Events for the week of October 24-28th:
25th AM and PM Kids Sale on the FN Campus
25th Boys Basketball FN vs. Heard 6:00 at Herrera
26th International Children's Day Celebration
27th Boys Basketball FN vs. Edison 7:00 at Herrera
28th Picture Day!
28th 5:30-8:300 Fall Fun Fest at FN
Hello Faith North Community,
International Children's Day is approaching. This is a great opportunity for you to work with your children on the heritage of your family or one that is of interest to your child. The work of research and learning about cultures from around the world is just one small part of the day; the essence being toleance, honor and peace.
The Benefit of Multi-Age Classrooms in Encouraging Peace:
Observing that children learn best in environments likened to family and home, Montessori designed her classrooms to include children of three sequential ages. Her extensive studies of children and how they learn led her to divide children into four planes of development and sensitive periods of learning. The children are grouped together in multi-age classrooms to meet the needs of the child. In the Montessori classroom, the younger children feel encouraged and capable of achieving mastery of work when they see older students completing the lesson. These groupings benefit older students as well because older children will feel capable, confident, and competent serving as mentors and role models to the younger children. Ideally, the children spend three years in the same Montessori classroom with the same teacher who nurtures and educates the child with a continuum of development.
Practical Life Develops Self-Esteem and Empowers Children to Solve Their Own Problems:
Montessori also believed that children should be empowered to become independent, stating, “The essence of independence is learning to take of oneself.” Practical life activities, such as scooping, pouring, sweeping, sewing, gardening, and conflict resolution, encourage independence, responsibility, confidence, and competence. The children feel valuable, capable, and empowered. Such feelings cultivate a compassionate, secure child who feels no need to bully or degrade others.
Multi-Cultural Cosmic Curriculum Encourages Students to Be Respectful of all Human Beings:
With multi-cultural curriculum and classrooms, children learn to be respectful of all human beings from all corners of our Earth. Students learn the names of each continent’s countries, capitals, flags, and landforms, as well as examining customs and cultures of people throughout our globe. Montessori believed that children who know about the Earth and its inhabitants would be the peacekeepers of our world. With knowledge and understanding for other cultures, children develop feelings of compassion and cooperation as human beings. Thus, the Montessori method is perhaps even more relevant is today’s global village.
Lessons in Conflict Resolution are Prevalent in the Montessori Classroom for Creating Peace:
Finally, peace may prevail in the Montessori classroom because the children are instructed in conflict resolution with a talking stick, a peace table, and a multitude of lessons regarding how to speak with one another to share feelings and needs when a problem occurs. Maria Montessori was committed to creating peace in our world through the education of our children and developed lessons specifically for children to learn how to solve their own problems peacefully.
All the best,
Susan Engdall
Friday, October 14, 2011
Events for the week of October 17th-21st
Wednesday 10/19/11 Phoenix Elementary School District's 140th Birthday Celebration 3:30-6:00 Dunbar School
Wednesday 10/19/11 Site Council at 5:00 PTA at 6:00 Shaw Media Center and Cafeteria
Thursday 10/20/11 & 10/21/11 PTA Kids Sale at FNM@Shaw at dismissal
Hello Faith North Community,
What a beautiful week it has been to enjoy extra time with your children during our Autumn Break. We are looking forward to seeing you all again on Monday, October 17th refreshed and ready to go!
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) announced a new accountability system for schools, and as of October 12, 2011 the ratings for each school were released. ADE believes that the new A-F letter grade system better informs parents on how different schools measure-up on total academic performance because it evaluates both academic outcomes and academic growth. Including student academic growth in an accountability system takes into account the unique student demographics of each school, and the different challenges those raise. For example, the challenges facing suburban, inner-city and rural schools are quite different from one another. Overall, the A-F letter grade system provides a clearer picture of school performance to parents and compares schools on a fairer, more equitable basis. Faith North received a Performing Plus rating under the old accountability system and the letter grade "B" under the new system. ADE defines “B” schools as demonstrating an above average level of performance. Should you have any questions regarding our new label or the new rating system please let me know or you can log onto the Arizona Department of Education website for a more detailed explanation of our new accountability system.
All the best and enjoy the day!
Susan Engdall
Principal
Wednesday 10/19/11 Phoenix Elementary School District's 140th Birthday Celebration 3:30-6:00 Dunbar School
Wednesday 10/19/11 Site Council at 5:00 PTA at 6:00 Shaw Media Center and Cafeteria
Thursday 10/20/11 & 10/21/11 PTA Kids Sale at FNM@Shaw at dismissal
Hello Faith North Community,
What a beautiful week it has been to enjoy extra time with your children during our Autumn Break. We are looking forward to seeing you all again on Monday, October 17th refreshed and ready to go!
