Dear Kapok Families,
We are quickly approaching the holiday season and although it doesn’t feel like it on our little island, winter solstice is just around the corner! On our shelves this month, Kapoks will find materials exposing them to the different winter holidays celebrated around the world.
This month we expect to hear a lot of conversation around the excitement of opening and receiving gifts. When giving a gift to your child, think about your child’s interests. Can this gift help my child grow (i.e. is it interactive?) and does it help make quality use of my child’s time? For younger children, consider gifts that make living in our grown-up world easier, such as, smaller drinking cups, small flatware, a small watering can, or child-sized pitchers and kitchen appliances. To foster creativity and help develop new skills, you may look for quality scissors, brushes and art paper. Books and CD’s make wonderful gifts, too. Young children love their names on items – a cooking apron, pencils, a place-mat, or a washcloth. Play-Doh, rhythm instruments, plants, and jump ropes all make wonderful gifts for the young child.
You can always find fun items at Montessori Services and Etsy Shops:
Montessori Services
MirusToys on Etsy
Courtesy & Grace on Etsy
Geodessee on Etsy
Beginning December 9, the Kapok class will open up our space to three rising toddlers and welcome back a Kapok who spends half of her year in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and half of her year here in Key West. The Kapoks are excited to role model how we work together in our classroom to our new friends. The rising toddlers will be joining us for about an hour or so daily over a two-week period before joining our classroom full time when we return from Winter Recess in January. At home, you might engage in conversation and ask your child what they think is important to model to our incoming friends who are learning our space.
Examples include how we:
Take off and return work to the shelf
Push in chairs when we finish at our work space
Use a work rug for anything we take from the shelf
Protect and respect someone’s focus and work space
Classroom Events:
Wednesday, December 18: Emma’s Birthday Walk
Peace + Plants,
Ms. Casey
