Time with Children

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“ Gotta get up, gotta go work, then I come home and I gotta go to bed, cause I gotta get up… and do it all over again…”
The Bottle Rockets

 

Sound about right??  The daily grind can get exhausting.  It takes a toll on us, and our children.  They, believe it or not, feel some of the same stress of “do it all over again”, day in and day out.  We ALL need a break.

Being in the education field for 7 years or so now, I look forward to fall and spring break! But I do understand the other side to this, finding child care for those breaks.  We know these breaks can be a burden or a daunting task to find childcare while your children are not in our care…but we all need a break.

Just as my mother would say, it goes by fast.  In a blink of an eye, each year they celebrate a birthday.  With that comes new growth, new milestones, new challenges, and they are moving out and headed to college before you know it.  Your children need you in their life.  When you add up all the time your kids spend here, asleep, at friends’ homes, with babysitters, at camp, and otherwise occupied with activities, the remaining moments become especially precious. There are only 940 Saturdays between a child’s birth and leaving for college. That may sound like a lot, but how many have you already used? And the older your kids get, the busier their Saturdays are with friends and activities.

Playing with your child, helps build and deepen your relationship with them.   Run, skip, walk, play ball, play in the sandbox, swing, have a tea party, and just hang out with your child. For the older child, find out what their interests are outside of school and participate in those activity with them.  Draw, paint, read, play basketball or throw the football.  Don’t wait for your child to ask and interrupt your “Facebook” check, or your “last email for work”. Surprise your child by seeking them out and asking them to join you in the activity.  This sends a message that you are genuinely interesting in them and want to spend time with them.

If you are just unable to take time off work, try to get some family members, other close friends or loved ones to spend time with your child.  They can all make these relationships and attachments grow as well.  It takes a village to raise a child, and including some other family members or close, loving friends is always helpful for you and your child.

We are all busy, and need to make that green, but your child is going to remember the memories you make with them, not the money you make.

Have a great fall break, and go enjoy your child.

What’s happening in the Oak Room

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Enjoying “homemade” popsicles on a hot September day!

September provided all of us with many memories and a lot of new experiences and learning opportunities. We had apple tasting, learned the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates and also began learning all about the parts of a biome! The children have also been exploring our world as well as the landmarks, artifacts and animals of North America.

Welcome Faby! Our Spanish teacher has begun making her visits to our classroom on Wednesdays. She is teaching the children vocabulary, conversational phrases and delighting them with storybooks they are familiar with, only written in Spanish! I look forward to all that she will teach us!

Upcoming Events

Please tell all of your family and friends about our Open House this Sunday, October 4th, from 2:00-4:00 pm. All families; current, past and potential, are welcome for a tour of our beautiful school.

It is conference time! Hopefully everyone has had the opportunity to sign up for a time to meet with us to discuss your child’s growth in the classroom and address any questions or concerns you may have regarding their progress. Sign up sheets are available at Brenda’s desk.

Fall break will be here soon. We will not have school from October 12-23. Hopefully you will be able to spend some time outdoors with your child to observe all of the changes in our environment that this time of year yields.  The children are more than welcome to bring in an item they have found to put in our “nature basket.”

And finally; upon our return from fall break we will be spending some time celebrating one of the kids’ favorite holidays, Halloween.  We will allow costumes for a quick “parade” on Wednesday morning. (Parents are welcome!) We ask that the children please leave any weapons or masks at home.

Maple Room Newsletter October 2015

Happy fall! Maple room is continuing to enjoy this beautiful weather and admiring different hues of fall!

September went by learning so much about apples, we thoroughly loved it! Children are learning to work with peers, working in small groups and with the whole class. We also started our Spanish lessons. Ms. Faby, comes on Wednesdays to teach us Spanish! Hola, Española!!!

In October, we will continue learning about the fall season, different types of leaves and pumpkins.  Since the weather will be colder now, please replace the extra set of clothes according to the weather. We are practicing zipping up our jackets, keep practicing at home too. Pumpkin patch and apple orchards are the best places to visit this fall break.

We will be celebrating Halloween on Friday, Oct 30th. Children are allowed to wear their Halloween costumes; they can bring a change of clothes too. No masks, no face painting, no weapons or anything scary!

Important Reminders:

Oct 2nd: Open House, 2PM- 4PM

Oct 5th – 9th:  Parent Teacher conferences

Oct 6th: Wine tasting fundraiser, 7PM-9PM

Oct 12th – 23rd: Fall Break

Oct 20th: Ryo’s b’day (celebrating on Oct. 26th)

Oct 30th Halloween celebration

Have a Safe and Happy Fall Break!!!

