Montessori Radmoor

Week of 9/29/17

This week is LeVyon’s 4th Birthday! Happy Birthday LeVyon!
Have you asked your child what they did that day and received the response, “I didn’t do anything” or “I don’t remember”? This is a common response that children give to their parents when asked this question. Like fish want to swim children want to learn, so your child did do something that day but either doesn’t remember or doesn’t want to talk about it. I have put together some helpful hints to start a conversation about your child’s day. 
 
 First, ask open ended questions that require more than a yes or no response. Questions like “what did you sing at group today” or “what did you play at recess” are more specific and will help them remember parts of their day. You can also use school work to help start conversations with your child. If your child brings home something they made at school you can ask them to tell you about it. Another way you can get a conversation started is to model communication. Talk about your day and what happened to you. This gives your child a great example of how to communicate.
 
 Something that works for me is to talk about “highs and lows” at dinner. Everyone gets a chance to talk about the best thing that happened and something they did not like that happened that day. If you can link emotion to events it will help your child to express themselves. An example is “you must have been disappointed when you didn’t get to work with a friend”. 
 
 The most important thing to remember is that when your child is sharing something about their day, make certain that you are attentive. Children may lose interest in sharing if you are not fully engaged in what they are saying. If you show interest in what they are saying and practice active listening, they feel heard, their self-esteem will increase and it will help form a link between school and home. Hopefully these are some tools that will help start many conversations between you and your child!
 
Ms. Rachel, Ms. Erin & Ms. Britanie
Aiden C and Felix J work with Trinomial Cube
Milo H. scrubbing the table

Week of 9/22/17

This week we had our first practice fire drill and tornado drill. The children did a wonderful job of walking slowly and quietly outside for the fire drill. We practiced standing quietly so everyone could hear directions and listen for their names. When we were practicing the tornado drill we talked about how sometimes the lights would go out and we used the flashlights so everyone could see what it would be like with the lights out.  After both drills, we talked about the importance of being quiet so we could hear any instructions and how we stop what we are doing and go to the area to which teachers direct them. We discussed how we would keep aprons on, not stop to put on coats and keep slippers on, as we go outside. The most important thing is that we get out safely.

“Walk Around the Sun” – This week we are celebrating Sammy’s 4th birthday! When we celebrate a birthday, the birthday child gets to share pictures of her life and will walk around the sun. When we do our “walk around the sun” we have a candle that represents the sun and the 12 months are surrounding the sun. The child circles the months and the sun for each year of life.  All of the children enjoy sharing this experience with their family. We have a special birthday song we sing after the “walk around the sun”. It has also become a tradition to sing and dance to the song, Jumping Bean, after the birthday song. 

Our class birthday song (sung to the birthday tune):

May your gray skies be mostly blue

May you do the things you want to do

May your fantasies come true

Happy birthday to you!

Ms. Rachel, Ms. Erin & Ms. Britanie

Week of 9/15/17

Dear Parents:  
 
I always think of the items in your lunch as the fuel for your body. Think about how long your child stays at school and the amount of work they do. It’s important to make sure they have a variety of healthy foods so they don’t run out of energy. The teachers in the class will encourage your child to eat their lunch but many children this age like to be in charge of what they eat. Lunch time is a time that they have the most control of what they do or don’t eat. It’s important to at least offer healthy choices and leave processed and junk food out of their lunch. It’s good to have a mix of all the food groups. 
 
If your child helps decide what goes into their lunch, often times they are more willing to eat what is brought.  They can choose the fruit, protein and vegetables and pack them in their lunch box with you observing them and offering support, if needed. It is also good to mix up their lunches. If your child has the same thing every day it is easy to get tired of it and they may not want to eat it. Talk with them about what they might like in their lunch and if it is a healthy choice for lunch.
 
We have also been focusing on manners. Such as, making sure the children are sitting while they eat. Focusing on their food and waiting to talk until they swallow what is in their mouth. We have also been practicing on how to stand in a line when we go in and out of the classroom. It easy for children to forget that there are other children waiting too,and they try to go to the front of the line. Helping all the children become aware of others is a focus we will continue to work on in the class.
 
Based on the children’s developmental stage, this is the best time to focus on manners.  
 
Ms. Rachel
  Fall Potluck Family Dinner for our P2 Community
Friday, September 22nd – 5:30-7:00 p.m.
 

Week of 9/8/17

Our Community -This was the first week with all 25 children together. The returning children have been very welcoming to the new children. We will keep singing songs to help the children get to know each other. Some of the older children have been excited to be a helper and show the new children what they know. We have been talking about how to help someone without doing it for them. We have also been discussing how to accept or decline the help of someone. The children are learning how to become a community now that everyone is here. 
 
I wanted to talk about our lunch routine since, for many of our children, this is their first experience staying for lunch and the afternoon in our community. The children go outside before lunch for about 20 minutes then come in for lunch. The children wash their hands and then get their lunch boxes or hot lunch. They get a space with their name and they begin to unpack their lunch. Containers that are easier for them to open on their own allow them more independence during the lunch time. 
 
The children get to sit with others as you would sit around the dinner table. Sometimes this leads to more conversation instead of eating much of their lunch. Anything they don’t eat is sent home in their lunch box. Britanie and Erin are here the whole lunch hour with them and will encourage them to eat what they can. The children have about 45 minutes to eat. The children are responsible for cleaning up their lunch and washing their table space. They also wash the dishes they used. 
 
The children who nap are walked over to the toddler room for nap at 12:30. The children who do not nap will go outside then return to the classroom at 1:00 to begin the second work cycle. 
 
 A song we have been singing to help learn everyone’s name is the Choo Choo song:
  Choo Choo Choo Choo
  Choo Choo Choo Choo
  Going down the track!
  
  Choo Choo Choo Choo
  Choo Choo Choo Choo
  Then we come right back.
 
 
  Fall Potluck Family Dinner for our P2 Community
Friday, September 22nd – 5:30-7:00 p.m.
 

Week of 9/1/17

Our first week back has been great!  With having only the new children back this week we have been focusing on grace and courtesy lessons.  Some things we focus on are:

*walking slowing in the class     

*carrying things with two hands

*how to observe someone         

*how to ask someone to not watch you work

*using soft voices                    

  * how to wait your turn

Those are just a few grace and courtesies we are working on right now and we will continue to practice.  Practical life has been popular this week as well.  Many children have been polishing, handwashing and grinding coffee.  We have had pickle cutting and squeezing orange juice on the shelf this week and the children have been excited to get lessons on both.  

We have also been working with the sensorial materials.  The children work with the materials using their senses.  They are grading cylinders, cubes and prisms and matching the color tablets using their visual sense.  Using the sound cylinders and smelling jars where they are using their hearing and sense of smell.

The new children have been getting to know myself, Erin, Brittanie and the other children.  At group this week we have been singing songs with everyone’s name in it to help everyone learn each other’s name and sing some action songs. 

One of the songs we have sang this week is:

Horsey, horsey

Horsey horsey on your way

We’ve been together for many a day

So let your tail go swish and your wheels go round

Giddy up we’re homeward bound

Sincerely,

Rachel

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