Tag Archive for: maharishischooliowa

Fostering the Parent-Teacher Partnership

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How it helps

It has been well established that collaboration between parents and the school has a significant and positive impact on the learning and development of children. When parents are aligned with the school’s vision and are actively engaged in supporting its mission and core values, they contribute towards creating a harmonious and positive ethos in the school. This helps in improving children’s morale, attitude, academic achievement, behavior, social adjustment, and, most importantly, helps them become productive and responsible citizens of society.

teacher student

Furthermore, this partnership between the parents and the school, helps build trust and positions them to set high expectations for their children. A well-structured partnership program improves the school, strengthens families, and increases student achievement and success. All of us at Maharishi School wholeheartedly endorse parental engagement in the education of their children and invite parents to participate in the school’s learning experience in a positive and constructive way.

What we are doing about it

In order to provide a focus to parent engagement and to streamline parental involvement, Maharishi School intends on constituting a Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) to serve as a link between the school and the wider parent community. Its objectives are:

  • To facilitate on-going communication between the school and the wider parent
    community. The PAC is an advisory body. It communicates mutual concerns,
    recommends possible solutions and shares innovative ideas that might benefit
    the school. It acts as a medium between the school and the wider parent
    community.
  • To provide an opportunity for Maharishi parents to share their ideas and mutual
    concerns on every facet of school life.
  • To endorse, recommend and encourage parental collaboration on school
    initiatives.
  • To support, endorse and propagate the school’s vision, mission, core values and
    its central focus on Consciousness-Based Education.

In addition to the PAC, we also intend on engaging parents in their child’s learning, for students in the Children’s House and Lower School. This will be done by having regular events where children will showcase their learning through different mediums. We also plan to keep the parents informed about their child’s learning on a bi-weekly basis.

We plan on conducting Parent Education Sessions to strengthen the alignment between the parents and the school’s mission. The only way to grow is by accepting and acting on feedback. As a school we will be seeking quarterly feedback from the parents on the different facets of the school. Once the feedback is received and analysed, solutions will be arrived upon and then shared with the parent community.

 

Ready to apply? Click here.

Want to know more about our new Interim Head of School? Click here.

Learn more about school events and student life, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

 

 

Day In the Life at the Children’s House

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Watch a Day In the Life at Maharishi Preschool

Preschoolers develop responsibility through routine

maharishi preschoolAt Maharishi Preschool we are cultivating within each child a sense of independence and capability.  When the children enter into the gates of our playground carrying their lunch and wearing their backpack, a sense of responsibility, independence, and capability is enlivened in them. They know where to put their belongings and they know where they are when they need them or when it is time to go home. During their time at school, they make many choices and their sense of capability grows each day. They are following their internal drive to master skills, grow, and learn, and by allowing them to be responsible for their own belongings, these qualities will continue to be reinforced.  The sense of pride when children feel responsible in these small but significant ways is such a beautiful thing to witness!

Taking precautions in the preschool

children house preschool montessori

When entering the school area all children will get their temperature taken, temperatures at 100 degrees or higher will be sent home.

Masks

Teachers will be required to wear masks while inside, or while down on children’s level outside. Face shields are


Hand washing recommended, especially for toddler teachers. Masks will be required while inside for all children 3+. Masks will not be required for children under 3.

Children will wash hands upon arrival, before and after eating, when entering from outside, when seen with hands in mouth/nose, and a minimum of every 2 hours. Washing is completed with soap and water for 20 seconds.

Social distancing

Drop off times are arranged by class so that there are no traffic jams between parents and children. Transitions into the school house for class will be staggered to avoid congestion in the hallways.

Changes to the environment

preschool environmentThe children each have a cubby where they can store their shoes and backpacks. Cubbies will be outside of the classrooms in the hallways so children do not enter the classroom with outside shoes and backpacks. There is only one child per table in all classrooms, unless the table is very large. The classrooms with ages 3 and up will have sanitizing stations for the children to clean their own work, under adult supervision as needed. Water and soap will be used for plastic, metal, and glass materials and natural disinfectant spray for wooden materials. When a toddler completes a work, they will return it to a special shelf to be cleaned between use. A teacher will sanitize the work items and return them to the shelves with available work.

