Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.

Marian Wright Edelman

Good Things Happening at Montessori Children’s House

Many wonderful things happen every day at our school.  As parents, you do not always get to witness the extraordinary events in the daily classrooms.  Here is a window into some of what has happened in the last few weeks:

• Singers of United Lands came to visit our school.  Singers from Estonia, Haiti, Polynesia, and Venezuela gave all of the children a concert, and then had workshops with our elementary children to teach the songs and dances of their countries.  It was a very lively and fun day for all of us!
• Two MSU football players (Ross Weaver and Ashton Henderson) came to talk with our elementary children about leadership, sportsmanship, and the power of a positive attitude.
• Eight children from the upper elementary visited the Charles Wright Museum of African American History and the Motown Museum in Detroit, lunching at Steve’s Soul Food Restaurant.  This was a kickoff to their research for Black History Month. (see “Looking Ahead” section) (more…)

Whoever touches the life of the child touches the most sensitive point of a whole

which has roots in the most distant past and climbs toward the infinite future.

- Maria Montessori

Thank You

• to Mary Thompson, Leslie Melvin, Niconna Nicholson, Wendy Kopitsch, Lorie Latsko, Madhu Anderson, Colleen Pero, Amanda Hunn and Sara Burns for helping with the picnic.  We are so happy for the excellent turn out and hope you had fun!
• to Walk-a-thon volunteers – Patrick Ulano, Shruti Malde, Theresa Mahaffey, Sherie Mason, Cheryl Kendall, Marie Crutcher, Heather and Neal Iskra, Laura Olson, Amy Wortley, Bill Arnold, Stacey Chaliman, Hilary Greenberg, Zak Nachazel, Amanda Hunn, Leslie Melvin, Mary Thompson, Sue Wilk and Ben McGuire.
• To all of the parents and extended family and friends who contributed to the walk-a thon this year.  Our total raised is $3603.  Donations are still being accepted with great gratitude! (more…)

This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really live:

the more they give, the more they possess.

Rainer Maria Rilke, German Poet

Thank You

We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to Andy Muchong’s steel drum band, the “Hard Bargain Steel Band”, who performed at our school on Monday, March 2^nd. The children enthusiastically moved with the beat and cheered after each number. It was a fun concert, and we appreciate Andy’s (Tanya’s assistant) bringing the group to our school.

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We recently sent home an article (reprinted with permission) to all families.  Here is the first of a 5-page article.  To view the whole article, please follow this link to download it (you must have Adobe Reader, a free download, to view it). (more…)

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Education is for improving the lives of others

and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.

- Marian Wright Edelman

Safety in the Parking Lot

We must insist again that as you come into our parking lot, PLEASE set aside all of your distractions…work, cell phone, being in a hurry. Your family’s safety is at stake. Wintry weather makes parking lines hard to see. The view both beside and behind large vehicles can be compromised. Plowed snow obstructs your view, and conditions are slippery for driving AND walking. Recently, cars have been spotted going the wrong way. Also recently, a parent was struck by a vehicle mirror when someone was backing up.

These are REAL and DANGEROUS conditions. Please review carefully the attached rules for the parking lot, and be sure that anyone driving your children back and forth to school has reviewed them also. Should an incident occur, we ask that you notify the office immediately.

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To open the new year, we choose to share Chapter 67 from Catherine McTamaney’s book,

The Tao of Montessori.

There are three jewels that I cherish:

Compassion, simplicity, and patience.

Simplicity. Patience. Compassion.

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There are two ways of spreading light –

to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

- Edith Wharton

Thank You

• to Haywood Liggett for helping us spread salt in the parking lot.
• to Eugene Ngalle for changing the bulb in the coatroom.
• to Mary Thompson, Leslie Melvin and Bobbi Tanasse for volunteering to help with the decorations for the holiday program. (more…)

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.

- Cicero

Thank You

We extend a huge thank you to all who helped to raise money for the soft fall wood chips, gym floor refinishing, and hall carpet!  Our current tally is for the walk-a-thon is $4075.75 – wow!  (more…)

Children are not vessels to be filled but lamps to be lit.

- Swami Chinmayanana
(1916 – 1993), Indian Spiritual Leader

Thank You

-    to Mary Thompson, Leslie Melvin, Pricilla Ellis, Kim Dickenson, and Teresa     Anderson-Hyndman for organizing the picnic.  It was a wonderful event, and we     are so pleased that many of you joined in the fun.  What a lovely evening! (more…)

“Normalized” children, aided by their environment, show in their subsequent development those wonderful powers that we describe:  spontaneous discipline, continuous and happy work, social sentiments of help and sympathy of others.
- Maria Montessori

Welcome

- To Alan Mozhoor, born June 4th, and weighing 8 lbs., 10 and _ oz., to Pinto and Preethy Sunny Moozhoor .  Big sister, AnnMarie, is in Mindy’s class.
- To Ayush Sahas Chidura, born July 17th, weighing 7 lbs. to Santish and Sangeetha Katthury Chidura.  Big brother, Harshil, is in Candy’s class.
- To Conner James McGuire, born July 18th to Ben and Melanie McGuire.  Big brother, Jack, is in Tanya’s class.  Conner weighed 9lbs., 1ounce.
We are so pleased to welcome these new children into our community! (more…)

             The child is truly a miraculous being, and this should be felt deeply by the educator.

-          Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

In just a few weeks we will begin our 36th year in the Lansing Community.  We are very pleased that your family has chosen to share your child with us for the coming school year.  Each of us, new and returning, old and young, is enriched by the presence of each family in our community.  We thank you for choosing to make our school your community and we look forward to sharing the journey with you.  (more…)

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

Marcel Proust

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The following excerpt is from a recent North American Montessori Teacher’s Association Journal (NAMTA) article by Linda Davis:

Sometimes Maria Montessori’s words seem like poetry.

Persistent work,
clarity of ideas,
the habit of sifting conflicting motives
in the consciousness,
even in the minutest actions of life,
decisions
taken every moment
on the smallest things,
the gradual mastery over one’s actions,
the power of self-direction
increasing by degrees
in the sum
of successively
repeated acts,
these
are the stout
little
stones
on which the strong structure of personality is built up.

Spontaneous Activity in Education,  Maria Montessori

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School Closings What a wild winter it has been!  We have never had so many snow days, and sincerely apologize for all of the inconvenience. Just to clarify, we DO close with the Lansing School District for weather conditions. (more…)

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

- Melody Beattie

A very Happy New Year to you all! We hope you had a restful and joyful holiday, and return to school with a refreshed and grateful heart. (more…)