Dear Banyan Families,
It is my first newsletter for the school year, and monthly newsletters are one of the great ways to communicate with you all, share what is going on in the classroom, and support our young adults to flourish in the beautiful Montessori environment. This year I will add our classroom /Program specific events and dates in my newsletter and please check the school newsletter from Ms. Amy for school-wide events. Don’t forget to check other classroom / program newsletters; we are all trying our best to convey our messages via newsletters.
Banyans have been happily settling back in the classroom after the summer holidays. Our new banyan students are receiving love and support from our kindergartners and older friends in the class. It is a fantastic feeling to observe how our kindergartners have grown into confident, lovable children who can run the circle time, redirect our younger children and present lessons. Our returning students are focusing on building their skills through repetition of work. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to teach the little minds.
In August and September, we have focused more on daily routine and procedures that we follow in the classroom. For example, use walking feet and quiet inside voices in the class, work with the lessons either on a rug or the table, line up together as a class during transition times (classroom to playground and back to the classroom, classroom to lunch area and back to classroom), respect friends’ workspace and how to get others attention. We will keep learning these essential skills throughout the school year. We also started our monthly unit studies for September, which is Human Anatomy: body parts and organs. Also, we have incorporated the fall theme in all the areas of the classroom.
The focus this month: Coming to school early to help your child and respect the time of others.
In order for learning to occur, the child needs to feel peace within him/her. Feeling peaceful should happen slowly and smoothly. Every day is a new day in a child’s life. It is not fair to expect a child to adjust himself to his new day in the morning immediately. They need time to say goodbye to you, they need morning time to play with their friends on the playground, and kids need time to get connected with their teachers who they are going to spend time with for the next six hours. Time matters in a child’s life. It may seem only a few minutes for us, but for a child those few minutes makes a huge difference. Honestly, an extra few minutes in the morning makes me feel more peaceful to finish my morning preparation in the classroom.
Also, we need to consider how it is affecting other friends in the classroom or on the playground when a child comes right on time or right after the bell rings or after we go inside the class. The child who just has calmed down and adjusted at the circle / in the classroom will get distracted by the friend’s late arrival and watching them separate from their parents. Thank you for understanding how valuable this morning time is and respecting the time that matters for your child and everyone.
October Unit Studies
Human Anatomy – Skeleton
Vertebrates vs. Invertebrates
Pumpkin life cycle
Primary Parent Education Night – October 10 at 5:30 pm.
Please join us on October 10th for our first parent education night. We hold three parent education nights for the school year. Education nights are great opportunity to learn about what we do in the classroom, how we use Montessori philosophy, what developmental stage your child is in and how we can support our kids to enhance their developmental stages. On the whole, you will get to know in detail about “how we Montessori.”
“We must help the child to act for himself, will for himself, think for himself; this is the art of those who aspire to serve the spirit.” – Dr. Maria Montessori
Peacefully,
Ms. Karthi and Ms. Desiree
