of a farm animal, and Oak Farm parents sharing experiences with individual classes to model how they live the characteristics of the “Portrait of a Graduate”.
“Giving children the opportunity to stir up life and leave it free to discover.” - Dr. Maria Montessori
The giving of TREASURES. We are well underway in our Lead the Way campaign where we come together to invest in the future of Oak Farm; whether that be the Outdoor environments, the Arts and Wellness Center, or towards the overall project where the greatest need may be. Creativity and culture has blossomed and expanded because of the treasures given by so many Oak Farm families, grandparents, faculty, and the Board of Directors where we secured $39,903 in the first year of the campaign in addition to $4,000 of other grants. What are we giving the children of Oak Farm with these gifts? Opportunity! Not only are they able to soar, to learn, to create, to become leaders, global citizens, emotionally literate and confident; but, they are being led by example from those around them who have invested so much. On behalf of Oak Farm, thank you for your generous gifts; whether that be the time that you give, the talent that you share, or the treasures that you donate. One thing is for certain, these gifts will continue to impact the children of Oak Farm throughout their life. With deepest gratitude,
Candice
Lisa Collins
Primary 3 Teacher
Developing and building a strong sense of community within the Primary classroom is essential for success. We start by creating this environment within our individual classrooms and then seek to develop it further by extending it to others outside our four walls. While maintaining a sense of order is important for the Primary aged child, we also want to give them opportunities to include our broader community into the environment and stretch their boundaries. Primary students love to have guests visit. Occasionally, a parent or grandparent will join us for lunch or help with a project and it is always well received by the children. This year, we are incorporating guests into our environment through ‘Mystery Readers’. This venue allows us to get to know more parents, grandparents and even members of the community in a more personal way. Leading up to the mystery reader’s visit, we give one clue each day that pertains to the reader. The students then become detectives; asking questions and trying to figure out who will be coming at the end of the week. Each day, as the new clue is revealed, the students anxiously work to discover who this “secret” person is. Not surprisingly, the excitement grows as the week progresses! When the mystery reader finally arrives, he or she brings a book of their choosing to read to the class. What fun it has been to be a part of this community building experience in the Primary classrooms!
Journey to Independence Nefy Hathaway, Toddler1 Teacher
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“The children are now working as if I did not exist.” ~Maria Montessori
o help a child reach her potential, we must first study; to understand the stages of growth as well as the child’s inner drive, while offering guidance and an environment to foster the child’s development through observations. Only the child can achieve selfconstruction. It is our responsibility, as the care giver, to assist her through modeling and observations. It is the child who strives to be independent to grow and to learn. The journey that a young child takes towards independence is a key component of the Montessori philosophy. Naturally, the materials in a Montessori classroom call for independent work; and as Montessorians we often say, “Never do for a child what she can do for herself.” Encouraging independence in a young child will aid in one’s intrinsic motivation, critical thinking, self-worth, leadership and the ability to problem solve. With respect for independence in a young child comes a mindset of “I get to,” rather than, “I have to.” In the Infant and Toddler environments at Oak Farm, grace and courtesy, through care of self-work, is modeled every day. Observing the joy on a child’s face when they say, “I did it!” is our greatest reward.
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leadership ~All Around Us Maria Rodriguez, LE1 teacher
If you come by the Green Farmhouse during the morning work cycle, you will most likely see students of different ages together in lessons, working alongside each other, or talking together about a new work. Maybe you’ll hear a third year remind a peer about their morning task- “Did you sharpen the pencils already?” or a second year tell a friend, “I can show you how, if you want.” Whether it’s an older student helping a younger, peers helping each other, or even a third year asking a first year to “remind” them how to do something, our students love to lead! We’ve worked hard to develop a culture of respect and caring in our classroom, which is an ongoing process that we talk about every day. Within that structure, students are encouraged to take on leadership roles and guide their peers: second and third year students help the first year students practice classroom routines; chore teams are led by third year captains, who teach chores to younger students; and first years ask an older student for help before a teacher. Our students also love to lead their own problem-solving discussions! Any student can come to community to present an issue they would like to discuss, even if it’s something as simple as a kind reminder to sweep up crumbs after snack. We love watching our first year students stand confidently in front of the class to share their concerns! Come by the Green Farm House to see our little leaders in action any time!
