September 2015 Newsletter!
September 2015 Newsletter
We have had a wonderful month of August! Our new students are beautifully adjusting to our routine, and they are eagerly practicing their newly learned lessons! It is a joy to be in the classroom with our young scholars! The children are learning how to complete lessons from beginning to the end. They are enjoying singing many new songs, not only in English, but also in French, German, and Spanish! We are also practicing to interact politely and respectfully with one another. So many new skills have been accomplished already by each of our children! We are so pleased that this year we have more young ladies in our classroom, creating a balanced number of boys and girls!
Everyone is making new friends! Our older and experienced students are thrilled to give lessons to their younger classmates! If you take a look at our new pictures on our website or on our facebook page, you can see how much the children are enjoying their work! We are striving to have a calm classroom on a daily basis, which will enable the children to focus and concentrate on their work. We greatly appreciate your wonderful help as parents, encouraging your children to make challenging choices and to do their best every day! The children really listen to the encouraging words from you, and they do want to please you!
Our Family School Picnic was a huge success! It was a perfect day for fun, getting to know one another, and for enjoying the delicious variety of food that all of you brought to share with everyone! Thank you so much for taking time from your busy schedules to join us! A wonderful time was had by all!
Labor Day Holiday Weekend! CountrySide Montessori School will be closed September 4th and September 7th for the Labor Day weekend! School resumes September 8th.
August Birthdays! Jayson celebrated his 5th birthday August 26th, and Michelle turned 4 years old August 28th! “Happy Birthday” to Jayson and Michelle!
Welcome Ryan and Daniel! A warm welcome to 4-year-old Ryan Dabe and his younger brother, Daniel, who are both new students as of September 1st!
Tornado/Fire Drills! In September, we will resume practicing fire and tornado drills. We practiced both drills in August to the delight of the children! They LOVE to have fire and tornado drills!
Language Curriculum Night! Our last curriculum night featuring the topics, “The Practical Life Curriculum, and the Language Curriculum,” was well attended! Thank you to all who joined us! If you missed it and you would like to re-schedule another evening to learn about these topics, please let me know. We will, however, not be able to offer child care for the make-up curriculum sessions.
September 17th, Let’s Make Cheese! On September 17th, Mr. Stephen Williams, Zara’s dad, will show the children how to make cheese! Mr. Williams enjoys the culinary arts and wants to help children understand in a “hands-on” manner how we make certain foods. He also makes pasta from scratch, and much more! We look forward to this fun time! Thank you, Mr. Williams!
September 17th Math Curriculum Night! Even if your child is very young, this information will be interesting and valuable to you. You will actually play the role of the student with our initial math materials. You will find this evening enjoyable and interesting! We will also have a “Question and Answer” session. The meeting will be from 5:00 to 6:00 PM. All parents are encouraged to attend this informative evening. Child care will be provided. Please RSVP by September 15th, if you plan to join us. Ms. Yanti will be here to plan activities for your children.
September 19th – Open House 11:00-2:00 PM! Come to our Open House! Bring a friend who might want to see CountrySide Montessori School, and register for a free week of art camp in June or July! Drawings will be held at a later date.
CountrySide Volunteers! Thank you so much to all of you who signed up for volunteer opportunities! Stephen Williams volunteered to help with light maintenance, and our cleaning crew after parties consists of Bianca Johnson, Gosia Galloway, Kirsten Ingram, Shauna Gough, and Jody-Ann Lo Bue. Thank you so much for your willingness to help, and for your enthusiasm! If you have not chosen to sign up for any tasks yet, and you would like to do so, please feel free to contact Ms. Hanne or our room mother, Ms. Jessica Cooney. We always appreciate parents volunteering at CountrySide. Some tasks, such as making labels for various materials, or cleaning the inside of our various boxes, can be carried out at home!
Flower Bulb Sale Fund Raiser! Ms. Jessica has graciously volunteered to chair our flower bulb fund raiser this fall. The school receives 50% of all plant and flower bulb sales! The proceeds will be used to pay for “Sam’s Travelling Petting Zoo” and for renting the Apalachee Farms Club House for our December Family Holiday Celebration. Our children had the best time with the gentle animals last year! More details will be provided soon. We hope that you will ask your friends and family to purchase some of these beautiful bulbs from the Netherlands. They are of excellent quality! Thank you so much for your enthusiastic support!
Gardening Volunteers! We are so thankful and appreciative that Gosia Galloway, Stephen Williams, Kirsten Ingram, Staci Bisschop, and Bianca Johnson have volunteered to undertake various light gardening tasks for CountrySide! You know how much I love our garden area! Thank you so very much to each of you!
Our Fall Planting Day is scheduled for September 11th, from 10:30-11:30 AM. Please join us for this fun activity with your children! Parents usually bring a few plants, either vegetables or flowers that the children can plant. We might have to pull a few weeds if needed, but the emphasis is on planting flowers and vegetables. Bring your gloves and a big smile! In case of rain, we will reschedule this event. Everyone is invited to come and participate!
Show And Tell! Every Friday the children participate in “Show and Tell!” “Show and Tell” helps children to express themselves in front of others when they describe an item they brought to school. This helps to develop public speaking and leadership skills. We encourage your child to bring educational items, such as a book, telescope, a painting, a picture, etc., or items from a trip, or from your back yard. We ask that you please do not select stuffed animals or toys. Thank you!
