January 31, 2014

The Tall Oak

Leaves O

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Letter from Megan: Lower is Growing 1

Infant & Toddler: Empathy & Compassion 2

Primary: Reflections from the Nutcracker 2

Lower: Miracle Tree Project 3

Upper: Cultural Studies 3

Middle: Children’s Theater 4

Specialist: The Value of Free Play 5

Inside this Issue

Megan

Lower Elementary Is Growing! Over the past several years, our Lower Elementary pro-

gram, powered by our outstanding teachers and the in-

credible Montessori elementary curriculum, has contin-

ued to grow. This year we had our highest Lower Ele-

mentary enrollment to date, and even had a wait list of

interested students.

To meet the increased demand, I am pleased to share

that next year we will be expanding our program to a

third classroom. The Green Farmhouse, formerly

home to Upper Elementary, will be remodeled this spring and will be home to LE 1 with

Jamie Worman as lead teacher. Debbie Kovets and Ines Oldenburg will continue in LE2 in

the Red Barn, while Meghan Dohring will become the lead teacher of LE3, which will be in

the Red Barn.

Meghan, who began as a co-teacher with Oak Farm in the 2011-2012 school year, has a

bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from IPFW and has been completing her Mon-

tessori Elementary training with Seton Montessori in Chicago. Meghan brings dedication,

talent and passion for working with children in a Montessori environment, and will make

an incredible lead teacher.

We are currently launching a search to find an outstanding candidate to join Jamie in LE1

as an assistant teacher or co-teacher. If you have any suggestions, please forward them to

us. We would love to hear from you.

We are excited to be able to offer an Oak Farm education to a few more families, and are

equally as excited for the growing strength of our Lower Elementary community!

Specialist: Primary Outdoor Environment 6

Green Team : The “GREEN” Prairie House 7

Community Happenings 8

Our Mission:

To provide a Montessori

environment that inspires children

to reach their potential

through meaningful work.

Volume 7, Issue 4

Page 2

Infant & Toddler

Empathy and Compassion Surrounding children with love

and care will allow them to

grow up learning how to love

and care for others. Empathy is

what allows them to under-

stand others’ feelings and be

sensitive to those feelings.

Compassion goes one step fur-

ther. Compassion is not just

understanding feelings but acting on them. “Would

you like help?” “Are you alright?” These are big

questions for infant and toddlers and yet they can

and do start to learn these skills before they even

talk. We work on showing each child what caring

behavior looks like. They learn to be kind and pleas-ant to everyone around them, even when they are

having a difficult day.

We talk about it. We model and teach feeling words

and concepts by talking with them about their own

emotions and those of others. “How do you think

your friend felt when she fell down? Did she cry?” or

“How does that feel that your friend took your

work? What can you do?"

Saying thank you can go a long way when children

share. If they respond in a kind manner to a request

for help, tell them you could see what they did and

thank them. Then watch as they feel proud of them-

selves. We also recognize compassion. When we

notice a child acting with compassion toward some-

one else (finding an infant a work he needs or asking

if a sick friend is feeling better), we say so. It’s nice to

be noticed.

Primary

Student Reflections on the Nutcracker The Kindergarten students had the privilege to travel to downtown Fort Wayne on December 12. They

were joined by three teachers and three parent chaperones. This was an exciting event for the students -

riding the Oak Farm bus to the “city”, getting dressed up for the event, experiencing a story being told with-

out any words, and seeing all the dancers in such beautiful costumes. This will be an outing they will remem-

ber for a long time!

Primary One students, Aidan, Viviana and Alek, share

their favorite part of the Nutcracker.

Lower Elementary The Miracle Tree Project is

Always Memorable!

It was unanimous decision by the students to

continue our Miracle Tree program this year. The

program volunteers work very hard from

Thanksgiving to Christmas collecting and organiz-

ing donations from the community to distribute

to families in need. The Miracle Tree is a pro-

gram that makes sure that every child in Noble

County has a memorable Christmas.

