May 2023
Dear parents,
We hope all of our mums and grands had a lovely Mother’s Day. The children started working on a project for Mother’s Day the first week of May. This year’s Mother’s Day project was an amazing peppermint foot scrub made with coconut oil. It can also be used on legs, arms, elbows and hands. Hope everyone is enjoying a treat for your feet. Feels good to have the softest feet in the village (not that it’s a competition). All projects that go home are made by little hands. We carefully select projects a year in advance for the school year. We ensure that the projects fit the theme we are working on, are child friendly, age appropriate and within the capabilities of each child with very little assistance. Projects are set up for a successful outcome so children are willing to take more challenges as their skills grow and strengthen.
The first week of May also brought our yearly caterpillar arrival. The warm weather makes the life cycle faster, and we went from larvae to butterfly in less than three weeks. The children were all very excited to see the chrysalises forming, and with a short wait we witnessed the butterflies emerge. The children visit and watch the enclosure often throughout class time. Butterflies like warm weather and so it was time to release. Every child had several opportunities to see the butterfly up close by holding a piece of fruit with a butterfly sitting on top. The butterflies have all been released to continue the life cycle in nature, and all of the handmade paper butterflies have gone home with the artists that created them. We try to post a picture of each of our projects on our Instagram page. If you follow us you will get early updates. instagram@strathconamontessori
The weather changes, and so do our activities. Making the most of such wonderful weather, we have more outdoor curriculum, water activities, nature studies, and outdoor snack times. We all know the weather can change at a moment’s notice, so please continue to have your child dress accordingly. Unless the rain is coming down sideways, we go outside to play. A little bit of water doesn’t hurt. A good run and fresh air always helps. With warmer weather also comes nature renewing itself, and we hope everyone’s sunflower from our Earth Week project continues to thrive.
We have completed our Australia continent studies with a baking project of Honey Joys from the Australian Woman’s Weekly. An easy treat that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. This month included the all much-loved activities, of which the children are very adept at now. Many, many seed bead rings, and now many children have the patience and skill to make bracelets, even the youngest of our group. Pin poking, button sewing and tiny collages continue to make their way home. Thank you Aria for your thoughtful donation of many crystal bead packs for the school. They will be well used by this year and next year students.
Friday, May 26th was the Teddy Bear Picnic. All children attended that day with their favourite plus one teddy or stuffie. The classroom was decorated with many beehives (paper lanterns) hanging from the ceiling, gingham tablecloths, jars of daisies and plaid picnic blankets at Circle. The teddy bear photo booth is a joyful memento to share with family and friends. The children made little cardstock picnic baskets and then decorated cupcakes. The baskets were lined with red and white checked paper, which held the cupcakes to take home at the end of class. A teddy bear parade led up to the special teddy bear snack time, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. A huge thank you to Laura (Malia’s mum) for making an amazing jelly watermelon with chocolate chip seeds from scratch. Wow! Not only gorgeous, but also dee-licious! A very fun day with a teddy bear parade and photo booth, a yummy picnic lunch, and amazing cupcakes to take home in a basket. A fun day was had by all, including all the stuffies and the two Paddingtons in their dress coats.
June has arrived. Yay!