The protocol for Maharishi School’s Children’s House was created with reference to DHS requirements and CDC recommendations, and with approval from IDPH

If you would like to learn more about the Children’s House, click here.

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

Find out about our school events and student life, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Why is STEM education important?

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What is STEM

Why is STEM important?

STEM education helps break the traditional gender roles by increasing the amount of women and minorities that are able to access STEM-related careers.

“In the 21st century, scientific and technological innovations have become increasingly important as we face the benefits and challenges of both globalization and a knowledge-based economy. To succeed in this new information-based and highly technological society, students need to develop their capabilities in STEM to levels much beyond what was considered acceptable in the past.” –National Science Foundation

STEM at Maharishi School

I got to speak with Kaye Jacob who is both a teacher and academic director of the Middle and High school students here at Maharishi School. Her thoughts on STEM skills are that they need to be seen as ends in themselves but for most students they are means to an end.  In other words, knowing how to use technology to access information and incorporate it into your life and work is essential to any student.

kaye jacobs talks about STEM

Kaye Jacob

“The S in STEM is apparent when the 7th graders drop containers out of windows to see if the egg inside will break or not–and equally when the upper school rocketry students send a rocket up into the air with the same objective–to protect the “payload” (an egg) which actually represents a human being in space travel.
I am writing this in my English class as three students are collaborating from their homes (one of them in Ecuador) in a Zoom break-out room and the rest are working in small groups on presentations for class tomorrow. They are sharing documents and resources related to a literature topic (Transcendentalism) but updating it with videos and powerpoint presentations.  To me, that is the T in STEM applied to my subject area.
I also like to emphasize that STEM should actually be STEAM, because the A needs to represent Art.  This year, we are offering traditional studio art with Susan Metrican to our Upper school students and also a more technical course in digital photography with Camille Morehead, who has a graphic design background.  We are hoping to combine forces with various applications of technology and art design in the future.”
To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

Find out about our school events and student life, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Maharishi School Children’s House

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preschool childrens house elyse soaresDid you know the preschool incorporates Montessori & Positive Discipline?

Welcome to the Maharishi School Children’s House! In this blog you will find some basic information as well as new and updated protocols regarding preventative measures against Covid-19 in the preschool.

The preschool offers multi-age classrooms consistent with the Montessori pedagogy. The toddler class consists of children who are 18 months to 3 years old. The 3-5 class includes children aged three to six which include Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten.

The cornerstone of your child’s social-emotional growth focuses on supporting each child in becoming self-aware, autonomous, contributing members of our world. The Montessori Method and Positive Discipline go hand-in-hand in developing these important skills in our school community. In the Children’s House and also in grades Kindergarten through 2 in the lower school, Positive Discipline is practiced by all teachers. The building blocks of Positive Discipline are:

  1. Mutual respect
  2. Understanding the belief behind the behaviorpreschool children's house montessori
  3. Effective communication
  4. Understanding a child’s world
  5. Discipline that teaches rather than punishes
  6. Focusing on solutions rather than punishment
  7. Encouragement
  8. Children do better when they feel better
  9. Connection before correction
  10. Contribution

Lynn Shirai is the Director of the Children’s House as well as the Lower school. In her monthly newsletter to the parents Lynn comments, “As the new Children’s House director I am happy to report that all is running smoothly. The children are happy, mask-wearing, Montessori learners that are finding joy in being with their friends and teacher-guides every day. Dr. Beall, our school co-head, visited the classrooms last week and was so impressed with the children as they were very naturally wearing masks indoors while busy with their Montessori activities.”