Ms. Jyoti

How to have a great Parent/Teacher Conference

Remember getting called down to the office in Elementary school? The anticipation of “what do they want?, What did I do? Am I in trouble?”…and come to find out your mom forgot to tell you, you had a dentist appointment that day?  I never got in TOO much trouble, but when I got that note, it worried me no matter WHAT I thought was going on.

Parent/Teacher Conferences are a time to reflex and review on how your child is doing in the classroom, both socially and academically.  It takes a village, and we just want to keep you in the loop on how their day is.  Together, we ensure the child’s full potential and success.

Please read Great-Parent-Teacher-Conferences, and make this conference a success.

Oak Room September Blog

What’s Happening in the Oak Room

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Owen’s face says it all!  We are learning so much about our environment in the Oak Room.  The children have been exploring the outdoors and having many discoveries comparing what is “living” and “nonliving” and the differences between the air, land and water that make up our earth.

The children all seem to be settling in nicely and we are enjoying our time together.  We currently have (2) 2-year-olds, (3) 3-year-olds, (3) 5-year-olds, (4) 5-year-olds, and one 6 year-old. This is a near perfect age mix for a Montessori classroom! And it shows! Our older children are very helpful with their younger peers and our small group lessons have been very effective.

Fall will be here soon and that means APPLES!  This is truly a wonderful time of year as we get to compare different varieties of this delicious fruit, study its life cycle and bake some yummy treats!  We look forward to the trees changing so that we can observe the striking fall colors in our outdoor environment.

With the coming fall, we would like to remind you to please check your child’s change of clothes at school and update them according to the season.  Often it is cool during the morning and warmer in the afternoon during this time, so we recommend a light jacket or sweatshirt. Your child may keep one here at school if that is more convenient.  Thanks for your assistance in this matter.

This month we will begin our  study of the continents. While we start with a more “general” exploration, we do delve into each continent and discover interesting facts about its climate, culture, animals and landmarks. If you or your child have any artifacts to share from different countries we would love to see them!

 

Thanks to our families for contributing the healthy snacks for the children to bring in. Please consult our website for the September snack calendar at www.centergrovemontessori.com.

Maple Room September Blog

September Newsletter

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Yay, we survived August!! Maple room is having super fun in school and I hope they are telling you the same! We are so glad to be back in routine. We learned all our inside and outside rules, we learned how to take care of ourselves, others and our materials. We learned to take care of our bird and animal friends and so decided to make a bird feeder from a re-cycled milk carton! We also talked about cleanliness, washing hands and staying healthy. We are taking full advantage of this beautiful weather and are doing activities outside. As it’s a little chilly outside in the morning, it would be a good idea to send a light jacket or a sweater with them. So nice to see full-day students getting into their lunch, nap/or work routines.

In September, we’ll be doing lots of activities involving apples. Thanks for bringing in healthy snack every day. I promise, September snack calendar will be better organized. Sorry for the confusion that happened in August.

If you are interested in volunteer opportunities, please let Ms. Brenda know and she’ll schedule you in our room. You can take some projects home with you too.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Important Reminders

Picture day 09/09

Arissa’s b’day 09/15

Thank you!

Ms. Jyoti

What’s Happening in the Oak Room

We are ready for a new school year to begin!  We are looking forward to seeing all of our old friends and getting to know some new ones! There is so much to see and do in the Oak room and we are excited to get started!

Following area few highlights from our parent orientation:

We understand that saying goodbye to loved ones is one of the most challenging parts of your child’s day.  We recommend a quick and upbeat “see you soon,” and a wave as you go.  Prolonging the process is stressful (often times, more for the parent) and not a great way to start the day. If you are still nervous after you leave, give Brenda a call in awhile. She’ll be happy to assure you that your child is fine!

As many of you know, snack is available to the children throughout our morning work cycle. The children take turns bringing in a snack for the class on their assigned day.  If you did not get a snack calendar at the parent orientation, there is one available on our website.  The snack bag will be hanging in your child’s cubbie when it is their turn.  Bringing a snack is always optional, so please just return the bag if you choose not to participate.

Lunch is not provided by the school.  Children need to bring their own lunches and store them in their cubbies.  If they have an item that needs to be kept cold, please include an ice pack in their lunch, as we do not have refrigerator space available for that purpose.

