We've enjoyed another beautiful week filled with music, birds, spelling, spiders, compassion for each other and curiosity at Salado Montessori.  

Highlights of the week included spending a morning graced by a Painted Bunting, unveiling the Bell Cabinet, holding jumping spiders, and a live performance by the incredible guitarist Bruce Copeland.  

What a joy it is every day to assist in the growth of these sweet little people.  

Picture Day This Week!

Don't forget, Thursday morning Stefanie Thomas will be in the classroom to capture photos of our students in action.  Please send your kiddos dressed for the occasion!   

We're still looking for a volunteer yearbook editor - could that be you?  Please email Alissa@SaladoMontessori.com if you can help out - Thanks! 

We have also been blessed this week with many generous gifts including stone for our keyhole garden (upcoming volunteer day on May 5!), a new fridge, surprise financial donations, several new enrollments, and a passing grade on our final inspection by The State of Texas Health and Human Services Child Care Licensing division. 

We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for.  

American Sign Language

Salado Montessori strives to provide world-class Montessori education for our students and in order to accomplish this one of our long-term goals is to include second language skills.  Well, we've met that goal this year!  We are now a deaf-friendly school and all of our students are getting regular exposure to American Sign Language.  Mrs. Carney, our lovely Classroom Assistant and AfterSchool Caregiver, has been an interpreter for the deaf for years and has been using her skills with our kiddos, too.  Not only are they getting regular exposure, but like every other type of language acquisition, they are already beginning to put their lessons to use and sign back. 

Sound Boxes

One of our many sensorial works, the sound boxes help our kiddos refine their "auditory senses in a controlled and engaging way. The material ‘isolates one difficulty’ by making the cylinders identical to each other, except for the sound they make when shaken, ultimately practicing sound discrimination."

montessorium.com/encyclopedia/sound-boxes

Click the first button below to watch a quick video of the sound box in action: 

Volunteer Day May 5!

9 AM - noon

Make sure you've marked your calendars and are ready for our next volunteer day.  The highlight of the morning will be building our new keyhole garden, but we'll have lots of small items to attend to inside also. 

We've got the stones we need to build the walls and are now just collecting cardboard, newspaper, leaves, small twigs, grass clippings (and other organic matter), good potting soil and compost.  If you have any to spare, feel free to drop off any of the materials mentioned above - the diameter of the garden will be 6 ft, so we'll need a LOT :-) 

And... if you've got some manure, we could use that too!   

DONOR RECOGNITION

It's not every day we receive unsolicited donations, but BOY do they make us happy!  Thank you so much Brad & Susan Buckley for your generosity and support of our school.    

As a non-profit, Salado Montessori relies on the generosity of our families & relatives, community, sponsors, and regular donors to acquire the materials we need and to keep the bills paid.  While this first year has been in large part made possible by a small but mighty group of donors, we hope that as we grow more and more folks will realize what an incredible gift the Montessori method is to our next generation and join us in our efforts to grow and expand to accommodate more and more kiddos.   

Amazon Smile

We've already begun receiving donations via Amazon - THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

If you haven't already set this up, it's so easy - go to smile.amazon.com/ch/81-4551078 to get started and send Salado Montessori .5% of every purchase you make.  It'll help us keep the lights on this summer as we prepare for the 2018-2019 year.  Thanks!  

Did you know Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy? At an early age, Montessori broke gender barriers and expectations when she enrolled in classes at an all-boys technical school, with hopes of becoming an engineer. She soon had a change of heart and began medical school at The University of Rome, where she graduated – with honors – in 1896. She was a single mother. Her educational method is in use today in many public and private schools throughout the world.

Learn more here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Montessori

And, as always, we hope you enjoy your weekend!

Ms. Webb, Mrs. Carney & Ms. Alissa