Weekly Update 12/20/18

Message from the Head of School

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.(Is 9:6-7)

Dear Parents,

This is our last Weekly Update of 2018. It has been a pleasure to journey through 2017 with you! All the staff at RMS wishes you and your family a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. Looking forward to celebrating Epiphany with you on the 3rd.

God bless,

Sean P. Garvey
Head of School
Renaissance Montessori School

 

Important Info for Movie Night Tonight!

Tonight, Thursday, December 20, Elementary will be hosting a Movie Night!  Movie Night will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the animated version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”  The next movie shown will be the cartoon, “Charlie Brown Christmas,” and is projected to begin around 6:10 p.m.  Lastly, the classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” will be shown around 7 p.m.  The last movie will run until shortly after 9 p.m. at which time the event will conclude.

Though this event is being held in the auditorium at RMS and hosted by RMS students, RMS staff is not advocating for these movies as being age or developmentally appropriate for all.  Please use your best judgment as to whether or not you want your own children to see any of the three films being offered. You are welcome to come for any or all of the movies.

There will be no admission charge, but we will have baskets for cash donations.  All proceeds will benefit the Elementary spring production. Thank you in advance for supporting our thespians.

In regard to food, you must have pre-ordered pizza to receive it.  The children will have cookies and popcorn and water available for sale.

Please be advised that each family is responsible for the behavior of their own children.  If a parent cannot stay for whatever reason, the family must have made arrangements in advance with another family to chaperone each child present.  There will not be a staff member on hand; Mrs. Paula Hugo has graciously agreed to be the point of contact during Movie Night, should any issues arise.

Come in comfortable clothes, and feel free to bring pillows or blankets to get cozy!

January 17th is Now Parent-Child Night

January 17th, originally scheduled as Six Going on Seven Parent Night is now Parent-Child Night. Save the date for this popular evening and have your child show you their environment! Look for a sign up to come early in January.  Feb 5thwill now become Six Going on Seven and cover the signs of readiness and transition process from primary to elementary

Jan/Feb Pizza Form Available

The January/February Pizza Form is now available. Orders are due with payment no later than the Wednesday before each Friday. The form is below or always at the top of the Weekly Updates.

January/February Pizza Form

Upcoming Events

  • 1/03/19 - Epiphany Celebration for RMS Families

  • 1/04/19 - School Resumes

  • 1/07/19 - Montessori Monday - 8:30 AM

  • 1/08/19 - Tuesday Atrium Resumes

  • 1/09/19 - Wednesday Atrium Resumes

  • 1/09/19 - Parents Guild Meeting 8:30 AM 

Reminders

Freedom and Discipline Resources

Thanks again to all the families who were able to attend our Parent Afternoon. We enjoyed the collaborative discussion! As promised, here are some resources for further study on this expansive topic, as well as some key phrases we use here at the school.

Resources

Freedom Discipline Podcast
Obedience Podcast
Self-Discipline Poscast
Quotes for Reflection
Aid to Life Website
If Gentle Discipline Isn't Working, This Might Be the Reason Podcast

Examples of Language We Use

It seems like you are not in control; you can borrow some of my self-control until you find yours again.

I think you might have forgotten,  ____  (Ex. we carry a pitcher with 2 hand)

I can see that you are not ready to ____ (carry a pitcher) right now. When you are ready, you can try again.

You can move your body or I can move your body for you.

You may not know this, but ___  is rude (or disruptive, etc.)

We can ____ once ____ is done. 

I'll know your ready to ____, when I see you ____.

Saying the feeling out loud but not offering a solution. You seem really frustrated. That must be really hard.

Important Research Participants Needed

Dr. Angeline Lillard is looking for participants for an important study she is conducting on Montessori education. Dr. Lillard’s research work is very highly regarded and we want to be of assistance in any way that supports that work.Please click here to see the attached flierand take the survey if you can, so that we can realize the dream of adding to the body of desperately needed Montessori research.

