Let's prepare ourselves for the last week of October! Get as much rest as possible before Friday, and plan a restful, healthy eating day, on Sunday. I think you just have to roll with it on Friday and Saturday! Oh, also have fun, laugh, take pictures, and have a Happy Safe Halloween!

Having the parents in the classroom is working out wonderfully. I am enjoying the interaction I see with each individual child and their parent. Honestly this is something we will continue through out the year. Please feel free to send feed back of your visit to myself and Mrs Burdett.

I feel very blessed that I attended Spring Valley Montessori Academy for my Montessori Certification. Madeleine Justus is the founder of Spring Valley Montessori Academy which she opened in 1951 in the state of Washington. Mrs Justus wasn't teaching while I was there; however, she did come to share her stories with us. She is 99 years old and still involved in the school. She met Dr. Montessori at the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, attending the Symposium on "Children in an Impending War". Mrs Justus said Dr. Montessori was the most eloquent speaker, and as always interested in the well being of the children. "One test of the correctness of the educational procedure is the happiness of the child," by Dr. Montessori.

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd~ After our procession and during  "The Enthronement of the Holy Bible", I asked the children why do we place flowers on the prayer table? Some of the children stated "because they make the prayer table look beautiful." I asked "could we place the flowers on the prayer table to show our love for God?" "Oh yes," the children said. Then one of the children pulled a little blue car out of his pocket and said "I want to give my Dodge to Jesus, and teach him to drive." He was giving one of his most precious toys, what a lesson for all of us!

This week we will finish with our "Parts of the Bat Booklets."
Botany~ Parts of the Pumpkin will continue through November.
Geography~ The Continent Booklets are a work in progress.
Language~ Picture-and-Word Cards, Picture-and-Sentence Books, Matching Games and Sound of the Week.
Math~ Quantity and Numerical Symbol, and Group Games with Number Rods
Friday~ Halloween Party, children not scheduled on Friday may come from 10:00/11:00 dressed for Halloween!

Sound of the Week "g" as in ghost, goblin, and goodies!

Thank you Heidi for bringing the Cantaloupe!

Have a wonderful week,
Ms Karen

October has been a growing month in the classroom! Observing the children, the works they are drawn to, and supporting them during this sensitive period. This of course is a work in progress, getting to know each child's individuality, and making that connection will help foster their emotional and cognitive development.

It will be a wonderful experience watching the children working in the classroom while their parent is visiting. They may want to share with you the works they have accomplished and ask you to do the work with them. We have a reading area in the room if you like you can read with them. We do support a quiet classroom environment for our children's concentration and focus on their work. If you have any questions about your child's day or the work they are doing we can meet at 11:30 for discussion.

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd~ These children love doing the procession! While we are at recess and it's time to line up the children will ask can we do the procession? I am very excited for you to see the love your children show for The Good Shepherd! They were introduced to "The Liturgical Colors of the Year" through song and the "Chasubles" Father wears for each season.

This week our sound is "d" as in dog, duck, deer, doll, digger, dump truck, dress, dropper, domino, Dalmatian, dancer, daisy, daffodil, dragon. dinosaur, and dragonfly. Last week everyone did not bring sharing. Some children might have brought their sharing; however, did not put it in the sharing basket. If your child attends preschool 5 days a week their sharing is on Friday, all other children share on Thursday!

The children are using their Grace & Courtesy when doing food prep and serving. It's so sweet to hear them speaking with their peers! Just a heads up (if a child asks you if you'd like a piece of carrot please hold your hand out and they will place it in your hand) they have washed their hands before prepping the food so they can touch it.

Last week we were finishing up with our Parts of the Spider Booklets and Apple Booklets.

The children did an art project with Ms Elena using their fine motor skills by tearing strips of  red paper to make apples!

Botany~ Life Cycle of the Pumpkin, Parts of the Pumpkin Booklets

Zoology~ Parts of the Bat Booklet

Thank you Jacob for the yummy carrots!

Have a wonderful week,
Ms Karen

We are having the most delightful Autumn weather! I was walking through downtown today and I could smell the leaves in the air.

The children are talking about their Halloween costumes, we'll have quite the variety. We have been reading a few Halloween stories in the classroom. We also have some Jack-o-lantern counting work 1-10, Bat counting 1-10, and building Mr Bones our skeleton.

Last week our classroom helpers were assigned their first jobs in the classroom. Mila and Zoe are the classroom librarians, Kathleen and Heidi are in charge of watering the plants, and Clara and Leighton are the pencil sharpeners for this week.

Ms Elena helped the children with their cutting skills to create beautiful pictures of Fall trees with leaves made of paint using a wine cork. They enjoyed doing this and showing their creativity.

Our first week of sharing was wonderful! All the children brought items they enjoyed sharing with their friends. This week our sound is "a" as in hat, mat, bat, can, man, bag, mask, fan, map, apple, pan, jam, etc. Thank you for helping your child to bring their sharing to school.

We'll have a presentation of "The Liturgical Colors" this week in our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. This work includes tracing packet for the children also cutting and pasting collage of the chasubles.

We have more zoology~ the parts of the "Bat"!

Botany~ The Life cycle of a Pumpkin!

Thank you to Tatum for our food prep and serving of Celery and Cream Cheese.

Have a wonderful week,
Ms Karen

It seems the children have become familiar with their environment, daily schedule, and their classmates. Being the Line Leader and Candle Snuffer are responsibilities the children look forward to. This week the children will be introduced to a few more responsibilities such as watering the plants, pencil sharpening, dusting the shelves. These will be done weekly with a partner.

We will finish with our apple tasting this week. Scarlett Obrien brought several different varieties for us to try. Thank you to all the parents for contributing to tasting circles, and food prep & serving for the children to learn these valuable skills in Grace and Courtesy.

We are ready to begin our Sound of the Week and Sharing Circle. Starting on Mondays we will talk about a letter and the initial sound that letter makes. This Monday our sound is "c" as in cat, cup, and candle. I will have a tray with objects that begin with the sound "c" and a wooden letter of "c", we'll talk about these items and gather more words from the children during circle. 

For Sharing Circle the children can bring an item from home that begins with the sound of the week. For instance this week the sound is "c", they can bring a cup, candle, toy cat, cap, something that begins with the sound "c"!
Thursday sharing children are Tatum, Heidi, Julia, Heather, Jacob, Aiden, John, Bella, Leighton.

Friday sharing children are Kathleen, Frankie, Grayson, Lucas, Mila, Zoe, Scarlett, and Clara. If you have any questions please email me.

In zoology we will talk about the "Spider" and follow up with a booklet on the Parts of the Spider.

In Science the children will learn about living and nonliving things.

Our food prep and serving will be chopping the celery and using a spreader for the cream cheese!

Have a wonderful week,
Ms Karen