Bruno Lower El Classroom 1

Many people do not realize that Maria Montessori was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was convinced that the solution to world peace will come from the children in the world. Lessons promoting peace were included at the very start of the first Montessori schools. At Bruno Montessori, peace education is included in every classroom on campus. The Peace Ceremony is a natural outcome of the classroom lessons and a crucial community-building event. The Lower Elementary students were the leaders of this Peace Ceremony and they did a wonderful job. We all look forward to having more Peace Ceremonies next year.

Our garden is flowering again. We recently planted zinnia and nasturtium seeds as well as the lavender plants donated by Frank Fritz. The coreopsis and blueberry we planted last year are blooming now. When weather permits, we eat lunch outside right next to our garden and compost bin. Students have enjoyed watering, weeding, and caring for the garden. They also like to add organic matter from their lunches to the compost bin.

Cultural lessons this week included an introduction to clouds, Earth Day, amphibians, and citizenship. The cloud lesson was given in the outdoor classroom. The geese and goslings joined our lesson each day! We have also focused on writing acrostic poetry. We are all enjoying the daily presentations of memorized poems from students.

An important tradition at Bruno Montessori is to have the third year students attend Camp McDowell. They left on Wednesday and returned on Friday afternoon. To welcome them back, the remaining first and second year students got together in small groups and wrote Acrostic Poems about each third year student. Each group created a portrait of each student to accompany the poems.

Digital media and technology are evolving at a dizzying pace, both unlocking extraordinary opportunities and posing real risks for young people. Students are using the immense power of the internet and mobile technology to explore, connect, create, and learn in ways never before imagined, both in and out of the classroom. At the same time, tech use can bring up ethical challenges such as cyberbullying and misinformation and health issues related to media balance and social and emotional well-being.

We see these as teachable moments. We believe that digital citizenship skills have become essential for students in the 21st century. That’s why we are committed to teaching our students how to be digital learners, leaders, and citizens. We believe teaching these skills goes hand in hand with the Montessori philosophy of educating the whole child. In a world where technology and information are everywhere, Maria Montessori would see the value in teaching kids to become safe and responsible digital citizens.

Joseph S. Bruno Montessori Academy has just been recertified as a Common Sense School, an honor that recognizes our efforts in teaching digital citizenship to young people and engaging the entire school community in this important discussion. The recognition acknowledges our school’s commitment to helping students build skills that are essential for their well-being today—and for the opportunities, they’ll have tomorrow.

This honor is provided by Common Sense Education, part of a national nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology.

We are one of the more than 80,000 schools across the country that use Common Sense Education’s groundbreaking educational resources. As a result, our students are better equipped to navigate the digital world and use devices for learning.

To learn more about Common Sense Education, visit www.commonsense.org/education

Here are a few tips in the form of short videos about children using technology and some of the games they may be playing at home.

Our field trip to the National Weather Service in Shelby County was a big success. When we arrived at the weather station, we broke up into three groups. We rotated through activities set up at the weather station: weather forecasting, weather safety, and weather balloons. Meteorologists gave informative and impactful presentations. Students had time last week to prepare meaningful questions. After each presentation, students asked excellent questions. Everyone learned something new (even the teachers!). Hopefully, your child brought home a fun collection of items from the weather station. Thank you to all the meteorologists for their dedication and patience.

This was a short week due to our Monday off. We still managed to get a lot done. Third years worked on math and fraction reviews and had an introduction to decimals. We are continuing with dynamic subtraction and subtraction of fractions. A group lesson was given on acrostic poetry. Students will be writing their own acrostic poems in the coming week. Sentence analysis and grammar lessons were presented. Many students gave informative presentations on their science collection for the month of April.

Don’t forget to help your child memorize a poem for homework due on April 28th.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Ms. Carolyn & Ms. Genie

STEAM day was a huge success! We had a broad spectrum of topics presented by more than fifteen speakers. The presentations were engaging and thorough. Students were inspired and excited by our STEAM presentations. Thank you to all the wonderful presenters.

Gardening is back in our class!! After losing most of what we planted from the December freeze we were happy to plant Zinnia seeds and donated Lavender from Farmer Frank Fritts, one of our STEAM presenters. Students excitedly pulled out the dead plants and weeds and added them to our composter. We are looking forward to a flower-filled garden this Spring.

Reminders for upcoming events:

• Monday April 10 school is closed.
• Wednesday April 12 is our field trip to the NOAA weather station at the Shelby County airport (please arrive at school no later than 8:15 due to our 8:30 departure)

We hope everyone enjoys this long weekend. See you on Tuesday!

Ms. Carolyn & Ms. Genie