Un-Trim a Tree

This year we are beginning a new tradition of Un-Trim a Tree to provide families with an opportunity to help enrich their child's environment. Here's how it works:

  1. Choose a tag from the tree outside the Parent Lounge any time between now and Christmas break.

  2. Purchase the item for the environment listed.

  3. Wrap and label the gift and return it to under the tree. 

  4. The gifts will be opened by the children in the environments after Epiphany.

SCRIP for Gift Giving

Find gifts for everyone on your list while earning down your $300 SCRIP minimum with the holiday gift guide. Shop gift cards from over 750 top brands and restaurants, including Panera, Chipotle, Starbucks, Best Buy, Amazon, Nordstrom, The Home Depot, Gap, Lands End and more. Whether you buy the gift cards to give as presents to family and friends, or to use them to buy your gifts—RMS earns with every gift card purchased. It’s simple, it’s thoughtful and it’s truly the gift that keeps on giving. 

Shop the gift guide atShopWithScrip.com/GiftGuide

Weekly Update 12/13/18

Message from the Head of School

Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.
          ~Maria Montessori 

Dear Parents,

We move closer and closer to the joyous season of Christmas, the birth of the Prince of Peace, announced by the host of Angels "Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will.".

The quote above is an auspicious claim on the behalf of “education”, far grander a claim than the mere acquisition of academic know-how. And yet it is very true; “good will” is the prerequisite to peace, and “education” in the broadest sense, is how we learn to develop and form our will.

May we all grow closer to Christ during the season of Advent, and be prepared to welcome Him at Christmas.

God bless,

Sean P. Garvey
Head of School
Renaissance Montessori School

Messages from the Environments

Message from the Young Children's Community

As parents, we notice how toddlers love to help out! It is slower, requires more supervision and a lower expectations, but once they have mastered the basic skills they can do more and more independently. Each day I am seeing increased awareness and purposeful choice in the practical life area and children are beginning to notice that all important last step...clean up! They are carefully searching for crumbs to sweep or drips to wipe during clean up (at the same time they are still fascinated with the initial flood of water dumped out of a pitcher or basin!)

We are also seeing lots of success in toileting. If you are not already participating in this at home and curious how to set up, please go towww.aidtolife.orgor order Sarah Moudry's book Toilet Awareness.

Message from the Children's House

In the Children’s House, we have been enjoying the beginning of advent, especially the prophecies for each week. Through the prophecies, and the associated works and songs, the children have been thinking about the journey of Mary and Joseph and who this Child is that all are waiting for. One thing that has especially caught the attention of the children is the word  “Light”, and they have been contemplating this as these winter days contain more darkness. 

Message from Elementary

This week and next in Elementary, we are doing math assessments. We use these tests for a few reasons: for information gathering purposes, to offer a more formalized test-taking scenario for experience, and to direct future presentations. We will be using the same test to re-evaluate students’ progress in the spring.

Message from the Erdkinder

Last Saturday, the Erdkinder led RMS in the Nokesville Christmas Parade 2018. RMS students and families followed the Erdkinder’s “Living Nativity “ scene built on our farm truck and decorated with lights. We sang Silent Night” and “Angels We Have Heard on High” beautifully. Our very own Solomon Terza and Gianna Dow played Joseph and Mary. We even had a live goat, Natia, provided by Kate Wolf, who also drove the truck. Thanks so much to Mrs. Sweeney and Mrs. O'Keefe for the speakers and amp, antlers, hot chocolate, candy canes and overall coordination. A great time was had by ALL!

Freedom and Discipline Resources

Thanks again to all the families who were able to attend our Parent Afternoon. We enjoyed the collaborative discussion! As promised, here are some resources for further study on this expansive topic, as well as some key phrases we use here at the school.

Resources

Freedom Discipline Podcast
Obedience Podcast
Self-Discipline Poscast
Quotes for Reflection
Aid to Life Website
If Gentle Discipline Isn't Working, This Might Be the Reason Podcast

Examples of Language We Use

It seems like you are not in control; you can borrow some of my self-control until you find yours again.

