Greetings from the Montessori Children's House! I cannot believe that it is almost the end of September. The weather is cooling, friendships are in the making, and learning is happening every day in our environment.
The students are handling moving between two rooms very well. Now that they know what lessons are in each room, they have the ability to plan their work time. We began work lists for 5-year-olds, so they are beginning to practice their Kindergarten skills. Social distancing is difficult at this age, but we are making use of our masks and keeping our hands and our room clean. The children help with this, by cleaning their tables, and their see-through partitions with child-safe alcohol wipes. A very big part of Montessori education is for everyone to take care of the room. Thank you for everyone who have sent in extra masks for your child. Even if they don't get wet or dirty, sometimes they stretch out over the course of wearing them, and come off easily. For the month of September, amid all the new school year routines we've been learning about, our themes have been fire safety and apples. We have practiced fire drills, both with just our own class, and with the whole school. Each time we experience a fire drill, we gather together and talk about the experience. Some students find the loud noise upsetting, and we stress that they are safe at school, and that drills are just for practice. If your child brings up fire drills at home, please stress that they are a positive skill for everyone to learn, to keep us safe. Recently, we cut up an apple and examined each of its parts. We named the skin, flesh, core, seeds, and stem. At home, you may want to point out those parts if you have apples, as well as name and taste different kinds. Several children expressed love for apple-picking and apple cider!
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Hello from the Montessori Children's House! Although last week was short, we have already seen significant progress in our students' adjustments to our new school year. Now tomorrow, Monday, there may be a little feeling of a setback. Your child may be apprehensive about coming to school again. This is completely normal, after being away from school for two days, it can make them nervous to come back. This year is still brand new, and your children may still be feeling a little more tired than usual. Please persevere! Appropriate bedtimes, calm mornings, and lots of loving reassurance are always recommended, but especially in this first month. Each week, students will become more comfortable, as they become interested in the lessons and make close friendships. Soon enough, they will feel at home.
Thank you for those who have been so flexible about our dismissal procedures! Using Door B1 seems to work to lessen the wait for our Montessori students and their siblings to go home. Remember, half-day student dismissal is at 11 am, and full-day Montessori dismissal is at 2 pm. Thank you, as well, for your support of our mask policy at school. Our students have been very cooperative about the safety protocols. We would like to suggest that families send a ziploc-bagged backup mask, each day in your child's bookbag. This is primarily for comfort. Masks can get wet with saliva or mucus, and some stretch a bit and start to sag by the end of the day. We were given a supply of child-sized masks from French Toast for all of our students, but if your child feels more comfortable in a mask of their choosing, we recommend sending an extra one from home. The Montessori teachers take students' temperatures every morning, as part of the daily health checks. Part of these checks is also a series of questions about Covid 19 risk factors. They are not exactly age-appropriate questions for our students. We ask you, as parents and caregivers, to familiarize yourself with the following list of questions, and be proactive to inform the Montessori teachers, or St. Mary's School Office, if your household can answer yes to any of these questions: Have you knowingly been in close (unmasked/un-distanced) contact with anyone who has tested positive for COIVD-19 in the last 14 days? Have you knowingly been in close (unmasked/un-distanced) contact with anyone who has or had symptoms of COIVD-19 in the last 14 days? Have you tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days? Have you experienced any symptoms of COVID-19 in the past 14 days (upper/lower respiratory or gastro-intestinal symptoms) and had a temperature greater than 100°? Have you or other household members traveled internationally or from a state with a widespread community transmission of COVID-19 per the New York State Travel Advisory, within the last 14 days? Thank you for your anticipated support and cooperation to keep our environment safe, healthy, and open! Hello, Montessori families, and welcome to a new school year in the St. Mary's Montessori Children's House! I'd like to tell you a little about our eventful first day.
First of all, I want to acknowledge that this is a school year unlike any other. Our world is different, and therefore school will be a bit different as well. To that end, our goal for the first few days (perhaps into few weeks) will be to create a nurturing, enticing, predictable environment for your children. Getting our routine to become, well, routine, is job number one. Learning about masks, sanitizing, and distancing will be added to our regular beginning lessons about choosing work for oneself, asking for lessons, and walking in a line with classmates. We will reinforce these lessons daily, and give many reminders. For the next couple of weeks, your child may be tired, cranky, and even resistant to going to school. This is completely normal. Simply incorporating a new routine into our lives takes energy, so this is your child's primary "job" for a while. Please help us by keeping your child as rested as possible, and keep your morning routines calm and happy. If your little one cries as they enter the school, we find that a quick and cheerful goodbye, with an assurance that you know they'll have fun, is the best response. Lingering for a long time, or looking distressed yourself, only sends a message to your child that they are right to be worried. Once our students enter the classroom, we work to find interesting things to occupy their hands and minds. Each child is warmly welcomed every day as an important member of our community. Now for some housekeeping: as many of you saw, school dismissal was very long today for our children who were picked up. Therefore, the Montessori class will dismiss both half-day (11 am) and full-day (2 pm) students from door B1 in order to lesson the congestion. Please park in the lot next to door B1 (also called the Parish Center door), and walk to the building. Teachers will be inside with your children. When we identify the adult picking up, we will walk your child to meet you outside the door. Please do not come into the building. If there is more than one parent waiting, please make a socially distant line, and we will dismiss in that order. A note will be handed out tomorrow at drop-off detailing this as well. If your Montessori student has an older sibling at St. Mary's, they will be met by their sibling at the Montessori classroom, and go to the regular door that was used today for dismissal. In the morning, please be aware that the drop off window is between 7:30 to 7:50 am. That means doors may be closed at 7:50 if there are no cars. However, a teacher will stay to assist children out of cars until there is no line, even if that extends beyond 7:50. Please stay in the car, and let the teachers unbuckle students and assist them to the building. As we practice, it will go more smoothly every day! Thank you for your patience and flexibility to help us make new systems work! |
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Ms. Teresa is just one of the three fantastic teachers in St. Mary's Montessori Children's House! |