All children under 5 years of age are required to participate in rest time.  They are provided with their own cot, sheet, blanket and pillow in their nap bag at school.  There is no need to bring any of these things from home.  If your child has a special item that they sleep with, they may bring it, but it needs to be small enough to fit into their bag.

Please make sure that your child has 2 changes of clothing to keep at school, including socks.  We are known to get a bit wet or dirty when working outside!

The best way for you to truly understand what happens in our classroom is for you to come and observe or sign up to volunteer!  Please just let Brenda know and she can help you schedule a convenient time.

We have a wonderful Facebook group that includes families and teachers. Please just search for Center Grove Montessori and request to be a part of this private group.  I post pictures weekly and it’s a great way to get to know our other families. Please let me know if you do not want your child’s picture posted.

I am here as your partner in your child’s education.  Please feel free to approach me with any concerns or questions you have about our class or your child in particular.  I am available most days when our class dismisses at 3:00 pm. You may also email me at hollyj2005@gmail.com.

Again, I am really looking forward to sharing in your child’s experience at Center Grove Montessori.

 

It’s going to be a fun year!

Miss Holly

 

Maple Room

Only three more weeks to summer holidays!!

Thank you to all the parents who came to support their children’s work during our Art show and silent auction.

In the next few weeks we look forward to working and playing outdoors a lot more. Please put sunscreen on your child. You may send in a spray sunscreen, with your child’s name on it, that we can help apply during the middle of the day. We also hope that our bean plants grow before the break!

We have been cooking up a storm in the Maple room the past week. The kids love to cook and you will find yourself with great helpers in the kitchen this summer.

We will be celebrating summer birthdays with ice cream on the 20th of May and your child may bring in topping of his/her choice if they have a summer birthday. A note will be in the cubby notifying you of the same.

We are so proud of our Maple room friends. It has been a true privilege to watch them grow and be part of their life’s journey. We look forward to seeing many of them in the fall and wish our other friends all the very best in their new adventure.

Lastly our fishes need a home for the summer. If you are interested in fish sitting for us please let Jama or me know. We will provide you with all the supplies including food. Children really enjoy the responsibility of caring for their classroom pet.

 

Have a great summer!!

What’s Happening in the Oak Room

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Ready to deliver May Day flower cones to our neighbors.

 

It’s hard to believe our school year has almost come to an end!  We have made wonderful memories here at Center Grove Montessori with all of our families and friends!  We are looking forward to a fun final month of beautiful weather and interesting activities.

Thank you to all of our families who attended the art show and auction in April.  The children were so proud to show their work and the auction was a huge success! We raised nearly $1400 dollars! We truly appreciate your support!

We will be celebrating summer birthdays soon.  If your child has a birthday that falls during our summer break, they are welcome to bring in their favorite topping for our ice cream party! So that all of our friends can enjoy this sweet treat, we will be scheduling this special day for Wednesday, May 13th, during our afternoon outside time.

If weather permits, we are planning “water fun” day for the last day of school.  Please have your child bring their bathing suits and a towel so they can participate in this refreshing activity. We will be setting up a sprinkler and wading pool and there may be a water balloon toss as well!

This is a bittersweet time of year for us teachers as we reflect on how much the children in our care have grown.  Some of our friends will be moving on to different places and new adventures.  We will miss them, but are proud of the vibrant and caring individuals they have become.  Good luck to all and enjoy a peaceful and relaxing summer. To our returning friends, we’ll see you next year!

 

Maple Room

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Welcome back! Hope everyone had a wonderful spring break and are relaxed and rested.  In the month on April we are focusing on our outside environment and learning about all the new things we see.  We will be learning about the new life we see around – do some of our own planting. We will study birds and butterflies and life cycles. We will be opening our doors literally on days when its not raining too heavily J

 

This month we have:

  1. Parent teacher conferences: 13th to the 17th – sign up sheets are available at the front desk. We look forward to meeting you to talk about all that your child has accomplished.
  2. Art show: Saturday, 25th, – between 1:00 – 4:00pm. Please come and enjoy all the beautiful creations your children have made during the school year. There will also be a silent auction allowing you to bid on various items during this time. Our children in class will make some of these.
  3. If you have any paint left over from your projects Maple room will be very grateful for it. Any color is great. Thanks!
  4. A reminder we do go outside to play in the mornings and afternoons so please dress your child accordingly.
  5. Also the MCR is having a community sale and is collecting gently used items this week from Tuesday – Thursday (April 7th to 9th) at CGM

Where is CGM Located?

© Copyright Center Grove Montessori School. All Rights Reserved. Photos are copyrighted by J Simpson Photography.