I think you might have forgotten,  ____  (Ex. we carry a pitcher with 2 hand)

I can see that you are not ready to ____ (carry a pitcher) right now. When you are ready, you can try again.

You can move your body or I can move your body for you.

You may not know this, but ___  is rude (or disruptive, etc.)

We can ____ once ____ is done. 

I'll know your ready to ____, when I see you ____.

Saying the feeling out loud but not offering a solution. You seem really frustrated. That must be really hard.

Elementary Presents "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

On Wednesday, December 19 at 2 p.m., students in the Elementary class will be presenting “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”  Nicholas Miller and Luke Wood are the directors of this production, which should run about half an hour. Parents, grandparents, and extended family are welcome!  (If your child has a part in the play, costumes are due Monday, December 17.)

Montessori Monday Cancelled on the 17th

Because of a schedule change, we have to cancel the Montessori Monday scheduled for December 17th. We’ll resume the normal 1st and 3rd Mondays schedule in January. So sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. 

Pizza Date Correction

The date for the last Pizza Day in December is listed incorrectly on the order form. Our last day of school in December is the 20th soPizza Day will be the 20th, not the 19th as listed.

Children's Holy Hour Today

Looking for ways to help your children prepare spiritually for Christmas?  There is an Advent Holy Hour for Children today, Thursday, December 13th from 4-5 p.m. at All Saints Church.  Fr. Noah Morey has graciously agreed to preside as he did last year. Gather outside the library at All Saints and draw/write letters to Jesus from 4-4:20 p.m.  After that, process into the main sanctuary led by Fr. Noah who will expose Jesus in the monstrance for adoration. The balance of the hour will include saying a decade of the rosary, listening to an Advent reflection by Fr. Noah, presenting letters and drawings to Jesus on the altar, and concluding with benediction.   The format lends itself very well to children ranging from toddlers through school age really uniting in some beautiful prayer time.  

Important Research Participants Needed

Dr. Angeline Lillard is looking for participants for an important study she is conducting on Montessori education. Dr. Lillard’s research work is very highly regarded and we want to be of assistance in any way that supports that work.Please click here to see the attached flierand take the survey if you can, so that we can realize the dream of adding to the body of desperately needed Montessori research.

Upcoming Events

  • 12/19/18 - Elementary presents "A Charlie Brown Christmas" 2:00

  • 12/20/18 - Last day of school in 2018

  • 12/20/18 - Elementary Movie Night Fundraiser 

Reminders

House for Sale Near RMS

One of our community members has a house listed for sale in the RMS vacitinity if anyone is looking to more closer. Details can be found here: 
https://www.homesnap.com/VA/Catlett/3306-Daffan-Drive?a=67858600

Un-Trim a Tree

This year we are beginning a new tradition of Un-Trim a Tree to provide families with an opportunity to help enrich their child's environment. Here's how it works:

  1. Choose a tag from the tree outside the Parent Lounge any time between now and Christmas break.

  2. Purchase the item for the environment listed.

  3. Wrap and label the gift and return it to under the tree. 

  4. The gifts will be opened by the children in the environments after Epiphany.

SCRIP for Gift Giving

Find gifts for everyone on your list while earning down your $300 SCRIP minimum with the holiday gift guide. Shop gift cards from over 750 top brands and restaurants, including Panera, Chipotle, Starbucks, Best Buy, Amazon, Nordstrom, The Home Depot, Gap, Lands End and more. Whether you buy the gift cards to give as presents to family and friends, or to use them to buy your gifts—RMS earns with every gift card purchased. It’s simple, it’s thoughtful and it’s truly the gift that keeps on giving. 

Shop the gift guide atShopWithScrip.com/GiftGuide

New Montessori Association to be Housed at RMS

We are very excited to begin a partnership with the newly created Cultural and Catechetical Montessori Association. The mission of CCMA is to empower cultural renewal by promoting the work of Maria Montessori and Sofia Cavaletti in revealing the truth about the human person. CCMA will be opening a Cultural and Catechetical Center in the annex space here at RMS (where Elementary was the last two years). 