“…we give the name scientist to the type of person who has felt experiment to be a means guiding him to search out the deep truth of life, to lift a veil from its fascinating secrets, and… has felt arising within him a love for the mysteries of nature.” – Maria Montessori
What is a Scientist? Sandra Deacon, Upper1 Teacher
As educators, we want to instill in our students a real love and inner drive to learn, explore and discover. We want them to realize that this is a lifelong endeavor that they should partake in with joy and enthusiasm, thereby becoming lifelong learners. Upper Elementary has been delving into the magical world of science and exploration, engaging in hands on experiences that are so important to fostering their drive to discover more. Upper Elementary students have been studying the Law of Mass of Conservation and completing work with mass and volume with Katie Lautzenhiser, our Science Enrichment Specialist. The 4th years had the opportunity to dissect frogs in their Biology class with Upper teachers, Nancy and Courtney. Their prerequisite work focused on a frog’s adaptations that make it successful to surviving in its element. The 5th years delved into the wonderful, and sometimes unpredictable, world of weather and weather patterns. They kept weather journals throughout their trimester of Geography and the culmination of their work is currently on display in the Upper Building. 6th years learned about inventions the Renaissance period brought to us…and even attempted their own invention, or tried to improve upon current ones. It has been a wonderful time of discovery and so much fun to see the students interests sparked! Students at Oak Farm are exposed to Science in a myriad of opportunities; both in and out of the classroom. Scientists become more than an occupation to these young learners. In the Montessori curriculum they are found in every classroom, at every age and ability because discoveries are meant to be uncovered and explored!
A look into
Pat Cole, Erdkinder Farm Manager
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The farm work doesn’t end at 3:30pm on Friday. The families of the middle school students are expected to return to campus on a rotational basis, on weekends and school breaks, to make sure the animal’s and plant’s basic needs are being met. Most of the time the student responsibilities are routine and, depending on the number of people you can talk into helping you, chores can be completed in a rather short period of time. Seasons can impact the work as well; just this week we’ve been reminded that we’re into new issues with freezing water, cold westerly winds, wind chills and soon enough there will be snow to navigate! But, once every so often a student will get a surprise. Listen in on the following phone conversation between the farm manager and a 7th year student who had returned to the barn with her mother and younger brother on a Saturday morning: MS student (calling Pat): “When did we get a baby donkey?” Pat: “Oh my goodness... this is a surprise birth! It must have been born sometime between Friday at 5:00pm, when I left school, and today at noon!” MS student: “What should I do?” Pat: “Is it standing and dry?” MS student: “Its dry, but it’s not standing. It can barely hold up its head.” Pat: “I think we have a problem. I’ll be right over.” After a 20 minute drive back to the MS barn, the situation doesn’t look good. The foal is definitely showing signs of distress, so emergency measures are put into action. I explain to the student and her family that by the time the baby is dry, usually within 2 hours, it should be up nursing with encouragement from its mother. This was not happening at this point. We keep a sterile ‘birthing box’ supplied for this kind of occasion with clean blankets, towels, plastic bottles with appropriate sized nipples, heat lamps, hair dryers, gloves, birth related medications and the like. Typically we try to not interfere too much with nature’s way of doing things in our barn. We attempt to allow the animals to live as they would in the wild. So, for example, pigs naturally root for grubs, worms, roots, etc., so we try to give them some actual soil to do what they naturally do; even though it’s easier to keep their pens clean if we keep them on concrete. I explain to the student and their family that for a birth we try to not rush in with a lot of intervention, but first allow nature to have some leeway to run its course. In a birthing situation like this, giving too much assistance might not allow the
foal to struggle on its own or maybe interrupt a hesitant or unskilled mother who hasn’t quite figured out what has just happened and what she should be doing. This could potentially cause problems later in life along with a weakened condition which could make the foal susceptible to disease, not being able to defend itself from other animals, less feed because of stealing, less stamina in inclement weather conditions, etc. Sometimes it’s best to not get involved, but this situation was definitely calling for additional assistance. The student is given a quick lesson on how to milk a donkey; this is not something you do every day, so the student doesn’t even know where to start. Her normal morning chore is taking care of the chickens! While she does the best that she can, I am explaining why we need to get some of the mother’s milk into the foal as quickly as we can as I check for possible injuries, signs of premature birth and the foal’s sex (it’s a girl!). It doesn’t take much of the milk, but it’s important because it’s critical for natural antibiotics that the jenny will pass onto the foal and hopefully provide a quick energy boost. We try to force a small amount of the milk that the student had been able to get from the mother, all the while being cautious to not overdo it because of the chance of the milk going into the foal’s lungs and not her stomach (another quick, on-the-fly lesson on donkey throat anatomy). We notice the baby doesn’t have a sucking reflex, so we decided to call the vet and see if we can get an emergency appointment (seems like these kinds of situations usually happen after hours or on weekends). We