Hello Lyonsgate Montessori Families,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please remember that Lyonsgate Montessori School will be closed on Monday, October 8, for the Thanksgiving Holiday. We hope everyone finds time to get together with friends and family over the long weekend, as well as time rest and recover from turkey/tofurkey feasting.

We’d also like to thank everyone for heeding the synagogue’s request to not use the main glass doors to the parking lot when exiting the school these past rainy days. One other request: we’d also like to remind everyone that the synagogue parking lot is one way; please enter off Cottage Ave. and exit the parking lot through the laneway at the east side of the lot. Thank you.

This Week:

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Toddler:

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The Toddler class is starting to settle into a routine. “It’s beautiful,” says Ms. Dee, “they’re busy, and there’s a lot of role modelling from the older ones.” Water play and activities are popular in the Toddler environment these days — lots of geting wet, but in the good way.

Speaking of gettng wet, the Toddler guides are aiming for a lot of toilet learning in the coming weeks. Parents can put what they learned at the Parent Education Evening into practice at home and help our little friends achieve their toileting independence. Thank you for coming to the Parent Ed. session; they are an important way for us to share what we do, and why, so that we can all work together and provide the children the consistency they need to succeed in their growth and development endeavours.

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Casa:

We have a request from both Casa rooms: if your child takes regular naps at school, please send them with a favourite, comfy blanket they can use during nap time. Thank you.

Casa South has seen a lot of sewing and French knitting work get started this past week. These types of activities work to continue the children’s fine motor skills development, as well as giving them a burgeoning appreciation for aesthetics and creativity, an opportunity to make something for themselves or gifts for others, and are fantastic for bringing children to an organic state of concentration.

Other Montessori Practical Life work is also well underway in Casa South. The children are helping one another — a lot of leadership from the older students — and we are all learning some new autumn songs.

Thank you to all of our parents that came to the Parent Education Evening. It is inspiring to see so many of you finding the time to attend these events and share in your children’s education.

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Casa North would like to thank everyone who came to the Parent Education Evening this past week. We had a great turnout — one of the best ever — to learn about the importance and role of critical thinking development in young children:

  • Let children come to their own conclusions (learning is messy, and that’s ok).
  • Ask questions in return rather than supplying immediate answers.
  • Montessori environments and materials are prepared to allow children to understand their mistakes and figure out how to correct them.
  • They will make mistakes, and that is ok too; they’ll figure it out in their own way when given the time and space to do so. We are here to observe them on their own paths.

Puzzle maps have been a well-used activity lately. These Montessori materials introduce basic geography, and also complement development of language, the pincer grip required for later writing, and also introduce a natural progession from general to specific as the children move from maps of the continents to more complex maps of the countries that make up the continents, and maps of states and provinces.

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Elementary:

A number of students had presentations with chess this week, and it has become a very popular daily activity. Chess is an excellent activity for developing brains — rules to remember, our own moves to plan, our opponents plans to figure out, the joy of victory, and the agony of defeat. A few reminders:

  • This year’s cross country run with other Montessori schools is on Wednesday, Oct. 10.
    • Drop off and pick up are as normal that day. We will be departing from the Primary campus, by school bus, at 9:30, so we will walk over from Locke.
    • Students will require a litterless, nut-free packed lunch for a picnic at the park, clothes and shoes to run in, and a pre-filled waterbottle.
    • This year, the host school, Fairview Glen Montessori, is asking that each student make a $10.00 donation to their charitable support of SOS Children’s Villages-Uganda.
    • Parents are unfortunately not able to attend; the permit required to use the park has capacity limits. Thank you for understanding.
  • Phys. Ed. is on Thursday afternoon each week. Please help your elementary students remember to wear or bring running shoes for phys. ed. As we enter the winter months, they will need indoor gym shoes as we move phys. ed. to the indoor space at the Primary campus (daily indoor shoes that can double as gym shoes are the best way to go).

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Next Week:

We have another quiet but short week coming up. Both Lyonsgate campuses will be closed on Monday, Oct. 8, for the Thanksgiving holiday. We do have Show-N-Share and Open house events coming up on Thursday, October 18, that we want to let you know about in case you need to book time off work or do some schedule juggling:

  • Toddler Show-N-Share: 3:30-4:00 in the Toddler environment.
  • Casa Show-N-Share: 3:30-4:30 in your child’s Casa environment.
  • Elementary Open house: 3:30-4:30 at the Elementary campus on Locke St.

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In other upcoming event news, if you want to book haircuts and make sure favourite shirts are clean, school photo day is on Tuesday, October 23.

Finally, if your child recevies any new immunizations during the school year, they must be reported to Hamilton Public Health. Here is some info on how to report them:

  • Immunization reporting is now available online. Click here to visit the Hamilton Public Health Services Online Immunization Reporting website (this a great alternative to trying to keep track of the yellow cards).
  • When reporting student immunization records, you will need your child’s yellow immunization card or a record from their doctor that includes the following information:
    • Your child’s health card number
    • Dates your child received immunizations
    • Immunization names
  • Hamilton Public Health Services provides a number of additional ways to report immunizations:
    • By phone: 905-540-5250, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
    • By fax: 905-546-4841
    • By mail: City of Hamilton Public Health Services, Vaccine Program, P.O. Box 897, Hamilton, Ontario, L8N 3P6

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