Village Montessori Academy
Village Montessori News
Volume 9, Issue 3 October 2010
October Calendar
October 11th, Monday
Columbus Day
Awaiting Autumn….
(School is in session)
We were fortunate to children will partici-
have had a mild summer pate in a costume pa-
and only a few very hot rade and Trick-or-
days. Anticipation of Treat through our
cooler, shorter days of neighborhood. The
autumn brings us all a morning will also in-
feeling of calm. It prom- clude a classroom
ises an atmosphere con- party. Please watch
October 20th, Wednesday
Field Trip to ducive to concentration for a sign-up sheet
and study. if you’d like to help. our center for permitting
Heritage Park
us to ‘trick-or-treat’, and
October 24th, Sunday Heritage Park We ask that the chil- for providing treats for
United Nations Day dren’s costumes be safe to our children.
On Wednesday, October walk in. Due to the age of
October 25th, Monday 20th, our whole school Please mark a bag with
the children, and for their
Pablo Picasso’s will be off to Heritage your child’s name so he/
Birthday
safety, we do not permit
Park for a tractor ride masks or any weapons. she can collect treats!
through the citrus groves, The children may not eat
a tour of the farm and its You are welcome to send any of the goodies they
animals, a visit to the a change of clothes for collect until you, their
pumpkin patch, a sea- your child. The teachers parents, see them.
sonal craft and a picnic in will assist the children in
the park! Parents are changing. Please watch for a sign-
welcome to join us! up sheet in the office, if
You are very welcome to you’d like to help with the
Halloween Parade walk with us as we tour celebration.
and Party the neighborhood. We
truly appreciate the kind-
October 29th, Friday Friday, October 29th, the ness of the merchants in
Halloween
Costume Parade,
Tick-or-Treat & Our policy requires that if
Classroom Party Change of Clothing your child needs a change
of clothing, we can only
Although many parents items more suited to the put on the clothing you
have provided a complete fall/winter season. have provided.
change of clothing for Please check with your In the event that you do
their children, some still child’s teacher to see if not have extra clothing
do not have an extra set you need to bring a here at school, and your
of clothing here at the change of clothing. child needs be changed,
school.
we regret that we must
Equally important is to
With the change of sea- call you to have you bring
label each garment, sheet
son, you may wish to appropriate clothing for
or blanket with an indeli-
change the clothing to your child.
ble marker.
PAGE 2 V I LLA G E MO NT E S S O R I NE WS V O LU M E 9 , I S S U E 3
The Ladybug Class
The Ladybug ply and divide numbers. The re- ment, the children work to enrich
Class is very lated games accommodate the need their vocabulary, to play sound and
busy with many of the children to work together and letter games, to learn to communi-
different activities. to investigate the processes and find cate graciously and to listen effec-
the answers. At this point there is tively.
In the mathematics area, many of no need for written work. Parallel
the children are learning to work to this concrete work, the children The sandpaper letters introduce the
with the Golden Bead Materials. learn to write their numbers as a graphic symbol of the sounds they
These materials begin to introduce separate activity. are already familiar with. They
our decimal system (units, tens, trace, with great care, the form of
hundreds, thousands, etc.), using All of the work in mathematics pro- the letter exactly as they will even-
beautiful golden glass beads. The gresses from concrete experience tually write it. All the lower-case
process always begins with learning and leads eventually to abstraction. letters, in cursive style, are offered
the quantity, then, separately, the A great deal of time is given to help- as phonetic sounds. The vowels are
symbols of the numbers and then ing the children understand the first offered as short vowel sounds.
the association of the two. value of numbers, the processes in
the operations and to discover the The children are learning new
After the children have had ade- rules through experience. songs, poems and stories and show
quate experience with the materials delight in their work.
they begin to add, subtract, multi- In the area of language develop-
of the animals and the homes of the
The Bumblebee Class animals. For example, a dog lives
in a kennel, a group of dogs is a
pack and the dog barks (his voice).