We will be working closely with CCMA both in furthering its mission and also opening the center here on our campus. You may have noticed that we have begun to pull the gate between the spaces to get the children used to remaining on this side of the building. CCMA will have its own entrance on that side of the building. 

Stay tuned for all the exciting details on programming offered by CCMA!

Weekly Update 12/6/18

Message from the Head of School

Joy, feeling one's own value, being appreciated and loved by others, feeling useful and capable of production are all factors of enormous value for the human soul.
                                    ~Maria Montessori 

Dear Parents,

Happy Advent, and Happy St. Nicholas’ Day!  The quote above put me in mind of how wonderful this season in particular can be.  We put time and effort in to showing each other our love and appreciation for each other, with little bits of chocolate, or a simple gift given in an Advent Angel.  There are no gestures that, whether given or received, make us more fully human.  May we carry this spirit throughout the year.

On another note, we had a wonderful Parent “Night” Friday afternoon, tackling the immense topic of “Freedom and Discipline” and how they relate to one another.  We’ll be sending out some resources to the entire community to continue the conversation, so keep a look out for those.

And lastly, if you haven’t already participated in our Mission Support drive, please do consider doing so.  All gifts are fully tax deductible, and the end of the year is a wonderful time to rack up a few write-offs!  (A HUGE thank you to everyone who has already given!)

God bless,

Sean P. Garvey
Head of School
Renaissance Montessori School

Messages from the Environments

Message from the Young Children's Community

We have joyfully entered Advent in the Young Children's Community . . . The candles are lit! At the beginning of the week we introduced Advent in the Atrium at our Montessori Monday Morning, sharing with parents how we enjoy the greatest mysteries with the youngest children and how a little bit more of the mystery is revealed as the child grows from 18 months to 15 years!

We have shared with them the geography of the land of Israel, the infancy narratives of the Annunciation and Nativity, and the first prophecy Isaiah 9:2. In each presentation the most essential message is pulled out for them to enjoy! With this change in our liturgical year brings lots of new songs too! Enjoy!

Message from the Children's House

The highlight of the week for the community in the Children's House was our Advent procession. We all enjoy carrying something, changing the cloth to purple for preparation, placing our items on the table and of course, signing! Advent in our Children's House is always a time of joyful preparation.

Message from Elementary

Last Thursday the whole Upper Elementary (19 children) traveled to Westmoreland County in the northern neck right on the Rappahannock River for a gleaning opportunity for the St. Lucy Projecthttps://www.ccda.net/Need-Help/Food/. Gleaning is collecting of crops after the fields have been commercially harvested. This farmer was one that tithes a percentage of his harvest, leaving several acres unharvested to allow local food pantries to glean the leftovers.

Cauliflower was the vegetable du jour. The children learned how to handle 7” harvesting knives, to identify good heads of cauliflower, to chop the head, to peel extra leaves, and to carry the heavy baskets to the truck. Their harvesting was able to fill the three bins to distribute at the St Lucy Project in Manassas. Even with all the difficult physical labor, delayed lunch and cold conditions, the children wanted to stay and glean longer. So many of them remarked how they really feel so much joy doing this work. They know that even without seeing the recipients, they feel satisfied knowing they are helping those less fortunate to eat.

A special thanks to Mrs. O’Keefe for help with driving and the Nguyen family for loaning their bus for the trip.

Message from the Erdkinder

Erdkinder trip to Staunton VA started with a visit to Saint Francis cathedral.


Pizza Date Correction

The date for the last Pizza Day in December is listed incorrectly on the order form. Our last day of school in December is the 20th soPizza Day will be the 20th, not the 19th as listed.