Taking precautions in the preschool

When entering the school area all children will get their temperature taken, temperatures at 100 degrees or higher will be sent home.

mask wearing children maharishi schoolMasks

Teachers will be required to wear masks while inside, or while down on children’s level outside. Face shields are recommended, especially for toddler teachers. Masks will be required while inside for all children 3+. Masks will not be required for children under 3.

Hand washing 

hand washing maharishi school coronavirus

Child size bathrooms in the preschool.

Children will wash hands upon arrival, before and after eating, when entering from outside, when seen with hands in mouth/nose, and a minimum of every 2 hours. Washing is completed with soap and water for 20 seconds.

Social distancing

Drop off times are arranged by class so that there are no traffic jams between parents and children. Transitions into the school house for class will be staggered to avoid congestion in the hallways.

Changes to the environment

The children each have a cubby where they can store their shoes and backpacks. Cubbies will be outside of the classrooms in the hallways so children do not enter the classroom with outside shoes and backpacks. There is only one child per table in all classrooms, unless the table is very large. The classrooms with ages 3 and up will have sanitizing stations for the children to clean their own work, under adult supervision as needed. Water and soap will be used for plastic, metal, and glass materials and natural disinfectant spray for wooden materials. When a toddler completes a work, they will return it to a special shelf to be cleaned between use. A teacher will sanitize the work items and return them to the shelves with available work.

maharishi school montessoriThe protocol for Maharishi School’s Children’s House was created with reference to DHS requirements and CDC recommendations, and with approval from IDPH

To find out how more about the Children’s House, click here.

Please contact admissions@maharishischool.org immediately to get started on your application and schedule an interview today!

Meet Our New Teachers: Camille Morehead

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new teacher alumni camille morehead

Camille Morehead with artwork that’s been here since she was a student!

The school would like to welcome our new art teacher Camille Morehead! Camille is a Maharishi School Alumni (she graduated in 2008) and was voted by her fellow classmates with the Art and Creativity award which recognizes her outstanding artistic abilities. She graduated with a BFA in graphic design from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She’s also currently a practicing artist in the Fairfield community. She has experience as a teaching assistant at Montessori school for Preschool and Kindergarten as well.

I asked Camille how she feels about returning to Maharishi School and she said,

 “Coming back to the school where I’m an alumni is certainly an interesting experience for me. Many things have changed in the school and it gives me an interesting perspective of being “on the other side” of the classroom experience.”

 

“I really appreciate how friendly and warm everybody is during these unprecedented times when teaching hybrid could be really stressful. However everyone is really onboard with everything and they’re taking it all head on which makes it more enjoyable for me.”

new teacher alumni camille morehead

Camille teaching art to the 1st and 2nd grades.

Camille has customized different materials for the hybrid learning conditions. For example students that are in person will be working with clay while students at home will be focusing more on conceptual ideas. Each grade will start with the foundations of art making; line, shape, form, space, texture and color. In the Middle School the focus will be on drawing, painting, color theory, mixed media and sculpture.

cal martin doing art project with mask

Cal Martin (1st grade) making art.

Camille will also be teaching a Digital Photography course of the project period in the Upper School.They will begin with everyone going out and taking photos, then coming together to do group critique. The content of these photos will then be created into a photo-book, which includes   an understanding and usage of Photoshop and other editing techniques.

Camille concludes, “I’m really excited to see how the kids grow and develop in the way they think about art. It’s fun for me to see the different stages of development expressed through their ability to work with the materials and mark making. I feel very fulfilled to be a teacher at Maharishi School!”

 

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

Find out about our school events and student life, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

From Maharishi School to College Acceptances

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Over 98% of our graduates are accepted into 4-year colleges and universities all over the country.

maharishi school graduation college acceptancesEarly decision acceptances for our 2020 graduating class are coming in! Congratulations to the students who’ve had early college acceptances from Princeton University, Lawrence University, Pratt Institute, Roger Williams University, Agnes Scott College, University of Iowa, and Iowa State University.

Our goal is to help your student find the right college fit for them.

