Take Note

March 5th

School Closed

NJMAC Conference

March 12th

Albrook Parents'

Association

Spring Evening Event

April 2nd

School Closed

Good Friday

April 9th

Elementary Play

7:00 PM

April 12th through 16th

School Closed

Spring Vacation

January APA Notes

Thank you to Mrs. Gustafson for organizing the classroom projects again this year!  She has been busy painting the backgrounds and the students will be making leaves & flowers to complete the tree painting.  Look for these beautiful art pieces at the Spring Event on March 12th!

Thank you to Mrs. Dorfman Kanengiser and Mrs. Klein for the successful Sally Foster Fundraiser.  We raised $2,174.75 total with online sales totaling $1,191.25.

Reminder:

Don't forget to make an appointment with Stephen Taylor for a professional photo of your child or your family.  The $50 package promotion is good until May 15 and can be used for a studio, private, or on location session. 

 

The Albrook School Summer Camp

 

~ ~ ~ Open House ~ ~ ~

 

Sunday, April 25, 2010

1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

 

Come and tour our facilities

 Learn about summer camp
Watch Mr. Dave, our naturalist with hands-on reptiles

 

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African Safari Comes to Life at Albrook

 

As part of their study of Africa, students in Lower Elementary worked with Mrs. Lipman to create an African safari performance.  In their geography class, students learned about the different biomes of Africa and the countries within each biome. Then each child chose an animal from a particular biome.  The children researched their animal and made their own paper costumes to wear for the performance.  We were fortunate to have a visit from Mrs. Riggs who shared her experience of going on a real safari in Africa.  This made the dramatic experience even more meaningful to the children.  For the performance, a giant biome map was created on the floor of Albrook Hall.  This was a life size version of the Montessori biome map material.  As they portrayed their animals, students moved around the giant map.  They tried to stay in their biome's color (grassland animals stayed on the yellow parts of the map, desert animals stayed on the orange, etc.)  When parents arrived at the safari,  they were given brochures (made by the children) showing the animals they would see.  The performance took the audience through the various biomes and introduced the animals.  Each child chose two favorite facts about his or her animal to share with the audience.

Kindergarteners Learn About Native Americans

 

As adults we tend to forget the sheer excitement of learning something new.  The Albrook kindergarten children have recently been very excited to discover the America of years past by learning the ways of the Wampu and Lenape Indians.  Using the hands on method of discovery which is the true Montessori method, the children could not believe that they had to wear one outfit all the time, bathe in the cold rivers and entertainment did not include TV, video games or Barbies.  The children were awestruck by the amount of time that the Native Americans spent in nature and how similar their play activities were to Albrook's free play at recess time.  The children also learned about the basic needs of the Native Americans which include shelter, clothing, food, transport, work, communication, family and fun.  These global needs of man can be applied to every culture in every land.  In addition, the students also completed a variety of activities which included a political map of North America, a tribal regional map of the United States Native American Tribes, and a Wampanoag tribe booklet written by each kindergarten child.  The children were thrilled to weave their own mat, make their own clay pots from clay that was harvested from the bottom of a local river, cook delicious Native American corn bread using honey and homemade butter, sew a Native American pouch and decorate tribal clothing.

 

As the children discussed and formulated ideas in a cooperative learning environment, they used their developing critical thinking skills to gather information.  The information was then shared with the group.  These skills helped the Albrook kindergarten children use a more global and universal approach to learning and problem solving that they can apply to all subjects.

 

The kindergarten year is the year that all the pieces come together and the children begin to see how all the different skills they have worked on in pre-school work together.

Albrook School Tours

Tours are held on a regular basis, Please call  to schedule your tour.

1(908)580-0661

Hold these Dates for Upcoming Parent Education Workshops

Conflict Resolution for the Elementary Child

February 16th

Presented by Ms. Baird,

Lower Elementary teacher

Developing Reading

March 23rd

Presented by Mrs. Marvi, Pre-school teacher & Ms. McCusker, Head of Stepping Stones

Gardening with Children

May 18th

Presented by Ms. Albers, Director

03/01/09