Sunday, September 22, 2019

International Day of Peace

Community Service
Back Pack Donations

Our students learned about Community Service as we celebrated the International Day of Peace last week. Thank you to all of our families for sending in donations for our Back Pack program. Our students were excited to fill back packs with the food that we donated! 

 

Monday, July 29, 2019

Montessori Family Event

Image result for pelicans snoballs

Please Join Us Tuesday, July 30 
from 5:30-6:30pm 
at Pelican's Snoballs
202 Graces Way
for a Montessori Family Outing

            Due to summer schedules, not all teachers
will be able to attend.

 However, this is a great opportunity to meet new friends in the program and see old friends as well!

Monday, April 29, 2019

Montessori Movie Night

Important Information

Montessori Movie Night for this Friday has been cancelled. 
We will let families know if we are able to reschedule this event.

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Week of the Young Child



The Week of the Young Child is a celebration hosted annually by NAEYC, National Association for the Education of Young Children. What better way to honor our young students at Pontiac than to discuss the importance of play? When we think of young children we automatically think of play time. We know that children learn through imitation and  by playing.  Social interactions are crucial at this age of development. Learning to take turns, synergize, compromise and strengthening gross motor skills all occur through play. In this digital age, play can all too often look differently.

Laura Bongiorno provides parents with wonderful tips about play in her article, 10 Things Every Parent Should Know About Play. Here are her top 10 tips for parents about play.

1. Children learn through their play.
Don’t underestimate the value of play. Children learn and develop:
cognitive skills – like math and problem solving in a pretend grocery store
physical abilities – like balancing blocks and running on the playground
new vocabulary – like the words they need to play with toy dinosaurs
social skills – like playing together in a pretend car wash
literacy skills – like creating a menu for a pretend restaurant
2. Play is healthy.
Play helps children grow strong and healthy. It also counteracts obesity issues facing many children today.
3. Play reduces stress.
Play helps your children grow emotionally. It is joyful and provides an outlet for anxiety and stress.
4. Play is more than meets the eye.
Play is simple and complex. There are many types of play: symbolic, sociodramatic, functional, and games with rules-–to name just a few. Researchers study play’s many aspects: how children learn through play, how outdoor play impacts children’s health, the effects of screen time on play, to the need for recess in the school day.
5. Make time for play.
As parents, you are the biggest supporters of your children’s learning. You can make sure they have as much time to play as possible during the day to promote cognitive, language, physical, social, and emotional development.
6. Play and learning go hand-in-hand.
They are not separate activities. They are intertwined. Think about them as a science lecture with a lab. Play is the child’s lab.
7. Play outside.
Remember your own outdoor experiences of building forts, playing on the beach, sledding in the winter, or playing with other children in the neighborhood. Make sure your children create outdoor memories too.
8. There’s a lot to learn about play.
There’s a lot written on children and play. Here are some 
NAEYC articles and books about play. David Elkind’s The Power of Play (Da Capo, 2007 reprint) is also a great resource.
9. Trust your own playful instincts.
Remember as a child how play just came naturally? Give your children time for play and see all that they are capable of when given the opportunity.
10. Play is a child’s context for learning.
Children practice and reinforce their learning in multiple areas during play. It gives them a place and a time for learning that cannot be achieved through completing a worksheet. For example, in playing restaurant, children write and draw menus, set prices, take orders, and make out checks. Play provides rich learning opportunities and leads to children’s success and self-esteem.


Friday, March 15, 2019

Montessori Parent Advisory Meeting

Montessori Parent Advisory Meeting


Montessori Parent Advisory Council Meeting
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
6pm
Pontiac Media Center

We hope you will be able to join us!

Monday, January 14, 2019

Montessori Parent Advisory Meeting

Montessori Parent Advisory Council Meeting
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
6pm
Pontiac Media Center

We hope you will be able to join us!

Montessori Information Night




Please join us Wednesday, January 16 at 6:30pm 
in the Pontiac cafeteria to learn more about 
the Montessori Magnet at Pontiac.

 If you are interested in touring our program, 
please visit our website toschedule a tour.
Parents of fifth graders, please remember the window to apply for middle school magnet programs is open until January 31.  Go to www.richland2.org to apply!  Please see the list of middee school magnet programs below. 

Dent Middle SchoolFine Arts Media Literacy Program (FAME): All students at Dent Middle School have an opportunity to participate in the FAME program through their co-curricular class time. Sixth grade students will explore many of the FAME areas. At the end of the sixth grade year, these students will choose an arts major that they will follow throughout the rest of their years at Dent.

The Learning Collaborative (TLC): TLC serves high-achieving and highly motivated students by immersing them in a rigorous, intellectually stimulating academic environment. The foundation of TLC is the emphasis on higher order thinking skills through the integration of the academic disciplines.

TWO Academies: Single Gender Program: Learning in a single-gender environment will reduce the pressures of the middle school years, as well as provide a rich educational opportunity while defining the unique genius of your child. This magnet program boasts a rigorous curriculum, filled with hands-on learning activities.
National Demonstration Schools Logo E.L. Wright Middle SchoolEL Wright, an International Baccalaureate World School is designed to help students find a sense of belonging in the everchanging and increasingly interrelated world around them and to foster a positive attitude to learning. 

The Leadership Academy at Wright (LAW) couples the rigor of the Core Knowledge Curriculum with an emphasis on leadership skills to create an innovative academic program that meets the needs of average and above-average students. 
National Demonstration Schools LogoKelly Mill Middle School Kelly Mill, Inc.: With its complex and accelerated but also developmentally appropriate and engaging curriculum this magnet is geared toward honors and advanced students. INC. teachers seek to strengthen students’ abilities to think inventively, solve problems, communicate, research, and create finished products. This magnet has an emphasis on business and economics.​

Med Pro Magnet School: In the new Med Pro school-wide magnet at Kelly Mill, students collaborate through inquiry-based learning activities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical collaborative projects. By the end of implementation of the MSAP grant, all students will have access to a campus medical lab to learn about personal health vitals and medical care as well as be exposed to medical and health science careers. The challenging curriculum focus is balanced by “The 7 Mindsets” character education program for building social and emotional skills  to become healthy, lifelong learners
Longleaf Middle SchoolThe School for Zoological and Botanical Studies (ZooBot)magnet program provides opportunities for students to explore the natural world, develop an appreciation and respect for living things and the environment, and make a difference for future generations.

Longleaf Engineering Arts Program (LEAP): Longleaf recognizes the need to prepare students for a rapidly changing world. In response, we have engineered our curriculum to focus thinking on problem solving as our students are immersed in the concepts of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math.
Muller Road Middle SchoolLeadership Academy @ Muller is an innovative academic program with a strong integration and emphasis on developing and cultivating leaders. As a district magnet program, it provides a rigorous honor-level curriculum based on E.D. Hirsch's Core Knowledge with an emphasis on school, community, and global leadership skills called Core Competencies.
Summit Parkway Middle SchoolThe STEM Institute of Design and Innovation (SIDI) is a magnet program focused on science, technology, engineering, and math education for up to 80 students per grade level.

The goal of The Academy of Exercise Physiology and Sports Medicine is to prepare our students to pursue careers related to the support of healthy lifestyles and to guide students in becoming role models for exemplary health and wellness.