Personalized college counseling is built into the school curriculum and covered by tuition fees. In 9th and 10th grade, academic performance and planning are emphasized, with students filling out inventories to help them plan for their futures. The college counselor meets periodically with 9th and 10th graders to check on their progress and hold college planning meetings. Starting in 11th grade, all students go on two college visits a year to identify features and characteristics that fit with their individual preference. In their second semester, 11th graders take the Junior Seminar, a weekly class that introduces all of the important concepts necessary for a successful college application.

List of college acceptances by Maharishi School students in the last 10 years.

Princeton Universitygraduating Maharishi school with core values

Muhlenberg College

Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences

Skidmore College

Iowa State University

University of Iowa

Bradley University

University of Northern Iowa

University of Minnesota Twin Cities

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Michigan State University

The Ohio State Universityfotoveda photo of maharishi school graduation 2020

Texas A&M University

Eckerd College

Roger Williams University

Knox College University of Kansas

New York University Shanghai

University of Toronto

Fordham University

Hawaii Pacific University

Features at a glance:

  • The college counselor is on call on all deadline days, to assist students with any part of the submission process.
  • All juniors take the Junior Seminar their second semester, which introduces the important concepts necessary for applying to college in the Senior year.
  • All Juniors and Seniors visit two colleges a year, one small liberal arts school and one large university.
  • College representatives visit Maharishi School each year to deliver information sessions to interested students.
  • By looking through previous tests, the college counselor helps all students plan their college testing schedules, and choose the tests that will best represent the student’s strengths.
  • The college counselor reviews all college essays, providing group essay sessions, then individual assistance for Seniors.
  • In partnership with ICAN, the Iowa College Access Network, Maharishi School provides multiple events each year to help families navigate the financial aid process for college applications.

To read a comprehensive list of all college acceptances by students at Maharishi School, click here.

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

To learn more about school events and student life, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

School in the Time of a Pandemic

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Things are different this year…

sanitize hands students 2020 coronavirus pandemic

Students using hand sanitizer before each class.

It’s two weeks into the 2020 school year at Maharishi School and the students are just starting to settle into

their new way of learning in a pandemic. For some that means social distancing and wearing a mask inside the classroom with their peers, for others that means staying home and logging into Zoom on the computer.

We currently have 72% of our student population in person, who get their temperature taken each day, sanitize their hands before stepping into the classroom and wear masks while inside the building.

How do the kids feel?

indie in school learning kindergarten during pandemic

Indie Picard

I’ve gotten feedback from several parents and students about what they’re going through with this new hybrid learning. Emmy Auge is the mother of Indira Picard, a 5 year old who just started Kindergarten and is doing in-class learning.

 “Indie is doing better with her mask than I anticipated, she’s definitely understanding the safety precautions of wearing it. Her class size is so small that it seems less scary for her than if she was in a class of 20 or 30 kids. I’m happy with her being in school because I know she missed the stimulation and routine of school. Seeing her friends, even if it’s from a distance, is so beneficial for her happiness.”

Lily Fenton is 16 years old, in 11th grade and participating in both in-class and online learning, here she talks about these changes;

lily in school and online learning during pandemic

Lily Fenton

    “I’m doing well with in school learning, although it is weird having half of my class online. I like having a schedule and a place where I can have face-to-face connections. Before coming to school in-person, I thought that online school was my preference, however, I have found that I am more productive when I have the feeling of physically going somewhere. Additionally, during our first days of school, I thought that the masks and new protocols were hard to deal with because it was something I was not used to. Now, the masks and protocols have reached normalcy and have integrated well into my day to day life.”

 

What’s it like learning online?

Natalie Kahiu is 9 years old in 4th grade and her mother Mala Markowitz talks about how she’s currently doing with online learning;

      “Natalie wakes up enthusiastic and eager to learn remotely from the comfort and ease of home. She loves to go outside in her new

natalie online learningneighborhood during recess or writing to reflect on the world around her. She likes to draw and write about what she sees. So much to learn! She loves remote learning. Her next big adventure is global learning where she gets to travel in an RV and move around from state to state learning about different cultures, food and people. She wants to study anthropology in college and she wants to be an anthropologist when she grows up.”

