The Upper Elementary and Adolescent classes engaged in a wonderful outdoor program with Earth Village Education in Marshall on Monday, October 16, 20017. The program was lead by Kevin and McNeal who are fabulous outdoor educators. Read more
Sculpture Collection:
Wednesday, Oct 4th, the Adolescent class was invited to walk the grounds of St. Bride’s Farm to view their sculpture collection. The collection is vast and each piece is both artistically and physically impressive. Read more
September 21 was International Peace Day and the adolescent class had their first Community Breakfast of the year. Although we had a smaller crowd than expected, it was a good experience. Read more
The adolescent students, ten in all, raised hogs, lambs and goats, to participate in this livestock event. It is the culmination of many months of hard work. Read more
The Adolesc
ent group got an early start on spring break by taking in the beautiful blooming trees and flowers at the Virginia State Arboretum in Blandy, VA. The students used the self-guided materials to explore the park and enjoyed an al fresco lunch.
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The Odyssey Trip is a key component of the Montessori adolescent program academic and social experience. The goal of the Odyssey Trip is to provide a rich educational experience for the students with a focus on learning and bonding. The students focus on team-building, decision making, communication and cooperation skills, in a beautiful natural environment. These experiences provide the much-needed element of “bonding” as a community. The students live and work together for extended periods of time, which gives them the opportunity to forge strong working relationships with their peers. Read more
At Mountainside, the students run a small chicken operation, and work hard to sustain its economic viability. They sell eggs to the parents and feed the chickens scraps from their lunch boxes. They do basic accounting to track their profits and, in some months, their losses.
These chickens have enriched our lives and provided many educational opportunities for our children. They also work much better than speed bumps as they free range around the parking lot! Read more
It began with Miss Joya lovingly planting some basil plants over the summer with her children. She tended them regularly, a true testament to exactly how much time she spent in her classroom over the summer months. By the first week of school, they were just exploding.
Since our school mission includes sustainable agriculture and free play in nature, we thought it would be a great idea to involve the students in some way. Here is how it went: Read more
These chickens have enriched our lives so much since they came to our school. To begin with, the children hatched them out in their classrooms, carefully monitoring the temperature and checking the humidity of the incubators. They candled them and got to see through the shell the living, moving embryo contained within – an embryo that is similar to a human’s for a period of time. That was an amazing lesson! They got to witness the tiny chicks’ great effort to get out of the shell, and what happens if they cannot.
The children displayed tremendous empathy when one chick struggled to survive for the first 24 hours. They organized heat lamps, shavings, water, food, and shelter as the chicks grew. They built a small fenced area for them to run around in daily. It was great. Read more