Box Tops For Education! Mrs. Staci Bisshop, Sadie’s mom, has graciously volunteered to head our Box Tops for Education drive. Thank you so much! It does not cost any money; you simply look for the Box Tops design on items that you purchase at the grocery store, cut them out, place them in a zip-lock bag, and bring them to school. Staci will send them in, and CountrySide Montessori School will receive 10 cents for each Box Top. This is a fun way to get your children involved as well! We thank you in advance for your anticipated support!
Family Picnic, September 25th from 11:00-12:30 PM! Early release at 12:30 PM for afternoon students.
Excellent Montessori Resource Material Suppliers for schools and parents
- www.montessoriservices.com Montessori based affordable early childhood education materials for Montessori schools and parents. (good parent resource)
- www.smallhands.com – primarily targeted for parents of young children, affordable items
- www.montessori-n-such.com – Montessori N’ Such: (good parent resource)
Affordable materials for every Montessori classroom. - Community Playthings – excellent wooden tables, chairs, and more.
- www.communityplaythings.com (good parent resource), expensive but outstanding quality
- www.alisonsmontessori.com inexpensive Montessori materials (good parent resource)
- www.nienhuis.com high quality and expensive Montessori materials.
- www.heutink.com/nl connected with Nienhuis Montessori: -Excellent high quality expensive European learning activities and games (good parent resource)
- www.bruins.com high quality and expensive Montessori materials(good parent resource)
Excellent Parenting Information
Throughout my many years of experience with children and parents, I have found the following books to be extremely practical and useful. They are fun and easy to read, with tons of proven and practical advice for parents. They can be ordered on line (amazon.com) or through any book store. The titles are:
• Children: The Challenge, by Dr. Rudolf Dreikurs – a Classic! A “must -read” for all parents!
• STEP, Systematic Training for Effective Parenting for Children under Six,
Dr. Don Dinkmeyer
• The Parent’s Handbook: Systematic Training for Effective Parenting “STEP”
By Don Dinkmeyer
• Maren Schmidt, MA, offers excellent concise Montessori-based child development information and parenting advice. Her two websites are: www.marenschmidt.com and www.kidstalk.com.
Curriculum Information & Tips for Parents
Academic Afternoon Program: In the afternoon session children concentrate on math, the decimal system, addition, subtraction, the sensorial area, geography, and language. Some of our older students are reading phonetic and advanced books, and can write sentences about their favorite subjects. Others are practicing the formation of letters or are already writing beautiful letters in cursive. In the math area, children are learning about numbers 1-10, the decimal system, practicing addition, subtraction, and multiplication with the beads. In the near future, we will introduce the popular stamp game using 3 and 4-digit numbers for addition, subtraction and multiplication! Everyone is progressing at their own individual pace.
When are children ready for the afternoon program?
Children may become part of our afternoon academic program when they are self-motivated to select and complete “challenging” work without being distracted, and when they do not disturb other children’s work. The median age of our afternoon children has been approximately 4 to 4 ½ years of age. It requires a certain amount of maturity and a desire to choose work, rather than relying upon the Directress to constantly suggesting activities to the child. Every child has a different “inner time table” for their development. For this reason, we do not want to rush children. We want to make sure that each child experiences success rather than disappointment and frustration. When a child is considered for the afternoon program, he or she first attends the afternoon academic program on a “try-out” basis. If your child is approaching the time that he/she may join the afternoon program, we ask that you observe prior to that time. The observation times would be from 1:30 PM to 2:00 or 2:15 PM. Please let Ms. Hanne know when you would like to observe in the afternoon, either on Mondays or Wednesdays.
How can parents help their children with reading, writing and math?
As parents, you can help your child by encouraging him/her to choose challenging work at school and making good choices. Between 3 ½ and 4 ½ years of age, children are practicing cursive writing and writing numbers on the chalk board. They are also writing three letter, four letter and longer phonetic words with the moveable alphabets. This can often take a long time because of the diligent effort each child is making. Older children might enjoy their own journal at home, so that they can practice writing if they so desire. They could make shopping lists or “to do” lists, or write short poems! Around four years of age, math work is beginning to play a greater and greater role, and many hands-on math activities are being introduced to your child. Encourage your child to count different items. This can be done at home, at the grocery store, or anywhere. Skip counting is fun for the older child, counting by 2s, 5s, or 10s, etc.
Play sound games with your child, such as: “I spy an object that begins with the sound ‘bah’ (basket).” Read to your child daily for about 20 minutes, and also let your child read to you if she or he is able to read phonetic words already. Let your child track the words that she or he is reading, using his or her index finger, tracking the letters below each word. Help your child with reading a difficult word, and explain blended sounds or phonograms (two letters that create a new sound) such as the “ch” in chop. When your child has trouble pronouncing a word, be patient and encouraging. Do not do these activities when your child is tired! Make sure that your children see you reading a book or newspaper, and that you make it a point to write notes, letters, to-do-lists, so that your child sees the importance that you place on reading and writing. As you know, you, the parents, are the First AND Most Important Teachers of your child!
“Teach by Teaching, not by Correcting”
Dr. Maria Montessori
