Good Morning Lyonsgate Families,
We hope everyone had a fantastic long weekend and found time for great Family Day activities. Here are your updates of important dates, RSVPs, and news and info from your children’s teaching staff.
This Week:
- Toddler Parent Education: Wednesday, Feb. 21, 3:00-3:30 p.m. Please enter through the grey door off the parking lot, and please resist the urge to peek into the playground for a quick wave.
- Casa Parent Education: Thursday, Feb. 22, 3:45-4:30. Your children’s Casa guides will be discussing “A Path to Reading.” Please enter through the grey door off the parking lot, and please resist the urge to peek into the playground for a quick wave. If you plan to attend, please RSVP here: https://go.oncehub.com/CasaFebParentEducation
Coming Up & Ongoing:
- Casa Open Classroom Observations: Parents of Casa students are invited to contact their child’s classroom guide to arrange a date and time for a 20 minute observation in your child’s Montessori classroom, during the morning work cycle. Please contact your child’s Montessori guide at:
- Ms. Beach in Casa North: casanorth@lyonsgate.ca
- Ms. Robinson in Casa South: casasouth@lyonsgate.ca
- Toddler Show & Share: Show & Share in the Toddler classroom will take place Wednesday, Feb. 28, to Friday, March 1. You will be welcomed into your child’s Montessori environment with up to five other families between 3:30-4:00 to enjoy some of your child’s favourite activities with them. Sign-up will be emailed separately.
- Elementary Open Classroom Art Show: On Monday, March 4, from 3:15-4:15, family members are invited to join us as the classroom is transformed into a gallery of student artwork. Sweet treats prepared by our student fundraising team will be available for purchase in support of KidsSport Canada.
- Free Screening from Anderson Therapy: Lyonsgate Montessori School collaborates with Anderson Therapy Services to provide a holistic approach to education and developmental support for students. This collaborative effort ensures that students receive the individualized attention and support necessary to thrive at school, and in life. Anderson Therapy Services is offering free screening services for parents, ensuring early detection and intervention for any potential developmental concerns in children. This proactive approach empowers parents with valuable insights and support, and promotes the well-being and healthy development of children.
Ms. Craigie, Learning Resource Specialist.
Please click the image below for contact, query, and booking information.
Greetings Toddler Families,
I hope all is well and that you all enjoyed a relaxing Family Day weekend.
Please join us for our parent education session on: “The Social-Emotional Life of Toddlers: insight on how to talk to young children with respect, help them develop communication skills, and build resilience and self-regulate.”
The mental health of children has always been an integral part of the Montessori community: “We must study the profound and mysterious psychology of the little child, observe its development, and find what we can do to help,” Maria Montessori.
The Montessori approach advocates for children to listen to their inner voice, follow their instincts, and make choices. The guides are committed to protecting the emotional well being of each child. Children are encouraged to express their emotions and build healthy relationships through clear communication and respect.
In Understanding the Human Being, Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro, M.D., writes,” It is our responsibility to children, and, therefore, the future of humanity, to provide them with a model for relationships with other people that involves respect for the individual and that allows everyone who lives together to express an opinion and make decisions …The child wants freedom and respect, and we should create a family and social groupings in which these values are real and operational.”
Good Morning Lyonsgate Families,
I have heard many coworkers say that they had struggled with math before learning the Montessori way. The students in Casa South have been working hard to learn and master these concepts.
Our younger students have been exploring Number Rods(representation of numbers one to ten that involves gross motor movement), gathering to play the Memory Game of Numbers (holding a number in mind and retrieving that number of objects from a different area of the classroom), using the Golden Beads (a tangible representation of quantity and place value up to the thousands), and just counting everything in sight. Many of the numeracy activities in Montessori involve moving the body to aid in memory, which might be tracing sandpaper numbers or walking across the room to gather items.
Our older students have been working on making number rolls (writing numbers in sequence, starting at one and continuing as high as they can), working with the Strip Board to add and subtract up to eighteen, and playing the Stamp Game (adding and multiplying numbers up to the thousands). Next they may move on to delve into regrouping, fractions, and division.
In the Montessori classroom, we follow the child and our children are showing us that they’re excited to learn and understand the world through mathematics.
Thanks for reading.
Ms. Dewey.
With only four days of school last week, the students were very busy with their regular lessons and independent studies. Some of the children were delighted to conduct demonstrations and experiments with sea and land breezes while others learned more about tectonic plates. Following weeks of collaborative research, older students were excited to come together and share their research in the pastoral culture of the Maasai of east Africa. We also want to thank everyone who joined us for our Parent Education Event on Mental Health and Wellness. We look forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming student art show on March 4th!
Marissa and Michelle.
With photos in the gallery from the Classroom Historians, Charlie and Leo.
Upper Elementary Outing — Thursday, February 22
Upper Elementary students are reminded to be prepared with their red Lyonsgate t-shirt, their Presto card, and comfortable footwear for this month’s outing. The students will be taking public transit to Princess Point to access the Desjardins Recreation Trail for a winter hike. Students are welcome to bring along a simple nut-free snack and light-weight water bottle, and should be prepared for whatever weather we may encounter!
Elev8 Dance — Friday, February 23
The class will be attending P.E. outings at Elev8 Dance on Friday afternoons throughout the month of February. Please help your child remember to wear their red Lyonsgate t-shirt on Friday, February 23, for our final dance class this term!
Open Classroom Art Show — Monday, March 4
Family members are invited to join us as the classroom is transformed into a gallery of student artwork. The classroom will be open to visitors from 3:15 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Sweet treats prepared by our student fundraising team will be available for purchase in support of KidsSport Canada.
