The Montessori Children's House is winding up their first month of school. Students are learning to choose appropriate work, complete lessons, and put it away ready for the next student to use. Our circle times are becoming longer and more focused, as our younger children learn how to listen quietly to books being read to them. They are all becoming more comfortable with the school day routine. Next week, every student will have a turn to peel and slice an apple so that we can cook homemade applesauce, ending our unit on apples. We have marked the beginning of the Fall season on our timeline, and new work and themes are being put on the shelves for October. We will pay particular attention to the changing leaves and weather. On that note, please dress your child appropriately every day for the weather. We anticipate going outside for at least 30 minutes a day during this cooler season, unless it's raining. Please provide sneakers for daily wear. Next Wednesday, October 2, St. Mary's will hold our School Marathon. Weather permitting, we will walk laps around the parking lot for approximately an hour. Every child needs a signed permission slip in order to participate. If you haven't already done so, please return your child's permission slip as soon as possible. Pledge money may be turned in after the walk. Parents, you are welcome to accompany your child at the marathon.
Thank you for all who donated to our St. Luke's Our Lady of Hope service project!
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Hello again! This week the Montessori Children's House explored apples every day. Ms. Teresa cut open an apple at circle time, and everyone was able to see and name all parts, inside and out, of the real apple, as well as using the illustrations of the apple nomenclature cards. Nomenclature are pictoral definitions of words from just about any subject, in this case, the parts of an apple. You may see your child come home with a nomenclature book. Before they make the book, they will be expected to match the pictures and the words of the original definition cards, as demonstrated in the photo. Then they can color in pictures of their own, and, if able, write the words. When a child completes the book, we tell them that they are the author and the illustrator! We also tried three different kinds of apples on Thursday, and took a survey of our favorite. This activity is sensorial (tasting, smelling, and feeling the different apples), practices grace and courtesy (waiting for everyone to be served before trying, taking a "polite bite") and mathematical (tally marks, counting, greater than/less than). AND it was (red) delicious!!! We want to thank everyone who came to Meet the Teacher Night. Of course, you don't have to wait for a special event to talk to your child's teachers. Please reach out anytime you have a question or a concern.
Just a couple of reminders: Donations are still being collected for St. Luke's Our Lady of Hope Home School. Please see the most recent Buzz for the wish list of both new and gently used items that will help this school in need. Also, please return your child's Permission Slip/Pledge Sheet for the School Marathon by September 26. Thank you! Hello from the Montessori Children's House! We've had our first full week of school, and our students are quickly settling in.
While we continue to practice the pre-academic social skills we began learning last week, our Kindergarten students began choosing from their weekly work lists, and our 4- and 5-year-olds have begun journaling every morning. Journaling involves drawing, and, when ready, writing words. Children also practice writing their names in their journals. We have begun our special classes - Spanish, PE, and Music. Montessori teachers accompany students to all special classes. Our students have also experienced their first two fire drills, and did very well. Next week, we will begin our apple-themed work. We will explore the parts of an apple, and taste different kinds. At the end of the month, every child will help make a delicious homemade applesauce! As always, please contact the Montessori teachers if you have any questions or concerns. We want parents to be partners in their children's learning! If it's important to you, it's important to us! A few tears were shed, new friends were made, snack was eaten, and lessons were learned. We all survived our first three days of school! What a wonderful time we had during phasing in! Every day, we could see our new and young returning students becoming a little more comfortable. They might be more tired at home; acclimating to a new schedule in a new environment takes a lot of energy! Next week, we start our regular schedule. Everyone will wear uniforms and all full day children will stay for lunch and a rest. We will start seeing our special teachers, for Music, Spanish, and PE class. The Montessori teachers accompany the children to all special classes. During this first few weeks, your child may use a lot of play-doh, pour water, build with blocks, and put together puzzles. They are also learning *how to wait for work to be available *how to ask a teacher for help *how to ask to join a friend's lesson *how to focus on a task *how to serve themselves snack *how to clean up their own work *how to choose a workspace *how to try again if something doesn't work *how to take charge of their own learning! It sounds like a tall order, doesn't it? This is why, at the beginning especially, your child may be doing a lot that doesn't seem academic. We are guiding them to set the stage so they are ready for academics, namely fostering independence and curiosity, a desire to master skills, and an awareness to choose what they need at the moment. From there, the teachers observe, guide, and introduce lessons to individual students, not the whole class. We have sent home a description for our class's service project, which is to collect donations for St. Luke's Our Lady of Hope Home School. You can donate as little or as much as you want. Please also consider if you have any gently used items from home as described on the wish list. We will be talking about OLH pre-K and Kindergarten classes in our Montessori classroom so that our students know that they are helping students of the same ages. We will collect donations throughout the month of September. On Friday, September 13, there will be a 12 noon dismissal for all full-day students. Half-day students will dismiss as usual at 11 am. It is also Special Person's Day. Since our students have not yet attended Mass as a whole class, we ask that any special guests pick up their Montessori student and accompany them to Mass. If your Montessori student is new to the classroom, please consider signing the student out, then enjoy Mass and the refreshments afterward without returning to the classroom. It is so early in the year to take a child out and bring them back to the classroom, and may be upsetting to our new young students. I also encourage you to look at the different pages of this website. There is a copy of our daily schedule, the snack schedule, photos of children working, and descriptions of all the areas of the Montessori classroom. Ms. Krista's and Ms. Teresa's contact information is also available. Of course, you may also reach us through the Remind app. Have a great weekend! |
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Ms. Teresa is just one of the three fantastic teachers in St. Mary's Montessori Children's House! |