Upcoming Dates

Thurs., March 1             Parent Conferences, 2:00 DISMISSAL (no bus service)

Fri., March 2                  NO SCHOOL, Parent-Teacher Conferences

Sat., March 10              HATS OFF TO GSCM SPRING GALA

Mon. March 5                PSAS Financial Aid Deadline

Thurs., March 15            Parent-Child Atrium Night, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

March 16-23                  Unplugged Week

Wed., March 21             Mom's Knit Night, 6:30-8:00 p.m. (Hyde Park)

Thurs., March 22            Family Supper/Games Night, 5:30-7:30 p.m. 

 

Parent-Child Atrium Night

Thursday, March 15, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

The atrium is a place where the true Teacher is Christ.  Come and enjoy an encounter with Jesus, together with your child through the atrium experience.  Enjoy the simple but profound way in which the atrium materials bring alive the Word of God for children, and help them recognize Jesus at work through the sacraments.

 

The Parent-Child Atrium Night provides a time for children and parents to explore and use atrium materials together.  Catechists Dan Teller and/or Jana Widmeyer will be on hand to provide guidance/explanation as is helpful, but this is primarily a night for parents together with their children.

 

A catered meal (Subway sandwiches fruit tray, drinks) will be available  to those who RSVP (per person donation collected), so you can come to school, eat, work with your child, and get home for bedtime without a messy kitchen.  The Open House format does not require arrival at 5:30 - come at any time.

 

Please RSVP if you will need dinner:  ntoon@gscmontessori.org or 271-4171.

 

 

Unplugged Week (March 16-23) Events

Family Dinner and Game Night:  Thurs, Mar. 22, 5:30-7:30 p.m. 

On Thursday, March 22 we will host a Crockpot Supper and Family Game Night and children will have the chance to shop our treasure trove of donated items as part of their reward for going unplugged.  Enjoy an evening away from the screen and together with school friends sharing fellowship and playing games.

 

GSCM Moms' Knit Night:  Wed., March 21

Wednesday, March 21, bring your knitting and get together with other GSCM knitters at Hank Yarn Boutique on the corner of Edwards and Observatory in Hyde Park from 6:30-8:00.  RSVP to Alicia Wilhelmy at alicia@seemlessdesign.com by March 5.

 

Unplugged Week (March 16-23)   

Unplugged Week returns to GSCM March 16-23.  What a wonderful reminder to turn the screens off and stop and smell the daffodils.  Last year, children all over the school enjoyed taking the time to turn off the TV and other screens, and as a reward earned lots of fun prizes at school.

 

Gently Used Items Wanted

This year we will incorporate spring cleaning into our rewards for going unplugged.  As you notice them around your house, begin setting aside gently used books, games, puzzles and stuffed animals to bring in with your media-free passes during Unplugged Week. 

 

Unplugged Parents:  Food for Thought

Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne -

Review submitted by Alicia Wilhelmy, Unplugged Week Coordinator, from The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Website

Today's busier, faster, supersized society is waging an undeclared war . . . on childhood. As the pace of life accelerates to hyperspeed with too much stuff, too many choices, and too little time, children feel the pressure. They can become anxious, have trouble with friends and school, or even be diagnosed with behavioral problems.

 

Now, in defense of the extraordinary power of less, internationally renowned family consultant Kim John Payne helps parents reclaim for their children the space and freedom that all kids need, allowing their children's attention to focus and their individuality to flourish. Based on Payne's twenty year's experience successfully counseling busy families, Simplicity Parenting teaches parents how to worry and hover less and how to enjoy more.

 

For those who want to slow their children's lives down but don't know where to start, Payne offers both inspiration and a blueprint for change. Streamline your home environment. The average child has more than 150 toys. Here are tips for reducing the amount of toys, books, and clutter as well as the lights, sounds, and general sensory overload that crowd the space young imaginations need in order to grow. Establish rhythms and rituals. Predictability (routines) and transparency (knowing the day's plan) are soothing pressure valves for children. Here are ways to ease daily tensions, create battle-free mealtimes and bedtimes, and tell if your child is overwhelmed. Schedule a break in the schedule. Too many activities may limit children's ability to motivate and direct themselves. Learn how to establish intervals of calm in your child's daily torrent of constant doing and familiarize yourself with the pros and cons of organized sports and other enrichment activities.

