Hello Lyonsgate Families,
This week: we have Parent Education events for both Toddler and Casa parents. Please see the Toddler and Casa sections for details:
- Toddler Parent Education: Wednesday, Oct. 18, 3:00-3:30.
- Casa Parent Education: Thursday, Oct. 19, 3:45-4:30 (RSVP is required).
This Friday, Oct. 20, is a PD Day and both Lyonsgate campuses are closed.
Coming up:
- Casa and Toddler Families, please see the Casa section for details of a field trip on Tuesday, Oct. 31. RSVP is required.
Maria Montessori believed that each generation of children had an enormous potential to change the world and make it a better, more peaceful place to live. Our small Toddler Community is a microcosm of the wider world. It is the ideal place and time to learn interpersonal skills, respect for basic human rights, and how to communicate effectively to resolve conflicts. This part of the curriculum is referred to as grace and courtesy. It is invisibly woven into all of our interactions within the environment and it offers the opportunity to build a foundation for peace.
Small children are offered lessons on how to respect the creatures in our aquarium by not tapping on the glass, how to move about a crowded room, how to greet a friend, how to observe someone while they are working, how to ask for a turn with an activity, how to tidy up after meal, how to place the bowl into the bin quietly, how to reset an activity and return it to the shelf with the next person in mind. These are all ways of being in the world that are other-regarding, and these lessons can begin the moment a child is born. We communicate with respect by the way we handle them and care for them and speak to them. They study us as we interact with each other in our environment and when they begin to participate in the world we gently guide them towards respectful ways of communicating. We are working towards a peaceful environment within the Toddler Community and we hope that one day these young children with their small daily gestures of respect for other living things might create a more peaceful world.
Ms. Gervais.
Parent Education
Topic: “Help me to Do it Myself” — The role of Practical Life activities in the Toddler environment.
Why are the children washing tables and mopping the floor and what does it have to do with education? These seemingly mundane domestic tasks actually help to develop the whole child and prepare them for academic pursuits in the future. How are these activities presented in the toddler classroom? How can this kind of work be incorporated as part of the routine at home?
When arriving for your Parent education event, please enter the school via the grey door off the parking lot (rain day door) and avoid the temptation to peek into the playground or pop by to wave before entering. Thank you.
My name is Ms. Kathy Canessa. I am the English assistant in Casa North.
It’s so hard to believe we are already half-way through the second month of school.
Time passes very quickly in our classrooms. The children consistently amaze us with their new skills and newfound independence. Maria Montessori knew what she was talking about when she said, “Play is the work of the child.” When children are given the opportunity to choose their activity, explore with time, and have their own personal space their learning potential explodes, not only academically but also sensorially, verbally, and they find their own sense of pride and confidence.
As we head into the colder months, we expect an explosion of independence with dressing skills. Some might even master their own zipper. Please remember to dress your child in layers so that it is much easier for the child to regulate their own needs for warm or cold. They can then choose to add a sweater or just wear a t-shirt in the class.
I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that we are looking forward to this school year and watching your children blossom before our eyes.
Ms. Canessa.
Parent Education
Topic: “The Secret of Child Care.”
Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/D3ZhsQ22GU3R3XGA7
When arriving for your Parent education event, please enter the school via the grey door off the parking lot (rain day door) and avoid the temptation to peek into the playground or pop by to wave before entering. Thank you.
Field Trip, Tuesday, Oct. 31
Casa and Toddler students will be spending the morning at Puddicombe Farms where they will enjoy a train ride, a tractor ride, and a visit to the pumpkin patch.
Cost is $20/student.
Toddlers will require a parent or guardian to attend the field trip with them. Toddler families can meet us at Puddicombe Farms at 10:00 (the programming starts at 10:15). Toddlers can leave at 11:45 and return to Lyonsgate for 12:30 for lunch & nap, if you so choose.
Casa students will travel to and from Puddicombe by school bus. The bus will depart Lyonsgate at 9:30 a.m.
If your Casa child will not be attending the field trip, they may attend school for the afternoon beginning at 1:30 p.m., if you so choose.
Please RSVP by Oct. 26 if your child will be joining us on the field trip using this form: https://forms.gle/C1z7LiH8nN7GjcL29
Be sure to check the weather forecast on the day of the field trip and ensure your child is dressed for the weather. This is a rain or shine event (no costumes please).
Each child will receive a gourd-size pumpkin.
Weekly Updates
from the Montessori Guides:
It was a pleasure to have so many families join us for our Parent Education discussion on “Freedom and Self-Discipline!” It was great to see parents sharing stories and strategies as we collaborate to support the children in developing these parts of their character. Don’t forget to save the date for our next Parent Education event on Thursday, February 15. Meanwhile, students have been busy with new literature circles, Hallowe’en songs, compasses and protractors, and investigating a wide variety of animals!
Marissa and Michelle.
from the Classroom Historians:
“A first-year girl is writing in her journal while her brother is writing in his journal next to her.”
“Two biology partners are sorting out labels that connect to photographs of sea creatures that don’t have backbones.”
“A third-year girl is painting many different colours with tempera.”
“This girl loves to read about fairies and she really likes this book!”
“A second-year student is drawing a pink kitty.”
Hannah J. and Caden.
