May 17, 2016

Island Night was amazing last week. It was a pleasure to see so many of you there. The 6th Grade Island Project is such a big accomplishments and we are very proud of each of the presenters. It was a beautiful convergence of perseverance, creativity, ingenuity and insight! Today, students will be doing reflections and self-assessments to bring closure to their experience and their work.


It's hard to believe that we have a month left in the school year. We are just about finished with Wordly Wise vocabulary. After this week, we'll have one more spelling test. We'll turn our attention to end of the year wrap-ups in many different curriculum areas, and conduct final math self-assessments.


Your children are also currently in the midst of this year's final project: The Change Project. This is a very open-ended project that began last week with the question "What can 1 Montessori kid do to change the world?"


We're taking the project in four distinct steps 1) Inspire, 2) Learn, 3) Act, 4) Reflect. Last week, we took time every day to reflect, write and think about our world and the children were asked to explore their own concerns and their own passions about the world. Yesterday, they shared the fruit of that labor: a specific aspect of the world that they want to investigate and change. The list of topics is tremendous and inspiring, all the way from America's Collapsing Schools to Endangered Sea Turtles and beyond.


This week, students are diving into learning more about their topic, and have specific investigation questions to guide them. Then from next Monday through Friday, June 3, they are going to be doing something that creates change. This is where you, as parents, can help so make sure to keep in touch with your child throughout the process.
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Let me know if you have any questions.


Thanks,
Nicole