 

Scale back on media and parental involvement. Back out of hyperparenting by managing your children's screen time to limit the endless and sometimes scary deluge of information and stimulation. Parental hovering is really about anxiety; by doing less and trusting more, parents can create a sanctuary that nurtures children's identity, well-being, and resiliency as they grow slowly into themselves.

 

A manifesto for protecting the grace of childhood, Simplicity Parenting is an eloquent guide to bringing new rhythms to bear on the lifelong art of parenting.

 

Correction - The review of Sherry Turkle's Alone Together published in last week's newsletter was not written by Alicia Wilhelmy.  The summary came from the author's web page http://alonetogetherbook.com/.

 

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Lenten Ideas

The season of a Lent is a highlight in the Catholic calendar.  An opportunity for "spiritual self improvement", Lent focuses on an increased emphasis on prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Here are ideas on how to use the season of Lent as a wonderful preparation period for the joy of Easter and the Resurrection.

 

Write your Lenten promises on a piece of paper as follows:

 

My Lenten Promises

Jesus, you sacrificed your life for me.  I will give up   _______________ as my sacrifice for you and for the intention(s) of _________________________. (Offer your sacrifice as a prayer for someone who is very sick or going through a difficult time.)

 

Jesus, I want to be more like you. This Lent I will work on being more/less _______________________, so that people can better see You in me!

 

Jesus, I long to grow closer to you. This Lent I will pray________________ daily to you.

 

Lord Jesus, help me to make this a holy Lenten season, so that on Easter Sunday I may rise with you and share in the joy of that special day!

            _________________________________

            (name)

You might also include on the back of it forty footsteps leading to a cross. Children (and adults can too) may color in a footstep each time they keep their Lenten promise.

 

• Serve a "simple" meal one night a week in your home, place the money your family saves in a container on your dining table, and donate the total amount right before Easter to a favorite family charity.
• It is amazing how much "stuff" lurks in the backs of cupboards and closets and how many "extra" things we have.  Too many towels, sheets, coats, shoes, books, small kitchen appliances... the list goes on and on. This Lent, "declutter" your home by filling 40 bags with things you no longer need, and others could use. Your children can also join in this Lenten activity by giving toys, games and books to the needy.
• The Alleluia is not recited or sung during Lent. On Ash Wednesday, children could make an Alleluia card or banner to be "buried" or put away during Lent and then displayed prominently during the Easter season. It could be made of gold paper and decorated with ribbons or flowers, as elaborately as they like. The Alleluia would reappear on Easter morning with their Easter baskets.
• Pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary with your family one day a week during Lent.
• Every time a good deed is done during Lent, put a jelly bean in a jar on a kitchen counter.  Share the candy on Easter.
• Pick a friend or neighbor and perform an anonymous good deed for him or her.
• Pray for the people in the world who can't afford to eat meat every day.

• Fill a paper bag with slips of paper on which you've written a good deed, a sacrifice, or a prayer.  Every day during Lent each member of your family draws a slip of paper and completes that day's act.
• "Pray the Stairs" (the rosary) at Holy Cross Immaculata Church in Mt. Adams on Good Friday or on any day in Lent with your family.

• Observe five minutes of silence every day meditating at "the foot of the cross."
• Watch "The Passion of the Christ." (parent discretion needed) 
• Make a special prayer corner in a room in your home, include some things to pray and read in observance of Lent.

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Anyone wanting to run track with St. Gertrude Track team must have their registration form, release form, and fees (40.00 per trackster plus 30.00 per family for boosters) to Mary Rieke by Wednesday 2/29.  We have learned that practices are probably going to be:  Tue/Thur from 5:30-6:30 for K-4 and Mon/Wed from 5:30-7:00 for 5-8.  Please contact Mary Rieke at mrieke@gscmontessori.org if you have any questions.  No registrations will be accepted by St. Gertrude after we have submitted our participants.