The children have been showing color his draw-
This work is a part of the enrich-
such good progress and many of ings. The work
ment of vocabulary.
them are now ready for new, more prepares for
advanced work. writing and art In geography, the children are
as it emphasizes learning the basic land and water
In the Sensorial area, some of the proper grasp of the writing instru- forms - the continents, islands,
children are now ready to begin ment, drawing curved and angular lakes, bays, peninsulas, etc.
work with the Metal Insets. The lines, and posture.
Metal Insets consist of two wooden Halloween offers great fun and lots
racks that hold a variety of metal In the area of Language Arts the of art opportunities. We are looking
geometric shapes. The child is able children are enjoying learning the forward to our field trip and to our
to draw lovely shapes to shade and names of animal groups, the ‘voices’ Halloween party.
All That Glitters!!!
As a part of the children’s work in child. For example, a pitcher, a quence of actions and to complete a
the area called ‘Practical Life Skills’ spoon or fork, a bell, dish or bowl task. These are skills that carry-
the children polish a variety of that is tarnished could be polished over to all the other areas of their
items– including silver, brass, cop- by a little child to a brilliant patina. exploration in the class. Addition-
per, glass, mirrors, shoes and wood. ally, they become quite independent
This work is very important as it and able to care for their own envi-
We are in need of little items you provides an opportunity for the ronment. They are
may be able to donate to the school child to develop better concentra- having so much fun
for the children’s use. Items you tion, better eye-hand coordination, with this work!
may no longer need could delight a the ability to follow a specific se-
V O LU M E 9 , I S S U E 3 V I LLA G E MO NT E S S O R I NE WS PAGE 3
The Butterfly Class
The children are beginning to notice Please watch for a sign-up sheet in
the changes in the light, the leaves, the office if you’d like to help by pro-
and the temperature as the fall sea- viding treats for our party.
son begins. We will take advantage
of these observations to study sev- During the month of October the
eral aspects of fall. children will learn about the life,
voyages and discoveries made by
The children are fascinated to ob- Christopher Columbus.
serve the leaves. They notice the The class is working hard on their
different shapes, textures, margins Books are always a treasured part language and mathematics materi-
and colors. This is an opportunity of the children’s environment. We als and love their maps and science
for an introduction to botany! bring to the children books that are work.
based on reality rather than anthro-
Throughout the month there will be pomorphic books. This helps the Our little library is so
special art opportunities for the young child establish a foundation attractive it calls to the
children. We are discussing the in the real world. Later, when a children to come and sit
tradition of ‘Trick-or-Treat’ and look little older, the child can be intro- and relax with a book.
forward to our Costume Parade, our duced to fantasy, myths and leg- The lamp, plants and
Halloween Party, and our field trip. ends. rug make a cozy nook
for the children.
All-School Halloween Celebration
On Friday, October 29th, the chil- we walk and they are very often return to the classes to have a
dren may come to school dressed in uncomfortable to the child. Some of party. Each directress will post a
their Halloween costumes. You are the children can become very fright- list of party treats in the office if
welcome to send a bag with a ened and this would spoil the fun you’d like to help provide an item
change of clothes for the regular we intend to have! for the party.
school day. We will go out to ‘Trick-
or-Treat’ our neighbors at 10:00 Please be sure your child is able to
a.m. walk safely and can use the toilet
independently. Our staff will be
The children may wear a costume happy to help, but there are many
but we do not permit the children to little ones to tend to….
wear a mask. The masks may pro-
hibit them from seeing properly as After our Costume Parade, we’ll
Special Topics of Exploration
During the month the children will nations and cultures of the world, tell us there was a significant event
all learn about the life and voyages with special focus on the children of in one of the places they learned
of Christopher Columbus. Special the world. Part of their exploration about in the classroom. This happens
crafts will help the children with is to learn about the different also when they see flags, outside of
their appreciation of his historic homes, languages, foods, music and school, and recognize the nation it
discoveries. Columbus Day is Octo- arts of the various cultures. represents.
ber 11th.