Return to learning during a pandemic

At Maharishi School we believe that in-person schooling is the priority for the holistic health and development of our students. In-person education allows greater social-emotional experience with peers and teachers, more hands on learning, and more easily facilitated group projects.

We are still accepting applications for the 2020-2021 school year. Our Admissions Team is available to connect and we encourage you to reach out to us at admissions@maharishischool.org

To learn more about how Maharishi School has responded to the coronavirus pandemic, click here.

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

To learn more about school events and student life, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

How to Shift Teens from a Complainer to a Reformer?

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Learning to command change

Teens today can often be misunderstood. Their dialogues are quick to get emotionallyempowering teens charged and the older generation could describe them as complainers.  I would not argue with that label at times, but, as with all characteristics, it has a flip side that can be embraced. We have to ask ourselves, how do we as adults help to empower teens to become reformers and not complainers?

Teens will at times find complaints about life inside their social circles, family life, or at school. As parents we wish we could tell our kids to demand a higher expectation or outcome for their life and from their friends. Instead of complaining we want to shift their perspective to the status of a reformer who can take charge of their life and do what needs to be done. So how can the change be made from a complainer to a reformer?

How to become a reformer

The definition of a reformer is a person who makes changes to something in order to improve it. As a teen this can be done by becoming highly alert to your surroundings and its context.

“When you start to feel yourself wanting to complain or are unhappy with your current situation, stop and examine those feelings. Ask yourself, what can I do to change this?

empowering teensIf it feels like something is out of your control, find someone with a higher amount of control and approach them to make the change.”

Even if the teen is unable to physically make the change, that doesn’t mean they can’t start a conversation with people who can!

The parents role

Instead of complainers, I advise parents to see your teens as reformers. Meaning that they’re not satisfied with the way things are because they know it could be better and are willing to work to change them. Feeling powerless is often the source of teen angst. Therefore parents need to put them in a position of power in which they can solve their own problems, as set up and modeled by the adults.

You can start in the home. Interview your teen, or start the tradition of family meetings, to see what they’re happy and unhappy with in the family setting. Having power at home can give them that boost of confidence they need to make changes at school or even in their social circles. A teens observations and demands for change come from a passionate belief that life should be as good for everyone as it has been for themselves.

This can be done by demanding equity and compassion in all areas of life. Becoming areformer is a powerful position from which to approach the wider world that our teens inevitably enter. Teens today represent a cross-section of the world across all parameters—women and men of color, a range of religions and ethnicities, national origins and visa

healthy teens at a party, empowering teens

statuses, complex family dynamics, sex and gender roles.

Challenging teens to do the work

We have many teens today that are willing to do the work to make the changes.  We must present them with the right challenges to get them moving in a positive direction. We want our teens to work hard and take full advantage of any opportunity or challenge put in their path.

Your teen can go from being a complainer to being someone who is willing to jump in and work hard to make that change happen, not perfectly from the beginning but ideally in the end.

Learning to be a reformer is never a clean and perfect process but we take and celebrate each small accomplishment along the path. Our role as parents is to call it out and say “I see your power in action, keep building on that!” Teens are going through many changes on the physical and emotional level. Help your teen by adding a tool for releasing stress into their daily routine. Click here to learn about Transcendental Meditation for your teen!

Interested in learning about how the hero’s journey narrative can help your teenager? Click here.

To learn more about Transcendental Meditation at our school, click here.

To learn more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

Find out about our school events and student life, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Becoming A Big Fish: A Shark Tank-like Event

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What is Shark Tank?

Modeled after the popular TV show “Shark Tank,” five student finalists pitched their best creative

ideas to a panel of expert entrepreneurial judges, competing for cash prizes, scholarships, and top business feedback.

