Open House on April 5th at 6:30pm
March 15th, 2012
Please join us for our Open House on April 5th from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. Stop by to talk with your child’s teacher. Feel free to bring guest with you! The public welcomed to come by!
If you have any questions, please email us at sma@smithvilleacademy.com
Infant and Toddler Program
March 5th, 2012
The very best infant and toddler program you could find for your child in a truly idyllic location. Our facility is nestled in behind the major mall, on over an acre of land. We believe that your child should have a natural environment to learn and grow in, which is even applied to the area around our building. We credit ourselves on having a natural environment by being away from the daily rush of traffic and public areas. The setting has a safe outdoor area and a sunny enclosed garden in cooperation with the Missouri Conservation. Our outdoor program is a safe and secure area with a 6 foot fences, settled back into over an acre of land. We have a secure facility were only parents and approved guest may enter.
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We want the very best for your child, that is why we have experienced, properly qualified and dedicated teachers, academic materials and child sized furniture designed to accommodate your child’s needs. It is our aim to give your child the very best care and educational experience we can with dedicated professionals ensuring the wellbeing and academic happiness of your child.
Our infant and toddler classrooms provide a small group Montessori experience to children. We believe that a larger classroom can become over-welling to an infant. Having smaller groups allows for more one-on-one interaction with the teachers in the classroom. In this environment the children come to feel the classroom is their own peaceful, special space where they have a meaningful role in their own care and the care of their classroom environment.
American Montessori Society concepts:
The aim of Montessori infant programs is to foster the development of basic trust and to assist in the normal development of the personality.
Basic trust develops in an environment where people respond appropriately to the infant’s communication of needs to be loved, respected, and accepted.
Infants learn through their senses. They learn by watching and moving freely. Freedom to move is essential to the development of the infant’s potential.
The infant is considered as a whole person and is affected by the quality of holding and feeding, as well as the quality of physical care.
Learning, which leads to independence, occurs when infants participate in their daily routines of care.
Infants must be spoken to in the language with which they will communicate.
Maria Montessori – The American Montessori Society
March 1st, 2012
Maria Montessori was an Italian physician, educator, and innovator, acclaimed for her educational method that builds on the way children naturally learn.
She opened the first Montessori school—the Casa dei Bambini, or Children’s House—in Rome on January 6, 1907. Subsequently, she traveled the world and wrote extensively about her approach to education, attracting many devotees. There are now more than 22,000 Montessori schools in at least 110 countries worldwide.
Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870, in the provincial town of Chiaravalle, Italy. Her father was a financial manager for a state-run industry. Her mother was raised in a family that prized education. She was well-schooled and an avid reader—unusual for Italian women of that time. The same thirst for knowledge took root in young Maria, and she immersed herself in many fields of study before creating the educational method that bears her name.
Beginning in her early childhood years, Maria grew up in Rome, a paradise of libraries, museums, and fine schools.
Breaking Barriers
Maria was a sterling student, confident, ambitious, and unwilling to be limited by traditional expectations for women. At age 13 she entered an all-boys technical institute to prepare for a career in engineering.
In time, however, she changed her mind, deciding to become a doctor instead. She applied to the University of Rome’s medical program, but was rejected. Maria took additional courses to better prepare her for entrance to the medical school and persevered. With great effort she gained admittance, opening the door a bit wider for future women in the field.
When she graduated from medical school in 1896, she was among Italy’s first female physicians.
Birth of a Movement
Maria’s early medical practice focused on psychiatry. She also developed an interest in education, attending classes on pedagogy and immersing herself in educational theory. Her studies led her to observe, and call into question, the prevailing methods of teaching children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The opportunity to improve on these methods came in 1900, when she was appointed
co-director of a new training institute for special education teachers. Maria approached the task scientifically, carefully observing and experimenting to learn which teaching methods worked best. Many of the children made unexpected gains, and the program was proclaimed a success.
In 1907 Maria accepted a new challenge to open a childcare center in a poor inner-city district. This became the first Casa dei Bambini, a quality learning environment for young children. The youngsters were unruly at first, but soon showed great interest in working with puzzles, learning to prepare meals, and manipulating materials that held lessons in math. She observed how they absorbed knowledge from their surroundings, essentially teaching themselves.
Utilizing scientific observation and experience gained from her earlier work with young children, Maria designed learning materials and a classroom environment that fostered the children’s natural desire to learn. News of the school’s success soon spread through Italy and by 1910 Montessori schools were acclaimed worldwide.
Innovator, Feminist, Idealist
In the years following, and for the rest of her life, Maria dedicated herself to advancing her child-centered approach to education. She lectured widely, wrote articles and books, and developed a program to prepare teachers in the Montessori Method. Through her efforts and the work of her followers, Montessori education was adopted worldwide.
As a public figure, Maria also campaigned vigorously on behalf of women’s rights. She wrote and spoke frequently on the need for greater opportunities for women, and was recognized in Italy and beyond as a leading feminist voice.
Maria Montessori pursued her ideals in turbulent times. Living through war and political upheaval inspired her to add peace education to the Montessori curriculum. But she could do little to avoid being ensnared in world events. Traveling in India in 1940 when hostilities between Italy and Great Britain broke out, she was forced to live in exile for the remainder of the war. There she took the opportunity to train teachers in her method.
At war’s end she returned to Europe, spending her final years in Amsterdam. She died peacefully, in a friend’s garden, on May 6, 1952.