The children love working with the Pablo Picasso’s birthday is commemo-
October 24th is designated as puzzle maps and the flag materials rated on October 25th. We will be
United Nations Day and Interna- in their classrooms. Often the chil- learning about his life and his works
tional Children’s Day. The children dren will see something on the news of art. This should lead to a creative
continually learn about the many and come to school the next day to surge of art throughout the school!
VILLAGE MONTESSORI ACADEMY Celebrations In The Montessori Environment
23431 GOLDEN SPRINGS DRIVE
DIAMOND BAR, CA 91765 Throughout the year the children learn about the history
and traditions honored by various peoples of their
909 860-4001 FAX 909 860-5076 planet. This is done with respect for the personal beliefs
of our multi-cultural community. We discuss the maps,
Visit us on the Web at villagemontessori.net flags, foods, music, heritage and traditions of cultures.
We discuss how they meet the various physical, spiri-
Special Services Schedule tual, social, mental and artistic needs of man.
As a non-denominational school, we do not teach a relig-
ion but defer to the rights of each family to instill their
personal beliefs to their children. We do, however, dis-
Monday: Chinese language 3:15 & 4:00 cuss that various peoples have unique personal beliefs.
Young Rembrandts 3:00 & 3:50 For example, with our celebration of Halloween, we do
Tuesday: Chinese language 3:15 & 4:00 not present any fearful aspects of the holiday. We permit
Webby Dance 3:00 & 3:45 the children to participate in a cultural event that is
Tae Kwon Do 4:40 filled with fun and silliness. As the children mature we
discuss cultural myths, legends and traditions.
Wednesday: Chinese language 3:15 & 4:00
Sunshine Generation 3:00-4:00 We wish to honor each child’s ancestral culture and tra-
ditions. We appreciate your input to enrich the experi-
Thursday: Chinese language 3:15 & 4:00 ence for the children. Your tremendous support is a joy
Gymnastics 3:15 & 4:00 for us all!
Friday: Keyboard 3:15 & 3:45
The Dragonfly Class
The month of October is just filled October just invites a good study of Georgia O’Keeffe. The children love
with opportunities for fun and ex- bones - the human skeleton! Of to try to imitate her style and her
ploration. Already the children are course, we have to sing ’Dem Dry appreciation of nature.
well into the fun of the fall season. Bones’. We will also learn about
bats and spiders. One of the chil- Music is an important part
This past month, and continuing dren’s favorite songs is ‘Spin, Spi- of our curriculum. Work in
through October, the children have der, Spin’. It is a song that has a music includes work with
been learning about botany. They lovely melody and a message of re- the Montessori Bell Materi-
began their study with work to un- spect for the harmless spider. als, recorded music, percus-
derstand the parts and functions of sion instruments and the
the leaf, root system, shoot system, We will learn about the life and the keyboard. We have enjoyed
the leaf, flower, seed, and fruit. We explorations of Christopher Colum- the works of Rimsky-Korsakov,
have brought in many leaves and bus. The children will learn about Vivaldi, Gershwin, Saint-Saëns,
flowers to compare how varied they his voyages to ‘The New World’ and Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Rossini and
can be. The children are also learn- study the maps of Europe and Copland.
ing to classify leaves by their mar- North America.
gins. The children love to learn about the
Halloween myths, legends and tra- composer, the music and to move to
We have had some interesting les- ditions are fun for the children to the rhythm of the music. They are
sons on the various movements of explore. We do not emphasize any- learning to identify the instruments
the earth, related to the change in thing that would really frighten the they hear and to assign them to
the season, the measurement of children, but offer a light-hearted their part of the orchestra.
time and day and night. We ob- approach to the traditions.
served the autumnal equinox, on Music is said to be the language of
September 22nd, and have learned In art we have been exploring the the soul. Often in the classroom
about the rotation, orbit and axis of art and life of a variety of artists. you will hear children playing the
the earth. One of the children’s favorites is bells, keyboard or softly singing.
