December 2024

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and new year.  We’ll take a quick look back to December before we move too far into 2025.

We observe many different types of celebrations and Christmas is a big part.  We refer to the collective as Celebrations of Light. This December our classroom was decorated with ornaments and festive lights, and shelves were filled with seasonal materials. Seasonal Practical Life activities, math counters, and art materials were also on hand. Many opportunities for creative expression.  The children decorated the tree daily, laced cards, worked free art collages, glued and glittered.  Beading took on seasonal colours, and button sewing was all about many button and fabric selections.  We see fine motor skills growing in leaps and bounds this month.  Themed collages were snow globes and winter scenes. The children made popsicle stick sleds. An ornament for the tree or to hang anywhere.  The other art project for December was a gnome ornament.  The children made pom-poms and toques.  Although it may be difficult to believe, these little toques were made entirely by the children.  Looking closely at the photo links, you can see them looping the wool around the ring.  We guide but we do not do the work for them.  Every project (no matter how fun) is a skill-building exercise.  Gingerbread was measured and mixed and cookies were decorated to take home.  You can follow the children’s projects on Instagram @strathconamontessori. The children are now taking turns serving snacks and also working as teams for setting tables, and other daily chores. Progress reports will be going out in January.

We had a wonderful concert day.  The children sang quite a few songs this year and had fun entertaining the crowd.  Miss Stacy, Miss Sally, and Miss Ainsley practiced daily with the children in preparation for the concert day.  The children worked very hard and we are very proud of every one of them. Thank you to all the family members who participated and joined in. In a small school, your participation really makes a difference. Thank you for all the tasty potluck contributions. It was quite the yummy spread.  If we didn’t have the opportunity to say it in person, thank you for all the very lovely and thoughtful gifts, the adorable handmade cards, the lovely family photos, and the homemade wonders.  And thank you for the generous gifts to the school.  We truly appreciate all that you do and feel blessed for such a wonderful group of families. No truer words are said than “It takes a village”.

Celebration of Lightobservances is a simple and age-appropriate way to show children that we all have things in common, no matter where we come from, no matter what we look like, no matter how we dress.  We all gather together to send out hopes, prayers, and happy wishes.  We display lights or candles, join together with friends and family, give gifts, and share meals.  We spend time with those we love and care about, and we think about loved ones who cannot be with us.  We remember how fortunate we are and to be grateful for what we have.  We think of those who have less and remember to be kind, compassionate, and generous.  We hope these very practical lessons about kindness and acceptance have been an experience that the children will remember and expand upon.  As we wrap up the holidays, we also note that the official end is Tuesday, January 7^th.  Many families open stockings and await the arrival of the Befana and the Three Kings. We finish our Celebrations of Light in January with the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Snake.

Registration packages for the 2025-2026 school year are now going out to returning students. Returning four-year-olds (pre-K) have a five-day guarantee space within the returning time frame window. Completed packages are due back at the latest by Friday, January 17^th. For classroom balance, only part-time spaces will be offered to incoming three-year-olds.  Please let us know if you require a registration package for a sibling, as the due date for siblings is also Friday, January 17^th, 2025.  Wait-listed families will start registration on Monday, January 20^th.

We wish everyone good health and prosperity for 2025.

May peace and joy be yours, in this season of hope

November 2024

We have now finished our continent studies of South America.  The children worked very hard on their animal booklets featuring several animals indigenous to the continent. This year we are studying the continents of the southern hemisphere, and there will be an animal booklet for each continent. You will easily see the progression of fine motor skills over the year through the three continent booklets.  All that beading, sewing and pin poking are the invaluable works that promote these very important life skills.  The art project for South America was a toy llama.  Each child painted a scroll-cut wooden llama, wrapped a fuzzy saddle around the midriff, and then made the most colourful tassels to attach to each side of the llama.  It reminded us of the llama caravans going up the Andes mountains with so many llamas lined up in the classroom.  Lacing included more llamas, toucans, and Carnevale masks.  The masks got some extra bling of jewels, glitter, and a handle to hold it to the face.  Every child enjoyed this project.  Continent studies include discussions about people, cultures, and clothing, but our focus is always on the very diverse and unique animal life.  Tropical rainforest exploration occurred with the help of our classroom interactive diorama, allowing hands-on investigations from the forest floor to the emergent layer.  Children work the multi-layered diorama by placing South American animals in the different levels where they would live, eat, or gather.  We journey to Africa in January.

