tessori In Tough Times" is very informative. Seldin asks parents to consider the answer to these ques-tions: why did you choose Montessori for your chil-dren in the first place?, what have you been hop-ing to see your children take away from their years in Montessori, and how important are those out-comes? How important do you feel the next few years in your children's educa-tion will be and how might your children benefit if you are willing and able to stay the course? My hope is only what is best for the student and their family. According to Seldin, one reason par-ents have decided to stay with their children's current school is the importance of

Greetings, The start of 2009 has kept us very busy as we have been in full swing. "Benjamin Frankl in wrote that an investment in education pays the best dividends. Centu-ries later, most people would still agree with him," (Seldin, Tim "Hanging In With Mon-tessori In Tough Times." Tomorrow's Child: Win-ter 2009. Vol. 17, No. 2.) There is a feeling of un-certainty with all of us in regards to the recent economy and so many wonder what the future will bring. How can we continue and sustain our authentic Montessori approach to education during difficult economic times without compro-mising the quality of our program? In order to keep the spirit of our community intact, please tell us what it is that we can do for you and let us know what it is that you

can do for our commu-nity. I am proud to say that our parents’ involvement has always been out-standing and now, more than ever, we need to remain strong for our families in need. Please know that I am available at anytime to talk to you if you need help or have suggestions. Please ask your child's teacher for the latest is-sue of Tomorrow's Child. There are a few articles in this issue that affirm the choice that you have made for your children's education. The article in Tomorrow's Child by Tim Seldin, "Hanging In With Mon-

A l e t t e r f r o m o u r P r i n c i p a l

M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L O F N O R T H H O F F M A N

L O T U S M O N T E S S O R I S C H O O L

The Pyramid February 2009

keeping things as stable in their children's lives as possible in times of great stress. One opportunity that would greatly help our community is with our participation in the school’s annual fundrais-ing event. February 21. I am very thankful for all of the generous cash dona-tions. Our annual giving will continue for this aca-demic year in hopes to cover some of the tuition needs. Again, know that we are always here for you and that working together will build a stronger school community. Thank you,

Molood Naghibzadeh

The much anticipated International Day DVDs are now available! We would like to extend tremendous gratitude to the Goushchin family,

who skillfully filmed and edited our International Day DVDs this year. We are fortunate to have such dedicated families, who help make our International Day celebration such a successful event. Please stop by the offices at MSNH or Lotus to pick up your DVD today.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A Y D V D S ! ! !

T h e P y r a m i d P a g e 2

Transitioning Into A New Classroom

The month of January is a very exciting

time for the students at the Montessori School of North Hoff-man and Lotus Mon-tessori campuses. Along with the New Year, many students are also visiting new classrooms. A Mon-tessori classroom has a three-year cycle. Af-ter the third year, those students then move up to the next classroom. The tod-dlers move to a pri-mary room, the kin-dergartners move to lower elementary, the third graders move to upper elementary, and the sixth graders move into Erdkinder, the middle school level. Changing classrooms can be challenging for some students. Dur-ing those three years in the classroom the students have grown so comfortable with their teacher and their classmates. Also, many students

tary students join their potential class once a week starting in January. They participate in the schoolwork in class just as they will do in the next school year. The reason be-hind the transition days being in Janu-ary is so that the visiting students re-alize early on in the second semester of school that this big change is going to occur. This gives them time for it all to sink in. The stu-dents this year have really responded well to the transition days. Here is what a few students had to

say about their experi-ence. Seiji Lee, a

kindergartener from Mrs. Mishra's class describes the experi-ence of visiting Mrs. Haider's lower ele-mentary class. Segi Lee said, "I liked it a lot. I liked working with the second

are so pleased to fi-nally be the oldest in their room, that the idea of change can be a bit humbling. To make the transition from classroom to classroom easier and enjoyable at MSNH and Lotus, the stu-dents visit the class they will be in next school year. The main goal of tran-sition days is for the teachers to get to know the student. It is vital that the teacher observe how the new student inter-acts in the classroom. It is an opportunity to focus on the student in the new environ-ment to help the teacher prepare the student for the com-ing year. Both the student's current teacher and their teacher for the next year work hand and hand together on im-proving the student's weakness and culti-vating their strengths. The visiting elemen-

graders doing math work. Tarek Shah, another kindergar-

tener also from Mrs. Ali's class said after his visit with Mrs.

