Mountain Sun Announces the Natural Play Project
As part of the “Get Set” Early Childhood Initiative, Mountain Sun Community School has partnered with local organizations and is launching the Natural Play Project. Funded in large part by the United Way, MSCS is developing and enhancing its outdoor learning environment in order to provide a space for natural play programs for the diverse families and children of Transylvania County…
October 2018 Class Updates
For the International Day of Peace, all of the students made white paper flowers and performed songs of peace for special guests attending Elders Day. The students served snacks and drinks. The Elders were then able to view the classrooms in action…
Boundaries in the Outdoors
One of the places that the children play is an open area of grass, with some large beautiful boulders, and an old hemlock tree. There are boundaries that the children learn and respect. They understand how they are helpers in that they do not venture into the well-manicured flower beds…
National Childhood Cancer Awareness
September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month...not a pretty topic what-so-ever. Yet it is one that is dear to my heart as a parent of a child who has been bravely fighting brain cancer for the past four years. My son Holmes was diagnosed right after he turned five years old, and ever since we were thrown onto this journey, we have been advocating for more awareness and more funds to help find better treatments and cures…
The Eldest Mountain Sun Alumni Continue Their Journey
In 2014, Mountain Sun Community School graduated its first eighth-grade class. Four students completed their education with Mountain Sun that year and went on to Brevard High School. Four years later, these students are moving into the next phase of life as the launch into the wider world…
We Got This
Volunteering is important here at Mountain Sun. For our children, it’s a way to serve the community and get a chance to make an impact on the world around us. Starting from the beginning, we all encourage students to look beyond themselves and see how they can help others in class and at home…
September 2018 Class Updates
These young students are busy exploring their campus and classroom. The Otters enjoyed their first field trip last week. They had story time at the library and got a tour of the children’s section. They are learning about the 5 senses: sight, sound, touch, hearing, and taste…
2018 Opening Day Announcement
Teachers, faculty, and staff at Mountain Sun Community School welcomed 81 students back to school on August 22nd, 2018. The highest number of children in 11 years of operation joined together with their families on Brevard Music Center’s Campus to celebrate the beginning of an exciting new year…
April 2018 Class Updates
The Otters are exploring the colors of nature on campus, such as the butter colored daffodils and the purple sprouting violets. Annie and Morgan are teaching the kids to play wiffle ball and soccer. They are making dirt tracks with cars, and pretending to be superheroes wearing colored scarves for capes…
Water Water Everywhere
Living in a temperate rainforest comes with the good, the bad, and the sloppy. Grab some rain boots, a good book, or settle in for good times inside and out. Snuggling up at home, in your pajamas, with your family and pets is certainly one of the most enjoyable things that come with rainy weather…
March 2018 Classroom Update
The Otter class has fresh, homemade play dough and new sidewalk chalk. They have enjoyed a lot of outdoor playtime. In the classroom, they have been practicing making and eating PB&J sandwiches. The students use the sandwich making to work on their problem solving skills and their hand-eye coordination…
Mountain Sun Community School Raises Trout with Trout Unlimited
Each year the Monarch class (grades 4-6) at Mountain Sun Community School raise trout from eggs in the classroom. The local Trout Unlimited chapter provides the class with all the materials needed to raise trout, and this year the class successfully released 80 trout into the Davidson River on February 6th…
Contemporaries in a Revolution
Around the age of five, I had a best friend named Jessica. Our fathers worked together, we “played” t-ball together (if picking flowers in the outfield is considered playing), so we saw each other often. I remember we were at a holiday dinner with a bunch of families at a large table and Jessica’s family had just gotten a new conversion van with a bed in the back…
The Power of Language
According to dictionary.com the word language means “a body of words and the systems for their use common to a people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition.” I am always amazed at how something so complicated can be summed up in so few words…
February 2018 Classroom Updates
The Otters have had several parent guests come to share books and other talents this month. They enjoyed a trip to the local library for story time and a chance to practice their grace and courtesy out in the community. They also painted and decorated shoe boxes to hold their Valentines made for each other by classmates…
Follow the Child
Dr. Montessori did not believe that she invented a method of education. She simply studied children. And what she found was that every human being develops through a unique process of self-construction…
Volunteers
My mom was a teacher, so growing up, I learned that when it came to school, always say yes to donations, and always say yes to volunteers. Let the question of what to do with the donation or person answer itself…
Planting Seeds
After winter break, the children and teachers are all excited to be back at school, in our space, and re-connecting. The children are wearing smiles, greeting one another, and offering hugs. There are exciting stories about what happened during the break as well as remembering shared activities. The teachers are treasuring these moments and share in the joy of the children reuniting…
January 2018 Classroom Updates
The Otters have increased their focus on handcrafts, an excellent use of time indoors during the winter. The children have made cuff bracelets and pillows. They are working on their button-sewing technique. During the “arctic blast,” the Otters studied liquid and solids by freezing ice ornaments outside…
Cider and Conversation
I just love homemade apple cider. I mean, what’s not to love? It’s warm and sweet, it has all the spices that make you think of the holidays, and if you make it in a crockpot, the entire house smells like one enormous pie…