News from The Good Shepherd Catholic Montessori

Please invite friends and co-workers who have young children to learn more about our preschool program at our upcoming Information Coffee. It will be in the Atrium tomorrow, November 16th from 9-11 am.

"Who Are You, Lord?": Parent Journey in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

Wed., Nov. 16, 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Prepare for a prayerful Advent and gain insights into the spirituality of your child through our Parent Journey through the atrium. Our Advent theme will lift up three areas of the atrium that are prominent during this season - themes that speak both to the heart of the child and adult as well:

Old Testament Prophecies: How do the prophets introduce us to the mystery of Christ? How do they help us prepare for his future coming in glory? How do they provide images and themes that elicit joy and wonder in the heart of the child?

Infancy Narratives: The Gospel infancy narratives relate the events of the Incarnation, but they also weave in deep theology. How do we ponder the Gospel narratives to elicit the MYSTERY of something that already seems so familiar (the birth of Christ, the God-Man)?

Biblical Geography: Where did all this take place? How does knowing the place enhance our understanding of the mystery?

Catechist Dan Teller will lead parents through work at every level in the atrium. No matter what level, it is work that speaks to the heart of the adult as well, for truth and beauty know no age limits! Please join us for a restful, inspiring journey through the Advent atrium themes.

GSCM Community Boutique

You are invited to the GSCM PTO Community Boutique this Sunday, November 20 at school from 2:00- 5:00 PM.

Support GSCM family owned businesses, mingle with friends, and shop for Christmas gifts or just for you from wonderful products such as gourmet chocolates, high fashion jewelry, home and office organization, essential oils, educational toys, custom tees, hand painted Saint dolls and manger scenes, hair accessories and more! Raffles and give aways too!

Bring your family and friends! Children welcome!

For more information go to www.gscmontessori.org

Mission Alive!

Each week, we share an aspect of our mission as it takes shape in the lives of the children. This week, lower elementary teacher Jeana Olszewski discusses two fundamental principles of Montessori education. freedom and self-discipline.

Montessori Education: Responsibility and Self-Discipline through Freedom and Choice

By Jeana Olszewski, Lower Elementary Teacher

Freedom and Choice in the Montessori Classroom:

Many people know that students in the Montessori classroom are free to choose their own work and move about the classroom with purpose. However, there are many misconceptions regarding "structure" in the Montessori classroom. In fact, this freedom to move with purpose and choose appropriately challenging work requires great responsibility from the child. This is truly a beautiful gift for children.

Within the Montessori classroom, children are presented individual and small group lessons according to their intellectual, social, and emotional capabilities. The children are then given the freedom to choose their work from lessons that they have been presented. Students in the Montessori classroom are free to choose their own seats, either at large table groups, individual desks, or choosing to work on the mat on the floor. Children can work alone, or with a classmate, as long as they working quietly and with purpose.

Responsibility and Self-Discipline Develop with Freedom and Choice:

The Montessori classroom respects the needs of the child. The children are free to take care of themselves. However, with this freedom comes great responsibility. Montessori children are given the opportunity to develop self-discipline, self-control, confidence, and independence in order to function within the classroom community and learning environment. Children who require support developing these important life skills are given limited choices to guarantee their success. Learning to manage small tasks provides the child the confidence and encouragement to continue to take care of oneself. Children are then prepared to take on larger tasks and continue to develop and thrive with this system of freedom with limits. Children can thus only have freedom when they embrace and develop responsibility for themselves. This is the essence and beauty of the Montessori classroom.

Montessori schools are well known for children's development of self-discipline, and as a teacher and parent I have seen this first hand. Children choose to work long and hard. They treat materials and others with respect. They are able to attend to tasks for long periods of time. Montessori children usually strike a visitor as friendly, empathetic, and cooperative. The classroom is a happy social community where children help each other. It is not uncommon to see a Montessori student offer to help another child in the classroom. Children who have had a preschool, elementary and upper elementary Montessori experience enter their adolescent years with confidence.

OCSAA Parent Survey

All GSCM families are asked to assist us with our school self-study by completing an on-line survey. We will analyze survey data to understand the school's strengths and identify areas of needed improvement. The on-line survey can be found at http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22D86UKEFDW.

Atrium News: Typology

Typology is a way of reading sacred scripture that helps one discern God's plan. The Church often uses typology to enrich our faith. For example, the waters of the Red Sea in Exodus foreshadow the waters of Baptism. Both are similar in that they bring freedom and new life: freedom from slavery in Egypt, freedom from slavery to sin; new life in the Promised Land, new life as a follower of Christ. Then, taking this one step farther, we can see these themes of freedom and new life realized completely as we look towards the time of Parousia, the final coming of Christ, and the perfect fulfillment of God's plan.

With its emphasis on history and the Plan of God, the Level III atrium (for 9-12 year olds) provides a series of typology studies for the children. We recently completed a study of creation. The typology themes we initially discussed were water and humanity. The waters of creation brought forth life, the waters of baptism bring spiritual life. Adam was the first man; Christ, the new Adam, is the perfect God-man.

Children are free to pursue other themes as well. Recently, Isabelle Shim did a thoughtful work on two other themes in creation: the power of God's word and the theme of a banquet. She created a three-part timeline to depict this (below).

The first part of the timeline shows the action of God's word and the theme of banquet at the moment of creation.

The power of God's word continues through Christ in his miracles, and the theme of banquet is intensified in the Eucharist.

The fulfillment of God's word and the perfection of His banquet will be realized at the time of Parousia.

Back to top

Focus on Volunteers: Technology

Technology assists us in carrying out our mission, and brings with it it's own set of tasks and challenges to operate smoothly. Two parent volunteers have been particularly helpful in the realm of technology at our school.