Haider's class, "I liked the Asia map work and I liked writing in cursive." Mrs. Haider has been teaching at MSNH for fourteen years. Her class is one of three lower elementary classrooms at MSNH. Both kindergarten students really en-joyed their time visit-ing Mrs. Haider's class, but they still had a few questions to ask Mrs. Haider. Seji Lee would like to know, what are the field trips like? How do you do morning line? What is lunch like in your class? Mrs. Haider responded with, "in elementary there are two types of fieldtrips, sometimes a small group of students go

P a g e 3 T h e P y r a m i d

to a place of special interest to them with their teacher or chaperone parent. Almost every month a l l e l e m e n t a r y classes take the

school bus and go on a fieldtrip based on a topic that the stu-

dents have studied in the classroom. There is always a fol-low up activity after relating to the trip. How do you do morning line? "Every morning the students gather around the large white table for morn-ing line. We say the "Pledge to the Earth" followed by the "Pledge of Alle-giance," then we sing either our national anthem or another patriotic song that the students would like to sing. I then take attendance. A long-standing tradi-tion in my classroom

is that every morning a student adds one marble from the jar

and places it into a decorative glass bowl as a symbol for each working day in the school year. After-ward, I either give a

class are probably very similar to your primary classroom. We show respect for each member of the class by speaking to them kindly, listening to them, and helping them whenever possi-

ble. We show respect for the teachers by following di-

rections and not in-terrupting them dur-ing presentations or when they are help-ing another child. We show respect for our classroom environ-ment by keeping it neat and clean." Is recess dif-ferent than my (primary) class? "Elementary recess is similar to the primary class. We go into the gym or if the weather is good, we go outside and play. The boys like to play soccer and basketball and the girls like to play with hula hoops." Mr. Eagan teaches gym class to all ele-mentary classes. Mr.

cultural presentation or at other times we go and start work right away" What is lunch like in your class? "For our class lunch, we have a new seating assign-ment everyday ex-cept for Fridays. On Fridays, the students may choose to sit wherever they would like. Once seated, we sing two songs, "Peace is the World" and "Do You Know Where I Find Peace." Before we eat, we al-ways thank the stu-dents who have pre-pared the food. The students are called up by their table groups and serve the food to themselves. While eating, the students talk with their classmates at their table. When a student is finished with their lunch, they ask to be ex-cused." What Tarek Shah would like to ask Mrs. Haider is what are some of the rules of your classroom? Is recess different than my (primary) class? What is gym class like? "The rules in my

Tarek Shah's ques-tion about gym. "Throughout the year we have been work-ing on our physical fitness. We begin each gym class by stretching our mus-cles. Then the class does a running exer-cise to get the blood flowing and work on our cardiovascular health. Then we cap it off by playing an organized game. Soon we will be starting basketball and continue with flag football in the spring." Transition days are really great for the students to get a feel of what to expect next year. Transition days give the visiting students a first hand experience of their new classroom. It also offers them the opportunity to make friends and get to know their class-mates so they are well-prepared and ready to begin the next school year positively.

The Pyramid is a publication for the Montessori School of North Hoffman and Lotus Montessori. It is available online at http://www.msnh.org/newsletter.htm.

If you have information that you would like to be considered for publication, please send an email at maryam.msnh@gmail.com

A m e s s a g e f r o m P T O

Donations of $1000 & up

Dr. Molood Naghibzadeh $2000.00 Three Sister Development $1500.00 Mr. & Mrs. Patrick Pesch $1000.00

Donations of $500 to $999

Mr. & Mrs. Amir Azaran $500 Mr. & Mrs. Todd Collis $500

Mr. & Mrs. Wojciech Filip $500

Donations of $100 to $499

Dr. & Mrs. Daraki $200 Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Buenavista $100

Mr. & Mrs. Britt Casey $100 Mrs. Maria Aragon $100

Donations under $100 Mr. & Mrs. Joseph McKernin

Mr. & Mrs. Sehgal Mr. & Mrs. Steve Weinstein Mr. & Mrs. Vinod Ghelani

A fine line is walked every year between keeping tuition low and maintaining the schools high standards and fulfilling commitment to excellence. This balance is accomplished

each year through the generosity of parents, grandparents, and friends of the school. Most don't realize that tuition does not cover all the operating expenses. MSNH and Lotus Montessori rely on donations and fundraising through events like the Gala,

book fairs, gift wrap sales, and scrip orders to supplement tuition.