get an answering machine and leave a message hoping he’ll be able to work us in; if he’s not already committed to other emergencies. We put the baby on a heating pad, with a heat lamp overhead, hoping to get her core body temperature up. You can get a rough idea of temperature just by sticking a finger in its mouth; if is cooler than it should be, she’s using valuable energy just trying to stay warm. We’re hoping the foal will get a burst of energy and she’ll be up on her feet soon. We can’t tell how long ago she had been born, but usually the foal is up and trying to nurse, especially if she’s already dry. It had been raining the night before and we were lucky that mother chose to birth inside the barn. According to the previous owner this would be the jenny’s 5th birth, so she should know what’s expected of her as a recent mother; However, she isn’t showing much interest in the foal. This is disconcerting as she may know something that we don’t. At this point, there isn’t much else we can do. The student and her family decide to leave and I tell them I plan on giving the foal (and the vet) an hour or so to see how its progressing. I’ve got an ill feeling that the farm manager’s responsibilities aren’t over for the weekend. When I return, I bring my wife and a couple of my own children, who have assisted in situations like this before with me, to help if needed. Hopefully we will be greeted by a vibrant and healthy young donkey, but the baby has managed to squirm off the heating pad and out from under the heat lamp. Its body is beginning to stiffen and its temperature has dropped again. I quickly fill a water trough full of hot water and immerse the foal up to its head; hoping to rewarm it. At the same time we try to give another dose of colostrum, but the foal refuses to even swallow, let alone suck. For what seems like a long time, and not really knowing what to do next, the baby’s breathing becomes slower and shallower and eventually stops… there’s nothing more we can do. Farm life comes with ups and downs. The joy of new birth sometimes comes with the sadness of death. But, one thing I know is that Nature bats last; maybe the most important thing for me and our students is to have the courage to keep coming up to the plate. A middle school student summed it up well when asked for a reaction to an animal death on the farm.
“…life on the farm happens and it could be good or bad. When an animal dies it may be sad, but it is also a learning experience that we can grow and improve from. It can help us figure out if we were taking care of the animals wrong. And it can hopefully help us change to keep the rest of the animals alive, heathy and happy.” --Alexis D., 7th yr.
Building Confidence Caleb Tedder, High School Teacher The high school students recently had the opportunity to showcase Oak Farm High School to the community for the second time since opening. Students were nervous beforehand and apprehensive about speaking in front of the public, but a beautiful thing unfolded as the night progressed. With each student and teacher that went up and spoke, it became more and more clear that Oak Farm High School students are engaged in meaningful learning; built around their passions and education of the whole child. They described the land restoration they are doing in Environmental Impact, the business experience they have gained in opening their own bike shop, the photo editing techniques they developed through Adobe Creative Suites in InnoLab, and many others. As the night progressed and these realities were revealed, the students seemed to increase in their confidence as they celebrated their successes. By the end of the event, all of the students chose to gather together at the front and confidently answer any question the community had for them. Author Rachel Kessler, in her book The Soul of Education: Helping Students Find Connection, Compassion, and Character at School, identifies that rites of passages are important moments for the adolescent to help them become conscious of their transition from childhood to adulthood. Upon reflection of the evening, it appears that the high school open house turned into one of those marker moments for the students, and their community could not have been any more proud for them.
“The high school open house was a huge success! We had a great turn-out, met lots of potential families, and practiced our public speaking skills.” ~Claire Weiss
“It was a really great opportunity to share our high school experience with the community and hear their questions and opinions.” ~Emma Coville
Language Development for a Lifetime Sarah Holland, Speech Therapist
Language development begins during infancy with cooing, crying, laughing, and babbling. First words typically emerge at about a year. Vocabulary continues to develop even through adulthood! As children continue to develop their vocabulary, they learn how to put their words together to create short phrases and sentences. With time, their sentences get longer and longer. Development continues as children learn how to put together grammatically correct and complete sentences. Sentences and stories become more complex as children mature with age. Did you know development of these verbal communication skills help you learn to write? First we learn how to say things, and then we learn to write them. This can be observed on a daily basis throughout all levels of our school. For example, children begin to say irregular past tense verbs (i.e. ran, ate, wrote, etc.) between the ages 5 and 6. Children then begin to practice writing irregular past tense verbs in elementary. Children’s vocabulary, word structure, sentence structure, and story telling continues to become more complex and grammatically correct throughout elementary and even middle and high school. This language development continues to be observed in their written work. So what are you doing to continue your language development as an adult? Learning a second (or third) language? Vocabulary games? Exposure to various writing styles? Children learn through example, and the best way to encourage language development in our children is for them to see us read and write each day.