March 2024

Peek Inside our Children’s House Community

Hello Bobcat families,

Last Friday we had our last social of the year! Thank you to all the families who were able to attend and spend some time together. These events give us the opportunity to get to know each other a bit more and bring the Bobcat family closer together. Thank you to our parent volunteers for organizing our awesome socials during this year!

Last week observation and conference began. Thank you for your punctuality . I have been enjoying meeting with each of you and talked about your child’s growth. We are here to guide them and help them develop independence as well as a sense of empathy and social justice, and a lifelong love of learning.

I will share with you a couple of paragraphs from our Creo Blog about Observations.

Observing the Montessori classroom:

Parent Observations: 

The purpose is not to observe your individual child, rather the environment as a whole.

The purpose is not to observe your individual child, rather the environment as a whole.  Each day, the children work for three hours, uninterrupted.  Thirty minutes is a snapshot the children’s experience. 

Your job will be to silently sit on the same chair for twenty minutes, take a deep breath, and enjoy. Let the environment talk to you. Count how many children are in the classroom. You will be amazed of how they seem to “float” around using their soft voices and quiet feet. Observe what kind of things they are working on. You might see children baking, reading, pouring water to different containers, practicing their pencil grip by transferring beans from container to container with a spoon, sitting quietly in the reading chair, giggling with a friend while enjoying snack together, etc. They are all in a different stage. No one is better than the other one. 

The children are all learning at their own pace. Remember, this is a three-year program and perhaps you will spot children that still need to learn how to hold a pencil while another one is writing a sentence on a piece of paper. That child that you might see “just walking around” is internalizing what’s around him. He is not interrupting anybody, but he sure is looking and listening to what is happening around him.  

STEP ONE: BE PRESENT. Turn off your cellphone and sit back!  (photography of the children is strictly prohibited)

STEP TWO:  ACCEPT THE SERVICE. Grace and Courtesy lessons help children master economy of energy and communication.  A child will approach you to offer you a beverage and/or a snack.  Please accept this service.  

STEP THREE: CONFIDENTIALITY. 

This is the link, if you would like to learn more about this topic.

https://www.creoschool.org/blog/parent-observations

I want to thank you all for the amazing year we have had so far. Thank you for making this community a beautiful and supportive one.

Warmly,

Ms. Hany and Ms. Joselyne

CACTUS WREN

Dear Cactus Wren families,

Happy Spring to you all and I hope everyone had a great break! It has been an exciting month in the class, as the children observe the transition from winter to spring; leaves emerging, insects in the garden, and warmer weather. The children are currently learning about the life cycle of butterflies and moths. At our museum table, we have an observation jar with six caterpillars inside and everyone has been watching them grow larger and larger each day. They predicted the caterpillars will become pupa and form their chrysalises at the beginning of April based on the caterpillar's growth and look forward to seeing them emerge in the next month as butterflies.

We have also been focusing on the continent of Africa this past month. In the music corner, the children are listening to songs from different areas and peoples of the continent. During circle times, we have also been reading different stories from countries such as Lesotho, Senegal, Swaziland, and Malawi. They have also been exploring the various fauna and flora found throughout the continent and the different biomes they call home.

We have also enjoyed having you all in to observe the class for conferences and getting to see all the amazing things your children do each day. If you have not had a chance to observe and meet to discuss your child’s progress, please click the link below. There are a few days remaining in April.

https://app.planhero.com/gatherings/19901-cactus-wren-spring-conferences-2024

Thank you, families, for all your support and we deeply appreciate all that you do. We are excited for the next months ahead. Happy Spring and onward to April!

Warmly,

MS. Laura & Ms. Tania

Hello Gray Fox families,

Hello Gray Fox Families,

I hope everyone has a rejuvenating Spring Break and is ready for the excitement that March brings! Despite the shorter month, we've managed to pack it with plenty of enriching experiences for our little learners.

This month, we're diving into two fascinating topics: human organs and the solar system. Exploring the inner workings of our bodies and the vastness of space will surely ignite curiosity and wonder in our classroom. We will be talking about these topics in the next two months.

In addition to our academic adventures, we have some hands-on learning planned. We're thrilled to announce the arrival of a special guest in our classroom: caterpillars (life cycle of butterflies). Over the next few weeks, we'll be nurturing this fascinating capsule as we eagerly await the emergence of three beautiful butterflies. Witnessing their life cycle will be a beautiful experience for all of us.

I'd like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our dedicated parent coordinators for organizing our final Gray Fox social of the year. These gatherings provide many opportunities for our children to socialize, play, and express their unique personalities beyond the confines of the classroom. As we near the end of the school year, let's focus on enjoying each day and learning together. Thank you for your support, and I'm excited to continue guiding your children's learning journey and here's to a month filled with discovery and wonder!

Warm regards,
Ms. Rama and Ms. Rocio

JACKRABBIT

Hello Jackrabbit Families,

We hope everyone had a restful and fun Spring Break and had a chance to spend time with your family. Thank you so much for attending our Jackrabbit Spring Social, we all had so much fun! especially the children as you could see their smiley faces enjoying every second of it. Thank you for attending and for all the delicious food. We couldn’t be happier to be part of this amazing community we have.

How lucky are we to be able to enjoy this beautiful weather!! Our classroom doors have been spread open all day offering an opportunity to the children to naturally flow from inside to the outside of the classroom. It is easy to spy a child painting on the easel, doing yoga, scrubbing the sidewalk, watering the garden, filling up the bird feeder, washing clothes, sweeping the leaves, taking a little nature walk, and much more. The children have been taking such good care of our garden. Each day they will observe if the strawberries are ready and if the broccoli, green peas, lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes are growing.

We welcomed Ms. Elisa, a Montessori student who came to do her practices with us. She shared some books, pictures, and musical instruments from her hometown of Guatemala. If was a delightful visit.

We welcome new friends into our classroom this month, it’s so fun to see how our class continues to grow. Each child brings their own uniqueness into the environment and makes it a wonderful place to spend our days. Welcome to all the new families!

We are excited to see you soon during conferences and observations. Please remember when you come into the classroom to observe to turn off your phone. Taking pictures during observation is not permitted. Also please remain seated on your observation chair and ENJOY! We are looking forward to seeing you soon.

Here is the recipe of the month, Blueberry Muffins. If you would like to bake at home with your family.

Blueberry Muffins:

1 1⁄2 cups flour
1⁄2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

3⁄4 cup milk
1⁄4 cup oil
1 cup frozen blueberries

Directions:
• Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a mixing bowl.

•Mix in milk and oil.
•Gently fold in blueberries.
•Pour into paper cups in a muffin pan and bake at 350° degrees for 25- 30 minutes.

A few reminders:

-Tablet for sign in / sign out is a legal document, it should be only used by adults.

-If your child was sent home with a bag of clothes, please bring back the next day a change of clothes for your child (all clothes need to be labeled with your child’s name).

Thank you for your trust and support. We appreciate you and what an honor to be part of your child’s Montessori journey.

Warmly,

Ms. Yadira and Ms. Karen