This year, we chose Thursday, December 12th as

Miracle Tree Day in Lower Elementary! Shortly

after arriving at school, half of the LE students

and our very helpful parent volunteers headed to

Walmart to shop for our Christmas families. Af-

ter filling six shopping carts, we drove back to the

Red Barn and were greeted by our wrapping vol-

unteers. Students were so excited to know that

all the wonderful gifts they purchased would be

going under the trees of needy children in the area. The holiday spirit was visible as they

worked together to shop, sort, and wrap their

gifts. Thank you to all who donated to our pro-

ject – we were able to help a total of 17 children

this year - ages 3 weeks to 14 years!

Page 3

Upper Elementary Cultural Studies

“We change the world

a little each day

by our kindness.”

Tom Giaquinto

Author of

Be a Good Human

In the Upper Ele-

mentary the cul-

tural studies are

considered the

backbone of the

curriculum. This

includes the sci-

ences and humani-

ties. The cultural studies address the questions:

“Who am I?, “Why am I here?” and “What will my

contribution be to the world?”

Through exploration and experience with the cul-

tural curriculum the students are able to discover

what Montessori referred to as their Cosmic Task.

Currently the Sixth Years are delving into early hu-

mans’ migration to the Americas. This will include a

study of North and South America’s geography, the

rise of agriculture, and the civilizations of the Pre-

Columbian America.

“The task of teaching becomes easy, since we

do not need to choose what we shall teach, but

should place all before him for the satisfaction

of his mental appetite.” - Montessori

Page 4

Middle School

The goal of the winter plays was to share the arts with the Oak Farm

community. As part of the experience, Middle School students performed

their original plays for over 150 younger students ages two to twelve.

This new tradition had a number of challenges beyond the repeated delays

of practice and performance dates caused by the polar vortex. One of

the biggest challenges was to make the plays mobile so that performances

were able to occur at a variety of locations on campus.

Another big challenge was writing the scripts. Students chose to adapt

folk and fairy tales. Seventh years added a new dwarf named Clumsy and

put a few more creative twists on the classic tale Snow White. Eighth years

performed “The Journey for the Sickly Bear” which was a fairy tale mash

up of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, and Hansel and

Gretel. Everyone collaborated to conceive the plots, write the scripts, and

develop the characters. During rehearsals, lines were added that were the

result of inspired and funny accidents.

Middle School students were responsible for all aspects of the show in-

cluding the creation of the costumes and sets from recycled materials.

Everyone performed a part in the show and contributed to the prepara-

tion process. The creation of the plays was a dynamic experience.

The audience at the Victorian Farm House included the Toddler, Primary

and Lower Elementary classes. The younger children laughed at the

punch lines and enjoyed the stories as they unfolded on stage. After the

show the cast took a moment to answer questions before receiving many

high fives, big smiles, and hugs from the audience members. The plays

were also performed at the Prairie House for Upper Elementary.

Student Writers, Set Designers & Actors

Produce Children’s Theater

Specialist: Elementary Physical Education

The Value of Free Play

Page 5

Family schedules can be packed full of piano lessons, soccer practice, glee clubs,

dance practices, swimming lessons, and more. While these activities no doubt

can be a positive presence in a child’s life, this can be taxing on children as well

as parents when children lack free, unstructured time as a result. There are

many benefits to children having free time all their own, including:

1. Building creativity and ability to come up with unique ideas.

2. Developing motor planning skills, helping the child to create and carry out

ideas, motor actions, and activities.

3. Fostering decision-making skills. Unstructured play provides many

opportunities to make choices while playing alone or while playing in a group.

4. Fostering independence. Helps children learn to think independently and

teaches them how to entertain themselves.

5. Developing social skills and collaborative play skills. Free play allows children to develop conflict

resolution skills and learn to take turns. It also helps children develop their skills as leaders and as followers.