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) announced a new accountability system for schools, and as of October 12, 2011 the ratings for each school were released. ADE believes that the new A-F letter grade system better informs parents on how different schools measure-up on total academic performance because it evaluates both academic outcomes and academic growth. Including student academic growth in an accountability system takes into account the unique student demographics of each school, and the different challenges those raise. For example, the challenges facing suburban, inner-city and rural schools are quite different from one another. Overall, the A-F letter grade system provides a clearer picture of school performance to parents and compares schools on a fairer, more equitable basis. Faith North received a Performing Plus rating under the old accountability system and the letter grade "B" under the new system. ADE defines “B” schools as demonstrating an above average level of performance. Should you have any questions regarding our new label or the new rating system please let me know or you can log onto the Arizona Department of Education website for a more detailed explanation of our new accountability system.
All the best and enjoy the day!
Susan Engdall
Principal
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Events for the week of October 3rd-7th:
5th Parent education evening for primary and elementary parents in the Faith North Multi-Use room at 5:30
10th-14th Autumn break, no school!
Hello Faith North Community,
This week you will notice newly framed information on the importance of the uninterrupted 3 hour work cycles in the Montessori environments in both the office on the main campus as well as the FNM@Shaw campus. We invite you to take a look at this information and consider it when making a decision to pick up your child early or drop them off late. While we know that sometimes situations arise and early pickup or late drop off is unavoidable we would like all parents to be aware of the implications for your child, the other children and the flow of the work cycle. For those of you that are "followers," I have included the information below!
Best Practices in a Montessori Environment
Preserving the uninterrupted three-hour work cycle
What makes Montessori unique?
It’s insistence on freedom within a prepared environment.
We don't "mandate", we "invite", and we "entice".
To do this we must have a 3-hour uninterrupted morning work cycle.
This is one of the basic tenets of a Montessori education.
Maria would have said that any school without this was not doing the work of a Montessori school.
In effective Montessori programs, the school day is structured to provide learners with at least one daily,
uninterrupted work period appropriate to the age level of the children in each class.
At the early childhood level and elementary level,
this has traditionally been understood as a two-and-a-half or three-hour uninterrupted work cycle in the morning.
At the secondary level, this objective may be met in a somewhat different form, but the objective is the same.
The purpose of long, uninterrupted blocks of work time is to allow students to select work freely,
eventually becoming absorbed in work that has a particular fascination for them at this point in their development. Interruptions, no matter how valuable the alternative activity might seem to be,
disturbs the fragile development of the child’s focus, concentration, and intellectual exploration of their own.
Please join us Wednesday night for a presentation of the Grace and Courtesy in the elementary years. It promises to be fun and informative!
The week of October 10th-14th school will be closed for autumn break. The weather promises to be beautiful. Get out and have a fun staycation with your child seeing Phoenix, visiting delightful places and enjoying one another!
All the best!
Susan Engdall
Principal
5th Parent education evening for primary and elementary parents in the Faith North Multi-Use room at 5:30
10th-14th Autumn break, no school!
Hello Faith North Community,
This week you will notice newly framed information on the importance of the uninterrupted 3 hour work cycles in the Montessori environments in both the office on the main campus as well as the FNM@Shaw campus. We invite you to take a look at this information and consider it when making a decision to pick up your child early or drop them off late. While we know that sometimes situations arise and early pickup or late drop off is unavoidable we would like all parents to be aware of the implications for your child, the other children and the flow of the work cycle. For those of you that are "followers," I have included the information below!
Best Practices in a Montessori Environment
Preserving the uninterrupted three-hour work cycle
What makes Montessori unique?
It’s insistence on freedom within a prepared environment.
We don't "mandate", we "invite", and we "entice".
To do this we must have a 3-hour uninterrupted morning work cycle.
This is one of the basic tenets of a Montessori education.
Maria would have said that any school without this was not doing the work of a Montessori school.
In effective Montessori programs, the school day is structured to provide learners with at least one daily,
uninterrupted work period appropriate to the age level of the children in each class.
At the early childhood level and elementary level,
this has traditionally been understood as a two-and-a-half or three-hour uninterrupted work cycle in the morning.
At the secondary level, this objective may be met in a somewhat different form, but the objective is the same.
The purpose of long, uninterrupted blocks of work time is to allow students to select work freely,
eventually becoming absorbed in work that has a particular fascination for them at this point in their development. Interruptions, no matter how valuable the alternative activity might seem to be,
disturbs the fragile development of the child’s focus, concentration, and intellectual exploration of their own.
Please join us Wednesday night for a presentation of the Grace and Courtesy in the elementary years. It promises to be fun and informative!
The week of October 10th-14th school will be closed for autumn break. The weather promises to be beautiful. Get out and have a fun staycation with your child seeing Phoenix, visiting delightful places and enjoying one another!
All the best!
Susan Engdall
Principal
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