Donations and fundraising proceeds are used for tuition assistance, building mainte-nance and expansion, and teacher development. Donations are accepted all year and are

greatly appreciated. Please consider making a donation or supporting the school through one of its fundraising events. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Marie Gildersleeve, PTO Co-President

Teacher Sponsors

Mr. & Mrs. Roger Basa Ms. Jill Dressner & Ms. Terry Pastika

Mr. & Mrs. Robert Frolick Mr. & Mrs. Ashar Hasan

Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Kelleher Mr. & Mrs. Joseph McBride

Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Rider Mr. & Mrs. Andy Shozda Mr. & Mrs. Paul Wilson

Mr. and Mrs. Micheal Wessberg Mr. & Mrs. Bruce Ward

Mr. & Mrs. Steve Weistein Mr. & Mrs. Patrick Pesch

D e a r A d o p t - A - F a m i l y D o n o r

A Few thank You notes from the families you adopted this Christmas

N e w s l e t t e r T i t l e

God Bless your home and always on Christmas. Thank you very much for the gifts we asked for, we are very happy. Thanks for helping families in need.

Family 13C

To Melina and Gabe, all other s who helped our family this holiday season.

We just want to say thank you all for the generosity that you have shown this family. This is one of the best Christmas that my children have ever had.

In these hard economical times it really below our minds to see the many gifts that were given, not only to the children but for me and my husband as well, we thank you.

Our hearts are touched deeply and thanks to you all, our children will be able to unwrap their giftd on Christmas day with smiles on their faces and our as well.

May God bless all and to all a wonderful happy Holidays.

Family 13A

We would like to thank the Palatine Township and to all of the families involved with putting together such a wonderful Christmas experience for our family. All of your generous thoughts, gifts and cards are so very much appreciated!

It’s people like you that makes this world a much better place. Thank you again for a special holiday.

We hope you all also had a Merry Christmas and happy healthy New Year.

God Bless

Family 13

What started out as a conversation in the car on a going out trip on the way to see the play “Romeo and Juliet” has since transformed into Early Act Club, an exciting and important aspect of many students at the Montessori School of North Hoffman. Early Act Club started with a handful of stu-dents just after winter break in 2008. It has since blossomed into a large club with over th i r t y members , grades first through sixth. Early Act Club founders, Veronica Filip and Natalie York described the club name saying that, “the original name was Earth Club but has been changed because it is so much more than that. Our club includes the earth as well as all the people living on earth.”

Miss Motlagh and Mr. Eagan’s students founded Early Act Club. They both have guided and supported the club since the be-ginning. The Early Act Club members created the mission statement together during their first meeting in the 2008/2009 school year. Early Act Club’s mission statement: we should save the earth in the best way we can. We shall spread awareness of other cultures, thereby in-creasing a sense of ap-preciation for our di-verse global commu-nity. We shall, to the best of our ability help those who are less for-tunate than we are. We shall promote world peace, remem-bering that peace be-gins with the individ-ual and only then can it spread to others.

Every week Early Act Club has topic discus-sions, such as ways to conserve water when they wash their hands, brush their teeth, and take a shower. Each student participated in a shower log where they learned about water waste by recording on a chart the time that it took each student to take a shower. On average two gallons of water is used per min-ute in a shower. A f ive-minute daily shower uses seventy gallons of water a week. If each person cuts their shower time in half that would save on average thirty-five gallons of water a week. The club accomplish-ments lie within the students and they all have shined. Early Act Club has had many successful projects. Some of those projects include a bottle drive, recycling, and art pro-jects made from items that would otherwise be recycled or thrown away. The students also held a bake sale, which the proceeds went to a school in the Philippines. Early Act Club has many posi-tive goals and one pro-ject that the club

E M P O W E R E D T O M A K E A N I M P A C T : E A R L Y A C T C L U B

members did was each member de-signed a flag detailing what was important to them Early Act Club meets after school every Thursday from 3:30 to 4:30 as well as being integrated into the school day and into the student’s home life. All the stu-dents involved in the club have made a commitment to always follow the clubs mis-sion, as well as to al-ways be respectful to others, try not to be wasteful, not to litter, and to compost when-ever possible. This translates back into their daily lives as stu-dents and empowers them to be the best that they can be. Early Act Club posi-tively impacts the stu-dent’s family and friends to also be more consciences of their actions and how they affect the world.