Hello Lyonsgate Families,

This week we have some updates for you from the Casa and Toddler Montessori guides about how the school year is going so far — progress, interests, goals, and beautiful moments — as well as more about the ongoing Montessori great work at the Elementary campus.

We want to remind everyone that the next PD day is in two weeks on Friday, Nov. 5.

We’d also like to emphasize the importance of consistency for Montessori students, especially our younger children who may still be struggling a little bit at drop off. The best thing you can do for your child is a regular, consistent, and brief drop off. A reassurance that you will see them at the end of the day, a hug, and a goodbye will set your child up for success and for the developmental progress Montessori strives for. Extra promises that may sooth a child in the moment will become the primary focus of their day and can often lead to greater upset throughout the school day. Thank you, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s Montessori guide for tips on how comfort and confidence can be developed in your child.

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Toddler

The toddlers are hard at work each day building their bodies, exploring with their senses, and discovering themselves. Now that the routine of coming to school has been established, we can see their true personalities shine. What a fantastic group we have in our classroom this year! It is wonderful to see new friendships developing, and it is a wonderful time to lay down the foundations of grace and courtesy. There have also been great strides in independence since September. Thank you to all of you for carefully selecting clothing and footwear that makes that independence possible. We love to see how pleased they are to acquire new skills, and we love to hear them triumphantly say “I did it!” — Ms. Gervais

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Casa North

The year is moving as swiftly as anticipated! Our students are navigating routine & transitions extremely well, and we are focusing on lots of Grace & Courtesy (how to move, engage with work, speak to others in the classroom, etc.) and Preliminary Activities (pouring, cutting, folding, opening and closing various fastenings). We are endlessly proud of the growth we are seeing so far.

I, personally, appreciate all of the effort our students & families have made in participating in my name-switch mid-year. Some of my personal favourites so far have been: Ms. O’Doherty, Ms. Sullivany, Ms. Doh’Sullivan, and “Hey! Ms. Sullivan is in Casa South!”

A reminder to begin practicing for any & all winter attire. Give yourselves lots of time in the morning to bundle up with boots, mittens, coats, etc., and have your child attempt to dress by themselves. The goal is independence and confidence, and we want to set our students up for success.

Looking forward to chatting further during Parent-Teacher Conferences this upcoming month. — Ms. O’Sullivan

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Casa South

As you can imagine, we’ve had an active start to this school year with plenty of exploration. It didn’t take long for everyone to begin adjusting to both the physical and social environment that makes up our classroom community. There are many new things to learn including: scheduling, how to move, interact, and work with materials. The children have absorbed enough of this in order to arrive at what Dr. Montessori identified as periods of “normalization.”

This refers to times of balance, when there is a purposeful hum of activity in the room due to a positive level of engagement. While these are currently brief moments in time, they have the potential to become longer as we all continue to develop deeper connections with each other and our learning.

We are observing more and more spontaneous offers from children to help a classmate or take care of the classroom. This is another great sign of connection, skill development, concentration, and how we are growing stronger together as a small community. We’ve included a lovely example of your children working together.

As a side note, if your child arrives at school with an umbrella on rainy days it’s best if they leave it with you rather than bring it onto the playground. Thanks for your support! — Ms. Robinson

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Elementary

This week the Elementary students continued explorations in written language, working with Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and Inuktitut syllabics. The Lower students received the fifth Great Lesson — “The Story of Our Numerals,” spurring on their work in math. The Upper students turned their attention to biology, further investigating the six kingdoms of life and learning to classify organisms as archaebacteria, eubacteria, protists, fungi, plants, or animals. — Marissa

No Nut Reminder: please remember that both Lyonsgate campuses are nut-free facilities at all times, and there is an anaphylactic nut allergy at the Elementary campus. Please ensure no products containing nuts are coming into the school, especially items like granola bars. Thank you.

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Have a fantastic fall weekend everyone.