October 2025
Autumn Adventures. Since early October, the children have been exploring the change of seasons and all that autumn brings. We’ve learned how animals migrate, how food is harvested, and how we give thanks during this special time of year. With the cooler weather, warm foods have made a welcome return to our classroom. The children are growing more confident with our food and baking projects. This month we’ve enjoyed making homemade bread and pumpkin cookies. Yum! As part of our discussions about the harvest season, we’ve discovered how early settlers and First Nations peoples prepared for winter by drying foods. Dried fruits such as apple slices and cranberries offered a wonderful, hands-on learning opportunity for the children. We use our food dehydrator throughout the year, but it has special significance in autumn and winter.
Our continent study is currently focused on North America, beginning with the First Nations peoples. During Circle, we’ve explored a fascinating collection of First Nations items and artifacts from across the continent, including fur pelts, small totems, musical instruments, buffalo teeth, bear paw imprints, dolls, dream catchers, pottery, blankets, jewelry, and clothing. Through lessons, games featuring regional indigenous animals, and animal booklets, our continent studies help the children understand how seasonal changes affect our planet, plants, and animals throughout the year. We’ll continue our journey across North America until the end of November, then begin our travels through Europe in January.
Diwali. Each year, the children make diyas to celebrate Diwali. During our special Diwali Circle, we light candles and make heartfelt wishes. It’s always a magical day. Thank-you Surina and Noorin for sending in delicious Diwali treats for snack.
Building Skills and Independence. The children are continuing to settle into the classroom and adapt to their new routines and expectations. Consistency plays a big role in helping them feel secure and confident, creating the right balance for emotional growth and early learning. Practical Life lessons are at the heart of this process. Sewing wood buttons, using lacing cards, transferring and pouring, table washing, and window cleaning are constant through the year. These hands-on exercises help children develop strength, dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and control across different muscle groups while also fostering self-help and independence skills. Each exercise, whether pouring, spooning, or buttoning, supports your child’s growing sense of capability. As their skills develop, so does their self-confidence and eagerness to take on new and more challenging activities.
Throughout the year, we’ll introduce new materials and activities that reflect the changing seasons, such as pumpkins and bats in October, to keep young minds inspired and engaged. Yoga has also become a part of our routine, and we’re delighted by how much the children enjoy it. It’s a wonderful way to build balance, body awareness, and self-regulation.
Math and language are woven naturally into our daily classroom life through engaging materials and games. Children are introduced to the alphabet using sandpaper letters, learning the sounds each letter makes before beginning to print. We start printing with a dot-to-dot method and then freehand writing. Please remember that we teach printing in lowercase letters, using capitals only at the beginning of names and sentences, and reinforcing this practice at home will help support your child’s learning.
In our classroom, learning goes far beyond ABCs and 123s. Through meaningful, hands-on activities, children are building life skills that support growth in every area of development.
Halloween Fun! Halloween is always an exciting time of year. We celebrated on both Thursday, October 30th, and Friday, October 31st, enjoying two fun-filled days of costumes, stories, songs, and creative activities. We had afternoon costume parades, watched The Great Pumpkin movie with popcorn, and then had our usual Thursday and Friday dance parties. Great cardio!
In the weeks leading up to Halloween, the children were busy with many themed projects and activities.
Counting, classroom materials, ring-making, sewing, collage, and lacing all took on a Halloween twist. Children painted egg cartons (inside and out) and transformed them into glittery pumpkin crafts. We also carved and gutted real pumpkins, decorated loot bags, and filled them with Halloween treats generously provided by families. On the party days, the children painted wooden pumpkin ornaments and made Rice Krispie monsters to take home. As always, our teachers prepared a special Halloween snack. Be sure to check out our classroom projects on Instagram @strathconamontessori!
Healthy Habits. With the sudden drop in temperature, please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the changing weather. We go outside to the playground both morning and afternoon, rain or shine, unless conditions are too severe.
If your child is ill or will be arriving late, please call (not email) the school to let us know. We may not always be able to answer during class time, but we check phone messages regularly.
In September, we focused on healthy habits such as sneezing and coughing into elbows and washing hands properly. These lessons and reminders are reinforced throughout the year to help keep everyone healthy and happy. We ask that high-sugar snacks and treats stay at home. If they happen to find their way into lunches, we gently remind children to save them for after school. Believe it or not, when treats come from home, the children are very understanding and agree to wait until they’re home to enjoy them. Smart and healthy choices from the little ones.
Reminders:
- School will be closed on Tuesday, November 11th for the Remembrance Day observance
- New Scholastic Booklets go home this week. Holiday orders are due by November 17th at the latest. The delivery will be organized on November 18th, ensuring all orders are delivered by early December. Thank you for understanding the importance of real books and ordering through our school.
- Photo links are very large files and cannot be downloaded onto phones. If you wish to see a moment in the life of your preschooler, use a tablet or computer. Links last only seven days.
- Many little items go missing from the classroom making some materials unuseable. Please return items you find at home. We need them back.
It was a wonderfully busy and creative month!
Goodbye October! Hello November!