6. Providing opportunities for children to discover their interests and skills!

Here at school we provide children structured physical education that supports social, emotional and physical devel-

opment. We also allow for unstructured time during recess where students are allowed to invent a game, pretend

play, build a fort, or do whatever their imaginations inspires.

Structured time is best when it is balanced with unstructured time that gives the child a balanced development. True

free time, away from technology such as television and video games, is guided by the child’s imagination and allows

for natural discovery and self-development. So the next time you find yourself running from one activity to the next,

as yourself if you have remembered to offer your child free time?

Oak Farm Ski Club 2014 You are invited to ski with the Oak Farm Community on Friday, February 14th at Swiss Valley, MI.

Please contact Andrea Deihl for more details: adeihl@oakfarmschool.com

Page 6

When the school year begins the weather is warm and there is

still a lot of work to do out in the yard and gardens. The chil-

dren refer to their time outside working as “gardening”. Now

that we are in the heart of winter and the activities at this time

of the year are much different from spring or fall time, the chil-

dren still refer to their time outside as “gardening”. We put

away the sun hats and garden gloves, replacing them with snow

gloves and warm hats. Our mud boots are sitting on the shelf

waiting for the warmer days of spring as we now wear our

warm winter boots to keep our feet cozy on the cold days of

winter. The Primary classes go outside every day for fresh air

and movement, as long as the temperature outside feels like 10

or above. There is also an opportunity for the children to go

out for two more times each day for Primary outdoor educa-

tion (otherwise referred to as gardening).

Sledding is a favorite winter activity of many children. We are

lucky to have a pretty good sledding hill at Oak Farm. The exer-

cise is one very positive aspect. The trudging up the hill thru the

snow is so great for muscles and a healthy heart. Team work is

practiced while looking out for the safety of one another, help-

ing a friend with a boost down the hill or a helping hand up the

hill, sharing sleds together or even helping someone up who had

a spill.

When the weather is just right for making a snowman or snow

forts, not only is it a fun activity for the winter, it is also a great

team building activity. The children will work together on

making the blocks of snow, putting them together to form an

area large enough for many friends and packing the walls in with

snow to hold them fast. When snowman making comes into

play, well really, who does not want to get in on that!

Woods are the best place to have an awesome outdoor adven-

ture and we are so fortunate at Oak Farm to have an amazing

woodland to explore to our hearts content. Climbing and bal-

ancing on the trees and log is well loved by many children. Not

only does it help develop great balance, each child works at

their own comfort level to help build confidence , enjoy achieve-

ments and don’t leave out muscle building. Not only is the

woods the best natural play area, but the study of nature allows

the children endless opportunities to develop their own love

and respect for the outdoor environment. The study of track-

ing animal prints and scat to determine what type of animals

share the woods at Oak Farm is a very informative way to see

who has been there when we are not able to see them first

hand. Where certain animals live, what they eat, and how they

move around are easily tracked in the snow.

Bird feeding is a big work on the Primary playground area in

the winter time. We have several different feeders in the trees,

bushes or on poles in the gardens. The children have all made

pine cone birdfeeders, (pine cones hung by a string, covered

with lard and bird seed). The feeders are hung in the trees

which attract a variety of birds. As the children observe the

birds, they have been learning the names of the birds by their

sight and sound.

So to those of you that think you have had enough of this win-

ter weather, don’t sell that white stuff short. As you can see,

there are many reasons to get out there and enjoy the snow!.