Mike Heverin has significantly improved our technological infrastructure over the past few years. Mike has set up and maintained our central server, including our administrative and faculty networks so that we can easily share files and documents. He has helped set up computers and assisted with trouble-shooting and resolving a number of glitches with laptops and computer speed.

Pat DiMuzio is a data base specialist with the IRS who has recently joined our Board of Trustees. Pat worked closely with our Board and administrative staff to select a new web-based data system called Achieve Technology. Achieve will enable us to gather, share, and utilize data in a very thorough and efficient manner. Pat has been a key figure in the implementation of this new technology in the management of our school.

PTO News

Boxtops for Education

Keep clipping those box tops and sending them in to school. Put them in a Ziploc bag or envelope and remember to include your name, class and number of box tops. The class sending in the most box tops in November will earn a cider and doughnut party.

Yearbooks- Help!

Fulfill Your PTO Volunteer Obligation! Sign up to help with this year's school yearbook. All work is done online/on the computer with premade templates. We just need one more body to help take/collect photos from parents, and help insert them into the preselected format. Please contact Dinese Young if you can find time to help! dyoung5281@gmail.com

Office News

Shampoo Collection for IPM this Thurs., Nov. 17

Bring in a bottle of shampoo this week for Inter Parish Ministry. The IPM food pantry also distributes personal care items like shampoo, soap, etc. Families who rely on food stamps cannot use them for items like this, but these items are still very important in people's lives.

School Picture Make Up Day Tomorrow

You should have received your child's pictures last Thursday by backpack mail. Make up day for any students that were absent on picture day or for retakes will be this Wednesday, November 16th. Only students who are having their picture taken may be out of uniform. Please contact Nancy in the office if you are planning on having your child's picture retaken.

Dress Code Reminders

Now that colder weather is around, here are just a few reminders regarding our dress code.

Only sweatshirts purchased through the school's Spiritwear program may be worn in the classrooms on a daily basis. Sweatshirts and fleeces purchased from Lands' End may not be worn in the classroom.
Any solid navy blue or red sweaters (cardigan, crew, v-neck or vest) may be worn.
Girls may wear only navy blue or white tights or leggings (that come to the ankle) under their skirts, jumpers or skorts.
No stretch or sweat pants can be worn in the classrooms. Only navy blue dress slacks or dress cords (middle school may also wear khaki) are approved dress code apparel.
Students need to have boots when it snows in order to be able to go out at recess, however, no boots may be worn in the classrooms or inside the school (except for middle school students who may wear Ugg like or dress boots in the months of November through March only). Students would need a pair of shoes (no sandals, light-up shoes, clogs, crocs, backless or platform) to change into when they wear boots (except middle school).
Please label your child's sweatshirts, sweaters, boots, etc. to help reduce our lost and found items.

Parents, your help in enforcing our dress code is very much appreciated.

Target REDcard, "Take Charge of Education"

If you are a frequent Target shopper you can make money for our school.

It's Simple

Learn how to apply, get approved and get your REDcard^® (if you don't have one already).
Enroll. Sign up for Take Charge of Education and designate an eligible K-12 school.
Shop. Target will donate up to 1% of your REDcard purchases to your chosen school.*

Get Started

Here's how to sign up for the Take Charge of Education program:

Target Credit Card^® and Target Visa^® Credit Card holders

Enroll online
Call 1-800-316-6142
Enroll at an in-store kiosk

Archdiocesan Tuition Sweepstakes

If you currently have children in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Catholic schools or plan to have children in the system for 2012-13, then now is your chance to enter "The Great Tuition Giveaway on Facebook. The Archdiocese is giving away $17,500 in tuition credits and other prizes. Go to: http://on.fb.me/nCif6L

Architecture by Children Club

The American Institute of Architects each year sponsors a local competition for children called ABC: Architecture By Children. They choose a new topic/theme each year, and children from local schools design and build their own project according to the theme. This year's theme just happens to be Bridges, a topic already studied by the 9-12 kids. Winners from each grade level will have their projects on display at the downtown library this spring. We are looking for children in GRADES 3-7 who would like to meet after school once per week (most likely Tuesday or Wednesday) for an hour from January through April. There will most likely be a small fee involved to help cover building materials. If your child is interested in participating, please email Dinese Young, dyoung5281@gmail.com. Enrollment for the competition is this fall, so we will need to have a head count before the end of the year

THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE

In the true spirit of Thanksgiving, GSCM is gearing up for its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. Once again, classrooms will compete for the highest number of items collected, and the winning classroom will win an ice cream sundae bar/treat!

There are collection boxes in each classroom for donations. Items will be donated to F.A.C.E., a local charity in the Clifton area. F.A.C.E. stands for FOR AIDS CHILDREN EVERYWHERE, and the donations will be distributed to families whose children or someone in the family have been affected by this terrible disease.

F.A.C.E. received last year's (and previous years) donations from our school, and they are ALWAYS very grateful. Appreciated items are non-perishable canned foods, diapers, and cleaning supplies (for specifics, refer to F.A.C.E.'s website at www.face.org). Deadline is Tuesday, November 22. Any questions may be directed to Diane Wilkerson at dwilk@ix.netcom.com.

Book Club

The next book club meeting will be on Wednesday, December 7th at Jen Cavill's house to discuss Confederacy of Dunces by Tooles. If you are interested in joining us for some nice visiting, please RSVP to Dinese Young, dyoung5281@gmail.com. No homework involved, and you can come even if you haven't finished the entire book!

Thank You, Family!

We appreciate your taking the time to read our newsletter.
back to top