Maharishi International University held their own event called “Becoming A Big Fish: A Shark Tank-like Event,” featuring business feedback from the original “shark” on Shark Tank, Kevin Harrington.

Maharishi School students selected as finalists

We are proud to announce that two of our Maharishi School students, Lily Fenton and Shristi Sharma, have been selected as finalists in the Becoming a Big Fish Shark Tank Event! Their concepts are extremely innovative and practical for our world today.

Lily talks about her design, “My idea was to limit distracted driving especially concerning taking hands off the steering wheel by creating a device that warns drivers when their hands are out of the correct driving position.”

Shristi received a 500$ scholarship from MIU for her work, she is currently researching and using her technical skills to create projects with a crossover between psychology, computer science, and cybersecurity, to benefit the community and the world.

Another of our students, Polo Altynski, was selected as the alternate should any of the top five finalists be unable to participate.

Watch the video of the presentations for the panel of judges here, our students are represented at 1:14:20.

maharishi school student finalist on shark tank event

Shristi Sharma with Cliff Rose and Vicki Alexandar.

 

If you are interested in learning more about our academics or to contact a member of our admissions staff, click here.

Presented by MIU’s Concept to Market program: https://www.concepttomarket.org

For more ChangeMaker event videos and info, visit: https://www.mum.edu/changemakers2019

 

Summer Ideas & Activities from the Lower School

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Looking for things to do with your kids this summer? Lynn Shirai, the Director of the Lower summer School, has provided a list of ideas that can appeal to everyone. Check it out!

Outdoor Ideas

  •  Road Trip: Pack food and drinks, camping gear and head out to a spot away from it all
    where kids can explore and learn on their own. Teach them how to build a fire, set-up a
    tent, etc.
  • Creek stomping in Jefferson County Park: so many creatures and beautiful rocks and
    fossils to find.
  •  Animal track creations: Bring a water bottle, small sack of plaster of paris, paper cup
    and popsicle stick. Go out to the woods and find tracks as you walk. Mix up the plaster
    with water and pour a little into the tracks. Continue walking and finding tracks. Make a
    loop around and return to your first track and pop out of the ground. Make it a game to
    find your other tracks. At home, rinse molded tracks off and identify them. Best tracks:
    raccoons and opossums.
  • Bike around the Loop Trail (helmets, water, snacks and sunscreen a must).
  •  Older kids can help an elderly neighbor with lawn mowing, weeding and other yard work.
  •  Painting rocks; one year my daughter painted rocks to look like small strawberries to
    keep the birds away from the strawberry patch. It worked! One peck on the faux
    strawberry and they never returned.
  •  Create a fairy garden in your backyard. Use sticks and branches, rocks and other
    materials from nature and hot glue or tie with pliable branches and create furniture, tiny
    houses, swings, etc. Plant flowers around the garden.
  •  Planting: Start a flower or vegetable garden and care for it throughout summer. If you
    plant perennials you can keep adding to the garden every year. Lots of memories.
  • Take walks with friends while you social distance. Just getting out and having social
    experiences like this helps.
  • Make a BINGO card of activities for your kids. Have them fill it in and
    get a special prize.
  •  Organize a small group to meet at the park. Bring empty pizza boxes, a
    clip, paper and drawing materials. Use the boxes as an easel. Enjoy the outdoors with
    friends while social distancing and creating artwork.

feministsClick here for a great list of PE type activities you can do easily at home with your kids!

Other Ideas

Click on some of these links to find even more great ideas for summer fun!

https://wideopenschool.org/
https://campkinda.org/welcome
https://www.artcamp504.org/
https://www.pbs.org/parents/
https://jeffersoncountyconservation.com/events/

 

 

To learn more about why Maharishi School would be good for your kids, click here.

Want to know how Maharishi School responded to the coronavirus, click here.

Top 10 Tips for Creating a Balanced Teenager, click here.