Specialist: Outdoors

The Inside Scoop on Primary’s Outdoor Environment

Considering Options Lisa Coville ~ Oak Farm Parent

Page 7

The Green Team Thinking Green in Designing the

New Upper Elementary Building

A note from

Oak Farm’s

GREEN

TEAM We recently spoke with our architect, Rod Collier, about how

he incorporated sustainability into the design of our newest

building, the Upper Elementary Prairie House. Rod shared

with us the following:

Designing an environmentally-friendly building starts with the site. The Upper Elementary Building is nestled

into the rolling meadow of the northern campus to give sweeping views of nature. The deep horizontal over-

hangs and low-sloped roof not only embrace the adjacent landscape and blend with the natural surroundings,

but also provide passive solar shading while still giving complete natural lighting to every space. The classroom

layouts provide for natural cross-ventilation to minimize the need for mechanical ventilation. When the me-

chanical systems are running, they utilize a multi-zoned high efficiency system. Finishes used throughout the

facility are comprised of low VOC and recycled-content materials.

Green features of the building include:

Natural connection to site and surroundings (views of nature from every classroom)

Natural lighting in all classrooms and public spaces (deep porches protect from direct sun)

Natural cross-ventilation in all public spaces (operable windows around rooms)

High Efficiency Systems (multiple-zoned mechanical systems)

Insulated, Low-E coated, aluminum-clad wood windows (built from wood from sustainable forests)

Low VOC/Recycled content materials and finishes.

Lumber for framing harvested from sustainable forests.

Low VOC paint and interior materials

Recycled content flooring/carpeting

Locally harvested stone for exterior

Low water consumption plumbing fixtures

Low energy consuming bulbs and lighting with multiple zones (building and site)

We are proud of our Upper Elementary program,

and are grateful to Rod and Jon Diehm's fabulous

construction team who created the program's in-

credible new home built with the environment in

mind.

Take extra care….

With snow, slush & ice on the ground,

we ask you to be extra cautious and

vigilant in car line. We suggest

driving slowly and encourage

children to stay seated &

buckled whenever possible.

Page 8

Re-Enrollment Re-Enrollment is currently underway for current Oak Farm Families. Remember to have your re-

enrollment application completed on or before February 15th to reserve your space for the 2014-2015

school year!

Community Happenings

Do you know of something that is happening in the community? Please email it to

mmcnaughton@oakfarmschool.com— it may end up in the one of the monthly

newsletters or weekly community memos.

Discovering Me—Oak Farm’s Parent/Child Program Do you have an infant/toddler child or know someone who does? Then, please consider this two part par-

ent education program. Parents and children (conception to age 3) attend this class together. Children are

free to explore and interact with other children and the learning materials in a safe prepared environment. Parents will learn to observe their child’s development, provide support and add challenges over time. Dur-

ing the morning class the parents will have a break out session for parent discussion. These parent discussion

circles will help parents gain knowledge on parenting issues, child development stages and new research as

they network with other parents. To register, you may find the Discovering Me brochures in the Victorian

Farmhouse lobby or on the School’s website.

Upcoming Art Show An upcoming art show at Wunderkammer (Fort Wayne) will include work from some of the middle school

students. They created some pop art sculptures that the show's curator thought would be fun to include.

Also, Heather Miller, the Art Specialist, will have pieces at the show. This is a chance for students to see

what their art teacher does outside of school. The show is called ALT: Alternative Sculpture. The main

show in the gallery has educational value as it showcases African American icons who have made positive

change in honor of black history month. Show opening is February 8, 6:00 PM.

Volunteers Needed: The Art Program is in need of a person who is familiar with machines who can take a look at the pottery

wheels. One is off-center and needs repair. The second makes a rattling noise.

The plans for the Gala are in motion.

The invitations are mailed.

The classrooms are working hard on their auction items.

and

We hope you are all as excited about

this year’s Gala as we are!

This is an evening to celebrate & invest in the one and only Oak Farm community...

the children

the parents & grandparents

the teachers

the faculty that support the whole campus

the animals on the farm

our founder, Lorene

and future generations of Oak Farm students

Please feel free to invite others who may be a part of the Oak Farm Community—aunts, un-

cles, neighbors & friends - those who make a difference in the life of your child.

Come CELEBRATE with us at the Tall Oak Gala!