May the celebrating continue.  This week in the Oak Room we traveled to Sweden to learn about the European holiday of St. Lucia’s Day!  The children made star and candle headbands and enjoyed a presentation by our own Miss Kristen all about this special day.  She also helped us make some delicious St. Lucia rolls!

The children in Sweden also like to make gingerbread treats for this holiday, so we took the opportunity to make our own gingerbread boys and girls  as well as a fun gingerbread boy craft to go along with the traditional gingerbread man story!

We will be spending our last week before break talking about the Christmas season and what it means to give to others and this important time with our families.  Our class party will take place on Thursday afternoon.  If your child would like to bring in a class gift, we will be having them open those at our first circle and putting them with any other “donations.” This is an excellent opportunity for us to teach the children the joy of giving something without having to get something in return.

The children will also be getting their classroom cleaned up before the break. This includes cubbies!  Please check on Friday to make sure that all items except changes of clothing and nap packs are taken out of the cubbies so that they may be cleaned over the break. Thanks for the help!

This Week in the Oak Room

December is the month of many celebrations at Center Grove Montesssori!  This week we talked about Hannukah and St. Nicholas Day.  We made latkes, lit our menorah and played many games of dreidel. We also made special paper shoes for St. Nicholas to leave a treat in.  The children really enjoyed learning about the differences and similarities of these holidays to those we celebrate with our families. 

Next week we will be discussing the European holiday of St. Lucia.  Also, we, of course, will be making our usual Christmas crafts and baking some delicious treats for our party on the 19th. From 2-3 pm on that day we will be having our Christmas celebration with games and treats to share.  In lieu of staff gifts we ask that gift givers bring in an item for our classroom.  A wish list will be posted on the bulletin board by the front door.

 A reminder:  we have had a few issues with children not having a change of clothing at school.  Please take the time to check your child’s cubby to make sure they have everything they need.

Please Note:

It is getting chilly outside.  Please remember that we do take the children outside if the temperature is above 32 degrees, so they need to have appropriate outdoor clothing.  With the cold mornings and warmer afternoons, we find dressing in layers to work best in keeping the kids comfortable.

Child quote of the week:

Andrew: “These onions don’t like my eyes.”

This Week in the Oak Room

What a busy week!  All of the children were so active and busy doing jobs and playing with friends.  We spent a lot of time this week making discoveries about Native Americans as well as the pilgrims that came across the ocean on the Mayflower.  Many of you may have seen our wonderful totem poles at the front of our hallway.  We appreciate that so many of our families took the time to help their child make such wonderful additions to the pole.  You can really see the student’s personalities in every creation!

 Nice headband Andrew!

We are only in  school for Monday and Tuesday of the upcoming week, so we will be spending our time talking about Thanksgiving, baking and the older children in our classroom and the Maple room have been practicing a play to perform for their younger peers.  This will be a lot of fun for all of us!

Happy Birthday Evan and Ava!

Please Note:

Please take the opportunity during this break to update or check your child’s change of clothes in their cubbies.  We prefer two sets of clothes that are seasonally appropriate.  Thanks for your attention to this matter.

Child quote of the week:

Miss Darci: “Ava, what do you want your Native American name to be for your headband?”

Ava: “Distracted…”