Good Morning Lyonsgate Families,
Friday, Dec. 8, is a PA day for fall Parent-Teacher conferences. Please see your update email to sign up for a 20-minute conference timeslot. Some classes have conference timeslots available after school during the week leading up to the conferences.
Other Reminders:
- Show & Share for Casa and Toddler families is next week, Nov. 27-30. Please see last week’s update for details, and click the link in your update email if you still need to sign up for a Show & Share day.
- Elementary families: please also see last week’s update for details of the Gravity Climbing waiver requirement.
Walking to the Park
This week, we ventured out to explore our community. We brought along a little basket to collect treasures such as colourful leaves, small rocks, and wood chips. We found ourselves at the local park and the children climbed on the equipment, played the outdoor xylophone, and spun around on the merry go round. It was a refreshing change from the school playground and the walk to and from the park made for some interesting observations. It was a reminder about how differently young children view and experience the world.
Small children do not walk in a straight line. They do not take the most efficient route. The sidewalk was optional for them despite our encouragement to walk with us on the paved route. The children noticed particular details that captured their interest. One house had a wooden train and some bird houses situated at the top of the fence posts. We had to pause and look at them. This was a useful observation because it gave us a clue to as to where to turn on our way back to the school.
We embarked on this new adventure because our playground was not available for a few days. I am so happy that we were nudged out into the neighbourhood to explore our community.
Ms. Gervais.
Bonjour à vous tous!
Nous voici déjà en novembre! Quelle belle saison!
Chantez avec nous!
C’EST L’AUTOMNE!(Frère Jacques)
Les feuilles tombent! (x2)
C’est l’automne! (x2)
Rouge, orange et jaune! (x2)
C’est l’automne! (x2)
We made poppies and have been practicing “O Canada” in honour of Remembrance Day.
We also enjoyed eating some roasted pumpkin seeds and made delicious muffins from our field trip pumpkin.
I have included the recipe for you to enjoy at home.
Looking forward to seeing you at Show and Share!
Have a wonderful week!
Sincerely,
Mme Renée Perazzo
Wednesday, November 29 — Elementary Information Event
Casa parents interested in learning more about our Elementary Montessori program are invited to an information event on Wednesday, November 29, from 3:30 – 4:15 p.m. at the Elementary Campus. Join Montessori guides Marissa and Michelle to talk about the transition from Casa to Elementary, take a tour of the campus, and learn more about the benefits of a Montessori approach to the elementary years. Childcare for Casa students will be available at the Primary campus for families attending the event.
Parents of children in their final year of Casa are encouraged to arrange an observation of the Elementary classroom in action by emailing elementary@lyonsgate.ca for available dates. Observation time slots are typically available Mondays through Thursdays, during the morning work cycle from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Thursday, November 23 — Upper Elementary Outing
Upper Elementary students will be taking public transit to the McMaster University Museum of Art for the exhibition of “Crossing Border: Coins from Around the World.” We will have a guided program from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., and then enjoy our packed lunches from home on campus before returning to school for the afternoon. Please remind your child that they will need to wear their red Lyonsgate t-shirt and bring bus fare or their Presto card for this outing.
Monday, December 4 — Open Classroom
Please join us in the classroom after school on Monday, December 4, for our first open house of the year! Family members are welcome to arrive at the Elementary campus anytime between 3:15 – 4:15 to see displays of the children’s work.
from the Classroom Historians
Last week a lot of people wanted to play footy tennis (football with a tennis ball). Some of the fourth years have been practicing angles and the second and third years are making reading logs. The uppers have also been practicing a new song called the periodic table song. Graphic novels are a popular type of book right now, like dog man.
Matteo.
Photo captions by Akasha and Cohan:
“This second-year student is writing alliteration sentences outside in the sun.”
“This first-year student is doing Stamp Game addition in the Maple Room.”
“This third-year student is writing in her journal at the circle table in the Oak Room.”
“These students are watercolour painting in the art room. They are experimenting with “crying dots” which is when you put drops of water on your paper first and then put drops of colour in them, and then tip the paper.”
“These sixth-year boys are working on percentages in math in the Oak Room.”
“These students are working on the science experiment for the law of gravity. First they need to fill a glass bowl with sand, then they put a ping-pong ball in the sand, and then a metal object on top. Then they put a towel over the bowl and shake it really hard. Then they take off the towel and the ping-pong ball will be on top of the sand and the metal object will be underneath the sand.”