This is the month when we see poppies all around us. The Remembrance Day poppy is introduced to the children by explaining that we wear a poppy to remember people we love, and people we love that can’t be with us. A concept that can be frightening to young children is introduced in a gentle and age-appropriate manner. The children made their poppy which they brought home for the family to enjoy. Student Led visits for parents were held for two weeks starting November 12^th.  We hope that every parent who visited got a glimpse of what children do in the classroom and saw this world through their child’s eyes.  Numeracy and literacy are an everyday part of the Montessori classroom.  Ever changing puzzles are also a big part (problem solving) with some children able to do 3-D wood puzzles which is an amazing achievement.  Most adults find these puzzles extremely challenging. Nutmeg grating has been introduced as we get ready for gingerbread baking.  Yay!

Scholastic Book catalogues go out monthly.  If you are wanting to purchase books, it can be done online and delivered to the school.  This website is a dangerous place if you love books.  Our holiday orders went out in late November and will be delivered in early December. The school does not benefit financially through student book orders.  However, we do earn points from your orders which we can use to enhance the school library. We have earned points through your book purchases over the last few months.  These points were used this quarter to purchase over 40 books which the school will be donating to the Children’s Hospital annual toy drive. To all of you ordering books through us, thank you, thank you, thank you!  You have made a lot of children who are not well enough to spend the holidays at home very happy.

Please remember to PHONE the school (not email) when you are making changes for pickups. We can always get the message but do not always check emails.

Invitations to the holiday concert and mini family social were sent out last week. The choir will be performing for about 10 to 15 minutes, so please be on time. Once we start, no latecomers will be allowed in as this disturbs the children. Everyone brings a potluck item to have snacks after (sign-up sheet at the door). Children who are attending class on Thursday should bring their lunch.  Children not attending but coming to sing should come in at 12:30 to 12:45 and have eaten before arriving. The class will resume the next day, with the last full class day on the following Monday, December 23^rd. We will be open for class on December 24^th until noon, and then we close for the holidays.

And the holiday countdown begins!

October 2024

October prompts many discussions of the changing season, the ‘how’s, the whys’, the colours, and the beauty make those simple leaf rubbings a favourite year after year.  What happens in autumn? … harvest season, animal migration, preparing for winter, Thanksgiving and Halloween.  We talk about how humans and animals prepare and store food for winter and where food comes from. This includes discussions on First Nations, pioneers, and times before modern conveniences.  Fresh fruit was sliced and the children placed the pieces on food dehydrator trays, which was a lesson on how to make winter food stores.  The dehydrated fruits did not last long as they were all gobbled up for snack.  Thanksgiving was only a few weeks ago and included a baking project of our favourite pumpkin cookies.  We had many, many requests for the recipe (which was emailed out).  Super easy and super yummy.  The number one recipe to celebrate pumpkin season ever.  The last weeks of October brought Halloween counters, felt pumpkins, and other related classroom materials. Halloween gluing and pasting collage, cutting paper, spider counters, sewing Halloween fabric and Halloween buttons, and black, orange and purple everywhere.  Seasonal changes are explored all year with a nature tray equipped with magnifying glasses, kept on the classroom shelf.  Children are welcome to add their own found objects to the tray, which keeps everyone involved in the ever-changing and evolving seasons.  Materials on the shelves and art shelves also change according to seasons, themes and special occasions.  We also had small world trays with mini bales of hay, tiny pumpkins, miniature toy animals and all sorts of small items found in nature. Regular changes throughout the classroom include lacing shapes, fabrics, buttons for sewing, glass seed beads for jewelry making, papers for collage, shelf materials and playdough colours.  Although materials and exercises are intentional with a focus on skill and self-confidence building, the children still must maintain interest and focus, which is where the ever-changing themes comes into play.  Activities help with fine motor skills, hand to eye coordination, focus and concentration abilities.  Art is always open with easel painting, drawing, and tabletop paint palettes.  We usually have a teacher directed art for every holiday or occasion, however the value of open art is creativity and imagination which is priceless. Our art projects were a pumpkin patch hand and fingerprint collage, as well as a pumpkin 3-D collage. A beautiful glittery clay Diya was made by every child to celebrate Diwali. Many layers of work to each project with a focus on skill-building and fun.  Projects are posted on our Instagram page @strathconamontessori.  Continent studies of the southern hemisphere have now started with South America.  Cultural Studies enhance the geographical studies, and all done at an age-appropriate level with the focus on animals.

Math and language components are daily parts of classroom life, done with materials and games, in group lessons and also individual presentations.  Geometric solids are used in a game where the children must find another object in the classroom that has the same shape.  Geometric hide-and-go-seek.  Puzzles of all sorts, shapes and sizes are available on the shelves and changed regularly.  Please, please, please, only use lower case letters when helping your children at home with their printing.  Montessori teaches using only lowercase letters with the phonetic sound and not the name of the letter.  Children learn to recognize the shape of the letter and match it to the sound and eventually blend the individual sounds into words.  Then your child is reading!  Wow! Quality children’s books are printed in lower case using only capitals for names and sentence starts. Names of the letters will come after. Capitals are easier to print, they hinder literacy in the early years.