Children's Holy Hour

Looking for ways to help your children prepare spiritually for Christmas?  There is an Advent Holy Hour for Children on Thursday, December 13th from 4-5 p.m. at All Saints Church.  Fr. Noah Morey has graciously agreed to preside as he did last year. Gather outside the library at All Saints and draw/write letters to Jesus from 4-4:20 p.m.  After that, process into the main sanctuary led by Fr. Noah who will expose Jesus in the monstrance for adoration. The balance of the hour will include saying a decade of the rosary, listening to an Advent reflection by Fr. Noah, presenting letters and drawings to Jesus on the altar, and concluding with benediction.   The format lends itself very well to children ranging from toddlers through school age really uniting in some beautiful prayer time.  

Un-Trim a Tree

This year we are beginning a new tradition of Un-Trim a Tree to provide families with an opportunity to help enrich their child's environment. Here's how it works:

  1. Choose a tag from the tree outside the Parent Lounge any time between now and Christmas break.

  2. Purchase the item for the environment listed.

  3. Wrap and label the gift and return it to under the tree. 

  4. The gifts will be opened by the children in the environments after Epiphany.

SCRIP for Gift Giving

Find gifts for everyone on your list while earning down your $300 SCRIP minimum with the holiday gift guide. Shop gift cards from over 750 top brands and restaurants, including Panera, Chipotle, Starbucks, Best Buy, Amazon, Nordstrom, The Home Depot, Gap, Lands End and more. Whether you buy the gift cards to give as presents to family and friends, or to use them to buy your gifts—RMS earns with every gift card purchased. It’s simple, it’s thoughtful and it’s truly the gift that keeps on giving. 

Shop the gift guide atShopWithScrip.com/GiftGuide

Nokesville Christmas Parade - Come Walk with Us!

We are excited about participating in the local parade this year, and the Nokesville Community is equally excited that we will be joining in. Let's make a great showing!  Please click on the Evite below and let us know how many of you can walk with us.  Alannah Sweeney, mom of Johnny in Primary, has loads of parade experience with the Boyle School of Irish Dance, and has graciously agreed to organize us. The Erdkinder will lead us in singing, and it will be a lot of fun for all.  

The parade is at 4 pm on Saturday, Dec. 8 and we need to meet at Brentsville High School at 3PM. It isn't a long parade so we hope you can fit it into your day.

Let us know!  http://evite.me/w7N5euUbhQ. The invite also has more information for you if you click on the "message from the organizer" tab.

From the Guild

Meeting Minutes

The Parent's Guild had a feedback discussion on RMS parent's nights. The upcoming December 8th Nokesville Parade was discussed. RMS will meet at 3:00 PM at Brentsville High School before the road closes at 3:30 PM. Gala preparation is in full swing, with an emphasis on experiences over physical items for the live auction. 

Upcoming Events

  • 12/08/18 - RMS Participating in Nokesville Christmas Parade 3:00 PM

  • 12/17/18 - Montessori Mondays - 8:30 AM

  • 12/20/18 - Last day of school in 2018

  • 12/20/18 - Elementary Movie Night Fundraiser

Reminders

New Montessori Association to be Housed at RMS

We are very excited to begin a partnership with the newly created Cultural and Catechetical Montessori Association. The mission of CCMA is to empower cultural renewal by promoting the work of Maria Montessori and Sofia Cavaletti in revealing the truth about the human person. CCMA will be opening a Cultural and Catechetical Center in the annex space here at RMS (where Elementary was the last two years). 

We will be working closely with CCMA both in furthering its mission and also opening the center here on our campus. You may have noticed that we have begun to pull the gate between the spaces to get the children used to remaining on this side of the building. CCMA will have its own entrance on that side of the building. 

Stay tuned for all the exciting details on programming offered by CCMA!

Save the Date - Community Movie Night


On December 20th, the Elementary class is hosting a Movie Night! All proceeds will go to the Elementary spring production. The movies will be: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” from 5:30 – 6:00 PM “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown” from 6:10 – 6:40 PM and “It’s a Wonderful Life” from 6:50-9:05. More details to follow!

Volunteer Hours Opportunity

We are looking for some volunteers to give some of their time to an exterior campus clean up for Fall. The work would include weeding, clearing debris and trash, and some raking. This could be done on your own time whenever available. Please contact Kristina if you are available to help!