SEPTEMBER 2022

Peek Inside our Children’s House Community

Hello Bobcat families, 

 

On September 21st, people around the world celebrated The International Day of Peace. These year’s theme is: “End Racism, Build Peace”. This is a magnificent day to cultivate peace above all our differences and build a culture of consideration, understanding and empathy. Living peacefully takes guidance, practice, commitment, and effort. In the Bobcat Children’s House, we encourage children to be mindful of their words and actions when interacting with each other. The Grace and Courtesy lessons help the young children to interact in a peaceful way with other children as well as the environment. Let’s try to cultivate peace within ourselves and among all of us. 

 At Creo school and around the world, we celebrate The International Peace Day by gathering together, singing, and honoring this day. I am share with you the songs we have been practicing for Peace Day.  

 Paz Como un Rio (Peace Like a River) by Elizabeth Mitchell 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcxInCV8XxI 

 Yesterday’s Dream by Donna Cruz 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx9sVr9Dk0Q 

 Light a Candle for Peace by Shelley Murley 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9M8SmWh2Fo&t=8s 

 

 Thank you, as always, for all your support! 

 Ms. Hany and Ms. Joselyne 

 
 
 

CACTUS WREN

Dear Cactus Wren Families, 

Autumn has arrived, and while the weather has not seemed to change, we have seen several changes in the classroom. This month we have been focusing on the continent of Europe. The children are learning about the different countries, foods, and landmarks. You may have heard your child singing the continent song at home; it has been a favorite at circle time with the children. 

We have also been learning about different vegetables and how they grow in soil. In the morning, the children are learning about the garden and creating compost from any food waste in the class in preparation for gardening as the weather begins to cool.  

We celebrated Peace Day this month and it was such an amazing and joyful time as we came together, as a class, school, and world community to celebrate peace. The children sang several songs together and watched elementary presentations about notable figures of peace from around the world. Below are links to the three songs we sang together during our Peace Day celebration! 

Paz Como un Rio: Paz Como un Río (Peace Like a River) 

Peace Like a River: Peace Like a River 

Light a Candle: Light a Candle for Peace 

We are excited for October and to welcome our families into class for observations following October Break. We look forward to seeing you all in class and experiencing the community the children have created! It was also great to see everyone at our first Community Night on Practical Life in the home! Thank you, families, for all that you do, your support and presence are genuinely appreciated! 

Warmly, 

Ms. Laura & Ms. Annette 

 
 

Hello Gray Fox families, 

 What another wonderful month it’s been in the Gray Fox classroom! This month we celebrated Peace Day and the children had so much fun performing a few songs about peace in a school wide assembly. You may have heard these songs being sung at home and if you are interested in continuing to do so at home, I am listing the songs below : 

 

  • Paz Como Un Rio 

  • Peace Like a River 

  • Light a Candle for Peace 

 

All of these things can be found on Youtube and it may be fun to sing along together as a family. As we center our environments and curriculum around “peace education, we also enjoyed reading books about peace and having discussions around what peace may look like in and outside of the classroom. Grace and Courtesy is another wonderful tool for practicing peace, such as how to offer a hug, holding the door open for a friend, and peaceful movements we uphold in our everyday life.  

 

Furthermore, Fall is here! This is a fantastic way to begin exploring new foods that are in season and providing ways and opportunities for your child to help in the kitchen at home. One of our favorites is Spaghetti Squash. I am listing the recipe below. If you and your child try this at home, we would love to see pictures to share your experience with the class! The recipe goes as follows : 

 

Ingredients: 

  • 1 spaghetti squash 

  • A table spoon or 2 of olive oil 

  • Salt and pepper 

Directions: 

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. 

  1. Slice the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and ribbing. Drizzle the inside of the squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

  1. Place the spaghetti squash cut side down on the baking sheet and use a fork to poke holes. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned on the outside, fork tender, but still a litte bit firm. The time will vary depending on the size of your squash. I also find that the timing can vary from squash to squash. 

  1. Remove from the oven and flip the squash so that it’s cut side up. When cool to the touch, use a fork to scrape and fluff the strands from the sides of the squash. 

 
 

JACKRABBIT

Hello Jackrabbit Families! 

 It is such a joy to witness every morning how the environment comes to life as soon as we open the gate. The children come in and start preparing snack, feed bubbles (beta fish), Leo and Lucy (our zebra finch birds), and start choosing their works as soon as they arrive. There are many works happening in the classroom, we are having an explosion in Geography, we have been talking about the continents, and the children enjoy working with the puzzle maps. Another area where has been an explosion for the older friends has been Math, the children are so excited to learn more about the decimal system, they are excited to work with thousands, hundreds, tens and units and their operations. Our younger friends are working mostly on Practical life and Sensorial area, where you will find them washing clothes, slicing bananas for snack, making lemonade, sweeping, folding laundry, ironing, washing windows, watering plants, working with the cylinder blocks, pink tower, dressing frames, as well as in other works. It is lovely to observe how the older children (5 year olds) are stepping as leaders, and are bringing under their wings the younger children, they are kind and warm to each other. What a lovely community! 

The children have been baking Banana Bread, here is the recipe if you would like to bake at home with your child. 

 Banana Bread 

 Ingredients: 

-2 Ripe bananas, peeled 

-1/3 cup melted butter 

-1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

-1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

-1 pinch of salt 

-1/2 cup of sugar 

-1 egg, beaten 

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

-1 ½ all-purpose flour 

  1. In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the smashed bananas. 

  2. in the baking soda and baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour. 

  3. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 30 min at 350F. 

  4. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let cool completely before serving.  

A few reminders: 

 -Please send extra clothes back if we sent home wet clothes. 

 -Children can’t sign on the tablet, as this is a legal document. 

 - The children need to bring back their clear plastic work folder after they empty it at home once a month. 

 - Fall parent-teacher conferences will be held during October and November. You should be receiving a sign-up schedule soon. 

- Every Friday, we have “Show and Share”, it is optional. Please, we ask you not to send fantasy books, instead perhaps your child can bring a non-fiction book, maybe from a trip. It needs to be something meaningful to them, one example can be a traditional object from a vacation from another Country. 

 

Thank you Jackrabbit families! We appreciate our Jackrabbit community and we feel thankful to be part of your child’s Montessori journey. 

 Kindly, 

 Ms. Yadira and Ms. Karen 

 
 
Jill Rovira