Snow is capping the mountains as the weather cools quickly. Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately.  We can always peel extra layers of clothing off, but cannot make a warm jacket magically appear.  Outdoor play is a big part of every class and a Licensed Child Care regulation.  Every child must participate.  If they are not well enough to go outside to play, they are not well enough to be at school.

The Student Led Conferences start on November 12^th and end on the 20^th.  Most everyone has chosen a time slot. The sign-up sheet will be available at the front door for any changes.  Each child will host their guests for a 15-to-20-minute duration tour of their classroom and the activities they enjoy.  This allows parents to better understand as they see the classroom through their children’s eyes. It also allows a child to take pleasure and satisfaction in sharing their interests, and introducing friends.  It is short and sweet, but should not be missed.

A little note on last child of the day pick-up.  It is truly understood that many parents struggle to leave work and get here on time.  We get it.  However, we also see the other side where the last child feels sad or angry and observe how the parent picking up gets a less than pleasant greeting. As parents ourselves, we have been there and feel empathy.  It may help a child when they have something to look forward to when pick-up occurs. Perhaps a game or a made-up story that continues each day in the car or walk home that is only for that time of the day may make the journey special and a more positive experience for both child and parent.  These moments can end up making the best of memories for all.

It is now November, two full months into the school year.  At this time, no parent should be entering the classroom at drop off time, or be in the sightline.  The children will transition faster without extra adults in the classroom.  Drop off and leave.  The sooner you are out of sight the sooner your child will be able to self-soothe and transition to their friends and activities.  A long goodbye is like pulling off a band-aid slowly.  It works, but it takes longer and is much more painful.

Emails were sent out last month reminding parents of kindergarten registration. Children may start Kindergarten in the same year that they turn five years old.  The first step for public schools is to register with your catchment school.  VSB registration begins on November 1^st, ending the last weekday in January.  Private and independent schools will have different registration dates and criteria, and you will have to contact each school individually.  There will be registration due dates for siblings as well.  If you are uncertain, check the school websites or call the school.

Please let us know if your child is ill as soon as you can. We check phone messages but do not always check emails, so a phone call is the way to go.  In order to keep everyone healthy, we must be aware of illnesses that are going around. It is cold and flu season again.  Covid has been making a comeback.  Some of our children and adults have vulnerable immune systems.  It’s nice to know what we are looking out for so we can try to keep everyone healthy and safe.

We will be closed on Monday, November 11^th for the Remembrance Day observance. Lest we forget.

Welcome to November!

September 2024

This is our first newsletter of the school year.  Our monthly newsletter is a way of informing families about what we are doing and what is coming up.  Sometimes they are short and sweet, and sometimes you need to pull up a chair.  Photo links are also sent out every month, which have a life of seven days and then they are gone for good.  You can see a few of our projects on Instagram.  Follow us @strathconamontessori.

September is the month of transitions. New children are adapting to the classroom. Returning friends are glad to see old friends and happy to make new ones.  New students must adapt and adjust to the newness of so many things, children, teachers, environment, materials and routines.  Be patient, it’s a lot!  Second year students jump in as they are at a very social age.  There is a lot of freedom in a Montessori classroom.  Demonstrations of materials are given to the children, who are then welcome to choose their own activities.  This is done at an age-appropriate level for all children, so younger children are not overwhelmed and older children remain engaged. It’s a delicate balance. Each class allows a beginning, middle and end with an alert to transition times.  If there is not enough time to complete work, it is placed on file to finish another day.  Routines are comforting for children as they come to know what will happen, and understand the expectations. Clear consistent boundaries develop an environment where children feel confident enough to move forward to the next stages of learning.  Circles are an important time where teachers are able to introduce information, story books, songs, demonstrate classroom materials, and discuss relevant issues.  It also allows children an opportunity to share their ideas and news.

‘All About Me’ and Autumn are two of the first themes introduced every year.  Discussions are about senses, families, feelings, emotions, respecting friends and the environment around us (inside and outside).  Autumn includes the harvest, apples, pumpkins, animal migration and the many aspects of the season. The children made an adorable autumn collage of many colours of paper leaves that went home last week.  Every autumn the classroom has a nature tray that the children are welcome to add to.  Perhaps a pinecone or an acorn, or a fabulous leaf found on the ground on the walk to school. The tray will have magnifying glasses to investigate each element closely. Leaves are collected for rubbings and beautiful artworks. Sensory boxes and Small World trays are placed in the classroom for children to build and explore. Thanksgiving, First Nations, Harvest Time and Halloween will be discussions over the upcoming weeks.  The general curriculum is preplanned but we are always willing to add a current event or interest to the children, taking advantage of curious moments and sensitive periods.