Photo: Courtesy of the Archives of the Association Montessori Internationale, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Maria Montessori—physician, professor, intellectual, educator—in her own words.
Bob the RedFoot Tortoise
February 27th, 2012
Ms. Robin and Ms. Sunshine were given a RedFoot Tortoise for there classroom from Luca! Bob is a great friend to the chidlren. Bob enjoys having fresh food and water every morning. His classmates enjoy watching how Bob is able walks and how he eats his dinner. The following food is what Bob really enjoys to eat!
greens : turnip greens, collards, kale, red & green leaf lettuce, endive, escarole, chicory, dandelion etc
fruit: papaya, mangoes, apples, melons, cactus fruit etc
vegetables: all squash, carrots, occasionally green beans
If you are near the Blue Room, stop by and see Bob!
Introducing Cadbury Carmel Coffee
February 27th, 2012
Also, parents if you have any unwanted small pets, we would be happy to welcome them into our school! We love to have animals in our classroom; this allows the children to learn how to be respectful of other living things and what our part is on taking care of the world around us!
Children and Chores. Your Home is an Opportunity.
February 13th, 2012
Children and Chores
Your Home is an Opportunity.
From Mary Spitsnogle LMFT,RPT (913) 827-6399
Red Tent Counseling LLC www.theredtent.org
Working together helps children to gain an understanding of ‘belonging’.
All members must work together to make the household run.
Chores teach skills of cooperation and responsibility.
Chores teach values of fairness and commitment.
Challenge your children.
Show them how to do the chore.
Teach one chore at a time
Break down the chore into small parts.
Explain.
Change the nature of your chores as the child grows.
Monitor at first.
Set up a reward system or chart system.
Provide logical consequences.
Do not repeatedly remind or nag.
Do not do the chore if your child refuses or forgets.
Provide lots of praise.
Age Appropriate Chores
Helping is a way of life.
Some chores for 2-3 year olds can do:
Help make bed.
Pick up toys and books.
Help feed pets.
Help wipe up messes.
Dust with a socks on hands.
Ages 4 and 5
Clear and set the table.
Dust
Help out in cooking and preparing food.
Carry and put away groceries.
Ages 6-8
Take care of pets.
Vacuum and mop
Take out the trash.
Fold and put away laundry.
Beyond Consequences LIVE Training
February 9th, 2012
Our Montessori teachers here at SMA will be attending Beyond Consequences LIVE Training on May 5th. Parents you are welcomed to join us, the fee is waved if you buy one of her books (19.95 +shipping) Great deal for the knowledge you will be gaining! We are excited to attend for our continuing education!
Information:
Beyond Consequences Live!
If you’ve tried using logic, consequences, behavior modification, yelling and isolation with your children, all to find out that none of it worked, or even made things worse, you know what it is like to find yourself beyond your window of tolerance. This parenting training can change all of that.
Becoming a Love and Logic Parent
February 8th, 2012
A seven-session parenting program designed by Love & Logic ®.
Get answers to:
• “How do I get them out of bed in time to catch the school bus?”
• “How can I stop my children from bickering and fighting?”
• “How do I get my children to help with the chores without an argument?”
• “Is there a way to discipline my toddler in public without creating a scene?”
• “How can I get my teenage daughter to come home at the agreed-upon time?”
• “How do I get him to stop spitting his peas and whining at dinner?”
• “And many other day-to-day parenting challenges…
This parenting program is designed to give you practical skills
that can be used immediately!
Dates: Early Childhood begins Tuesday, 2/21/12; School-Age begins Thursday, 2/23/12
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Location: Northland Professional Counseling Office, 2601 NE Kendallwood Parkway,
Suite 210, Gladstone, MO 64119
Cost: $75.00/person; Discounted 20% if 2 people in the same household attend
Please see the us or email us at sma@smithvilleacademy.com for the enrollment form.
Food and Clothing Drive
February 8th, 2012
For the next thirty days, we will be collecting items for the homeless. There will be a large blue box outside the Primary classroom to place the items in. Please look in your email to find the list of items that are needed.
We would like to take this month to have the children learn more about the people in our community and how to help our neighbors!
Thank you for supporting the children!
See what parents are saying about Smithville Montessori Academy
January 25th, 2012
Andrea:
“Smithville Montessori Academy is the perfect school! My son is 3 years old & has been attending since October, HE LOVES IT!! Everyday he asks if he has school today, it’s not because he doesn’t want to go, quite the opposite, he lives to go to school. I fell in love with this facility from the moment that I walked in, then meeting with the owners/teachers I knew that this was going to be the place for us. I love it so much that I recommended my nephew to start there. He has & they are enjoying the experience as much as my husband & I are. You really feel like a part of the family when you go here, plus they give your child that little extra attention or any special need that your child may need help with that day. Every child is treated as a special individual, which is very important. The ladies here are some amazing women! It is a HUGE relief to know that while my child is gone he is having fun as well as getting an amazing education! If you are looking for a fantastic place to send your child to school, there is no where else I would recommend.”
Lindsey:
“The Smithville Montessori Academy is wonderful! I can tell how much everyone there knows and cares about my son, which is such a great feeling as a working parent. Everyone I have met is approachable, responsive, accessible, friendly, and knowledgeable. Since I am a new parent it is great to have a staff that will provide great advice. The staff and resources at the center provide my son with opportunities for learning and socialization that truly enrich him. It is great when I walk down the halls, even if a teacher doesn’t know me she says hello. Very welcoming feeling!”
