Dear Kapok Parents,
During the month of January we worked on the concept of time, and the welcoming of the New Year (a hard concept to grasp). Following with our curriculum was the study of volcanoes and the formation and classification of rocks. Kapoks are loving this unit study!
We have welcomed two new Kapoks, Ava Robertson and Ryder Smith, and we are so excited to have you in our classroom!!
What a busy month February is going to be, check our calendar located by the front office.
In the classroom, we will revisit and concentrate on social grace and courtesy, exploring the concept of love and friendship in depth. We will study kindness and ways to make others (and ourselves) feel cared for and loved.
We will also have our annual classroom bake-sale, all the profit will go to new materials for our classroom. Sign up sheets are by the front office’s door. Get ready to bake!
We also have an amazing event planned for this month, our annual gala that this year has transformed into our “Date Night” with dinner and comedy show included with the ticket !! All the profit form the Date Night will go to our scholarship program. This is a great program that allows children that otherwise could not afford to have such a wonderful education to join a true Montessori school.
In a moment of gratitude, I would like to thank you for all the trust that you put on us when leaving your precious children off under our care. We love and appreciate every minute that we have with your children. There is no better gift than seeing their amazing souls shine, develop and flourish.
On time….
I wanted to give you a little bit of background on why I am such “stickler” about arriving on time to school.
Imagine that you have just entered a special event.
Everyone is already there and has begun to eat their meals, having already had time to hang their coats, get a drink, find their table and get to know the people next to you before the special guest speaks.
You have arrived late and have not had time to do any of this and the special guest is already speaking!. How do you feel?
Translating the above scenario, to the experience of at 2½-6 year old child. Your feeling is not that far from what the child experiences when he arrives to school after the day has already begun. Often children who are tardy do not know that they are late to school until they reach the doorway. There is almost always a moment where the late child stands almost paralyzed in the doorway, sometimes they even start to cry. It just has dawned on them that they are late. Add the fact that fun curriculum group lessons are presented first thing in the morning, they know they have also missed that.
One of the things that sets Montessori apart from other educational methods is the emphasis on the child’s freedom within a prepared environment (the classroom). The Montessori teacher, is there to invite the children to explore the material. In order to allow for this exploration, an uninterrupted work period of at least 3 hours is required. The purpose of this block of time is to allow children to select materials freely, and to become absorbed in their work. The children are also hesitant to choose challenging work if they are not expecting to have enough time to complete it.
It is so important to set up a consistent routine at home so that one is able to get from place to place on time. Children at this age are looking to us to know how we should be as human beings. If we set up the precedence that it is acceptable to walk in late to school, plays, baseball practice, ballet or a violin lesson, the children begin to develop a habit of being under stress and arriving late.
So, what might happen if you arrived at the party early with time to settle in, put your coat away and greet your friends? You have enough time to get a drink and find your seat before the meal even begins. How do you feel? Are you more settled? Are you feeling more at peace or even excited about the upcoming events for the evening?
Children are the same. They begin their day with more joy and peace when they have enough time to adjust and transition into the environment when arriving on time.
Love and Peace
Ms. Marjorie and Ms. Karina Bowders