Lessons and demonstrations are given in groups and on an individual basis. We start with the Sound Game with first year children and work on phonetic sounds and sandpaper letters with pre-K students.  We stress the use of lower-case letters only.  When printing and spelling at home, please use lower case letters for everything except the first letter of your child’s name.  Quality children’s books use lower case letters, with capitals only for names and sentence starts.  Use of upper-case letters is easier to print but causes confusion and can hinder a child’s reading development. Lower case will help with ability and literacy down the road.  Counting and tracing sand paper numbers is the introduction to math concepts.  More Practical Life exercises are going onto the shelves each week, and button sewing and stringing glass seed beads are both in full swing. Beading and button sewing attract children to the exercise while honing fine and gross motor skills. Although these activities are fun, they also promote the capacity to focus, follow through, and finish.  And as attractive as these exercises may be, too much of a good thing is too much of a good thing. If you start doing a lot of beading and sewing at home, children will not be interested to do the work at school.  Part of these exercises are also learning group and individual socialization with other children.  A little bit at home is okay.

Cold and flu season is upon us, and Covid is spreading.  We are introducing and reminding children every day, of the proper way to cough and sneeze.  Lots of hand washing is a normal aspect to the classroom.  Please phone the preschool if your child is going to be away, as attendance sheets must be maintained daily for Licensing requirements.  If your child is ill, it is helpful for us to know the symptoms of your child’s illness, so we may monitor the group.  It is extremely important to notify us as soon as possible if your child has a high fever or a contagious illness.  The number one health protocol is the ’24 hour symptom free’ rule.  If your child has not been symptom free for 24 hours, they must stay home and rest until they are feeling better.  48 hours is required where a child has vomited or had diarrhea. These protocols are Licensing rules and standards, but may be new to you.  These rules are to help a child care facility against the spread of illness and disease, for children as well as teachers.  An adult to child ratio must be maintained in every child care centre.  If there are not enough trained and vetted adults, the school will close until staff are well enough to return to school.  An illness protocol sheet was placed in every home file last month and emailed to every family.  Outdoors is a part of the daily program in the mornang and at the end of every class, which includes all children unless the weather is too harsh.  If a child is not well enough to play outside, they are not well enough to attend.  Please make appropriate clothing choices to include outdoor activities.  We can always take layers off.

The BC Affordable Child Care Benefit information can be found at the link below. This is available to families living in BC, and is different from the Federal Child Care Benefit. The benefit is calculated on a sliding scale according to family income, size of family and special needs.  The benefit goes directly towards tuition. Please email Mrs. B. if you would like an application form. The school must fill in a section of the form, and families must complete the remaining portion and send it off to Victoria. There is an online calculator to see if your family meets the qualifications.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/family-social-supports/caring-for-young-children/child-care-funding/child-care-benefit

Other important things to note:

• Tuition is due on the 1^st day of the month. Monthly tuition amounts with the fee reduction removed from the base amount were sent in out in late September. Post-dated cheques for the full year should be at the school by October 1^st.  Please let me know if you prefer to use e-transfer for tuition payments (there are no fees for e-transfer).
• If you have any last-minute changes for pick up or drop off, or if your child will be away, please phone the school (do not email). We check for phone messages throughout the day.
• Please let us know if you have recently changed any personal contact information, or wish to add someone to the authorized pick-up list. If you have a regular pickup change, please email the name and their contact numbers to us, so we may update files
• Student Led Conferences begin Tuesday, November 12^th. This is where parents come into the classroom for a 15–20-minute visit with their child as a tour guide.  You will see the classroom through your child’s eyes.  These will be held over a two-week period.  Sign-up sheets will be available the last week of October.
• Priority Kindergarten Registration opens for SD39 on November 1^st for children turning 4 by December 31^st. https://www.vsb.bc.ca/page/5195/priority-kindergarten-registration

WE LOVE BOOKS. The first Scholastic Book flyers went out in September. Flyers are a tiny sample of the vast selection of available books through Scholastic. A whole new world will open up online. You can have orders shipped directly to your home (shipping fees are minimal), or arrange to have your order sent to the school. When combined orders reach $40, the shipping fees are waived. We are very grateful to all of the families who place Scholastic orders through our school. We receive points from every purchase, which allows us to order new books for the classroom. New books in the classroom are welcomed by everyone. We can never stress enough how important early literacy is and the pivotal role books play.

Upcoming closures to make note of.

• Thanksgiving – Monday, October 14^th
• Remembrance Day – Monday, November 11^th

Summer is over and we welcome October.  Autumn brings new beauty and adventures.