Breakfast with Santa Pictures
Check out our Breakfast with Santa pictures here. (You will need to sign in to the Family Site to view the pictures.) There is a link to Photobucket with ALL the pictures. That site gives you the option to download your favorites!
No Big Deal
Judy Beyer wrote a short article about one alum’s experience in high school and her
connection to Brickton Montessori School. (Claudia is the student on the left in the photo.) An excerpt is below:
“Council was a process Claudia had learned at Brickton, and she explained to her teammates how it worked, describing how they could create a sacred space in a sacred time where they could speak their truths spontaneously and from the heart, listening devoutly to one another. Gladly, they gathered into a circle and redirected their energy inward. One by one, they began to affirm one another, the external voice of recrimination by their coach succumbing slowly but surely to the assertion of their internal voice of self assurance and belief. They emerged re-centered, forward looking, closer together than ever before, their bonds of support and belief in one another strong and unyielding. The coach could say whatever he wanted; they could accept that maybe it was a bad day, but they could not and would accept that their performance was somehow a reflection of their character. That, they understood, belonged to them alone.
When Claudia arrived home, she told her mother what had happened and how they had used council to work their way back to what they knew to be true about themselves. Curious, her mother asked if the other girls were familiar with council, and Claudia replied, “No. I showed them how to do it.”
“You should tell Judy,” her mother urged her. “She would be happy to hear how you did council.”
“Why? It was no big deal,” Claudia answered.
To her mother, though, it was a big deal.”
To read the full story, click here.
Cleaning House
Winter break is right around the corner! Please take home and launder all of your child's winter gear, nap things, and items in the supply box.
When you return from winter break on Tuesday, January 4th, please stock the supply boxes with warm winter clothes (extra mittens, socks, etc.).
Thank you and stay warm!
A Note from Spanish Teacher Natalia San Jose
This week in Spanish we learned about Cuba and then sampled some Cuban cuisine: black beans and rice, as well as fried plantains (maduros). It is wonderful to see so many children both try and like the new foods that we prepare together.
As you may recall (unless new to Brickton), last year the students sampled quesadillas, tortilla chips, taco sauce and horchata (rice milk), for our two lessons on Mexico. Based on this week’s and last year’s food lessons, several students have asked me where their parents can purchase the items I brought in. (I, of course, had a few students ask me if 
they needed to go to Mexico for horchata or Cuba for the beans. Wouldn’t that be a nice ‘warm’ grocery shopping trip?)
Therefore, please note that in addition to visiting a good Mexican or Cuban restaurant, to try the foods listed above and/or new dishes, most Latino grocery stores carry the items I brought in: Carnicerias Jimenez or El Guerro (both have several locations city-wide), and Tony’s Finer Foods or Super Tony’s (same owner) are great places to start.
The horchata tastes best ready-made in a plastic boxed container versus purchasing the powder version. In addition, I recommend the Goya black bean soup versus plain black beans – just add some garlic powder, onion powder, a small jar of pre-sliced pimientos and a little olive oil; heat, and it’s ready to pour over rice. Lastly, if you do not have the time or the inclination to cook maduros from scratch, Goya has excellent frozen maduros (fried plantains). Three minutes in the microwave and they taste delicious.
It is a pleasure working with your children!
Happy holidays,
Natalia San Jose
Holiday Cards for Soldiers
Over the past few days, the Children's House classrooms have been creating beautiful holiday cards for service members who are recovering patients or medical personnel working at Lundstahl Regional Medical Center, about a five-hour medevac flight from Iraq. This is part of a program sponsored by Governor Quinn's office called "Holiday Cards for the Troops". If you would like more information on the program, please visit www.operationhomefront.org.
Children’s Book Sale
The Park Ridge Public Library is hosting a Children’s Book Sale, Sunday, February 6thm 2011, from noon to 3 p.m. Browse thousands of gently-used children’s books, from board books to young adult novels. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
